The dust from the May 2007 elections is settling and the broad contours of the coming post-election period can already be made out. The country is entering another period of political in-fighting and instability, with the possibility of major upheavals in a few years’ time especially as the economic situation of the people worsens. At the same time, the unimpeded repressive trend of the governing elite augurs even worse prospects for Philippine democracy.

Environmental and public health groups from various countries lodged a collective protest against Japanese free trade agreements (FTAs), which they assert is part of Japan’s sinister plan to establish waste colonies in Asia.

Workers had the lowest wage increases under the Arroyo administration and this has compounded their problems in the country’s dismal labor market, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

The anti-terrorism law is draconian, anti-people, and is very dangerous. Another fundamental point is, it does not cover the acts of terrorism of the State itself which is the worst kind of terrorism.

As corporations and wealthy individuals shift their assets into offshore tax havens, the loss in global tax revenues is now estimated to be at least $500 billion a year, more than enough to finance the UN's Millennium Development Goals. Civil society groups are challenging the offshore financial system and the social costs that tax evasion is imposing on societies around the world.

Since its boom in 2000, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, has become the fastest growing industry in the Philippines. There are currently 160,000 agent seats in the call center sub-sector or 67% of the more than 200,000 total workers employed in the BPO industry according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP).

With the World Trade Organisation (WTO) finally beginning to bare its fangs, and that too after structural adjustment programmes have done the damage, the long-term viability of agriculture and the survival of the farming community itself is at stake.

Aflatoxins are colorless, tasteless and odorless. It is stable at high temperature and cannot be destroyed by normal cooking. And it is a common food poison. It is present not only in peanuts, but also corn, figs and cereals. Aflatoxin has been found worldwide as a contaminant of many foods for people and livestock,
including corn, rice, wheat, peanuts, black pepper and even wine.

Government support for the public educational system has been declining and this is manifested by the severe shortages besetting the sector, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.