Thousands join Labour Day protests in Philippines

[Judi Lynn]

Source: DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur )

Thousands join Labour Day protests in Philippines
Posted : Tue, 01 May 2007 10:26:00GMT
Author : DPA

Manila- Thousands of workers took to the streets in the Philippines Tuesday in annual Labour Day protests to demand better wages and benefits. The workers also called for an end to political killings and the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"Workers, united against Gloria," read a banner carried by one group of protesters who marched near the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila.

A flank of anti-riot police, however, blocked the demonstrators from getting near a bridge that leads to the sprawling Malacanang compound.
(snip)

Most of the demonstrators were members of leftist groups that have been calling for Arroyo's ouster over persistent allegations that she rigged the 2004 presidential elections.


Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/57793.html

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President Gloria Arroyo & her American friend

[Judi Lynn]

1. Philippines: Fanning the flames of war

May 2, 2007

Philippines: Fanning the flames of war
By Herbert Docena

MANILA - As Mindanao reels yet again on the brink of another all-out war, sections of the mainstream print media may be helping push it closer to the edge.

A quick round-up of their coverage tells us what in their view has been happening: a rogue commander not supported by the rest of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and who is coddling "al-Qaeda-linked" Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah members started it all by attacking the military. The military had no choice but to retaliate. Now things are spiraling out of control and it's all the terrorist-coddling rogue commander's fault.

Such a plot may well have been written by the public-information office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). But it is precisely how the conflict is being passed off as truth to the public by certain sections of the press. The underlying message is hard to miss: the military are necessarily the "good guys" and they need our unconditional support.

Take for example veteran defense reporter Manny Mogato's dispatch for Reuters on April 17: "Fighting between government forces and rogue Muslim rebels is spreading in the southern Philippines, shattering hopes for peace and threatening local support for a US-backed campaign to flush out militants." <1>

More:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IE02Ae01.html