Philippine News Digest 25
Contents:
Barricades
paralyze operation of power plant
Judge
in miningcase shot dead
Barricades paralyze operation of power plant
Around 200
protesters stormed the Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales, north of
Manila May 4 to demand payment by the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) of
their land compensation claims which now amount to more than P92 million. The
United Tenants Association of Barangay Bani led the protest participated in by
two other groups. They blocked all roads leading to the plant site by
establishing blockades to paralyze its operation. The tenants promised to stay
in the barricades until their demands are met. PREDA Foundation, which is
based a few kilometers away from the plant, has protested the establishment of
the coal-fired power plant that destroyed centuries-old mango trees and caused
pollution around the area
since its conception in 1992. The plant, financed by the Asian Development
Bank and Japan’s Exim Bank (Export-Import Bank), never got the approval of
the communities adjacent to it as
opposed to what authorities in the NAPOCOR would want us to believe. Source: Fred Lovino and corrspondent reports, Philippine Daily
Inquirer, 7 May 2002.
AIDS spreading rapidly in
Asia-Pacific
A new study
by the United Nations reveals that HIV/AIDS is rapidly increasing epidemic
proportions in parts of Asia and the Pacific. While some Southeast Asian
nations- including Cambodia, Burma, and Thailand- have been facing high levels
of HIV/AIDS for some time, other countries are experiencing a rapid increase
in the number of afflicted persons. India, with three million infected people,
is now second only to South Africa in the number of people living with
HIV/AIDS. China could have as many as 10 million people with HIV/AIDS by 2010
unless prevention programs are stepped up. In Asia, the disease is mainly
transmitted through heterosexual sex and intravenous drug use. People under
the age of 24 are the most vulnerable, accounting for more than 50 percent of
all new infections. The study will be presented to government ministers at a
UN Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) conference in Bangkok, from May 16 to 22.
Source:
Associated Press report in Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7 May 2002.
Solon warns against re-establishment of military bases
Party list
Representative Liza Maza warned of an impending “prostitution boom” in the
country resulting from the entry of United States military forces conducting
joint military exercises with their Filipino counterparts. Maza also said the
construction by US military engineers of airstrips, ports, roads and other
facilities in Basilan, and the arrival of General Richard Myers who is
chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staffs, point to the real agenda behind the
deployment of US troops in Mindanao- the reestablishment of US military bases
in the country. She said the US is hell-bent on maintaining it presence in the
Asia-Pacific region by deploying 100,000 troops in military installations in
South Korea, Japan and the Philippines. She also expressed alarm
at the growing number of indigenous and peasant communities being displaced by
military exercises increasing the vulnerability of women and children to
prostitution. Source:
Jodeal Cadacio, Today, 30 April 2002.
Judge in mining case shot dead
Judge
Eugenio Valles of the Regional Trial Court Branch 11 in Nabunturan, Compostela
Valley died from five gun shot wounds inflicted by motorcycle-riding gunmen
April 25. Police were looking at several possible angles to the killing,
including the mining conflict in Mt. Dimawalwal. Valles was dragged into that
controversy when he rejected a petition by miners for a temporary restraining
order on a cease-and-decease order issued by Monkayo Mayor Joel Brillantes
because of environmental concerns.
The Dimawalwal conflict had already claimed many lives, including that of a
former Davao del Norte police chief and Monkayo Councilor Joel Martin. Source:
Ayan Mellejor, Philippine Daily Inquirer Mindanao Bureau, 26 April 2002.
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