News
Treatment demanded for detainee's baby
The Health Action for Human Rights and GABRIELA demanded that the AFP and the Arroyo regime immediately save the life of Baby Gabriela Llesis and free her mother Zenaida from imprisonment at the Bukidnon Provincial Rehabilitation Center.
Baby Gabriela was born on February 19 with a hole in her heart and a liver tumor. She is now bedridden together with her mother in a hospital in Cagayan de Oro, tightly guarded by many soldiers.
Zenaida Llesis was captured by the military on August 5, 2002 in a raid in Pangantugan, Bukidnon. She was imprisoned and denied medical attention despite the fact that she was pregnant with Baby Gabriela. Due to the intense pressure of military interrogation, Zenaida's health faltered, affecting the baby. Just a few days after Baby Gabriela was born, she and her mother who were both ailing, were brought to hospital.
Arroyo couple's corruption bared
On August 18, Sen. Panfilo Lacson exposed the Arroyo couple's massive corruption. The senator, who is himself a plunderer, detailed how the couple had amassed great wealth from illegal contributions and bribes. Lacson said the couple stashed over P200 million in the Lualhati Foundation and other dummy bank accounts and that Mike Arroyo uses the name "Jose Pidal" to conceal over P36 million in a bank account. Lacson identified close friends of the Arroyo family as well as Mike Arroyo's mistress Victoria Toh as "beneficiaries" of the ill-gotten wealth.
In addition, Lacson also named institutions and personalities who poured millions into Gloria Arroyo's campaign fund in 1998. Among them is the law firm Carpio, Villaraza and Cruz, from which hail not only many of the regime's lawyers and judges, but also the present Ombudsman, Simeon Marcelo. Also included in the list is one Franklin Fuentabella, who has been implicated in the massive misuse of investors' funds in Multitel, the smuggler Lucio Co and former Estrada crony Mark Jimenez.
Campaign for non-payment of land rent launched in Cagayan Valley
The Pambansang Kapisanan ng mga Magsasaka sa Pilipinas-Cagayan Valley (PKMP-CV) called on all those affected by tropical storm Harurot to fight for their right not to pay land rent. The peasants of Cagayan and Isabela sustained the greatest damage from Harurot which battered Northern Luzon and other parts of the country in July.
The campaign was initiated on August 5 to advance the demand for landlords and merchant usurers not to collect land rent and loan payments. The campaign is in accordance with the guidelines in the Revolutionary Guide to Land Reform which stipulates that when peasants sustain damage to 20% of their harvest, land rent for that year should no longer be paid. If the damage is 50% or higher, farmers should not pay land rent for two consecutive harvests.
Mining and logging in Samar opposed
The people strongly oppose the resumption of mining activities in Samar island and the continued destruction of the environment. They expressed their opposition by launching a caravan of trucks, cars, jeeps and motorcycles on August 8 that hundreds of peasants and fisherfolk, youth, academics, members of non-governmental organizations, government officials and Catholic church leaders joined. The protesters shouted "No to Mining, Yes to SINP (Samar Island National Park)." The SINP concept calls for a stop to mining and logging activities to allow Samar to recover from the serious depletion of its natural wealth and the resultant environmental destruction.
The caravan paraded through three provinces before going to Catbalogan, the capital of Samar. The demonstrators demanded that President Arroyo put a stop to mining operations and hasten the proclamation of the Samar Island National Park.
Abimael Guzman wages hunger strike
Abimael Guzman, the principal leader of the Sendero Luminoso, a revolutionary movement in Peru, is currently waging a hunger strike. Guzman has been fasting in his cell to oppose the reimposition of solitary confinement on himself and his wife, Elena Ipparaguirre.
Guzman and Ipparaguirre were illegally arrested and sentenced by a military court to life imprisonment in 1992. This May, Peru's highest court declared their trial "unconstitutional" and ordered their cases reopened.
US power in Iraq further shaken
A yet unidentified group bombed the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq on August 19, killing 15 people on the spot and wounding over a hundred others. Among those killed was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the principal UN representative to Iraq. The bombing was the biggest blow to US imperialism's "reconstruction" efforts in Iraq.
Previous to this, Iraqis bombed an oil pipeline that served as the main conduit of oil from the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Turkey. The pipeline had been operating for only three days since the US opened it. Forty percent of Iraq's overall oil production passes through the pipeline. It is clear that the intention is to put a complete stop to the flow of oil to refineries and other countries.
Oil is the key to the US occupation of Iraq. It has become more and more difficult for the US to control the country and benefit from its rich oil resources due to the people's extensive and intensive opposition. On average, one American soldier is killed every day by Iraqi forces in continued clashes with US forces.
Liberian president ousted
At the instigation of US imperialism, Charles Taylor, president of Liberia (a country in western Africa), was ousted on August 11 due to widespread armed and unarmed opposition to his regime.
Taylor became president of Liberia in 1989 through a bloody coup d'�tat supported by the US. His fascist rule was marked by a continuous civil war that culminated in bloody fighting in Monrovia, the country's capital, this August. The US immediately sent military forces to the country to ensure Taylor's retreat and install its newest puppet in Liberia.
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