Features

PDP 2017-2022: Unchanged Market Fundamentalism (Second of Two Parts)

June 9, 2017

by Sonny Africa The Duterte administration’s public launch of its PDP 2017-2022 on June 2 somewhat coincidentally happened the day after the supposed June 1 end of the fifth round of peace talks between the Philippine government’s peace talks and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). The cancellation of talks by the government […]

PDP 2017-2022: Unchanged Market Fundamentalism (First of Two Parts)

June 6, 2017

by Sonny Africa The Duterte administration’s public launch of its PDP 2017-2022 on June 2 somewhat coincidentally happened the day after the supposed June 1 end of the fifth round of peace talks between the Philippine government’s peace talks and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). The cancellation of talks by the government […]

The Shin Sun workers – a test case for DO 174

May 27, 2017

IBON Features – The Korean-owned Shin Sun Tropical Fruit Corp. in Brgy. San Miguel, Compostella Valley has approximately 287 agency-hired banana workers employed under ECQ Serve Human Resources for different jobs such as harvesting, fruit care, plantation, and delivering services. Most of the workers had been working for the company for two to seven years […]

Four reasons why RCEP will be detrimental to Filipino farmers

May 16, 2017

​​The fight of Filipino peasants such as the farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita and Lapanday Foods Corporation for land, food, and justice, stands to be further undermined once the Philippine government fully accedes to the China-backed mega Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).   While the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was seemingly put […]

Addressing the rampage of land use conversion

April 27, 2017

The land-to-the-tiller clamour mounts. This, amid the recent spate of farmers’ killings and other forms of military attacks against peasant communities nationwide. These human rights violations have escalated even after both panels of the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have acknowledged in the on-going peace talks the country’s agrarian problem […]

Earth Day 2017 | Four towns and an Apple: Mining and environmental plunder

April 22, 2017

By Glenis Balangue A day before Earth Day, technology giant Apple made a bold claim. Blamed time and again for its role in sustaining the highly destructive mining industry, Apple said it plans to stop using minerals and metals for its famed iPhones and Macs. In its 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report, Apple said that to […]

‘Dutertenomics’: golden age of oligarchic and foreign interests in infrastructure?

April 20, 2017

​“Build, build, build” is said to be the foundation of the Duterte administration’s development plan, which his economic managers are packaging as “Dutertenomics”. The plan is supposed to usher in a “golden age of infrastructure”. But despite the attempt at branding, Dutertenomics is neither new nor unique. Its cornerstone of massive infrastructure development is still […]

 Prepaid electricity: Neoliberal “users pay” at its worst

February 9, 2017

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recently said that it aims to expand its prepaid customers by 100,000 from the current 40,000 this year. Kuryente Load (KLoad), the utility giant’s prepaid electricity service, is presently available in Mandaluyong, Manila, Pasig, and parts of Rizal. Meralco now plans to offer KLoad to customers in Caloocan, Makati, Marikina, Pasay, Pateros, […]

Implement land reform and develop the rural economy!

January 30, 2017

The call for land reform is among the twelve points illustrated in IBON’s 2017 “Promoting pro-people economics” planner drawn from the People’s Agenda for Change. The comprehensive agenda for social, economic and political reforms fleshes out a program for nationalist and progressive change based on the Filipino people’s daily and historical plight. Hundreds of people’s […]