SM is owned by the Philippines' richest businessman.

This painting captures the mass exodus of Filipino workers.

In the 16th century, Spain began to convert Filipinos.

Some people s animosity towards the Philippines took the form of racial slurs.

Yet Filipinos themselves simply cannot seem to imagine their leaders behind bars.

Estrada s conviction gives Filipinos the clearest illustration of what the rule of law may bring to their society.

Poverty was still the biggest concern confronting most Filipinos, and it affected rural women in particular.

The Philippines has a large population of informal workers like the street vendors who are often harassed and abused by authorities.

Even before Estrada s conviction, opinion polls showed that 48 of Filipinos wanted clemency, if not a guaranteed pardon from Arroyo.

In Chinese media reports, the heightened unfriendliness in the region has allegedly arisen from bad rumors and speculations on the part of Filipino commentators.

Another notable advance in efforts to combat violence against women was the high degree of awareness among Philippine men about the need to eradicate the problem.

They ranged from vocal support for the Chinese government, which has labeled the arbitration a farce, to calls for a tougher stance from the government and mockery of the Philippines.

This suggests not only that justice in the Philippines has a chance equally important, it suggests that Filipinos will give justice a chance.

In fact, few Chinese, Japanese, Malaysians, or Filipinos have ever seen a Jew, unless they have spent time abroad.

The same statistical study also shows that both Filipino men and women nationwide share the same strong advocacy of women's representation in Government peace panels.

The legislature has enacted Republic Act 8042 (1995), known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, and Republic Act 9208 (2003) on Trafficking in Persons.

DOLE also carries out activities in support of families of overseas Filipino workers, including livelihood assistance for entrepreneurship, training and educational programmes.

A principal finding of the survey is that a majority of Filipinos agree with the statement A successful peace process in Mindanao needs the participation of women along with men .

This suggests not only that justice in the Philippines has a chance equally important, it suggests that Filipinos will give justice a chance. If the Estrada saga leads to a firm yet dignified exercise of justice, Filipinos may discover a taste for more of the same.

The controversy however has spurred Filipino bloggers' interest, with some expressing surprise that the NPC, a journalists' organization, resorted to censorship or changes in the original work without informing the artists first.

At the height of the Soviet Afghanistan war in the 1980 s, Pakistan was the covert conduit for Filipino Muslim militants passing to and from Afghanistan and back to the island of Mindanao, which has long been a stronghold of Muslim rebels.

Even those Filipinos who can afford to litigate have to wait a claimant in the Dona Paz tragedy, for example, waited 19 years before recovering 250,000 in damages.

Last year, China effectively took control of the Scarborough Shoal, an area of the South China Sea that is also claimed by the Philippines and Taiwan, by deploying ships and erecting entry barriers that prohibit Filipino fishermen from accessing their traditional fishing preserve.