Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• 6 September 2009
• The Philippine Star
• By Tingting Cojuangco

Public office had always been open to Filipino women but, as a rule, they were hired only for minor positions such as those in the civil service as typists, stenographers, clerks and secretaries as late as 1930. But with the establishment of the Suffrage Law on Dec. 7, 1933, women’s right to hold public office, petition the government for redress of grievances, obtain their right to freely criticize public officers and contribute to government’s good measures was upheld…

In this time of elusive peace, Atty. Leila M. De Lima has become the supreme peace advocate, as the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights.

• News source:
• 31 August 2009
• Washington Post
• By Katherine Marshall

Trafficking of women and children, a leading wedge in the broader patterns of human exploitation, is a cause that unites people across steep divides in the political spectrum and religious beliefs. Surprising coalitions and alliances have formed with trafficking as their main focus. Amid the political polarization in American society, it’s heartening that evangelical Christians, liberal Jews, and non-religious human rights activists can unite behind a common cause.