Gerry Albert Corpuz presents

This is Gerry Albert Corpuz and this is my life and political journey to the world of class struggle and class emancipation

Pamalakaya chucks out Sec. Defensor’s denial on alleged

Pamalakaya chucks out Sec. Defensor’s denial on alleged

bribe attempts to stop House probe on Gloriagate tapes

“ If there is smoke, there is fire”. 

This was the argument taken by leaders of the militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in dismissing the statement of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Michael Defensor that there was no truth to rumors that Malacañang tried to bribe lawmakers at the House of Representatives to stop the ongoing investigation on the controversial Gloriagate tapes.

“ The Filipino people were not born yesterday. They were exposed to this kind of dirty politics. The news spread out faster than a speeding bullet only to be denied by one of Arroyo’s trusted political lieutenants”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

The DENR chief was accused by some quarters in the opposition camp as the one who was dispatched by Malacañang to distribute the payoffs to congressmen who would strike a vote to end the wiretapping investigation at the Lower House.

Sec. Defensor on Monday denied circulating reports that Malacañang would release between 500,000 pesos to 2 million pesos per congressman to stop the House inquiry on the controversial wiretapped tapes allegedly containing conversations between Mrs. Arroyo and Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano suggesting that Palace rigged the elections to ensure the victory of Mrs. Arroyo in last year’s presidential elections.

Like Defensor, administration congressmen quickly denied that some of them have been bribed by Malacañang to stop the probe on the Gloriagate scandal amidst Palace’s strong pressure for them to kill the probe this week.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap, quoting a news report from another major broadsheet said that a highly placed source revealed that a first time congressman from nearby Metro Manila, along with Rep. Prospero Pichay ( Surigao del Sur) and few more congressmen sat in a Palace meeting with Gabriel Claudio, Malacañang’s legislative liaison officer together with some Palace aides to discuss ways to handle the Gloriagate tapes.

According to the same source, the “small group” who met inside Malacañang agreed to bribe lawmakers who are members of the committees that will compose a majority vote to strike against the resumption of any hearing on the controversial tapes.

“ In the first place, the meeting was highly questionable. Lawmakers who claimed themselves as real public servants, independent minded politicians ,truth and justice seekers are meeting with the legislative liaison of a president whose mandate is currently being questions because of allegations of massive poll fraud and other grave electoral crimes”, Hicap added.

Rep. Pichay had branded the bribe issue as another black propaganda as he denied any knowledge of the supposed bribe to be undertaken by Malacañang for administration solons to vote against the continuity of the investigation on the controversial Gloriagate scandal.

Meanwhile, Pamalakaya dared all congressmen who had allegedly received bribe money from Malacañang to spill the beans and tell the people the exact story about the payola handed down to certain members of the Lower House.  “ For the sake of public interest and good governance, we strongly urge lawmakers who have knowledge of the alleged payola campaign of the Office of the President to rise above the occasion and tell the truth”, the group added. #

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:55 | link | comments (2) |

Statement on the President’s address to the Gloriagate tapes

Statement on the President’s address to the Gloriagate tapes

 “ Mother of All Fantaserye”, leftist group says on PGMA’s

coming out party on Gloriagate scandal

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finally broke her silence on the controversial wiretapped tapes containing an alleged conversation between her and Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano suggesting election fraud in the last year’s presidential elections.

The embattled President Arroyo admitted that the voice on the much talked about tape belongs to her and issued a statement almost apologizing to all Filipinos for the late admission. However, Mrs. Arroyo did not admit that about charges that she committed massive poll fraud to ensure her election victory in the May 10, 2004 elections but expressed readiness to subject herself to an impeachment trial just like deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Commenting on the 7 p.m presidential address, rabid critics belonging to the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) dismissed the presidential address on the controversial Gloriagate tapes as nothing but a political stage show.

“ It is the Mother of All Fantaserye that could give the likes of ‘Darna’, ‘Encantadia’ and ‘Kampanerang Kuba’ a run for their own money and ratings.  Mrs. Arroyo and her paid propagandists in Malacañang are treating our people to an endless guessing game, cheap thrills and feel good roller coaster rides at the expense of truth and justice”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

The militant leader further described the “coming out party of Mrs. Arroyo” as grand plot to bring all anti-Arroyo forces to the bait of “ impeachment process” and later let her cabals of pro-Arroyo politician –hooligans to do the work in throwing out the impeachment complaint through sheer tyranny of numbers.

“ The game plan of the ruling Macapagal-Arroyo syndicate is to admit the voice but not the crimes of poll fraud and force all anti-Arroyo forces to bring their fight to the House of Representatives via the impeachment process, which is expected to by nailed down with finality by the Arroyo rubber stamp Congress”, Pamalakaya’s Hicap added.

The leftist leader said President Arroyo decided to admit that the female voice in the wiretapped conversation was hers to downplay the political furor created by long-standing silence on the issue. Hicap said the act was similar to what former US President Bill Clinton did when the latter was implicated in a sexual scandal with White House staff Monica Lewinsky.

“ This ala Bill Clinton escapade of La Gloria will not change the gathering political storm. It is all system go for the Oust Arroyo movement. The people’s call and collective sentiment for Mrs. Arroyo to step down is non-negotiable, period, period, period”, Pamalakaya said.

The militant group said the announcement of President Arroyo admitting the female voice on the controversial tape belongs to her would not dampen the raging protest in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other parts of the country.

Leftist activists would join other anti-Arroyo forces including followers of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and deposed President Joseph Estrada on July 25 during the scheduled State of the Nation Address (SONA) of embattled President Arroyo. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:26 | link | comments (1) |

Militants to let “ giant Hot-Air Oust Gloria balloons” fly on Monday

Militants to let “ giant Hot-Air Oust Gloria balloons” fly on Monday

Two six feet gas-fired hot-air balloons crafted from colorful Japanese papers bearing Oust Gloria calls will fly the open sky tomorrow morning at the Sunken Garden of the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Quezon City. 

This was disclosed by the militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), one of the groups demanding for the immediate removal of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from Malacañang.

“ We want to send heaven an urgent appeal and message- it is about time to curse, punish and compel the illegitimate and bogus president to step down and take the backdoor exit in Malacañang”, said Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chair in a press statement.

The group’s chair also said the message of the flying balloons also extend to pro-Arroyo officials and lawmakers urging them change their minds, cross party lines, defect to the side of public interest and abandon Arroyo’s ship for the sake of truth and justice.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said re-electionist senators and congressmen who would defy national interest in the name of President Arroyo might face political backlash in the next 2007 elections.

“ Mrs. Arroyo is a deadman walking waiting for the collapse of her fraud-vaulted and blasphemous presidency. These hot-air balloons which we will let go is part of our political statement that is high time for Arroyo to go away and never comeback”, Hicap added. 

The militant leader said the “ flying protest” won’t be their first and last, adding that Pamalakaya is set to fly another one either in Manila Bay or Laguna Lake or Pasig River in the first week of July as part of their build-up protest nearing the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Arroyo scheduled on third Monday of next month. 

“ The next hot-air balloon to fly will eclipse all flying Boeing 747 aircrafts in terms of political message and value. This is going to be a super political roadshow presentation and protest against the illegitimate rule of Mrs. Arroyo”, Hicap added.

The left-leaning fisherfolk group will be joined by their youth supporters belonging to the National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates-Youth Sector (Nnara-Youth), staunch ally Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the newly-formed Rural Movement for the Ouster of Gloria in tomorrow’s flying session in UP Diliman.

 Hicap said the “ flying event” will signal the start of fresh week-long anti-Arroyo protest activities till June 30, one year after Mrs. Arroyo was inaugurated as the “ duly elected of the Republic” in Cebu City last year.

“ The protest won’t stop. This is the tall order of the day and everything is going to that direction and that is to end the illegitimate political career of the cheating president”, the leftist leader added.

The military and the police over the weekend lowered their respective alert status a day after militant groups and supporters of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and deposed President Joseph Estrada staged a big anti-Arroyo rally participated by not less than 20,000 protesters. #

 

 

 

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:51 | link | comments |

Public, military and police urged to start addressing GMA as ‘ illegitimate Pres. Arroyo’

Complimentary to tax revolt

Public, military and police urged  to start addressing GMA as ‘ illegitimate Pres. Arroyo’

The leftist fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday had urged the public to start addressing the embattled president as ‘ Illegitimate President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’.

Leaders of the Pamalakaya the politically correct way of addressing Mrs. Arroyo is necessary to frustrate and deny Mrs. Arroyo the right to claim legitimacy. They said despite damning evidence that she cheated her election victory as shown by the ‘ Gloriagate’ recordings suggesting massive poll fraud in last year’s elections was enough basis to recall naming her as President of the Republic.

“ We strongly appeal to the Filipino public to begin calling Mrs. Arroyo as illegitimate President Arroyo because this is the correct way of addressing the cheating president in Malacañang”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

Hicap went further by calling on all top officials and rank-and-file members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to address Mrs. Arroyo as the “ illegal Commander-in-Chief of the Philippines”.

“ We just want to be correct, exact and precise here. The AFP and the PNP are politically obliged to follow what is appropriate or else they might be accused of taking orders from an illegal president. That is the now big trouble and huge error they have to fix”, the leftist leader added.  Hicap said the military and police cannot follow orders from a presidency being questioned for legitimacy, legality and constitutionality.

“ Until when they would realize that they are taking orders from an illegal government. Time is running out for the military and police establishments”, Hicap added.

The statement came a day after former Sen. Rene Saguisag challenged the public to go on a tax revolt unless President Arroyo breaks her silence on the controversial wiretapped tapes. Pamalakaya’s Hicap said the call for tax revolt could be a major political pressure for Mrs. Arroyo to finally talk on the tape, admit her election crimes and step down from Malacañang.

“ A tax revolt, powered by popularization of the “ illegitimate president” address and day-to-day and weekly mass actions would compel the bogus president to break her silence and step down from power”, Hicap said.

 

For his part, Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz went to high heavens in cursing President Arroyo. The group’s spokesperson appealed to the God of history, truth and justice to curse Mrs. Arroyo and penalize her and her lapdogs in Malacañang for dismissing all protest actions as part of the elaborate plot to destabilize the present administration.

“ May heaven curse the illegitimate president and her cabal of illegitimate officials in Malacañang for not only subverting the people’s will and collective verdict, but as well insulting the dignity of 84 million Filipinos”, Corpuz added. 

 “ It is really time to exorcise the evils and bad spirits inside Malacañang Palace. While it is certainly a big sin to tell lies, President Arroyo and small-time puppets like Sec. Bunye are living in dishonesty and disloyalty to the Filipino just to save the day for the fraud-vaulted, criminal and corrupt regime”, he said. #

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:49 | link | comments |

San Antonio Spurs, Oust Gloria Rally at Sakada

Bago kami tumungo sa big mobilization ng Oust Gloria noong June 24, ay tinapos muna namin ang sudden death game ng San Antonio Spurs at Detroits. Ewan ko parang malungkot ang mga tao. Siguro Detroits sila. Ako, wala nawalan na ako ng interes sa basketball mula ng matapos ang basketball career ng mga taga Crispa at Toyota.

Anyway, nakarating kami sa assembly area 1 pm. Oust Gloria na talaga ang political mood. Nagsimula nang magtipon sa gitna ng matinding araw ang mga aktibista at iba pang mga kasali sa Oust Gloria rally. Handang-handa ang lahat, as in handa lahat dahil talaga naman bumandera ang mga streamers at sari-saring gimik. Anakpawis was my top pick for the day. Ganda ng mga flags nila, malilinis at may malaking Gloria sa nakasabit sa MMDA bridge. Pati Pamalakaya, first time na naglabas ng mahabang flag. Maganda bihis ng barangay pesante in fairness and in fairview. Pero hindi rin pahuhuli ang Gabriela under Mighty Cynthia's command. Colorful mob ang June 24. And again in fairness and in fairview nag-deliver ng malaki ang multisectoral.

Later a movie buff activist  told me that the movie Sakada will be aired on Saturday on ABC Cinema. 10: 30 pm channel 5. The movie was made in 1975 by Ben Cervantes at the height of Martial Law. An entry to the 1975 edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival, the Cervantes opus was banned by the military from commercial run dahil sa seditious character at content ng pelikula ( maghawak ba naman ng gulok si Rosa Rosal at sugurin ang paid goons ng hasyenda, kahit si Marcos natakot sa pelikula)

Napanood ko na ito twice. Sa SM Megamall, isa sa mga unang edition ng Pelikula at Lipunan mid 90s ata yon. Huli ko itong napanood Holy Week sa Cinema 1, cable channel ng ABS-CBN. It was not a well made film based sa paningin ng ilang mga kritiko. Medyo rush ang development ng mga character at may pagka romantisismo. Pero sa kabila ng mga kakulangan sa aspetong teknikal at technical, maikakapuri mo ang obrang ito ni Cervantes sa balangkas at punto de bista ng tunggalian at pakikibaka.

The people behind the film, especially Cervantes should be commended for trying to come up  with a strong political indiction of class rule powered by the standing army of the state and the films justification of armed struggle as the principal weapon against class oppression of the elite.

And Sakada inspired other film makers to wage their silent war against the dictatorship in the following year 1976, the year of second golden age of RP movies. Lahat ng entry sa 1976 Film Festival ay socially relevant and subtle expression of political opposition against the dictatorship. Banta ng Kahapon ( Eddie Romero)- critic ito ng dekadenteng buhay ng mga military official at katakawan sa sex, Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?
( Eddie Romero)- historical inquiry sa social, political and cultural life ng Pinoy sa panahon ng kolonyalismo, Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos ( Mario O' hara) isang obra laban sa imperyalistang gyera at paano sinisira nito ang buhay ng Pinoy sa panahon ng digmaang imperyalista, Minsan May Isang Gamu-gamo (Lupita Concio)- paglalantad ng mga krimen at pang-aabuso ng imperyalistang US laban sa mga Pilipino sa sarili nitong bayan, Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak ( Celso Ad Castillo)- love story ito, choosing imperialist war between US and japan as backdrop), Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag ( Lino Brocka), buhay ng mga Pilipino sa Maynila sa panahon ng Martial Law at Insiang  (Lino Brocka), another social critic sa buhay ng mga Pinoy sa kagubatan ng Maynila sa panahon ng Martial Law.

Tiyak matutuwa si Carl kasi nalampasan namin ang target sa June 24. By the mukhang magiging abala na naman tayo next week dahil sa laban ng mga sakada, manggagawa at manggagawang bukid sa HLI at sa malaking mob sa June 30. Salamat na lang at tapos na laban ng San Antonio at Detroits at aabangan uli natin ang next ABC cinema treat sa linggong iyon matapos ang pilot classic na Sakada ni Behn C.

San Antonio, Sakada at Oust Gloria ngayong June 24. Ano kaya next week?

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 13:39 | link | comments (1) |

Bayside protesters hover “ Hello Garci” CDs in Manila Bay

Bayside protesters hover “ Hello Garci” CDs in Manila Bay

Bayside protesters belonging to the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday hovered “ Hello Garci” tapes in the breakwaters of Manila Bay to dramatize their demand for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Escaping the close watch of the Western Police District (WPD) and defying the no permit, no rally policy in Manila declared by Mayor Lito Atienza, the fisherfolk activists let 18 Hello Garci “ compact discs” crafted from Styrofoam materials bearing the face of President Arroyo and Oust GMA calls written all over the CDs to drift away from the breakwaters of Manila Bay.

“ We want to send a clear message to the coastal people across the archipelago. President Arroyo’s remaining option is to step down or face the roaring rampage of protest that would eventually compel the bogus president to take the backdoor exit of Malacañang”, said Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

Allied groups like Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), Amihan peasant women federation and National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (Nnara) joined Pamalakaya in the “ message in the CD” protest action along Manila Bay breakwaters.

“ President Arroyo is deadman walking waiting to serve her sentence. She cannot change this surefire verdict of history on her political career and regime. The protest movement would soon spread like an epidemic and by that time totally uncontrollable enough to flush out the resident evil in Malacañang”, Pamalakaya’s Hicap said. 

The militant group also used the occasion to challenge Arroyo’s party mates in the House of Representatives to cross party lines and allow the five committees investigating the controversial tapes to play the controversial wiretapped conversions allegedly between Mrs. Arroyo and Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

“ Pro-Arroyo lawmakers in the House of Representatives are guilty of suppressing the truth if we will judge the outcome of the congressional inquiry since day one. They are orchestrating a major campaign to suppress the truth and provide Mrs. Arroyo her walk-in-the park escape from justice”, Pamalakaya said.

The militant group will proceed later to the House of Representatives to join anti-Arroyo protesters not later 1 p.m at outside Congress gate in Batasan, Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Hicap said Pamalakaya chapters are expected to join the nationally coordinated protest action tomorrow spearheaded by opposition groups identified with camps of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and former President Joseph Estrada and cause-oriented organizations under the leftwing alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

Pamalakaya said in the National Capital Region, not less than 20,000 anti-Arroyo forces are expected to join the long march from Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City to Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

The militant group said rallies would also be held in Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon and Masbate, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon provinces, Baguio City, Bacolod City, Iloilo City and Davao City.  “ Tomorrow’s rallies will be big, bold and daring, a political sneak preview to forthcoming storm of protest waiting Mrs. Arroyo and her ruling syndicate in Malacañang”, Pamalakaya stressed.

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 10:35 | link | comments |

Leftists scoffed at Inquirer’s Doronila for bad comments on People Power

Leftists scoffed at Inquirer’s Doronila for bad comments on People Power

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday scoffed at the Inquirer’s editorial consultant Amado Doronila for his bad comments regarding the practice of People Power as an extra-legal and extra constitutional mean to unseat an unpopular and detested president and regime like President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her administration.

“ While we have high regards for the veteran newspaperman and editorial writer, we cannot take his recent statements against the political viability and righteousness of popular uprising as a mean to throw out an uncaring and anti- people president and regime”, said Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz in a press statement.

Doronila in his commentary titled “llegal tapes used as tools to oust gov’t” published in last Monday’s edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said the Gloriagate issue is being used as tools to incite the people to march in the streets to bring to a premature end the elected administration of President Arroyo, who has sat in the presidency for no more than a year of her elected term.

Doronila said the threat of mass mobilization to topple an unpopular government has become a tyranny of people power rather than a weapon or blessing to overthrow a dictatorship, deriving a precedent from the first People Power revolution.

“ For the sake of truth and justice, objectivity, fair play and radical scholarship, we ask Mr. Doronila to do some soul searching. Perhaps he is missing almost all major and fundamental points that’s why he arrived at an illogical and subjective conclusion against people power. His statement is a general endorsement of an illegitimate, bogus and anti-people presidency of Mrs. Arroyo”, Pamalakaya’s Corpuz said.

Corpuz said there is no such thing as abuse of People Power or tyranny of People Power. Those who are afraid of people power , according to the militant group, are certified anti-people regimes, all-out tyrants and defenders of a status quo that enslave and terrorize people.

“ People power is an expression of people exercising their power against any evil government or state or ruling order..  It should never be reduced to acts of tyranny, because victims of injustice would never be tyrants but liberators of their own”, Corpuz said.

 

The Filipino people based on historical accounts used their power as a legitimate expression to render a collective verdict punish presidents and regime guilty of national crimes against the people and to seek meaningful reforms within the unchanged balance of forces in the society at the present time”, Pamalakaya added.

 

Pamalakaya said Mr. Doronila could start his “ political soul searching’ by start attending all anti-GMA meetings and symposium discussing his crimes against the people including but not limited to the latest Malacañang scandal on election fraud and jueteng payola and try to feel the collective sentiment and national pulse of the people.

 

“ We hope Mr. Doronila would accept our invitation to go on grassroots touch-basing and intellectual and principled talks with anti-Arroyo forces and cause-oriented groups regarding the necessity why Mrs. Arroyo should step down or in case she refuses, be removed from Malacañang through another exercise of People Power”, the group added. #

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 10:50 | link | comments |

Leftists urge Guingona to severe ties with GMA

Leftists urge Guingona to severe ties with GMA

Leaders of the anti-Arroyo alliance Rural Movement for the Ouster of Gloria or Remove Gloria on Wednesday urged Philippine Ambassador to China Teofisto Guingona Jr. to severe his ties anew with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stressing that a statesman and decent thinking politician like Guingona should not join Mrs. Arroyo and her company of wolves.

In a press statement, Remove Gloria convenor Fernando Hicap appealed to the former Vice-President and erstwhile critic of President Arroyo to leave the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and join the broad movement for the ouster of an illegitimate President in Malacañang.

“ The Filipino people will wait from sunrise to sunset for Guingona to live up with his politics of true statesmanship and staunch advocacy of truth, justice and fair play. But this homecoming with truth and justice seekers must be done in the nearest time possible”, Hicap said.

Hicap, also the current chairperson of the leftist fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Guingona should also notice that the big guns and lifelong nemesis of election fraud, repression, corruption and anti-people policies are now coming out in the open to denounce the national crimes of President Arroyo and her league of extra-ordinary puppets in Malacañang.

“ Guingona belongs to the league of extra-ordinary gentlemen who will fight for truth and justice and against crimes of corruption, fraud and repression. It is high time for Ambassador Guingona to speak up against the cheating regime and join the broad anti-Arroyo movement in mobilizing the people in their millions across the country”, the militant leader added.

Hicap said it would be hard for Ambassador Guingona to resist calls urging for a regime change because it is really difficult to downplay the truth that Mrs. Arroyo cheated her election victory and stole the mandate of the Filipino people. “ Guingona is Guingona. He should not serve a regime mandated by fraud and widespread deception”, he stressed.

The Remove Gloria alliance composed of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Amihan peasant women association, Unyon ng Mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (Nnara) and Pamalakaya expressed a high level of optimism that Ambassador Guingona would soon jump ship and join the people’s fight against the bogus presidency of Mrs. Arroyo.

“ Ambassador Guingona would not want to see himself serving an administration vaulted by fraud and scores of scandals and scams. Hopefully, he would break his silence in the next couple of days or weeks”, the groups said. 

Guingona first appointed by President Arroyo in 2001 as Vice-President and Secretary of Foreign Affairs had been at odds with the Chief Executive over international and domestic policies including but not limited to the controversial Mutual Logistics and Support Agreement (MLSA) with the United States government, the Arroyo administration’s support to US war of aggression in Iraq, the Charter Change and other the Philippines integration with the World Trade Organization.

 

The former VP rejoined the camp of President Arroyo early this year when Malacañang appointed him as the country’s Ambassador to China last January 21. "The appointment was done in the best interest of the country, according to Palace officials.  The appointment came less than a year after Guingona served as an adviser to Fernando Poe Jr., Ms Arroyo's chief rival in the May 2004 elections. #

 

 

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 10:49 | link | comments |

Garci's option

 

Garci’s option:  Turn people’s witness

against Gloria on election fraud

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano who is currently embroiled in the Gloriagate scandal sharing equal billing with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the controversial wiretapped tape showing him and the Chief Executive in conversation dealing with cheating in the May 2004 elections was urged on Monday by critics of the administration to quit playing hide and seek and resurface to tell the truth.

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Commissioner Garcillano, the man referred in the wiretapped conversation as ‘ Garci’ could still redeem himself by transforming into a people’s witness from Mrs. Arroyo’s partner in crime in the alleged manipulation of last year’s national elections.

Pamalakaya said the poll official has no other choice but to take the witness stand in the people’s case ‘Republic of the Philippines vs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’ on charges of election fraud and clear acts of treason in violation’s of people’s will.

The militant group said Commissioner Garcillano must make up his mind and better cease and desist from taking orders from the ruling Macapagal-Arroyo syndicate if he wants total redemption from the huge political mess resulting from his collaboration with President Arroyo.

“ Commissioner Garcillano can strike a major reversal to his favor by admitting that the female voice on the tape belongs to Mrs. Arroyo and the that illegitimate president gave him instructions to rig the elections and make her a clear winner in the presidential race by at least 1 million votes”, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

 

Hicap said Garcillano’s only hope to reacquire public acceptance and respect is for him to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.  “ He can’t play hide and seek forever and engage the people in an endless guessing game about his whereabouts. The commissioner must come to terms in the name of truth, justice and collective interest of 84 million Filipinos”, the militant leader stressed.

 

Pamalakaya floated the Garci option after alleged reports came out over the weekend that the poll official left the country via Kota Kinabalu enroute to the United States to avoid being questioned about the tape. Former opposition Senator said Garcillano was escorted by Department of Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane when he flew out of the country last Saturday.

 

But the poll official’s wife Grace Garcillano rebuffed said reports, adding that her husband was still in the country and ready to face investigation if ordered by courts. Mrs. Garcillano said her husband should not be considered as fugitive from justice because no case had been filed against her husband.

 

Earlier, Pamalakaya said the planned escape of Garcillano was meant to sabotage the three-day congressional inquiry set by the House of Representatives on June 21 to 23.  The group asserted that the “ run off was part of Malacañang’s design to obstruct and render fruitless any investigation that would look into the alleged fraud committed by President Arroyo last year.

 

The militant group dared Comelec chair Ben Abalos and six other commissioners to do their assignment and perform in accordance with the interest of the public. Pamalakaya said for a start, the Comelec should begin locating Garcillano and compel him to testify fairly and squarely on allegations that Mrs. Arroyo cheated in the last May 2004 elections through his help. #

 

 

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:10 | link | comments |

Militants prayer: “ May heaven curse Malacañang”

 

 

Palace convinced tape part of destabilization plot

Militants prayer: “ May heaven curse Malacañang”

A spokesperson of the militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas on Sunday appeal to the “ God of history, truth and justice to punish President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her lapdogs in Malacañang for dismissing the controversial wiretapped tape as part of the elaborate plot to destabilize the present administration.

“ May heaven curse the illegitimate president and her cabal of illegitimate officials in Malacañang for not only subverting the people’s will and collective verdict, but as well insulting the dignity of 84 million Filipinos”, said Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz in a press statement.

“ The recent statement of Malacañang delivered by Press. Sec. Bunye referring the wiretapped Gloriagate scandal as part of the destabilization confirms that political decency has no basis to exist in the Macapagal-Arroyo Palace”, he added.

Corpuz accused the dirty tricks department of Malacañang behind this latest offensive delivered by Sec. Bunye over the weekend. He said Bunye had not learned his lessons well. The group’s spokesperson said Bunye will always remain a thick face politician and a political slave of the ruling Macapagal-Arroyo syndicate in Malacañang.

Corpuz also said Mrs. Arroyo and Sec. Bunye are political hooligans with no redeeming or salvage value to claim for themselves, saying the two deserved to be thrown to the dustbin of history worthy to receive day-to-day condemnation.

“ It is really time to exorcise the evils and bad spirits inside Malacañang Palace. While it is certainly a big sin to tell lie, President Arroyo and small-time puppets like Sec. Bunye are living in dishonesty and disloyalty to the Filipino just to save the day for the fraud-vaulted, criminal and corrupt regime”, Corpuz added.

Palace spokesperson and concurrent Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye on Saturday said based on the ongoing investigation of the Philippine National Police, what was coming out was really the opposition plan to bring down President Arroyo from power through campaign of destabilization.

A single group whose only goal was to drag President Arroyo but whose actions have affected the entire nation hatched the plot according to Bunye who mainly relied on the police report that T/Sgt. Vidal Doble, the alleged source of the tape.

Bunye said Vidal admitted that he received two million pesos from former NBI deputy director and whistle-blower Atty. Samuel Ong. The money allegedly came from Ms Laarni Enriquez, mistress of ex-President Joseph Estrada.

The exchange of bribe money took two months before Atty. Ong bared he had “ the mother of all tapes” that allegedly contained the conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcia dealing on ways how to cheat in the May 10, 2004 elections in favor of Mrs. Arroyo.

But Pamalakaya’s Corpuz dismissed Bunye’s story as another tall tale scripted and brought to life by paid master storytellers, psy war artists and pro-Arroyo hooligans in Malacañang. “May the Kingdom of Heaven castigate the political charlatans in the Macapagal-Arroyo camp for fabricating stories that intend to insult to collective intelligence of the people”, he said. #

 

 

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 12:21 | link | comments (5) |

Leftist group says GMA political allies digging their own graves

Leftist group says GMA political allies digging their own graves
Pro- Gloria governors asked: “ Are you willing to sacrifice your political career for the sake of an illegitimate president?”

Are you willing to sacrifice your political career for the sake of an illegitimate president? If so, this is one hara kiri that is deprived of any moral and just cause to begin and talk with.

Rabid critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday warned pro-Arroyo governors of the political consequences of their plans to establish regional governments if the plan to oust President Arroyo through extra constitutional means succeeds.

“ They are digging their own graves. They are committing a collective display of hara kiri for a narrow purpose of saving the illegitimate presidency of Mrs. Arroyo”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

Contrary to local government officials’ claim that the protest against President Arroyo was only confined in National Capital Region, Pamalakaya’s Hicap said the people’s movement calling for the immediate removal or resignation of Mrs. Arroyo would soon explode across the country, including Cebu, Davao, Bohol, Eastern Visayas region and Ilocos provinces where leaders of this pro-GMA destabilization projects are based.

The idea of setting up autonomous regions came out during a recent conference of the governors’ league in Manila. They pro-Arroyo governors said they came out with the idea to show to the public that they were at odds with the move to kick President Arroyo out of Malacañang through extra-legal actions.

But Hicap insisted that the governors should stop flaunting this kind argument saying the people in their respective provinces would see it as a grand display of loyalty not the people in their localities or constituents but to the immoral and bogus presidency in Malacañang.

The militant leader appealed to the pro-Arroyo governors to come to their senses and quit from acting and performing like followers of Mrs. Arroyo charged of stealing the people’s mandate in the last year’s national elections.

Hicap said the pro-Arroyo regional governments would soon face regional people power revolts if these government officials allied with President Arroyo refuse to honor the verdict of the Filipino people and insist Mrs. Arroyo’s illegitimate stay in Malacañang.

“ We call on all pro-Gloria local government officials to think over a thousand times about their support to the fraud-vaulted regime of Mrs. Arroyo. If they insist this condemnable political path and positioning, they are assured of major political reversals in the May 2007 elections”, Hicap stressed.

League of the Philippines spokesperson Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone on Thursday said he and his fellow governors were considering the establishment of regional governments in case anti-Arroyo groups in the national capital succeeded in overthrowing the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Ilocos Sur governor Luis “ Chavit” Singson and cousin Rep. Eric Singson also declared that they would constitute an Ilocos Republic if anti-Arroyo groups in NCR become successful in ousting the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Last week, top Cebu officials allied with President Arroyo urged the embattled president to transfer the seat of power to Cebu City in response to the growing clamor in Manila for Arroyo to step down. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 10:51 | link | comments (4) |

Anti-Arroyo alliance dared GMA: Waive your immunity

Face critics in fair and square mode
Anti-Arroyo alliance dared GMA: Waive your immunity

Organizers of the rural-based anti-administration alliance Rural Movement for the Ouster of Gloria or Remove Gloria on Friday challenged embattled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to waive her immunity and face critics in a “ fair and square” battle rather than harass opponents and curtail their basic human rights and civil liberties.

“ We challenge the illegitimate President to waive her immunity, stop her senseless crackdown and persecution of critics and opponents and engage in a highly principled debate and political tit-for-tat on the issue of electoral fraud”, said the Remove Gloria alliance in a press statement.

The alliance composed of several farmer organizations, fisherfolk alliances and agricultural workers’ unions was initiated by the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Amihan peasant women federation, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and several other rural-based organizations.

The loose coalition calling for the ouster of President Arroyo due to charges of massive electoral fraud in last year’s May 10 national elections said it was launching an all- rural activity dubbed as “ Katotohanan, Huwag Pigilan!” campaign that seeks to mobilize thousands of rural activists to the National Capital Region and other urban centers nationwide for the oust Arroyo mass actions across the country.

Remove Gloria convenor and Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap said Mrs. Arroyo should first waive her presidential immunity before engaging critics and other members of the anti-Arroyo forces in battle over public opinion.

“ Mrs. Arroyo should first surrender her immunity from suit. Malacañang should advise her to give up her presidential protection before she faces her critics in a fair and square fight between La Gloria and her critics. We cannot allow her to enjoy the political premium despite the fact that her presidency is besieged with legit claims of illegitimacy”, Hicap added.

Another convenor, Danilo Ramos, secretary general of KMP said their group will ask the opinion of legal experts if President Arroyo can still practice her executive powers and exercise the presidential immunity despite serious damages against the presidency brought about by the controversial wiretapped tapes showing that President Arroyo committed massive fraud in the last elections.

“ We will ask the opinion of legal experts and luminaries about the chance of compelling Mrs. Arroyo to waive her presidential immunities due to the reality that she could no longer govern because of lack of legal, moral and political ascendancy to rule the country”, Ramos said.

Remove Gloria likewise reiterated other groups’ challenge to President Arroyo to concretely respond to the direct order of the joint five committees in the House of Representatives for her to comment on the controversial audiotapes implicating her and Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in the election fraud in last year’s national elections.

The group is expected to join the scheduled mass actions next week at the House of Representatives once the committees started their probe on the controversial wiretapped tapes. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 10:50 | link | comments (1) |

Leftist group eyes more teeth on Congress letter to Gloria

Leftist group eyes more teeth on Congress letter to Gloria
House asked: “ What if Gloria refuses to comment on tape?”

Saying enough of tin cup diplomacy and champagne politics, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday urged the heads of joint five House committees to put more teeth on the letter it would send to Malacañang asking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to comment on the controversial audio tape.

After an executive session lasting for more than two hours, House leaders on Wednesday decided to ask President Arroyo to formally comment on the controversial audiotapes allegedly showing her as having rigged the May 10, 2004 presidential elections.

While the militant group welcomed the House decision to ask President Arroyo to comment on the tape, Pamalakaya said Congress leaders should make the invitation to Mrs. Arroyo more forceful and compelling to push Arroyo to subscribe to the legislative inquiry and prevent the Palace from stepping up its’ own campaign against truth and justice seekers.

Pamalakaya said with the low-keyed political transmission the Congress would sent to Mrs. Arroyo, Malacañang might just throw the House’s letter to the garbage can and later ask its’ lapdogs in the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to file “ sedition charges’ against lawmakers asking Mrs. Arroyo to comment on the controversial tape.

“ We would like to remind the leaders of the House of Representatives that Mrs. Arroyo is accused of stealing the true mandate of the people, which is a certified national crime to the highest order. The people are expecting more decisive and compelling acts from lawmakers to find the truth and seek justice”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said the letter of the House to asking Mrs. Arroyo to comment on the tape was not forceful and “ lacks the ball” to compel the embattled president to respond to the inquiry.

“ What if the illegitimate president refuses to comment on the tape? What if Palace asks lawmakers to cease and desist from playing the tapes during the joint hearing? What would Congress do? Toe Malacañang line and take the act as nothing but a political sideshow?” the militant leader said.

Pamalakaya and other militant groups would launch the “ Katotohanan Huwag Pigilan” campaign starting Tuesday next week coinciding with the start of the joint five-house committee probe on the controversial wiretapped containing conversations of Mrs. Arroyo and Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

“ We will not divulge the details of this campaign at the moment. But we would push this crusade against the illegitimate presidency of Mrs. Arroyo no matter what happen”, the group added.

Rep. Gilbert Remulla said the letter to President Arroyo formally asking her to comment on the wiretapped tapes will be sent today to Malacañang, but as of yesterday, President Arroyo vowed not to take any categorical statement asking her if the voice on the tape was hers.

But Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, chair of the House Committee on Defense said President Arroyo would all have the right to comment or not to comment on the controversial tape. However, Golez said ‘ since that voice sounds like her voice and such was earlier confirmed by the press secretary that President must make statement on this to level with the people. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:33 | link | comments |

Leftist group looking for Loren

Legarda a legitimate stakeholder
Leftist group dares Loren to show up
and join the fight vs. Gloria

A militant group calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on charges of alleged election fraud on Monday dared former Senator and last year’s Vice-Presidential candidate Loren Legarda to show up and join the fight against the corrupt and illegitimate administration of President Arroyo.

“ As a legitimate political stakeholder, Sen. Legarda should show up and join the people’s fight against the illegal, bogus and illegitimate presidency of Mrs. Arroyo. The national conscience and collective wisdom of the Filipino people put her to task to link up with the people in this honorable task of ending the political career of Gloria”, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said in a press statement.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said Sen. Legarda herself has a pending electoral case against Vice-President Noli de Castro before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET). “ We hope the good senator will rise above the occasion and take extra mile in cruising her fight to uphold the real verdict of the people in year’s May 2004 national elections”, he said.

Hicap said they would try to invite Ms. Legarda in all anti-Arroyo and VP de Castro activities in the coming days and weeks, adding the presence of the former senator in these activities is necessary.

“ We will patiently wait for Ms Legarda, but we urge her to immediately break her silence and pursue the fight in the name of truth, justice and good governance”, the militant leader added.

While Pamalakaya offered good words to Sen. Legarda, the group is at odds with Vice-President de Castro for tagging anti-Arroyo rallies as efforts to destabilize the government. “ He is sour graping because nobody wants him to succeed illegitimate President Arroyo in case the bogus president is ousted from power”,

VP de Castro over the weekend lamented the involvement of politicians in destabilization to undermine the Macapagal-Arroyo presidency. He insisted that there was still no concrete evidence linking the Office of the President to any misconduct or illegal activity.

The Vice-President said he was closely monitoring the latest developments and he said, he was deeply concerned with the way some politicians from the opposition bloc were taking advantage of the situation by urging the people to take the streets against President Arroyo.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:32 | link | comments |

New elections possible only if GMA, Noli are out of Malacañang- KMP, Pamalakaya

New elections possible only if GMA, Noli
are out of Malacañang- KMP, Pamalakaya

Organizers of the Peasant Tribunal and anti-CARP rallies staged today at the bridge of Mendiola said the proposal of holding new elections or snap elections is only possible if President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her Vice-President Noli de Castro are removed from power.

In a joint press statement, Danilo Ramos, secretary general of the peasant activist group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Fernando Hicap, national chair of Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the following conditions should be met in order to push the new elections for the president and vice-president.

1). President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice-President Noli de Castro should be ousted or compelled to step down through massive protest and popular uprising because both would not give up their posts to give way for new elections. Arroyo and de Castro should also be prevented from seeking any elected post after their ouster.

2). A caretaker or transition government should be established to undertake the process of electing new government. It should be composed of respectable politicians and credible representatives and personalities coming from the Church sector, academe, legal practitioners, professionals, opposition camp, people’s organizations and mainstream Left. Senate President Franklin Drilon will seat as representative of the Senate and the legislative branch.

3). The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should be reconstituted with the designation of credible and highly esteemed people to replace current Comelec commissioners known for their partisan politics. The new set of commissioners would be tasked to assist the caretaker or transition government to facilitate the conduct of the snap elections.

4). The National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) should be disenfranchised from conducting quick counts because of its’ recent dismal electoral performance that tended to favor the current ruling administration in Malacañang.

5). The caretaker or transition government should bar the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) from exercising partisan politics, get rid of officials implicated in the recent poll fraud and the controversial jueteng payola scandal.

However, organizers of the Peasant Tribunal asked Senator Pimentel what to do in case President Arroyo and Vice-President Noli de Castro junk the proposal for them to step down and refuse to relinquish their posts to pave way for the elections of the new president and vice-president.

“ What if Arroyo and de Castro reject calls for them to step down? Will Senator Pimentel call for People Power? At this point, the political necessity of removing them through popular uprising in the tradition of People Power I and People Power II becomes a tall order for the day”, Ramos and Hicap said to justify the removal of President Arroyo through extra constitutional means.

KMP and Pamalakaya said not less than 5,000 farmers and fisherfolk all the way from Bicol Region, Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Ilocos regions attended today’s Rural People’s Tribunal to try President Arroyo on national crimes against the people ranging from electoral fraud to landgrabbing and from state terrorism to political repression.

The peasant and fisherfolk activists who joined their colleagues in the National Capital Region sat as jurists in the two-hour tribunal that tried President Arroyo and her administration. The verdict stated that Mrs. Arroyo and her government were guilty of high crimes against the people and were sentenced for ouster.

Among Arroyo’s high crimes against the Filipino farmers according to the Peasant’s Tribunal include the government’s failure to address the problem of massive landlessness in the country, the brutal repression of peasant land rights like what happened in Hacienda Luisita, the left-and-right political assassinations of peasant activists in Southern Tagalog, Central and Northern Luzon and Eastern Visayas, the economic poisons of the regime like the Value Added Tax and other tax measures, oil price hikes and the government’s refusal to increase wages of all industrial and agricultural workers.

“ This is the beginning of Arroyo’s end. Malacañang can mobilize its paid storm troopers in the Armed Forces and the national police, but they won’t stop the rural people from compelling the president to step down and leave the presidency though legitimate exercise of real people power”, KMP and Pamalakaya said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:13 | link | comments |

Leftist peasant groups to hold “ People’s Tribunal

Setting the political stage for Oust Gloria campaign
Leftist peasant groups to hold “ People’s Tribunal” in Mendiola on poll fraud, landgrabbing and political repression

Staunch critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will stage the “ Rural People’s Tribunal” in Mendiola on the occasion of the 17th year of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

In a joint press statement, the peasant activist group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the “ tribunal” to be held in Mendiola in Manila will prosecute President Macapagal-Arroyo and her administration for their crimes against the people.

KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos, one of the organizers of the People’s Tribunal said the president would be tried on charges of serious crimes like landgrabbing, poll fraud, puppetry and political repression.

Ramos said not less than 5,000 farmers and fisherfolk all the way from Bicol Region, Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Ilocos regions will attend the Rural People’s Tribunal. “ The participants in the tribunal will sit as one collective body of peasant jurists that would decide on the fate of Mrs. Arroyo and her regime”, he said.

Ramos also said the “ verdict” on the fate of President Arroyo would be announced in Mendiola not later than 2 pm tomorrow.

“ Mrs. Arroyo would be assured that she would hear the trial and the ultimate decision of the 5,000 peasant and fisherfolk jurists. To give her an idea of what the decision should be, it has something to do with the snowballing campaign to remove her from Malacañang due to sins of corruption, poll fraud, puppetry, landgrabbing and state terrorism”, he added.

For his part, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the People’s Tribunal in Mendiola will serve as precursor of the back-to-back protest against the illegitimate, corrupt, puppet and terrorist government of President Arroyo.

Hicap said the June 10 People’s Tribunal and protest activity in Mendiola will serve as political backbone of the June 11 National Day of Mourning to be spearheaded by Roman Catholic bishops critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration under the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME).

“ This is the beginning of Arroyo’s end. Malacañang can mobilize its paid storm troopers in the Armed Forces and the national police, but they won’t stop the rural people from compelling the president to step down and leave the presidency”, Hicap said.

The militant leader also quashed that idea of Vice President Noli de Castro as the constitutional successor once President Arroyo is removed either through impeachment or extra constitutional means in the tradition of People Power I and II.

“ We prefer a transition government composed of rational thinking people from the ranks of anti-Arroyo forces that would include the mainstream opposition and representatives from aboveground Left that would work for sweeping economic and political reforms and at the same time prepare the country for the next elections of the new government in shortest time as possible”, Hicap stressed. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:12 | link | comments |