BuLatLat.com is a site that voices people's feelings about political events.
Title
Bulatlat - The Philippines's alternative weekly magazine
Description
The recent political tumult in the Philippines ending in the ouster of president Joseph Ejercito Estrada showed once again the role of the mass media in shaping a strong public consciousness and in arriving at a decisive political message – the ouster of a corrupt and inept ruler.
The Philippine press, particularly its liberal sections, had been under pressure by Estrada officials. They used unjust means to whip the press it into the Malacañang line and keep it mum on burning issues, such as cronyism, corrupt practices of Estrada, his kin and friends, crime syndicates with a network that extended to the Palace, the Mindanao war and human-rights violations. But such pressures emboldened the progressive segments of the press even more.
The exposés and criticisms of the progressive press complemented the struggles of grassroots organizations and street parliamentarians whose campaign to oust the Estrada regime began long before Juetengate. The organized masses’ campaigns initially focused on continued land conversions under the bogus agrarian reform program, against globalization that aggravated the country’s economic woes through mass layoffs, reduced incomes and high prices, as well as against widespread militarization and violations of human rights especially in Mindanao. These issues converged to repudiate the regime’s “Erap para sa mahirap (Erap for the poor)” slogan as an empty rhetoric.
Contact
- Alipato Publications
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- Quezon City
- Philippines 1103
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- 4264182
