News
Raid on detachment: NPA seizes 13 firearms
GUERRILLAS of the Julito Tiro Command of the NPA-Northern Mindanao confiscated six M16s, seven Garands and ammunition of various caliber when they attacked the 9th IB detachment in Sitio Lantaca, Barangay Kibanban, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental around 9:00 a.m. June 3.
One soldier was killed and a CAFGU element wounded in the 30-minute firefight. At around the same time, another NPA unit harassed another detachment of the 9th IB in the barangay center.
NDF-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos warmly congratulated the NPA on its successful tactical offensive. He also congratulated the masses who supported the operation. Some of them voluntarily joined the operation and helped cart off the confiscated arms and attend to the wounded.
The Red fighters had long retreated when reinforcements arrived from the 2nd and 5th Special Forces Battalion and the 2nd Reconnaissance Coy supported by two MG-520 helicopters.
Soldier involved in Ka Eden, Ka Eddie slay arrested
THE National Bureau of Investigation arrested on June 3, M/Sgt. Donald Caigas, one of the perpetrators of the murder of Ka Eden Marcellana and Ka Eddie Gumanoy. Ka Eden, secretary general of Karapatan-TK and Ka Eddie, chair of KASAMA-TK, were abducted and summarily executed by men under 204th Bde commander Col. Jovito Palparan, in Naujan, Mindoro Oriental last April.
NPA condemns murder of Bayan Muna official in Isabela
THE Fortunato Camus Command (FCC) of the New People's Army-Cagayan Valley strongly condemned the murder of Joaquin "Jake" Soriano, Bayan Muna chair of Jones, Isabela. Soriano was murdered on May 15 by AFP soldiers in his own home in San Vicente, Jones upon orders of Isabela Gov. Benjamin Dy Jr. In a statement, FCC spokesperson Victor Servidores also denounced the AFP's malicious accusation that Soriano was killed by the NPA.
Anti-tuition fee hike struggle begins
THE campaign against the new round of tuition fee increases has already begun with the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Anakbayan taking the lead. It will culminate in large mass actions with the opening of classes on June 16.
The LFS said that the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has allowed 317 private universities and colleges to impose an additional P22-62 per unit this school year. Each subject usually has three units and each college student enrolled in five to eight subjects.
The tuition fee hikes have led many students from private schools to transfer to public schools. The CHEd, however, said that government universities are also poised to raise tuition fees.
39% of youth unable to go to school in 2002� Anakbayan
THIRTY-NINE percent (39%) or 3.5 million children and youth who should be in school (ages 5-24) were unable to enroll in 2002, according to a study made by the group Anakbayan. Most of them were from the countryside.
The study likewise revealed that 36% of the 30.2 million youth (ages 13-35) were unable to attend school or find work last year. Only 21% were enrolled in high school, college or vocational courses. Of those employed, 22% worked in farms and 21% in the cities, mostly in contractual jobs.
Meralco's excessive charges assailed
MERALCO had not even returned the P30 billion in excess charges in full to its 3.4 million registered consumers when the Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) allowed the company to charge an additional P0.08/kwh, bared the People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity Rates (POWER).
POWER also assailed Meralco's method of gradually reimbursing its excess charges. According to POWER, Meralco must repay its debt to all consumers in full, immediately and unconditionally. The company must also pay up to P2 billion in interest accumulated in the eight years it collected these excess charges.
Farms under CARP to be used as collateral
SIX bills seeking to use as collateral for credit lands distributed under reactionary land reform have been filed in congress and the senate. They are among the regime's priority bills, identified during Arroyo's State of the Nation Address in July 2002. If passed into law, this will provide landlords added means to reconcentrate lands distributed under CARL and Presidential Decree No. 27. In the bills filed before congress, a creditor may temporarily till the farms used as collateral for as long as the peasants have not paid off their debts.
Protests greet G8 meet
UP TO 120,000 persons protested against the G8 which met in Evian, France on June 1-3. The demonstrators assailed globalization and the US occupation of Iraq.
Thousands of people began to protest in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland as early as May 29. They lit 50 bonfires around Lake Geneva along the France-Switzerland border, calling them "fires of protest". Marches from the towns of Annemasse, France and Geneva, Switzerland converged on the Swiss side of the border, entering France on June 1.
The protests continued up to the last days of the meeting of the eight richest countries of the world: the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia.
US puts the squeeze on Iran
AFTER attacking Iraq, the militarist Bush government is now preparing for "regime change" in Iran. US propagandists are now laying down the basis for demonizing the country and its leaders. The US alleges that Iran manufactures and harbors nuclear weapons and has provided refuge to some al Qaeda members who fled Afghanistan � a claim that even the Central Intelligence Agency refutes.
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