Indigenous Woman Helped Slap Judgment on Chevron

ECUADOR

In a landmark case of David-and-Goliath, indigenous villager Maria Aguinda (61), despite lack of legal training or even of ability to speak Spanish, helped bring a judgment of $9.5-billion fine against the American oil giant Chevron for polluting the rain forest she calls home. She lives in Rumipamba, a town in remove Orellana province where pollution caused by 30 years of oil drilling and petroleum accidents had become a sad fact of life. Her home sits near marshes clogged for decades in sticky oil wastes of then Texaco, which operated in teh area from 1964 to 1990. When Chevron bought Texaco in 2001, it inherited Texaco's legal nightmare.

Mary Aguida et all filed a suit in 1993 on behalf of 30,000 residents of Orellana and Sucumbios provinces, in which they charged Texaco for dumping billions of gallons of toxic crude duirng its operations, fouling rivers, lakes and soil and causing cancer deaths in indigenous communities.

Aguida believes her husband and two of his 10 children died from effects of the pollution, which has affected the size of Rhode Island.

The court last week announced a penalty against Chevron of $8.6 billion plus an additional 10 percent for environment management costs. [Full Report]

Used Paper Firm Saves 149,000 Trees

PHILIPPINES

Cebu-based used-paper buyer, Paper Savers and Trading Co. collects more than a million kilos of paper a year. Since its inception in 2003, it helped recycle 8,024,000 tons of paper. At an estimate of one ton of paper equivalent to 17 trees, it has help save 149,600 trees to-date.

The papers the firm collected came from printing companies, banks, hotels, resorts, malls, junk shops and scavengers. Colored papers, bond papers, and carbon papers are segregated at the warehouse.

White papers are then shipped to paper mills in Pampanga, where these are made into rolls of paper and toilet paper. While the colored ones are sold to makers of paper egg trays. Carbon paper are still being studied where to ship to. [Full report]

Egyptians Win a Chance for Democracy

EGYPT

On 11 February 2011 (Friday), the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces sealed the will of the Egyptian people when it announced, in a statement broadcast on state television, that it supported the legitimate demands of the people. And after 18 days of protests, vice president Omar Suleiman announced that reigning president Hosni Mubarak is stepping down from office effective immediately.

On hearing the news, ABC News reported: "Cairo erupted with joyful dancing, singing and cries of 'God is greatest.' Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the nationwide revolt, thundered with cheers as protesters waved flags and cars honked their horns. Outside the presidential palace protesters shouted, 'I am Egyptian ... proud to be Egyptian,' as they hugged one another, danced and ululated. Some fell to the ground, overcome with emotion. Elsewhere in Cairo, cars honked their horns and fireworks went off as Egyptians celebrated the end of Mubarak's reign."

Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, 75, will sack the cabinet, suspend parliament and co-opt judges from the Supreme Court to rewrite the constitution in what some are calling a coup by consensus, ABC News reported.



Cease-Fire Monitoring Team Extends Mandate

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Philippine Public Works Save P577M Through Public Bidding

PHILIPPINES

Secretary Rogelio Singson of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), under the new Aquino administration in the Philippines, saves 577 million pesos for the country, betweenn July through December 2010, when it removed all negotiated contracts outstanding from the previous Arroyo government, and put the projects into public bidding instead. [Read more.]

Napping Trends

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A good 30-minute nap gives a daytime boost to employee energy as effectively as a good night sleep. It is good for the health and alertness of employees in their jobs. And employers are starting to wake up from the benefits of napping at work.

Companies such as Google and Nike now have areas where employees can take a nap during the day. In New York City, "napping spas" appear offering people a 20-minute rest for $15 dollars.

A phone survey of 1,000 white-collar workers found that 85 percent of them claimed more productivity if they slept more. A recent study that Braun Research conducted for Philips Consumer Lifestyle noted a nearly quarter of office workers admitted to napping on the job.

If your company has not recognized this benefit and still has to support napping at work, why not start a campaign to get a policy supportive of this healthy incentive?