News Roundup 12 February 2023
Feb 12, 2023 • 4 min Read
Writer, activist Lualhati Bautista dies at 77 | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines – Women’s rights activist and novelist Lualhati Bautista passed away on Saturday, one of her grandchildren wrote in a social media post.
She passed “peacefully” at 6 a.m. on February 11. Lualhati was 77 years old.
“With her ideals and advocacies all beyond reproach always with the intent of advancing the social consciousness especially about women’s rights and toppling the macho-feudal society we collectively live in,” Xyril Salazar wrote on Sunday.
Salazar said a public viewing will be available soon.
Lualhati – an activist known for writing on stories of abuse and life under dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s Martial Law and after his fall in 1986 – penned “Dekada 70”, “Desaparesidos”, “‘GAPÔ” and “Bata, Bata…Pa’no Ka Ginawa?”
“A woman that has braved the regime of Marcos Sr. himself, never wavering and never backing down even when the dictator himself had the gun directly at her throat,” Salazar said.
Just last year, she received an offer from international publishing company Penguin Classics to republish her novel “Dekada 70,” a story that follows a couple trying to raise their family during the years of the dictatorship.
The book is currently self-published and has since been adapted on-screen.
Bikers, commuters: Removal of ‘gold standard’ Ayala bike lanes puts many at risk | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines (Updated 12:39 p.m.) — Cyclists, commuters — who use bikes, e-scooters and public transportation — and even car drivers are protesting the looming removal of bike lanes on Ayala Avenue in Makati and the implementation of “shared” lanes that would see bicycles and e-scooters squeezing alongside other vehicles.
Privately-driven vehicles will retain their lanes in the Shared Lane Markings scheme that the city said had to be done to accomodate an increase in public utility vehicles.
In a joint statement signed by nearly 100 people and by 22 groups as of Sunday, the cyclists and commuters said the removal of bike lanes on Ayala is part of a systemic removal of the protected lanes that were put up during the pandemic lockdowns.
“The removal of what used to be the gold standard for protected bike lane width has dashed the hopes of many road users for safer streets in our cities,” they said. Despite the designation of bike lanes in Metro Manila’s cities, motorists frequently stray into lanes that are not closed off by bollards or barriers.
Full Story at: Bikers, commuters: Removal of ‘gold standard’ Ayala bike lanes puts many at risk | Philstar.com
Turkey-Syria quake deaths pass 28,000, millions in need of aid | INQUIRER.NET – KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey — Rescuers pulled a seven-month-old baby and a teenage girl from the rubble on Sunday, nearly a week after an earthquake devastated Turkey and Syria and killed more than 28,000 people.
Tens of thousands of rescue workers are scouring flattened neighborhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid.
Security concerns led some aid operations to be suspended, and dozens of people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud victims in the aftermath of the quake in Turkey, according to state media.
But miraculous tales of survival still emerged from amid the destruction and despair.
Full Story at: Turkey-Syria quake deaths pass 28,000, millions in need of aid | Inquirer News
Indonesian man accused of having sex with his wife’s mother threatens to sue for defamation | INQUIRER.NET – JAKARTA – An Indonesian man accused of having sex with his wife’s mother has now threatened to sue for defamation after his wife divulged details of the alleged affair on social media.
Nov 15, 2022 was a day Ms Norma Rismala, 21, said she will not forget for the rest of her life. A young wife, she had been married to Mr Rozi Jay Hakiki, also 21, for less than two years.
Her cousin called her around noon while she was at work as a customer service officer for an online store, urging her to return to her home in Serang, Banten, about 90km from Jakarta.
Suspicious neighbors had stormed the couple’s rented house and found Mr Rozi there with Ms Norma’s mother, Mrs Rihanah Anah, who was naked. Mr Rozi apparently fled when the neighbors entered the home, while Mrs Rihanah grabbed her clothes.Full Story at: Indonesian man accused of having sex with his wife’s mother threatens to sue for defamation | Inquirer News
