Contents:
- Internet porn firm busted
- Six minors rescued from prostitution
- Aids epidemic “bringing social collapse”
Internet porn firm busted
Six women were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation after it uncovered a porn site on the Net operating in San Lorenzo Village in Makati December 11. Chris Cole, also known as Antonio Lopez, and Luisito Reambonanza, both operators of the site were not in the house when NBI agents struck. Agnes Dapday, also an operator, was arrested. The suspects were charged with violating the Revised Penal Code provision on “immoral doctrines,obscene publications, and indecent shows” before the Department of Justice. Source: Philip Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 December 2002.
Suit filed vs US on toxic waste
A group of Filipino and Filipino-American activist comprising the Filipino-American Coalition for Environmental Solutions (FACES) filed a lawsuit against the US Air Force and Navy on behalf of victims of toxic wastes left by the US military at the former US bases in the Philippines ten years ago. FACES filed the lawsuit in San Jose, California in behalf of 36 residents from Philippine commuties around the former Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, the largest US military facilities outside its territory. It does not specify any amount of compenation for the victims, but asked the US Air Force and Navy “to conduct the requested assessment” under the Superfund Law. The complainants are represented by Scott Allen on pro bono basis. Source: Chandler E. Ramas III, Philippine Daiy Inquirer, 4 December 2002.
Aids epidemic “bringing social collapse”
A report from the the United Nations lays out the increasing scale of the global epidemic on AIDS that last year killed 3.1 million people, of whom 610,000 were children. A further 5 million peole were infected with the deadly virus in 2002, bringing the world total living with HIV to 42 million. Most of the 29.4 million people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are likely to die- only about 300,000 currently receive life-saving drugs. The report also warns that what is happening now in Africa may prefigure a similar pandemic in the populous countries of Asia. Source: Sarah Boseley, The Guardian Weekly, 5-11 December 2002.
