tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58485452011-04-22T08:41:42.243+08:00Wim DC's blog about the people's struggle for health, freedom and democracy.Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1095761603458967092004-09-21T17:56:00.000+08:002004-09-21T18:30:25.150+08:00

The editorial of this week's The Lancet reads like an endorsement for John Kerry in the upcoming US presidential elections. "Anything but Bush" seems to be the prevailing opinion among anybody who doesn't want to be identified as a reactionary in Europe these days. I'm not convinced though. Still, the Lancet editorial makes some interesting points and criticizes the health profession's lack of

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1095043546365520482004-09-13T10:39:00.000+08:002004-09-13T10:45:46.366+08:00

Progressive Philippine congress man Satur Ocampo (Bayan Muna) made a privilege speech last September 7 to draw attention to the deterioration of the Philippine public health care system. The speech is based on a survey done by the health alliance, Kilosbayan Para sa Kalusugan, in 13 public hospitals from August 29 to September 2, 2004 showed that 89% of the patient respondents had to wait from

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1095042313523708262004-09-13T10:12:00.000+08:002004-09-13T10:25:13.523+08:00

Kevin Williams, who lives in Baghdad, muses on the 3th anniversary of the September 11 events: "The total number of deceased on the day of the attacks on New York, Washington and Pensylvania fell just short of 3000. In Iraq today the figure for the dead is not counted - but is widely believed to be in the tens of thousands. Now over 1000 US troops have also been killed. The resistance to the "

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1093055598375632672004-08-21T10:16:00.000+08:002004-08-21T10:39:11.730+08:00

In an article in this week's issue of The Lancet bioethicist Steven H. Miles condemns the complicity of U.S. military medical personnel in torture of prisoners and other human rights violations. Citing military documents, eyewitness accounts and news reports, Miles says medical personnel were involved in a range of violations including falsification of death certificates, tampering with Iraqi

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1092884413582650382004-08-19T10:37:00.000+08:002004-08-21T10:36:57.336+08:00

The Iraqi city of Fallujah was the scene of war crimes by U.S. troops last April. This time it is Najaf's turn. The city’s top health official talked about "a real catastrophe" for local health services. Ambulances are prevented from reaching the injured, US troops have turned the city’s best-equipped hospital into a base of operations and are indiscriminately firing machine guns and rockets into

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1090305000898255882004-07-20T14:16:00.000+08:002004-07-20T14:30:00.900+08:00

After weeks of potest, it seems the Filipino military contingent in Iraq is finally leaving. The protests against the deployment of Philippine troops heightened after Angelo De la Cruz, a truck driver from Mexico, Pampanga, was taken hostage. The Iraqi rebels threatened to kill Angelo unless the Philippines withdrew its troops from their country.  President Arroyo was caught inbetween the public

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-109029992738304262004-07-16T12:50:00.000+08:002004-07-20T13:05:27.383+08:00

A friend of mine got hurt last Tuesday when a peaceful rally on Plaza Miranda in downtown Manila was dispersed. The police used water cannons and truncheons to drive the crowd away.  I was out of town and could contact her only this morning when she reassured me she was doing fine after losing lots of hair and blood and gaining seven stitches. Apparently she hadn't lost her fighting spirit either

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1090298846267591852004-06-29T12:39:00.000+08:002004-07-20T12:47:26.266+08:00

The Philippine International Forum, a network of internationals living and working in the Philippines for peace and justice, joined today's Prayer and Candle Lighting for Genuine Peace and Sovereignty in Iraq with a powerful statement by Becca and Jessica.    The statement debunks the Bush administration's claims that it has handed-over 'full sovereignty' to the Iraqi people and observes that

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1087792852871049712004-06-21T12:33:00.000+08:002004-06-21T12:40:52.870+08:00

So, Philippine Congress counted more votes for Gloria Arroyo than for her rival Fernando Poe Jr in the May 10 national elections. It's hardly surprising after all the irregularities and controversies. She will be proclaimed president soon but the doubts are here to stay and will erode her legitimacy. At least one group will continue the search for the duly elected president of the Philippines.

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1087792305863217752004-06-21T12:25:00.000+08:002004-06-21T12:31:45.863+08:00

Winning Philippine party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women's Party finally celebrated their victory last Saturday, June 19. They were joined by the 3 other progressive party-lists that joined the elections: Anak ng Bayan, Suara Bangsamoro and Migrante Party-list. They were not able to win seats in Congress but still, their first participation in the national elections showed

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1086419191760754512004-06-05T14:57:00.000+08:002004-06-05T15:06:31.760+08:00

Much has been written about the abuse of prisoners in occupied Iraq. Sure, the pictures were appalling but they couldn't capture the victims' pain and humiliation. Nothing beats plain and simple words to describe emotions. One of the most compelling stories I've read lately is a short blog entry about some of the victims of torture by the US forces. It is written by Dahr Jamail, one of the few

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1085722965194843312004-05-28T13:27:00.000+08:002004-05-28T13:42:45.193+08:00

In the Philippines, the brain drain is becoming more spectacular by the day. A fairly new phenomenon are the Filipino doctors who are taking up nursing just to be able to go abroad. Last year, 2,000 doctors left to become nurses and this year, 4,000 Filipino doctors are taking up nursing. Especially in Europe and the US the demand for nurses is huge. Consequently the number of nursing schools in

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1085107962137843032004-05-21T10:42:00.000+08:002004-05-21T10:56:28.076+08:00

So the U.S. is concerned about human rights abuses by the Philippine military and police? Is it a joke? According to a new U.S. State Department report security forces are responsible for extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrest and detention. There were also reports of physical abuse of suspects and detainees, it said. Sure, they are right. But so is the Philippine

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1084529184667028692004-05-14T17:59:00.000+08:002004-05-14T18:06:24.666+08:00

The national elections on May 10 were a mess with as much violence and cheating as you can imagine. But the counting of the votes is even a bigger mess as you can see here. The final results aren't expected within the first 3 weeks. For comparison, a quote from an article about India's elections: "India's sheer ability to carry off a marathon nationwide vote with relatively few missteps is

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1084249712154311862004-05-11T12:23:00.000+08:002004-05-11T12:29:44.960+08:00

"Mounds of garbage choke the streets. Electricity in the capital has been scarce for weeks. The police force has fallen deeper into disarray, and crime has spiked, including a rash of kidnappings aimed at wealthy businesspeople. The price of rice has doubled in some parts of the country." Q: What country is this description refering to? A: It's Haiti but it might have been any country under US

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1084157303932143372004-05-10T10:35:00.000+08:002004-05-10T10:56:21.680+08:00

Just a few days before election day, Amnesty International called on Philippine government forces and opposition groups to respect human rights. AI was particularly disturbed by the recent extra-judicial killings of progressive activists and mentions the case of Isaias Drummond Manamo as an example. I didn't know Isaias myself but I knew his girlfriend. When I met her again last Thursday she

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1082001523895948182004-04-15T11:58:00.000+08:002004-04-15T12:05:14.543+08:00

Independent reporters have provided appalling eyewitness accounts of terrible war crimes by US Occupation Forces during the ongoing siege of Fallujah in Iraq. Ambulances have been shot; the cities' only hospital was bombed; unarmed civilians, including women and children, were targeted; and cluster bombs have been used in populated areas. Read the chilling reports you don't find in the

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1081493808044110192004-04-09T14:56:00.000+08:002004-04-09T15:10:58.046+08:00

The website axistogrind.com chronicles the project of Canadian artist Irwin Oostindie about North Korea. Oostindie presents photographs, film and digital artwork revealing how North America's misrepresentation of North Korea stands as an obstacle to peace and reunification for the Korean peninsula. I couldn't agree more when the artist explains: "I believe Axis to Grind is a necessary project

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1078713255968337922004-03-08T10:34:00.000+08:002004-03-08T10:37:20.686+08:00

What's the difference between US president Bush and Philippine president Arroyo? Not much according to Aziz Choudry's article in Scoop. His conclusion summarizes one of the most important lessons about politics I've learned in the Philippines: "If there is hope in the Philippines, it comes from the building and sustaining of vibrant social movements struggling for justice and liberation, not the

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1078109556554254962004-03-01T10:52:00.000+08:002004-03-03T18:55:36.530+08:00

They speak of landless peasants, abuse of human rights and the dehumanizing effects of the war on terror. Members of the Philippine International Forum (PIF) are foreigners in the Philippines – many of them long-time residents – but their solidarity work for the Filipino cause reveals a deep commitment that makes them stay longer. An article about PIF in Bulatlat.com: http://www.bulatlat.com/news

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1078109317721588312004-02-22T10:48:00.000+08:002004-03-01T10:53:47.763+08:00

On the occasion of its 20th Annual Conference, the Philippine International Forum, a network of internationals of various nationalities and vocations, gathered to reflect on its continuing journey in solidarity with the Filipino people. We, the Philippine International Forum, as citizens of the world are acutely aware that economic globalization and the “global war on terror” have caused

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1076921512876556352004-02-16T16:51:00.000+08:002004-02-16T16:54:47.326+08:00

Juvy Magsino and public school teacher Leima Fortu were killed on February 13 by suspected elements of the 204th Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army in Naujan, Mindoro Oriental. Magsino was vice mayor of Naujan and a respected human rights lawyer while Fortu was the acting Secretary-General of KARAPATAN-Mindoro Oriental. They are among the 13 human rights workers and 41 Bayan Muna (People

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1076289409528911522004-02-09T09:16:00.000+08:002004-03-03T18:56:49.513+08:00

Finally, there's an indymedia site to serve the Philippine people's movement. I've always believed in the concept of indymedia since the start in Seattle in 1999 and in Belgium less than one year later. It's genuine participatory media and indymedia QC (for Quezon City) says fittingly that "it shall be for the people or it is nothing." I hope it works also in a Philippine setting where internet

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1075351337143513202004-01-29T12:42:00.000+08:002004-01-29T12:44:28.373+08:00

I just came back from a trip to India where I attended both the World Social Forum and Mumbai Resistance 2004, a more militant activity criticizing WSF from across the road. Indymedia Belgium and Indymedia QC have some coverage of both events. Be sure to check out the picture reports of Peter and Ivo on indymedia.be or the site of intal.

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1072152820628640712003-12-23T12:13:00.000+08:002003-12-23T12:14:47.576+08:00

The Christmas issue of BMJ, a respected medical journal, carries some interesting articles. One of them, a spoof of serious research articles, is truly hilarious. Check out "Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials."

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1071308368686834142003-12-13T17:39:00.000+08:002003-12-13T17:40:57.023+08:00

The December 6 issue of The Lancet published a letter calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq. It was written in reaction to an October 18 editorial in the same medical journal calling for more international aid to the country and argues that the Iraqi people need compensation instead for the grave damage that they and their country have suffered.

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1068776071424142722003-11-14T10:14:00.000+08:002003-11-14T10:14:36.846+08:00

Doctors rely on information supplied, and research done, by major drugs companies: so 'Big Pharma' directly or indirectly influences the choice of prescriptions for patients. Some case notes on corruption of the medical profession by the big pharmaceutical companies are compiled in an article in this month's Le Monde Diplomatique.

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1068010246125983702003-11-05T13:30:00.000+08:002003-11-14T10:22:24.433+08:00

The editorial of the Monthly Review's November issue compares the recent war on Iraq with the Philippine-American war and other events in Philippine history: The Philippine-American War is now being rediscovered as the closest approximation in U.S. history to the problems the United States is encountering in Iraq. Further, the United States has taken advantage of the September 11, 2001 attacks

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1067307783067447252003-10-28T10:23:00.000+08:002003-10-28T10:23:55.906+08:00

Aziz Choudry wrote an interesting assessment of Bush's recent Asia tour. He quotes Bayan Muna (People First Party) Representative Crispin Beltran who described his eight-hour Philippine visit as “one a master does to the home of his slave, an emperor surveying the territories of his empire, and inspecting the lay of the land.” More in Choudry's essay "The Emperor Goes To Asia and Talks Terror."

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1067167063590154282003-10-26T19:17:00.000+08:002003-10-28T10:15:45.770+08:00

This week’s issue of BMJ has an interesting article about one of the biggest, yet unknown, massacres of recent history: the stunning ‘excess mortality’ since the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union’s integration into the capitalist world system, mortality rates surged and millions have died who would have lived much longer under the country’s conditions in the 1980s. According to

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1066788451804152492003-10-22T10:07:00.000+08:002003-10-22T10:11:14.660+08:00

Stephen Shalom makes an interesting comparison between the situation of Iraq now and the history of the Philippines. "What does the historical record tell us about the U.S. commitment to promoting democracy?" he asks. His article on ZNet explains that the U.S. is only committed to its own interests. That's how it was when the Philippines was annexed by the U.S. in 1898 (Interestingly, Bush

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1066553297382531752003-10-19T16:48:00.000+08:002003-10-19T16:59:18.506+08:00

Allover the Philippines, tens of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets yesterday to register their protest against the visit of US president Bush. His speech in Congress was delayed by one hour because of the crowd of protesters that had assembled on Commonwealth avenue in Quezon City. Seven congressmen and -women, including Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and Crispin Beltran,

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1066299902378054552003-10-16T18:25:00.000+08:002003-10-18T15:37:28.883+08:00

In today's issue of Today newspaper, Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo warned once more that the Bureau of Immigration would not hesitate to order the arrest and deportation of foreigners taking part in protests against the visit of US President Bush to Manila. “Any antigovernment action is by nature a political activity, and such activity is exclusively reserved for Philippine citizens,”

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1066270133726510872003-10-16T10:08:00.000+08:002003-10-18T14:53:32.823+08:00

"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific." This quote from US President Bush, at the occasion of a previous trip to Asia in February 2002, illustrates the man's sense of

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1066228858913554562003-10-15T22:40:00.000+08:002003-10-19T18:05:06.440+08:00

US president George W. Bush will visit the Philippines on October 18. The visit is part of a nine-day swing through six nations of Asia-Pacific and his stop-over in the Philippines is intended to thank his most loyal ally in the region, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Bush visit has already been contested in Philippine congress and massive protests of the Philippine people's

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1065512303652870192003-10-07T15:38:00.000+08:002003-10-07T15:38:23.336+08:00

A quote from an article in today's Philippine Daily Inquirer about the security preparations for the October 18 visit of Bush: Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Hermogenes Ebdane said (...) foreign activists would be arrested and placed in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration if they joined illegal rallies. "We don't want foreigners to join demonstrations because that would be an abuse

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1065243207559723532003-10-04T12:53:00.000+08:002003-10-04T12:53:27.780+08:00

The government is using a ridiculously low poverty threshold (about half a euro per person per day) and is revising its poverty assessment methodology more often than its poverty reduction strategies (if any) and yet the trend is clear: poverty in the Philippines is rising. Currently, more than one third of the population or 26.5 million Filipinos are considered poor by the government agencies,

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1065145477689497282003-10-03T09:44:00.000+08:002003-10-04T21:19:58.820+08:00

Ford's plant in Genk, Belgium lays off 3,000 workers or about half of the workforce. The unions are afraid that this is only the beginning and the closure of the plant has become inevitable. Indymedia Belgium has done a wonderful job to get the workers' emotions and analysis on the Internet. Check out Overview: 3000 jobs less in Ford Genk or Overview: Foerd Ford if you know Dutch or French.

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1064809926331565852003-09-29T12:32:00.000+08:002003-09-30T08:51:14.146+08:00

The Philippine human rights organization Karapatan has accused the military to be behind the gruesome abduction and murder of four youth leaders in Maco, Compostela Valley on the island of Mindanao. The military's attempts to implicate the organizations of the youths in the torture and killing of their own kin makes them only more suspicious, especially since they admitted monitoring progressive

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1064297364876803792003-09-23T14:09:00.000+08:002003-09-23T18:18:59.380+08:00

My friend and veteran Filipino activist Ka Dan Vizmanos launched his second book last Saturday January 20 in Popular Bookstore, Quezon City. "Martial Law Diary and other papers" contains his personal accounts, observations and comments on significant events during the early stages of martial law (1973-1974). Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the launching but according to the report in

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848545.post-1064290386130546022003-09-12T21:13:00.000+08:002003-10-04T10:32:43.623+08:00

I decided to start my own blog today. Not because it is cool these days but because I'd like to share some stuff with others on the web every so often. I called it Pipol Power because I'm working with NGOs and people's organizations in the Philippines. People Power (spelled pipol power in pilipino) refers to the way the Philippine people deposed of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 and the Estrada

Wimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777705397836599570noreply@blogger.com0