YPS

Find below the statement of the public accountability group that I belong to. This statement was written on the eve of Arroyo's state of the nation address.
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The statement attributed to Jess Arranza of the Federation of Philippine Industries in
the Manila Times last week disparaged the Sumilao farmers quest for their land rights and, at the same time, connoted that agrarian reform is responsible for the lack of agro-industrial progress in the rural areas. I won't comment on the legal issues relating to the Sumilao case since this has been tackled very thoroughly by a series of articles written by Fr. Joaquin Bernas of the Ateneo de Manila Law School.

I am posting below the statement of a political group that I belong to- the Puwersa para sa Ganap na Demokrasya, Labang Wagas para sa Inang Bayan or PUGADLAWIN. Like many other individuals and groups, while we believe that the attempted coup d' etat is a misguided move by a small self-righteous element of the armed forces and the civil society, it symptomatic of the lack of attention given by this present administration to many political and socio-economic issues that is currently being faced by the country.

A month ago, or October 21 to be exact, the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB), the Ateneo de Manila School of Government (ASoG), the Institutional Network for Social Action of Miriam College, and the Ateneo Student Catholic Action, organized a seminar called ‘Bantay Pangako' for barangay leaders in Quezon City.

One of the criticisms that is being raised against the proposed National Broadband Network (NBN) beside the allegations of attempted (or actual?) pay-offs made to government officials is the lack of clear guidelines that would define the terms of contract for the supplier of the system.