Category Archives: Stories
A brave new World Bank?
MANILA, Philippines – For the longest time, the World Bank had been the favorite whipping boy of Filipino activists and nationalists. From the Marcos dictatorship to this day, hardly a street demonstration goes by without the bank being excoriated for its “structural adjustment programs” in which the bank grants millions of dollars in loans to the Philippine government but with huge strings attached. These are conditionalities that, for better or worse, have shaped the country and affected our lives in profound ways.
Read the full story and listen to full Q&A with the World Bank’s Nigel Roberts
Filipino rebels agree to stop using child soldiers
Once the guerrilla groups have complied with their respective action plans, they can be removed from the U.N. list of movements that violate children’s rights. The Philippines is among 22 countries in the world that the United Nations says have “situations of concern” because of the use of child combatants.
‘The Second President’
While the President may have deftly avoided a difficult situation by passing it on to his vice president, he cannot afford to keep doing this without risking the heightening perception that he himself is not doing enough for the people.
3 Filipinos executed in China for drug crimes
Three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China were executed Wednesday morning, Filipino officials said, prompting grief and outrage in the Philippines.
Citing New Evidence, Philippines Asks China to Stay Executions
The Philippine government has appealed to Beijing to stay the execution scheduled for Wednesday of three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China, saying that new evidence had surfaced that would prove at least one of them had been used as an unwitting drug courier by syndicates operating in the Philippines.
Philippines Uses General’s Death to Tout Reform
With the Philippines still reeling from the apparent suicide of a retired general who had been implicated in an investigation of military graft, a spokesman for the armed forces said Thursday that such corruption was a thing of the past.
Death be not proud in the Philippines
The plea bargain agreement was widely viewed as yet another breakdown of the country’s dysfunctional justice system and set in motion the congressional hearings that led to the explosive events of this week.
Former defense chief of Philippines dies in apparent suicide
A former Philippine defense secretary who had been implicated in a major military corruption scandal died Tuesday morning in an apparent suicide, officials said.
Philippines to investigate allegations of military graft
President Benigno S. Aquino III of the Philippines has ordered an investigation into allegations of systemic corruption within the armed forces, with millions of pesos said to have been pocketed by military officials, including several chiefs of staff.
In the Philippines, a Struggle to Reconcile Faith and Love
Surrounded by votive candles and flowers, the couple looked resplendent, both wearing Indian kurtas, holding a bouquet together, positively in love. It was the wedding night, in the garden of a friend’s home in a Manila suburb, of Terence Krishna Lopez and Edwin Quinsayas, a gay couple.
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