By refusing to reform CARP, GMA is corrupt just the same

In response to my piece on Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), Herbert Docena, a researcher at  Focus on Global South, has this to say: It cuts to the heart of the land reform issue and exposes the anomaly in the way the public reacts to — or is made to react — to corruption. I … Continue reading →

All because of the 2010 elections

Everything that legislators do now has something to do with the 2010 elections. There are two disparate events that seemed to prove this point. First, the consigment of the controversial Right of Reply Bill (Rorb) into the freezer. Second, the planned restoration of the compulsory acquisition of land–the “heart and soul” of the Comprehensive Agrarian … Continue reading →

The pursuit of nostalgic goals

Published in Mindanao Times 8/31/08 “The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past.” —Robertson Davies, A Voice from the Attic Casual or not, talks in our family seldom happened. Not that we are all reticent or mute, it maybe just one of … Continue reading →

CARP’s emasculation: A subtle corruption

It was Christmas season, the time of the year when people are exchanging gifts. For the farmers, agrarian reform advocates and some Bishops who had staged hunger strike outside the Batasang Pambansa, it would have been a merry Christmas had they received a gift in the form of a genuine agrarian reform. But members of … Continue reading →

Crack in the parchment

By now it should be clear to everyone that some of the members of Congress have never had divided loyalties. They have never been caught up in an awkwad situation in which they have to choose between advancing the interest of the people and keeping that of their own class’s. The emasculation of CARP, as … Continue reading →

Risks present in going organic

Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s opinion section, this is a reply to Ma. Ceres P. Doyo’s column. Organic foods have been thought of as beneficial to people and to the planet. Which makes it good news for Ma. Ceres Doyo that the Department of Agriculture has launched a campaign that encourages farmers to use organic … Continue reading →