'I KEEP BLAMING MYSELF'
John Rey Espora, a rescuer of Canlaon City’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO), grieves the loss of his family who died in the floods caused by Typhoon Tino on the night of November 2.
Espora, who was deployed for rescue operations at the time, said he blames himself for not being there to save them.
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On this day 11 years ago, transpinay Jennifer Laude was brutally killed by Joseph Scott Pemberton, a lance corporal from the US Marine Corps. In a motel room in Olongapo, Laude was found dead, with her head plunged in a toilet bowl and her neck marked with strangulation imprints. She was only 26.
Pemberton was in the Philippines to participate in regular military exercises. After being convicted of homicide, his sentence was cut short when former President Rodrigo Duterte granted him an absolute pardon in 2020.
More than a decade after the murder, advocates are still calling for the passing of the SOGIESC Equality Bill to establish protection against gender-based violence. Campaigns against enduring US military presence in the country are also persisting, with calls for the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Still, these calls are left unheard, with the current administration insisting on strengthening US-Philippine military ties instead.
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HUSTISYA PARA KAY ERIC SABER: Human rights lawyer Sol Taule visited the wake of Eric Saber, one of the reported victims who died from police shooting due to the massive anti-corruption rally last September 21.