ortigas at Brave New Films

Philippino mining boom puts the environment at risk - 21 Dec

2008-12-26T08:55:56Z

The Philippines is one of the more mineral rich countries in the world.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the president, says she wants mining to become a main industry for the country in 2009.

But are questions raised whether the emerging economy can combine mining with preservation of the country's natural beauty.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from the national park of Palawan.

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Cat droppings a lucrative business in Philippines - 7 Dec 08

2008-12-10T02:56:38Z

Coffee aficionados in the Philippines believe they have struck gold with a specific bean that comes out naturally from civet cats once digested.

The cats love eating a particular type of bean adding to the flavour and collecting their droppings has become a lucrative business.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports.

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Bodies salvaged from Philippine ferry disaster - 28 Oct 08

2008-11-01T02:54:27Z

Authorities in the Philippines have recovered bodies from the wreck of a passenger ferry, the MV Princess of the Stars, that sank during a storm in June.

Divers have recovered 23 bodies - but more than 800 people were lost when the ship went down.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports.

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Muslim separitist groups in the Philippines - 25 Oct 08

2008-10-28T02:53:25Z

Muslim separitists in the Philippines have been accused of providing training for potential bombers, a charge they deny, but the US insists they help terrosits and is giving the Philippines military assistance to fight them

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Japanese exports hit by global economic crisis - 1 Oct 08

2008-10-31T21:30:14Z

Japan's economy is heavily reliant on exports, but as the yen strengthens against the dollar it is getting harder to shift the goods.

Exporters are facing a slowdown in trade amid the global credit crunch and are having to examine other markets in order to remain profitable.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from Yokohama.

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Japan's growing communist movement - 26 Sept 08

2008-10-31T09:31:27Z

Japan has long been held up as a triumph of capitalism, but economic worries have led to a rise in left-wing political movements.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from Tokyo where the Japanese Communist party is reporting a growing membership among Japanese young people, dissolusioned with society.

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Peaceful struggle for Filipino tribal land - August 28 2008

2008-10-29T21:30:10Z

A group of Muslim nations condemned attacks by Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters against civilians in the southern Philippines, saying they had committed "illegitimate acts" that caused the government to abandon a preliminary peace plan.

For decades Muslims in the southern provinces have been fighting for an autonomous homeland.

But indigenous tribes in central Luzon north of the country have sought a more peaceful resolution, and succeeded, to stake a claim to their ancestral domain.

Al Jazeera' s Marga Ortigas reports from Tarlac.

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Philippines' shattered peace process -- 21 August 2008

2008-10-29T09:31:33Z

A potential peace pact between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters in the south now seems all but impossible.

Dozens have been killed in a series of attacks and Mindanao residents caught in the crossfire are taking matters into their own hands.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports on why the prospect of peace in the southern Philippines seems extremely remote now.

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Philippines' Olympic flop -- 19 August 2008

2008-10-29T03:31:03Z

In any Olympic games most of the attention and money go to winning athletes from countries that invest heavily in sports.

But for many developing nations gold medals remain out of reach despite their people's love of sport.

The Philippines is one such country which always ends up punching below its weight in the Olympic arena, as Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports.

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Philippine peace process hampered - 13 August 2008

2008-10-28T21:31:35Z

The fragile peace process in the southern Philippines could be in trouble, with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front group saying that any police action against their local commader would hamper negotiations.

This warning comes just as people begin to return home following a Philippine army assault to rid the fighters from several occupied villages.

But many of the evacuees have nothing to go home to, as Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports.

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Balancing peace in southern Philippines -- 12 august 2008

2008-10-28T21:31:14Z

More than 100,000 people have fled their homes following renewed fighting in the southern Philippines between government troops and MILF rebels.

There has been controversy in the region over a deal to expand a Muslim autonomous zone there, but which was blocked by the courts last week.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas explains the fragile peace that hangs in the balance in North Cotabato province.

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Cambodia's 'unfair' election - 26 Jul 08

2008-10-28T09:29:29Z

Cambodians head to the polls this weekend, however, Human Rights Watch says conditions are not in place for free and fair elections.

Hun Sen, Cambodia's prime minister, is widely expected to retain power. But the watchdog group says his party's grip on the media, and use of harrassment and intimidation undermine the credibility of the poll.

Nationalist sentiment is running high over a border dispute with Thailand. However, many Cambodians also want to see an end to rampant corruption and solutions to rising living costs.

Eleven parties are competing, including the new "Human Rights Party".

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) continues to dominate. He has effectively been in power since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

But many of Cambodia's younger voters may be looking for a change of rule, as Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from Phnom Penh.

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Calls to raise Philippines age of sexual consent - 10 Jul 08

2008-10-27T15:30:38Z

The age of sexual consent in the Philippines is just 12 - one of the lowest in the world.

It is estimated that some 2 million children are sexually abused in the Philippines every year, with thousands forced into prostitution.

Campaigners want the age of consent raised to 16 but, as Marga Ortigas reports from Manila, the authorities are showing little enthusiasm to change things.

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Philippines pink is love at first sight - 27 Apr 08

2008-10-14T11:18:13Z

They say a little paint can go a long way. Officials in Manila are hoping that's right. The Philippine capital is getting a bit of a make-over, and the colour of choice: pink! But some say the move is simply a way to brush-over the city's real problems. Marga Ortigas reports for Al Jazeera.

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West Timor's malnourished children - 05 April 08

2008-10-14T11:17:43Z

Food shortages and a lack of knowledge are contributing to the deaths of children in Indonesia's West Timor province.

Tens of thousands of children there are malnourished, mainly because of crop failures blamed on changing weather patterns.

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South Korea prepares for a new president - 24 Feb 08

2008-10-24T09:32:27Z

South Korea will swear in its new President just days after he was cleared of corruption allegations.

Lee Myung-Bak has promised to revive the country's economy, and take a tougher stance on North Korea.

Marga Ortigas reports from Seoul, on what South Koreans are expecting from their new leader.

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Frat fights at Philippines universities - 02 Jan 07

2008-10-19T09:29:36Z

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports on the violence between student societies which is plaguing campus life in the Philippines

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Philippines regulates media coverage - 18 Jan 08

2008-10-17T21:29:25Z

Philippine authorities have introduced new regulations to limit media coverage during police operations. Journalists say it is an attempt to muzzle the press. But the government says it is responding to the way journalists behaved during a failed coup attempt in November. Thirty reporters were detained during the incident. They are filing a class action suit on Monday. Marga Ortigas reports for Al Jazeera.

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Rappers emerge from Manila's violent slums - 06 Jan 08

2008-10-17T03:31:28Z

A new generation of rappers in the Philippines has emerged from Manila's poorest slums where violence is a way of life.

The former gang members are using music to tell their story and have also become the subject of an internationally-acclaimed film.

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A difficult Christmas for Filipino families - 25 Dec 07

2008-10-21T09:29:37Z

Each year, more than one million Filipinos leave the Philippines to work overseas, sending money back to their families.

And every Christmas, thousands make the journey home to visit loved ones.

But as Marga Ortigas reports, the pain of separation makes it a difficult holiday season for many divided families.

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Philippine biofuels may harm environment

2008-10-21T09:31:00Z

Al Jazeera's Marqa Ortigas in the Southern Philippines reports on how the palm oil industry has raised fear for local food supplies and sustainable practices.

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Cloning cattle in the Philippines - 20-Nov-07

2008-10-22T09:29:32Z

Scientists in the Philippines are trying to genetically manipulate the country's native water buffalo to boost its milk production.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports on the Philippines's plans to cross some of its native cattle with a Bulgarian breed, and then clone them.

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Culion Island, a former leper colony in the Philippines

2008-10-29T21:59:00Z

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas travels to the island of Culion in the Philippines, which used to be called "the island of the living dead", to see what life has been like for the survivors of one of the oldest leper colonies in the world. It is a place of such stigma that many of its residents have been forced to live their entire lives in isolation. The Island has now been declared free of the disease. "I had a dream before ... that is when I was young ... in the place of my birth - a life full of promises," 73-year old Manuel Capao wrote this song of pain and lost dreams. A gifted guitar player, he lost his fingers and was sent here at 18, like many others struck with leprosy. Thanks to modern medicine, he's now leprosy free but he bears the scars. And with other ageing ex-patients, days are now spent in this hospice overlooking their island home. Culion the island itself bears a scar - a health warning to all that they were approaching a leper colony - what was known as "the island of the living dead". Hilarion Guia recalls that the island itself was split into two -- the left side for those considered "untouchable" ... and the right, for the indigenous "un-afflicted" residents. Even in death they were kept apart. This cemetery was solely for those that died afflicted with leprosy. Those that weren't were buried in a separate cemetery on the other side of town.

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Abu Sayyaf fighters speak out - 17-September-07

2008-10-24T15:30:14Z

The Philippines's military has been engaged in long-running offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, a group responsible for numerous killings in the south of the Philippines.

Al Jazeera' Marga Ortigas met former Abu Sayyaf fighters who are trying to distance themselves from the group's acitvities.

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Living among the dead in Manila - 10 Aug 07

2008-10-25T21:29:41Z

Thousands of squatters have been living in one of the Philippines' largest graveyards.

Now the illegal residents of Manila's north cemetery face losing their homes.

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