Group Hails Efforts to Bring Laudato Si to Life 15 May 2020, Quezon City. The EcoWaste Coalition has lauded the continuing efforts to bring Laudato Si, the groundbreaking encyclical letter of Pope Francis on “Care for Our Common Home,” to life amid the climate and coronavirus crisis. In a press statement, the advocacy group for…
Groups Push for Consumer Protection from Misleading Product Claims amid the COVID-19 Crisis 14 May 2020, Quezon City. Two non-government organizations today reminded online consumers to be cautious of product advertisements that promise to prevent, treat, or cure the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In a joint statement, Laban Konsyumer Inc. (a consumer protection group) and…
Assistance to private school teachers reiterated While the government is now downgrading the ECQ policies in most of Luzon and the DepEd is already discussing its plans to re-open public school by August 24, a group of education reform and teachers’ rights advocates reiterates its appeal to help private school teachers affected by the crisis.…
Environmental and Food Security Advocates Say Home Composting and Farming Should Form Part of the Post-COVID “New Normal” 11 May 2020, Quezon City. Advocates for environmental protection and food security cited the importance of home composting and gardening as the country grapples with the dire impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on people’s lives…
Philippines: Put Network Back on Air Duterte Should Rescind ABS-CBN Shutdown; Congress Should Renew License (Manila, May 7, 2020) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte should rescind an order to shut down ABS-CBN, the country’s largest broadcast television and radio network, Human Rights Watch said today. The House of Representatives, whose inaction on bills to renew…
Akbayan Party on Labor Day: Make workers resilient with protection, just wages and strong unions Today, we celebrate Labor Day in extraordinary circumstances. When traditionally the working-class celebrates on the streets, today we are confined to our homes and social media. But our calls remain the same: for just and fair wages and benefits, for…
Philippine Government Misusing Covid-19 Law Against Critics Activists Charged with Sedition, ‘Fake News’ By Carlos H. Conde Philippine authorities are increasingly using the Covid-19 pandemic and new public health restrictions as an excuse to charge political opponents and activists with criminal offenses. The latest targets were seven activists trying to distribute food aid last week…
EcoWaste Coalition Backs BOC’s Unyielding Action to Re-Export South Korean Garbage despite the COVID-19 Outbreak 23 April 2020, Quezon City. The environmental health group EcoWaste Coalition lauded the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for its assurance to complete the re-export of the illegal plastic waste shipments from South Korea that entered the country in 2018. Citing…
Manggagawang kumuha ng ayudang P500, dinakip at pinagpipiyansa ng P3000 Dalawang empleyado ng isang maliit na food business ang nakadetine ngayon sa Catmon, Malabon matapos arestuhin ng mga pulis noong Lunes dahilan sa wala silang quarantine pass. Ang mga kawawang obrerong sina Edward Coyoca, 23 anyos at kapatid niyang si Earl Coyoca, 20 anyos ay…
Celebrating Earth Day Meaningfully in the Time of Coronavirus: Five Ways to Give Back to Mother Earth 21 April 2020, Quezon City. As the 50th year of the Earth Day is observed on April 22, an environmental health organization has put forward five ways by which Filipinos from all walks of life can help to…
Questions for the two Joeys: Do you have a better plan for the workers? Are the two Joeys trying to become the ‘corporate white knights’ of the Duterte administration? They seem to be, according to the labor coalition Nagkaisa! which presumes businessman Joey Concepcion and Albay Rep Joey Salceda to be the corporate voices in…
Human rights groups lament the weaknesses in the government response to COVID19 one month after the ECQ Quezon City- Human rights groups lamented the weaknesses in the government program to address COVID19 one month after the enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine, particularly the lack of mass testing. In an online press conference assessing the…
DOLE’S Closure of Assistance Program, Unjust, Irresponsible and Pointless On April 15, 2020, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced that its COVID-19 Adjustment Measure Program (CAMP) is now closed for new applications. OIC Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said that this is to give way to the transition to the wage subsidy for a…
Karapatan: Stop the delays, stop the excuses, release political prisoners now! No more excuses and no more delays for the release of political prisoners, human rights group Karapatan strongly asserted, as the Supreme Court (SC) is set to deliberate today, April 17, on the petition seeking the temporary release of sick and elderly detainees to…
PM to DOLE: Is number of affected workers downplayed to justify big gap in distribution of cash aid? Is it true that only 3.57 percent of 28 million workers employed in the formal sector were affected by the lockdown? The labor group Partido Manggawa (PM) cannot believe so. “The problem can be poor or incomplete…
Duterte admin has funds for COVID-19 response; must quickly do its job – labor NGOs The government has more funds it can use to address the continuing spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and provide immediate relief to the people, said labor NGOs Crispin B. Beltran Resource Center (CBBRC) and Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education…
Local Government Executives Urged to Heed Health Experts’ Advice against Misting or Spraying of COVID-19 Disinfectants 12 April 2020, Quezon City. A non-profit environmental health organization has urged local government units (LGUs) to heed the advice by health experts against the spraying of individuals and surfaces or the misting of large areas with disinfectants in…
The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the dispersal of a picket line of economic zone workers in Dasmarinas, Cavite last night. From 8:00 to 9:00 pm last night, two Dasmarinas police backed up with scores of tanods of Barangay Langkaan 1 and 2 and security guards threatened two workers in the picket line, Jackie Elorde,…
Twenty-two political prisoners, who are 60 years old and above, sickly and among the most vulnerable to the COVID-19, filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking their temporary release. The petition was filed on April 8, 2020, with the assistance of human rights groups KAPATID and KARAPATAN, together with lawyers from the Public Interest…
Philippines: Reduce Crowded Jails to Stop COVID-19 Release Low-Level Offenders; Prioritize Older and Ill Prisoners (Manila, April 7, 2020) – Philippine authorities, to stem the COVID-19 outbreak, should release from the country’s overcrowded jails and prison inmates who have been detained or convicted for low-level and non-violent offenses, Human Rights Watch said today. They should…
