Reihana Mohideen

The Wall Street crisis seems light years away from the side streets of Manila’s urban poor slums.

When history is denigrated, such as in these times, Renato Redentor Constantino’s book of essays, which brings together an array of little-known facts about the history of imperialism — from the Philippine-American war, World War II, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq — is a welcome and refreshing read. The sharp analysis is delivered with passion, humour and style. Underlying his writing is the commitment of an activist involved in the struggle for social change.

MANILA — On July 10, the progressive democratic alliance Sanlakas and the Workers Party (Partido ng Manggagawa) were at long last proclaimed as having won seats in Congress along with five other organisations. The

MANILA — In November alone, more than 300,000 demonstrators here have called for the resignation or sacking of President Joseph Estrada (known as Erap). The mass protests have continued to put pressure on the regime and have

Philippine left unites and claims the streetsManila — A broad alliance consisting of the "white forces" of the Catholic Church, the "yellow forces" of the supporters of the former president Cory Aquino and the "red forces"

SPP founding congressMANILA — The founding congress of the Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (Socialist Party of Labour — SPP) was held on June 18-20. The congress opened with a rally and march, throughout which the SPP

The Cordillera people's armed protestMANILA — After driving for 22 hours, on narrow roads which cling to the sides of spectacular mountain ranges, we were greeted in the dead of night by armed fighters of the Cordillera

Vietnam launches action plan for womenThe women of Vietnam have been described as showing a greater sense of independence than women in other south-east Asian countries. During the war of national liberation, first against

Philippine socialists unite in new partyMANILA — November 30, the birth date of Andres Bonifacio, a left-wing leader of the 1898 Philippine revolution against Spanish colonial domination, is marked as National Heroes Day by

MANILA — The Asian economic crisis has had a massive impact on the production, availability and accessibility of basic food products, leading to serious food shortages in south-east Asia. In the Philippines, formerly an

MANILA — With over 70% of the vote counted and a commanding lead of 4 million votes over his nearest contender, Joseph "Erap" Estrada has all but been declared the new president of the Philippines. He will be sworn in on June

MANILA — A split in the Communist Party of the Philippines has recently been made public by the circulation of several statements. The split revolves around directives issued by the CPP leadership faction around Wilma Tiamzon