Many analysts think Gloria’s chacha is dead. Apparently her people in the House do not think so. While the Villafuerte resolution was not submitted the day Congress opened April 13 as Speaker Nograles promised, plenary discussions on Nograles’ separate chacha resolution (HR 737) started on April 22. Chacha opponents in the House fear that Gloria’s people are preparing a parliamentary maneuver that would enable them to go ahead with a constituent assembly (ConAss).

20-21 April 2009, Manila, Philippines

ASEM must act now to deliver sustainable development
and protection for the poorest

The global economic crisis that is taking place along-side a food, energy and an ecological crisis is driving tens of millions of people deeper into poverty, worsening inequality, significantly setting back development, as well as giving rise to human rights violations, discriminatory practices, and social unrest.  The wreckage of these crises are both long-term and of immediate consequence, both structural and conjunctural, and demand not cosmetic reforms but a deep-rooted and sustainable transformation.

 

QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES - Some five hundred urban poor leaders gathered at the Quezon City Memorial Circle on 01 April 2009 to formally launch Kilos- Maralita or Kilusang Panlipunang Proteksyon para sa Maralita (Movement for Social Protection of the Poor), a broad urban poor alliance with almost 300 member organizations nationwide.

 

This broad alliance is a result of efforts of various urban poor organizations to create a united front against evictions and demolitions of informal housing settlements of the poor and to put forward their demand for humane housing and dignified living for the poor. Kilos-Maralita’s campaign aims to combine the struggle for housing rights with the struggle for a broad range of social protection measures in this time of global economic crisis. These measures include ensuring access of the poor to employment, livelihood, food, healthcare, education, water and electricity. Under the banner Kilos-Maralita, the urban poor aim to claim their right to the city and their right to active participation in governance.