In response to escalating public pressure, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday lifted martial law in Maguindanao, averting a ruling by the Supreme Court on petitions to strike down the draconian measure as unconstitutional.
Presidential Proclamation No. 1959, which placed the province under martial law and suspended the writ of habeas corpus, was scrapped after eight days.
It [...]

Military rule came down on Maguindanao after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared martial law in the province on Friday to dismantle the private army of a warlord clan accused of being behind the massacre of 57 unarmed civilians in the worst outbreak of violence related to the general election in May.
This is the first time martial [...]

PHILIPPINE political convention WAS shattered on Monday when for the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1986, three disgraced and discredited top leaders filed certificates of candidacy for elected positions in a bid to regain power.
The assault on the ground rules of electoral politics was led by President Macapagal-Arroyo, who filed her certificate [...]

When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced on Monday that she is running for Congress in May, she settled the issue of whether she is stepping down from the presidency next year. But she also made clear that she is not retiring from politics. “Public service” (her code word for politics) is in her genes, she said.
The [...]

The government has come under fire from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for an “overly cautious response” to the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao as it attempted to reassert its authority over feuding warlords.
CHR Chair Leila de Lima found the arrest of the principal suspect, Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town, [...]

Amid the international outrage over the Maguindanao Massacre, the historic Manila Metropolitan Cathedral is drawing public attention to the more tranquilizing pursuit of holding a pipe organ festival on Dec. 3 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the cathedral from the ruins of World War II.
The concert will be the first [...]

THE MAY 2010 national election WAS marred by the bloodiest massacre on Monday forcing President Macapagal-Arroyo to declare a state of emergency in two provinces and one city. This was the first time an emergency was declared in relation to an election, although past Philippine elections have often been marked by violence between private armies [...]

The country’s dominant political coalition—the Lakas-Kampi-CMD—faces disintegration as its leaders admit that up to 40 percent of its cadres have defected to join two minor parties, the Liberal Party (LP) and the Nacionalista Party (NP) that are staging a revival following their abolition by the Marcos dictatorship in 1972.
Should the defections turn into a landslide, [...]

IN THE THIRD pre-election survey conducted by two leading poll organizations since he announced his bid on Sept. 9 for the presidency in the May 2010 election, Sen. Benigno Aquino III has locked his position as the front-runner in a field of eight.
The latest of these surveys, conducted nationwide by Pulse Asia from Oct. 22 [...]

AROUND 1.02 BILLION people are suffering chronic hunger today, said a report released last week by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme. This sharp rise in hunger triggered by the global economic crisis has hit the poorest people in developing countries hardest, revealing a fragile world food system [...]