By RONALYN V. OLEA
After President Benigno S. Aquino III granted amnesty to rebel soldiers, relatives and supporters pressed anew for the release of the Morong 43 and other political prisoners in the Philippines.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
“Why wait for an actual injury when you have the singular opportunity to slay the dragon at first sight?” said Edre U. Olalia, legal counsel of the petitioners against the Human Security Act of 2007 in an interview with Bulatlat.

Sidebar: Recent SC Decisions Detrimental to Human Rights -– Rights Lawyer

By ANGEL L. TESORERO
They went to Ajman, United Arab Emirates to work as cleaners and office assistants in various schools. Suddenly, their employer left them with unpaid utility bills and two months of salaries. After bearing intense heat and absence of electricity and potable water for more than a month, the 46 Filipina workers ended up in jail.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
“This is an old tune,” Axel Pinpin, secretary general of Kalipunan ng Samahang Magsasaka sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK), told Bulatlat, referring to the arrest of three peasants in Laguna. He blamed the extended counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL).

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“To reduce this measure to a debate that focuses only on artificial versus natural methods of contraception is a myopic approach to the issue.” – Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan.
Sidebar: Dissecting The Comprehensive Reproductive Health Act

By MARYA SALAMAT
Now that the assumption of jurisdiction order has taken away the flight attendants’ right to strike, they are left with no recourse but to appeal to the media and the Filipino riding public “to join us and await how this new government will resolve the labor dispute.”

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The meager salary of teachers remains as one of the most pressing concerns confronting Philippine education.

By MARYA SALAMAT
SPECIAL REPORT The public and government officials, among them President Aquino, always blame drivers each time a deadly bus accident happens. What they don’t know or chose to ignore is that bus drivers and conductors are working under severe conditions imposed by greedy operators and ignored by government regulators, thus allowing these mishaps to happen in the first place. Sidebar: For Provincial Buses, Physical Condition of Drivers — and Their Buses — Are Key to Safe Travel | More Motorcycles Mean More Mishaps