The Philippines: The Collapse of Peace in Mindanao
Asia Briefing N°83 (CRISIS GROUP, 23/10/08):
On 14 October 2008 the Supreme Court of the Philippines declared a draft agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines government unconstitutional, effectively ending any hope of peacefully resolving the 30-year conflict in Mindanao while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remains in office. The Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD or MOA), the culmination of eleven years’ negotiation, was originally scheduled to have been signed in Kuala Lumpur on 5 August. At the last minute, in response to petitions from local officials who said they had not been consulted about the contents,…
Una estrella encarcelada
Por Roby Alampay, director ejecutivo de la Seapa, Alianza de la Prensa del Asia Sudoriental. © Project Syndicate in collaboration with the Asia Society, 2007. Traducción: Carlos Manzano (LA VANGUARDIA, 26/09/07):
Joseph Estrada, el desacreditado ex presidente de Filipinas, afronta la perspectiva de pasarse los años que le quedan de vida en la cárcel después de que un tribunal especial de Manila lo declarara culpable de amasar unos 15 millones de dólares estadounidenses en sobornos y cohechos. Durante los 30 meses en que gobernó su país, desde mediados de 1998 hasta comienzos del 2001, Estrada aceptó sobornos de los señores de…
Don’t listen to what the rich world’s leaders say - look at what they do
By George Monbiot (THE GUARDIAN, 05/06/07):
It is time once again for that touching annual ritual, in which the world’s most powerful people move themselves to tears. At Heiligendamm they will emote with the wretched of the earth. They will beat their breasts and say many worthy and necessary things - about climate change, Africa, poverty, trade - but one word will not leave their lips. Power. Amid the patrician goodwill, there will be no acknowledgement that the power they wield over other nations destroys everything they claim to stand for.
The leaders of the G8 nations present themselves as a force for…
