Philippines

The Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC), a non-government organization helping children in armed conflict cope with trauma, deplored the military’s aerial attack on civilians in Datu Piang, Maguindanao. As a result, at least 4 children and a pregnant woman were killed in the attack.

The urgency for real transparency in the Philippine oil industry remains despite the recent rollback in oil prices, and vital information needs to be disclosed for the public to be assured that the “monopolized” domestic oil industry is not profiting at their expense, says an economic analysis group.

The Arroyo government’s dissolution of its panel in the peace negotiations with the MILF signals government’s arbitrary and unilateral shift to its doomed all-out war approach using the “demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation” (DDR) framework, says militant lawmaker Satur Ocampo.