Victim’s point of view

Washington prepares for Obama

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | January 18, 2009 at 10:15 am
Filed under: Image Galleries

BELOW is a photo contribution of U.S.-based Filipino social documentary photographer Rick Rocamora, as well as his personal reflections on the much anticipated inaugural ceremony of Barack Hussein Obama on January 20 as the first African-American president of the most powerful country in the world.

Hoping for a better tomorrow for immigrants

Barack Hussein Obama’s election as president of the United States rekindles memories of discrimination that I have experienced since I arrived in America. His election will not erase the pain but it gives me hope that America is capable of change in her attitude towards the immigrant community.

As immigrants, our contributions to America are rarely acknowledged. The hateful slurs and chauvinist attitudes that we experience are not easy to forget, but the pain challenges us to excel and prove that we deserve the same respect and recognition as any native-born American.

After a successful career in pharmaceutical sales, I pursued a career in social documentary photography, not to focus on the hardships or exotic lives of immigrants as some prefer to do, but on their contributions to America, the protection of their civil liberties, and the free exercise of their personal beliefs.

Read more…

barack obama, filipinos, immigrant community, philippines, united states

Press freedom under attack early in the new year

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | January 17, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Filed under: Free Expression - Asia, Journalist Killings, Media

BARELY a month into the new year, the state of press freedom has further deteriorated in many parts of Asia. Of serious concern are the recent, brutal attacks on the independent media in South Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka where an independent TV station complex was strafed and veteran journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of The Sunday Leader, was murdered.

Wickrematunga was gunned down by unknown assailants on January 8 on his morning return trip to his office after he received an emergency call. His killing happened within 48 hours after the arson attack on the Maharaja TV station in Depanama.

Prior to his death, Wickrematunga and his wife had been assaulted and threatened for his paper’s investigative reports on corruption by the President of Sri Lanka (who was his ex-personal friend) and the atrocities of the Tamil rebels. His house was shot at in 1998. The Sunday Leader press was burned on November 21, 2007 even as the culprits remain at large.

In its 2008 country report, Freedom House noted with alarm how the level of threats and harassment against journalists and media outlets has continued to grow, with those particularly covering human rights issues, corruption, or official misconduct, facing regular intimidation and pressure from both senior- and junior-level government officials. Freedom House also pointed out that previous cases of attacks and killings of journalists have not been adequately investigated or prosecuted.

As a tribute to a fallen colleague in the media, the PCIJ is republishing the posthumous editorial written by Wickrematunga days before his death, and which his paper published on January 11, 2009. It is our hope that Wickrematunga’s killers will be brought to justice and that, by his editorial, the public will be better enlightened and appreciative of the crucial role that the independent media play in society.

And Then They Came For Me

No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honor to belong to all those categories and now especially the last.

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lasantha wickrematunga, press freedom, sri lanka, the sunday leader

Brokedown mines

Posted by: PCIJ | January 6, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Filed under: Environment Watch, Image Galleries, i Report Features

WHEN mines shut down, they don’t just fade away like old soldiers. They fester and fall apart once their owners walk away. That’s what seems to have been happening to the mines that have closed one after the other across the country in the last several decades, for reasons ranging from diminished returns to disasters. And while the government has tried to step in to do some cleanup, it has been having difficulty choosing which mines need help the most.

[Photos courtesy of Tetra Tech EM Inc. ]

The latest piece in i Report’s series on the Philippine mining industry tracks just how far the government has gotten in its efforts to rehabilitate abandoned mines, as well as the risks posed by some of these mines.  It also looks at the reasons why the government seems to be having a hard time dealing with the situation — even opting to redo previous evaluations of idle mines.

Read on at pcij.org.

abandoned mines, mine rehabilitation, mining, mining industry, philippines, tetra tech em inc.

When will ‘turning point’ in labor migration come for RP?

Posted by: Karol Ilagan | January 2, 2009 at 11:33 am
Filed under: Governance, Migrant Workers Issues, The Economy

THERE is no better time to celebrate family gatherings than during the holidays. In the Philippines, it is the most opportune occasion for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to come home and reunite with loved ones.

A family with one or even two members away for work during most of the year has been common among Filipinos — so common and widespread that OFWs are now the ones keeping the economy afloat with over a billion dollar worth of remittances every month.

This, however, was not exactly the scenario government officials conjured up when the overseas employment program was launched over 30 years ago. In fact, sending Filipino workers abroad then was deemed to be only temporary while development strategies are undertaken in the country.

The supposed temporary nature of labor migration follows that a certain “turning point” or “migration transition” is to be expected. According to Fair Trade Alliance executive director Dr. Rene Ofreneo, this stage happens when the net emigration of citizens of a labor-sending country starts to decline in both absolute and relative terms.

The former labor and employment undersecretary explained that reaching this tipping point does not necessarily mean that there will be no more OFWs. “There will be more who will be retuning home or will be going to the labor-sending country than those who will go abroad,” Ofreneo said.

In the mid-1960s, the so-called tipping point happened in Japan. The country at the time was hailed as the “miracle economy of the East” after an economic slump at the end of the Second World War.

Read more…

arroyo administration, labor migration, migration transition, ofws, overseas filipino workers, philippines, structural adjustment program

The Canadian quandary

Posted by: PCIJ | December 29, 2008 at 8:52 am
Filed under: Environment Watch, i Report Features

OUR latest story by PCIJ Fellows Isa Lorenzo (from the Philippines) and Philip Ney (from Canada) looks at the mixed record of good and bad business practices by mining firms from Canada, the world’s largest exporter of metals and minerals.

In 2004 alone, the Canadian extractive sector invested 26.6 billion Canadian dollars (about $22 billion) overseas. In the Philippines, six Canadian mining companies run and operate 13 projects to extract silver, gold, copper, and nickel, at a total declared cost of $1.26 billion.

In their home country, these firms are subject to strict environmental and social regulations, but away from the prying eyes of the Canadian citizens and media, they do not behave as well overseas.

As they dig for pay dirt, some of these firms have logged destructive trails — of violence and deceit against workers and host communities, and toxic mine tailings wreaking havoc on the environment.

In Zamboanga del Norte, indigenous Subanon elders say that TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc (TVI), a subsidiary of the Canada-based TVI (Toronto Ventures Incorporated) Pacific, has turned Mount Canatuan, which the Subanon consider sacred, into “a dumpsite.”

Read on at pcij.org.

arroyo administration, canadian mining firms, mining, philippines, tvi resource development philippines

Footwear as art form

Posted by: PCIJ | December 21, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Filed under: Culture, Image Galleries

THERE are high-heeled boots, classic stiletto shoes, low-heeled office wears, rugged sandals and trendy flip-flops. There are quirky designs, such as a pair with holes all over, or one with eyes and nose, like a snake’s. Some are slim and pointy, some are bulky and clunky.

But none of the 184 pairs of shoes could be worn by anyone, although they could attract those seeking footwear-turned-president-seeking-missiles — much like the pair launched recently by an irate Iraqi journalist against U.S. President George W. Bush. All made of wood, including gemelina,acacia, santol, and madre de cacao, the shoes could surely give anyone a serious concussion if they were used as weapons, airborne or otherwise.

[Photos by Rowena Carranza-Paraan]

Fortunately for Bush, German artist Hans Angerer has more benign plans for the shoes, which were crafted by Ifugao woodcarvers. Angerer is currently presenting the wooden footwear collection as “Saka Saka” (literally, barefoot in Cordillera language) at the Victor Oteyza Community Arts Space (Vocas) on Session Road, Baguio City, with Goethe-Institut Manila as sponsor.

According to Angerer, he was inspired by the famous shoe collection of Imelda Marcos, widow of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Dubbed as a “steel butterfly,” Imelda gained notoriety for, among others, her thousands of pairs of shoes.

Through the exhibit, Angerer and the woodcarvers have transformed shoes from utilitarian items to art. While inspired by the former First Lady’s proclivity for shoes, the exhibit highlights the Cordillera woodcraft tradition and the Ifugao carvers’ dexterous creativity.

The installation itself cleverly depicts Philippine society: while there were some modern, obviously trendy types, majority were of modest designs, some even looking tired and well-worn.

So far, there are no indications that the shoes are headed next for Iraq or the United States.

cordillera, hans angerer, ifugao woodcarvers, imelda marcos, philippines, shoes