Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

Filipino student leader Cleve Arguelles has listed a comprehensive matrix of Philippine education-related social media accounts. The directory features the country's leading universities, student councils and publications, government agencies and education officials

On January 23, 2013, an excerpt from the annual report of l'ACAT-France, A World of Torture 2013, makes a fresh assessment of the state of torture in the world [fr]:

“A report called A World of Torture in 2013, assesses torture practices that continue to be alarming, from Pakistan to Italy, by way of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bolivia. From authoritarian regimes to democratic countries, none are exempt from criticism on the topic. In 2013, torture remains as endemic, omnipresent and multi-faceted as ever”.

The overall human rights situation in the Philippines improved in 2012 with fewer extrajudicial killings and the passage of historic laws promoting rights. But the government has failed to address impunity for the most serious abuses. On prosecuting rights abusers, it needs to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Human Rights Watch releases its 2012 report about the human rights situation in the Philippines

Filipino netizens are urged by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to report sightings of street children by informing the agency through its twitter account, @savestreetkids. Updates will be posted within eight hours on whether the street children have been rescued.

Data subject has the right to know if their personal information is being processed. The person can demand information such as the source of info, how their personal information is being used, and copy of their information.

Janette Toral provides the salient features of the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act of 2012

Le Minh Khai thinks that “Austronesian Sea” or “Nusantao Sea” are more appropriate names for the South China Sea referring to Austronesian peoples who navigated the territory in the past. There are maritime disputes in the area involving China and several Southeast Asian countries. The Philippine government has recently renamed it as West Philippine Sea.

The Philippine government, in partnership with several child and labor groups, has launched a web portal on child labor “to share relevant data, foster communication, improve program monitoring and automate child labor case referrals” in the country.

A google map page shows the cities and municipalities in the Philippines which have banned the use of plastic in commercial establishments.

The Philippine government has uploaded a spreadsheet identifying the quality of the country's national roads. It's also a mechanism for citizens to report and monitor badly paved roads

Heritage interpreter, tour guide, and blogger Ka Bino Guerrero writes and posts pictures about horse fights in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental in the Philippines.

The Philippine Flood Hazard Map identifies the flooded areas in different parts of the Philippines.

Clarice Africa discusses several e-governance initiatives of the Philippine government which are planned to promote transparency and more efficient delivery of services.

The Philippine government has recently launched the Budget ng Bayan website to promote transparency and good governance in the country. Budget documents and state expenditures are uploaded in the site.

Angel de Dios compiles articles and commentaries on the proposed K-12 education reform in the Philippines. The government plans to add two more years in the basic education cycle aside from revamping the curriculum

Red-ayglasses blogs about the state of Philippine education during pre-colonial times and under Spanish colonial rule.

Karapatan, an alliance working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines, uploaded a PDF copy of its comic book entitled Oplan Bayanihan for Beginners. The book is an introduction to Oplan Bayanihan, the government's counterinsurgency campaign which is being linked by human rights advocates to the continuing spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations in the country.

Filipino netizens are using the hashtag #savebaguiopinetrees to protest the plan of a mall owned by the country's richest man to cut 182 pine trees in order to construct a parking lot in Baguio City in northern Philippines

A Radical's Nut looks at how US war drones or “unmanned aerial assault crafts” violates Philippine sovereignty and endanger the lives of ordinary Filipino civilians.

An online petition urges the Philippine government to deny the magnetite mining applications in the northern coastal areas of Luzon Island in the Philippines.

The Southeast Asia Digital Library provides educators and students with materials published in Southeast Asia. The online library contains digital facsimiles of books and manuscripts, as well as multimedia materials and searchable indexes of additional Southeast Asian resources.

Prime Sarmiento writes that the Philippines has recently launched the largest electric public transport fleet in Southeast Asia with its first commercial franchise of electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys). The jeepney is the most popular public mode of transport in the country

PinoyRice Knowledge Bank is an online source of information to help Filipino rice farmers improve their productivity. The modules in the website are available in 5 local languages.

The World Agroforestry Centre has released a study on the climate change adaptation options for small farmers in Southeast Asia.

Baratillo Pamphlet writes about the Bloggers for Habitat YouthBuild Philippines project which aims to gather 2,000 youth that will help rebuild the lives of families whose homes were totally damaged by a typhoon.

Mark Segador documents the efforts to restore the now decaying historical sites in Iloilo City, Philippines.

Vencer Crisostomo looks at last year's mass movement high points in the Philippines through the lens of western pop songs.

The Museo de Santisima Trinidad curator reviews Angela Stuart-Santiago’s Revolutionary Routes: Five Stories of Incarceration, Exile, Murder and Betrayal in Tayabas Province, 1891-1980. The book is a history of her family and the revolutionary struggles against the Spanish, American, and Japanese colonizers up to the early years of the Philippine republic. It is based on the memoir of her grandmother originally written in Spanish.

Journalist Keith Bacongco writes about how Typhoon Sendong evacuees in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao uses the malong, a traditional Muslim blanket, to cope with the disaster.

Two weeks after coming back from a journey to her motherland Philippines after travelling thirty cities, nine countries, and three continents, Justine Abigail posts about her travel adventures in 2011: ”I don't think I've left any part of myself there, but rather I've found pieces of myself”.