As the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) announced its verdict, independent think-tank IBON, one of the initiators to the complaint filed before the international opinion tribunal, said that voters could use the verdict as a guide in supporting candidates who genuinely uphold Filipinos’ economic, social and cultural rights.

The Hague, Netherlands – In a 13-page verdict read before about 300 people inside a church in this city March 25, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) found both Philippine President Gloria M. Arroyo and US President George W. Bush, Jr. and their respective governments as responsible for gross and systematic violations of human rights, economic plunder and transgression of the Filipino people’s sovereignty.

The gap between the unimaginable wealth of the country’s richest families and the poorest households highlights the yawning income inequalities that further widened under the Arroyo administration, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

The National Statistics Office’s report of an improved employment situation, in which nine out of 10 in the labor force had jobs, cannot conceal the worst jobs crisis in the country’s history, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

The more crucial question is if the militarist Bush administration heeds the growing demand to stop its military aid to one of its most loyal and trusted allies in the ‘war against terrorism’.

The report shows how solar power is literally making the difference between life and death in rural Mali.

The Philippines is now Asia’s largest rice importer as a result of agricultural trade liberalization coupled with state neglect, and this threatens the country’s food security and sufficiency, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

On 6 December 2006, the EU Commission announced that it had finalized three draft mandates for negotiating bilateral free trade agreements with ASEAN, Korea and India, together with two mandates for negotiations with Central America and the Andean Community.

For the nearly 50,000 residents of Rapu-Rapu, Albay and the adjoining municipality of Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon, fishing has been the primary livelihood for generations. The fish that they catch from Lagonoy Gulf and Albay Gulf is not just their staple food supply, it is also a main source of income for the communities, no matter how modest. Twelve out of thirteen barangays on Rapu-Rapu are fishing communities, while Priteo Diaz’s people survive on marine, aquaculture and industrial production. Rapu-Rapu and Prieto Diaz are also among the poorest municipalities in the country and government services are generally hard to come by.

Washington - Some of the same neoconservative institutions that are defending World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz against charges that he unethically promoted the career and compensation of his romantic partner were among the most aggressive in attacking former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for alleged nepotism on behalf of his son.

If Pres. Arroyo wants to talk about “social payback from the booming economy”, the only acceptable and meaningful social payback that Filipino workers deserve today is a substantial wage increase complemented by price control reforms, tax reforms, and drastic increases in social services spending.

Creating characters who are mere reflections of American attitudes and values only shows how victors rewrite history, albeit in the guise of speaking for the defeated enemy.

After three and a half years of occupation, Iraq’s medical system has sunk to levels lower than seen during the economic sanctions imposed after the first Gulf war in 1990.

Trade negotiations under the World Trade Organisation returned to Geneva this week and it is hoped that the Doha Round will be concluded by year end before the US elections in 2008. But the deadlock that plagued the negotiations is posing serious problems to the successful conclusion of the Round.

There are moves to introduce the world’s first genetically engineered rice containing human genes which its proponents claim will help save the lives of millions of children suffering from diarrhea. But critics beg to differ.

The millions of plastic bags we use say a lot about our wasteful habits. We use these bags for a few minutes to carry our goods home, but these plastic bags can last for hundreds ofyears.

The enclosed document is the copy of ‘the verdict’ concerning the present dreadful situation in the Philippines issued by ‘Permanent People’s Tribunal’ (PPT) in which I participated as one of the juries at The Hague in March. I enclose the copy of the verdict because too little is known about the present situation in the Philippines. ‘PPT’, an independent, a non-governmental international organization, is not known in Japan at all, however, it is very much known in Europe and ‘the Third World’. I joined this Rome-based organization at the beginning of the process of establishment, in 1978.

Health spending experienced possibly the steepest drop under the Arroyo administration and this has forced Filipinos to pay more for badly needed health services, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.