KASAMA December 2004

Hacienda Luisita: Striking Workers Massacred

Under Philippine law the Secretary for Labor has power to assume jurisdiction over labor disputes when the national interest is at stake. Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas did just that on tuesday, 16 November 2004 when she sent in the police and the military to enforce a return-to-work order upon the workers of the Cojuangco family's most prized possession - Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac Province. The result was a bloody massacre in which seven died including two children.

Killing of poor farmers typifies Philippine social injustice

STRIKING Filipino agriculture workers, including two small children were killed when police and military opened fire during a strike at a sugar plantation in Tarlac, Central Luzon. It typifies the situation in the Philippines. The vast Hacienda Luisita owned by one of the most powerful and wealthiest families were gunned without compassion or mercy. They were protesting injustice and demanding land reform.

Death Toll For Journalists Highest In Decade

The ongoing violence in Iraq and a rash of killings in the Philippines have made 2004 the deadliest year for journalists in a decade. According to research compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 54 journalists have been killed in the line of duty so far this year, surpassing the toll in 1995, when 51 were killed, many in Algeria's bloody civil war.

National Union of Journalists Philippines

Everybody's Fight

Below is the pooled statement drafted by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and signed by close to 300 media organizations, journalists, cause-oriented groups and individuals in time for the International Human Rights Day on December 10.

Arundhati Roy, Sydney Peace Prize winner inspires Australians to fight for non violence

The 2004 Sydney Peace Prize citation read: "In recognition of her courage in campaigning for human rights and for advocacy of non-violence as in her demands for justice for the poor, for the victims of communal violence, for the millions displaced by the Narmada dam projects and for her opposition to nuclear weapons."

Breaking Promises, Making Profits: Mining in the Philippines

A CHRISTIAN AID AND PIPLINKS REPORT, DECEMBER 2004.

Dr. Alfred J. Ganapin

ALFRED GANAPIN passed away peacefully on 20th December 2004 at King Faisal Hospital, Riyadh, KSA.

H. Wilfrid Walker's tales of travel in the Philippines

In search of birds, butterflies and adventure, H. Wilfrid Walker noted in letters he sent home to his family in England, stories of his travels and the native peoples he met on his journeys. We are reprinting the photographs and the two chapters in his book that tell of his journey in the philippines which we think took place sometime between 1901 and 1904. This is the first of a three-part series

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 2004 REPORT

Huge challenges confronted the international human rights movement in 2003. The UN faced a crisis of legitimacy and credibility because of the US-led war on Iraq and the organization's inability to hold states to account for gross human rights violations. International human rights standards continued to be flouted in the name of the 'war on terror', resulting in thousands of women and men suffering unlawful detention, unfair trial and torture - often solely because of their ethnic or religious background. Around the world, more than a billion people's lives were ruined by extreme poverty and social injustice while governments continued to spend freely on arms.

In Court

TWO MURDER CASES HEARD IN THE NEW SOUTH WALES SUPREME COURT THIS YEAR INVOLVED FILIPINOS.

MULTICULTURAL DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE WORKSHOPS

2005 MULTICULTURAL DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE WORKSHOPS AT STATE / TERRITORY LIBRARIES

Celebration of Women 2005 Calendar

Featuring artwork by MELISSA WESTERMAN and graphic design by SILVANA GIORDANA.