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

Militants dare Palace to sack Ebdane over lamppost scandal

One of the complainants in the plunder case arising from government purchase of overpriced lampposts used during the ASEAN Summit last January has dared Malacañang to sack Defense Chief and former public works and highway secretary Hermogenes Ebdane regarding his involvement in the controversial lamppost scam.

While, the defense chief was not named in the plunder complaint filed by various civil society groups in Cebu, the militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should compel her defense chief to resign and face possible criminal and administrative charges that would be filed against Ebdane in the immediate future.

“Ebdane is the principal author of the lamppost scam. Malacañang must show him the way out of the Department of Public Works and Highways. If the government is sincere in its fight to eradicate corruption, it would recommend the Office of the Ombudsman to include Ebdane in the plunder complaint,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap said, Pamalakaya and its local affiliate Pamana-Sugbo are working double time to convince the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas to amend the plunder complaint and include the former DPWH chief in the charge sheet which stemmed from the procurement of
P 365.8 million worth of overpriced lampposts, which were installed during the 12th ASEAN Summit of Leaders last January.

Hicap, also a nominee of the militant party list group Anakpawis, said while it welcome the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in Cebu ordering the 120-day suspension of Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and 17 other officials of DPWH Region VII, the decision is still complete, because Ebdane was not included among those who were axed in connection with the lamppost scam.

The Ombudsman also recommended the filing of criminal charges against Gampik Construction and Development Corp. and Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co., the contractors which installed the 2,310 lampposts.

Hicap, also a nominee of the party list group Anakpawis, said aside from approving the project, Ebdane as chief of the DPWH at that time, also approved the installation of 30 lampposts in a private beach resort in Lapu-Lapu City.

Anakpawis and Pamalakaya also urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to immediately conduct a thorough audit of the Road Users Tax fund collected by LTO after reports confirmed that the funds were used to pay for the overpriced lampposts constructed in time for the ASEAN Summit in Cebu last January.

Both groups said COA audit is necessary since a national probe on use of government funds for anomalous transactions and narrow and corrupt interests of the few is of great importance or paramount to public interest. “COA should come in and make an independent assessment on the sky is the limit abuse and irregular expenditure of public funds,” they said.

Hicap said the national government withdrew P 435 million to pay the overpriced lampposts from the P 816 million of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge Fund. He said P 365.8 million were spent to buy lampposts and streetlights, while the rest were spent to road asphalting, traffic surveillance cameras and other beautification projects. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:01 | link | comments |

Leftists optimistic, UN human rights
body will reprimand Arroyo after Alston report
Pamalakaya, Anakpawis eye dismembership of RP in UN HR body

Leftwing activists on Friday said they are optimistic the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will immediately reprimand the Macapagal-Arroyo administration on the issue of extra-judicial killings after Special Rapporteur Philip Alston had submitted his six-page report condemning the executive and the military branch of the government on the political killings of moiré than 800 activists and journalists across the country.

In a joint press statement, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the militant party list group Anakpawis said the international human rights body is expected to deliver a scathing and electrifying statement condemning the Arroyo administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines over the extra-judicial killings allegedly perpetrated by the military since 2001 up to present.

“The international human rights community has approved the report of Alston. It is now expecting the UN human rights body to perform its duty in accordance with the global people’s interest for truth and justice,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

Hicap, who is also a nominee of Anakpawis in the party list election this May 2007 elections, said the UNHRC cannot snub or take for granted the Alston report, which was a product of honest-to-goodness and objective investigation.

“The findings of Alston merit the UNHRC condemnation and in concrete terms, the dismembership of the Philippine government from the UN human rights body for its’ crimes against humanity,” the Anakpawis nominee added.

The militant leader said aside from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the UNHRC should also castigate National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Defense secretary Eduardo Ermita, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan.

“Their names should be posted in the news bulletin of the UNHRC as top violators of human rights and civil liberties in the Philippines and the principal authors of extra-judicial killings in the country,” Hicap added.

Anakpawis and Pamalakaya said they would write the UNHRC and will ask the Geneva-based human rights body to seriously consider the expulsion of the Philippine government as member of the UN human rights body.

Alston on Tuesday, submitted an initial six-page report to the fourth session of the UNHRC in Geneva, which started last March 12 and would officially end on March 30. In his report, the UN special rapporteur slammed the executive branch and the military for their failure to address the killings.

The UN special rapporteur initial report also brought the issue of “ orders of battle” which allegedly sued by the military and police to harm activists. Alston cited a thick document ,which was supposedly classified based on intelligence reports, members of organizations considered illegitimate by the military. Alston said most of those killed are listed in the orders of battle list by the military.

The Alston report submitted to UNHRC Fourth Session also told the Arroyo administration to direct all military officers to cease making public statements linking political and other civil society groups to those engaged in armed insurgencies.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:00 | link | comments |

Palace may use P 15.2 B in taxpayers’ money for
Malacañang bets in Luzon, anti-corruption watchdog says

One of the convenors of the anti-corruption watchdog Bantay Pondo, Bantay Boto on Thursday said they will monitor the release of over 15 billion pesos in taxpayers’ money which Malacañang may use to fund the electoral campaign of pro-administration candidates in Luzon beginning next month.

Bantay Pondo, Bantay Boto convenor and Pamalakaya fisherfolk group national chair Fernando Hicap said the anti-corruption, anti-fraud coalition will monitor the disbursement of the P 1.B anti-hunger fund, the P 4.2 B Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) fund and the P 10-B relief and rehabilitation fund for the victims of typhoon Reming in Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions last year.

At the launching of the anti-corruption, anti-fraud watchdog last Wednesday, Hicap said P 887 million from the GMA project in agriculture and fisheries, P 887 million will be spent for the procurement of fingerlings, which he said could be a copy cat of the P 728 million fertilizer scam in May 2004.

“P 15-B is P 15-B. All allies of President Arroyo will have a grand time launching their summer electoral offensive this April. We should not let our guards down and witness the plunder of taxpayers’ money at the expense of the Filipino people,” the Bantay Pondo, Bantay Boto organizer added.

Hicap, a nominee of Anakpawis in the party list election, stressed that these public funds could be made available to beef up the election campaign kitty of administration bets for congressional districts and local government posts from governor to mayors and councilors of cities and municipalities.

“This government is highly capable of corrupting and stealing state funds in the name of political survival. They did it in 2004. They will do it again in the May 2007 polls with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the helm of the cheating department. She has perfected the art of vote-buying, political patronage and election fraud,” the militant leader added.

Hicap said they would demand the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of Agriculture and Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) a progress report regarding the release of these funds and how these funds were allocated and disbursed.

The militant leader theorized that Malacañang strategy is to buy court or influence the voting preferences of voters in Luzon, a known bastion of anti-Arroyo political forces and critics, and where President Arroyo suffered a humiliating defeat in the last May 2004 elections.

“Malacañang strategists are well informed of the current political configuration in Luzon, which is of course, anti-GMA, that is why it is resorting to massive funding and all-out allocations of government funds to court the voters and vote for rabid pro-Arroyo politicians running for governors, vice-governors, board members, congressmen, mayors, vice-mayors and councilors,” Hicap added.

Earlier, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and the DSWD had defended the government move to release the P 1-B anti-hunger fund, adding that resumption of mass feeding programs for grade schoolers and day care children is necessary to combat hunger and poverty.

NAPC Secretary and former agriculture secretary Domingo Panganiban said the Food for School Program for kindergarten and Grade 1 pupils was crucial in arresting hunger and poverty in Metro Manila and in poor provinces.

The government said last year, 550,000 kindergarten and Grade 1 pupils and 250,000 day care children were given their daily ration of 1 kilo of rice under the program, but the government was forced to suspend the program after few months because of lack of funds. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:59 | link | comments |

Leftists to Ebdane: SWS survey showing Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela on top of the party list race, an indictment of urban militarization
Pamalakaya, Anakpawis thanked CBCP over positive response to their appeal

A survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) conducted last March 15 to 18 showing party list Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela leading the party list race is an indictment of the urban militarization in Metro Manila and other key cities and urban centers across the country.

The assessment was laid down by militant party list group Anakpawis and the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in reaction to defense secretary Hermogenes Ebdane call to militant party lists to get out of the 26 depressed barangays in Metro Manila where soldiers are currently deployed for counter-insurgency work.

“The SWS survey showing the three militant party lists way above Malacañang front and military backed party lists is a rejection of the administration’s national policy on extra-judicial killings, urban militarization and vilification campaign against the mainstream Left,” said Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap.

The latest survey showed Bayan Muna way ahead with 27.6 percent, followed by Anakpawis with 6.2 percent and Gabriela with 5.4 percent. Other allied party lists like Suara garnered 2 percent, while Kabataan is in striking distance with 1.5 percent.

“Ebdane and the national security gang in Malacañang are running out of dirty tactics to disenfranchise our party lists from representing the marginalized people across the country. Mrs. Arroyo and her criminal syndicate in Malacañang have no option but to pull out the troops in Metro and accept defeat,” Hicap asserted.

Hicap added: “The SWS survey showing Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela in the lead reflects the true sentiment of the people on urban militarization. It is in a way, a protest against the military’s ongoing militarization of the metropolis and open disapproval of the AFP partisan political activities in the National Capital Region and other cities and centers across the nation.”

The defense chief has rejected calls by militant groups and Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the auxiliary bishop of Manila to have troops recalled, saying the government would only do so if barangay residents themselves asked for it.

“But how can the residents say no to AFP troops, if Ebdane’s gun-toting mercenaries are roaming around the communities as if they are in hot pursuit of elements critical of the Arroyo administration and the military establishment under a de facto Martial Law,” the Anakpawis leader added.

Hicap said Anakpawis and Pamalakaya scored another political and moral victory when CBCP President Angel Lagdameo agreed to their appeal for the Catholic Church to intervene on the issue of urban militarization.

The Jaro Archbishop on Tuesday said the Catholic bishops will look into the complaints and issues arising from the deployment of government troops in Metro Manila after Pamalakaya and Anakpawis last Monday asked for the Church’s moral and spiritual intervention against the deployment of government soldiers in Metro Manila.

Anakpawis and Pamalakaya suggested a CBCP-led national inquiry on urban militarization, saying the policy of deploying troops in urban centers has spilled to urban centers of Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and several cities and urban towns in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Cebu, Central and Eastern Visayas. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:58 | link | comments |

Militants: The Hague tribunal verdict on Arroyo, legally non-binding, but politically fatal
Anakpawis to send copies of 12-page verdict abroad

The guilty verdict issued by the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) against the Arroyo administration for alleged “gross and systematic violations” of human rights in the Philippines may be legally not binding, but one thing is sure- the verdict is politically fatal to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security.

“The Hague tribunal verdict against President Arroyo and her top security officials is politically and morally devastating. It is the culmination of the global wholesale condemnation of the ruling criminal regime in Malacañang,” leaders of Pamalakaya and Anakpawis said in a joint statement.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap and Anakpawis secretary general Cherry Clemente issued a joint statement, after government officials and lawmaker allies of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration assailed the verdict and dismissed it as product of an international kangaroo court.

Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales and pro-Arroyo lawmakers Rep. Douglas Cagas (Davao del Sur) and Rep. Eduardo Veloso (Leyte) took turns in berating the international tribunal for rendering the guilty verdict without inviting the government to present its side.

“These people are first-rate liars. They knew the tribunal has issued an invitation and subpoena to President Arroyo to defend herself from charges of human rights violations and crimes against humanity emanating from the spate of political killings conducted by government forces. But Malacañang chose to ignore, and instead, engaged in black and malicious propaganda against organizers of the permanent tribunal on the Philippines,” Hicap said, who is also a nominee of the party list group Anakpawis.

For her part, Clemente said the downplaying of the verdict by Robert Vornis, The Netherlands ambassador to the Philippines will not dampen the political spirit of Permanent People’s Tribunal’s decision to indict Mrs. Arroyo and her military on charges of extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations in the country.

“The Hague tribunal is history. It’s verdict against the extra-judicial killer republic of President Arroyo is history. Who is ambassador Vornis to challenge the verdict of history on the ruling civilian-military junta in Malacañang? He is nothing. He is just an ambassador without a noble cause,” the Anakpawis leader said.

Anakpawis’ Clemente said copies of the 12-page verdict of Permanent People’s Tribunal will be sent by her group to fraternal organizations of Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Pamalakaya.

She said copies will be widely distributed to supportive organizations in the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Clemente said Anakpawis chapters all over the country will sponsor formal discussions on the result of the findings of the Permanent People’s Tribunal and why the international political court arrived at a guilty verdict against President Arroyo. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:28 | link | comments (1) |

Leftists asked CBCP’s divine intervention
vs. AFP troop deployment in Metro
Pamalakaya, Anakpawis suggest Church led national inquiry on urban militarization

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the militant party list group Anakpawis on Monday asked the divine intervention of the influential Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to facilitate the pull-out of government troops currently deployed in 27 urban poor barangays in Metro Manila.

In a joint press statement, Pamalakaya and Anakpawis urged CBCP President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo to issue a pastoral statement condemning the presence of government troops in Metro Manila and strongly suggest their removal in urban poor communities.

Both groups made the appeal, after Bishop Broderick Pabillo, appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila last year by Pope Benedict XVI, last week accused soldiers of harassing leaders and members of militant party list groups and urban poor residents in Metro Manila.

Pabillo has submitted his report to Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales about the deployment of government troops, their activities and their military units.

“We appeal for spiritual and moral intervention of the CBCP pertaining to this issue of AFP urban militarization and electioneering campaign in Metro Manila against party list groups highly critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration,” said Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap.

Hicap is suggesting a CBCP-led national inquiry on urban militarization, saying the policy of deploying troops in urban centers has spread in the urban centers of Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and several cities and urban towns in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Cebu, Central and Eastern Visayas.

“Bishop Pabillo’s own personal account and assessment of urban militarization in Metro Manila should serve as a political and moral thesis for the CBCP to pursue a strong advocacy against deployment of government troops in the National Capital Region and other urban cities and centers across the archipelago,” the militant leader added.

Anakpawis secretary general Cherry Clemente said government officials were evading the issue of urban militarization and AFP partisan political activities in Metro Manila.

She said, last March 23, the scheduled Comelec hearing on their complaint against AFP harassment and electioneering activities, government lawyers asked for 30-day postponement of the hearing because they were not ready to answer the charges filed by her group and allied party lists like Bayan Muna and Gabriela Women’s Party.

“The government is pushing the full-blown militarization of Metro Manila to disenfranchise the militant party lists of their right to represent the marginalized people. And yet, they have the guts to skip, downplay and turn down any kind or form inquiry regarding deployment of AFP troops in the main capital. This is unfair, really unfair,” Clemente said.

The Anakpawis secretary general said they have many witnesses that would testify against military officials and rank-in-file soldiers caught harassing urban leaders and supporters and residents of urban poor barangays in Manila, Caloocan and Quezon City.

“We will amplify and fortify Bishop Pabillo’s assessment on AFP troop deployment. We have witnesses, sworn affidavits, photographs and videos that would prove that the military has committed human rights abuses and engaged in partisan political activities,” Clemente added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:27 | link | comments |

P 1-B war on hunger
Leftists: “GMA resorting to massive vote-buying”

“It is by design and by orientation a vote-buying scheme.”

This was how the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the militant party list group Anakpawis reacted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo order for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release P 500 million for “emergency hunger mitigation” in areas found to have high incidence of hunger among the people.

“The President is engaged in massive vote-buying. Her purpose is not to combat hunger and poverty but to buy votes for her favored candidates and close political associates running in the May 14, 2007 elections,” said Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

“President Arroyo wants to hit two birds with one stone. She wants to improve her image and at the same time let her candidates enjoy free ride from the release of hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money for image-building project of her administration,” he said.

The militant leader said the President was focusing on areas like Metro Manila and Luzon where votes are expected to be delivered to the opposition candidates, including party lists critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

“That is a certified act of electioneering and vote buying, nothing more, nothing else,” Hicap added.

Pamalakaya and Anakpawis said further said: “This cheaper by the dozen gimmick of Malacañang will not work for the highly isolated and grossly detested government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This Jurassic formula to court people’s trust and votes will not yield good results.”

The President ordered the release of the money after convening the National Nutrition Council last Friday in Malacañang. The directive came after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in its’ latest survey said one in every five Filipino families or 3.4 million households have gone hungry at least once in the last three months.

“The SWS survey is telling Mrs. Arroyo to initiate program that would eradicate if not reduce the high level of poverty across the country, and not to engage in all-out corruption of government funds for the electoral interests of favored bets in the May 14, 07 elections,” Pamalakaya and Anakpawis added.

The groups said, the President was totally disturbed and at the same time afraid of the poor performance of her senatorial candidates as shown by the recent surveys conducted by SWS and Pulse Asia. “The P 1-B war chest against poverty is really meant to boost the electoral chances of administration bets currently at the tail end of all surveys,” Pamalakaya and Anakpawis added.

President Arroyo said the P 1-B million emergency hunger mitigation fund will be used for the food-for-school, food-for-work, and for the feeding programs of parishes and non-government organizations, and would benefit areas identified by SWS with high incidence of hunger and poverty.

The President also said the government’s barangay food terminals where the poor can avail themselves of lower priced-food and other basic communities would benefit 200,000 to 700,000 hungry families in Metro Manila starting next month. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:40 | link | comments |

Defense chief asked: Did you approve Cebu lamppost project?

One of the complainants in the controversial P 365 .8 million lamppost scam today asked Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane if he had approved installation of 2,310 lampposts in Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu cities last year.

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) Fernando Hicap said Ebdane has kept himself unavailable from public scrutiny since last week.

“All the people want to know is the truth. Did he approve the multi-million lamppost project in Cebu at the time he was the secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways? This is answerable by yes or no. So is it a yes or no?” Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap, also a nominee of party list group Anakpawis said the DPWH regional officials in Central Visayas will not enter into contract with the two suppliers of lampposts and street lights without the approval or concurrence of the DPWH national office since it is a national project as claimed by the local government officials of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.

“That’s why we are asking Secretary Ebdane to come face-to-face with the complainants and tell the Filipino taxpaying public if he had something to do with the current corruption scandal rocking the powers-that-be in Cebu Island,” the militant leader said.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap earlier said their Cebu-based chapter Pamana-Sugbo will request the Office of the Ombudsman in Visayas to include the defense secretary in the plunder complaint it would transmit to the Sandiganbayan court, saying the defense chief has full knowledge and approval of the anomalous deal between the national and local governments, and private individuals.

“Ebdane only opens his mouth when it comes to utter black propaganda against leftwing party list groups. Let us see if he could deliver the same intensity on this particular high crime of corruption involving DPWH at the time he is serving the public works portfolio,” he said.

Pamalakaya said P 365.8 million used to pay the overpriced lampposts was drawn from the road users’ tax fund. The group said the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which collects the road users’ tax cannot release the money without the approval of the Office of the President and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) headed by head ex-congressman Rolando Andaya.



Pamalakaya likewise urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to immediately conduct a thorough audit of the Road Users Tax fund collected by LTO after reports confirmed that the funds were used to pay for the overpriced lampposts constructed in time for the ASEAN Summit in Cebu last January.

Pamalakaya said COA audit is necessary since a national probe on use of government funds for anomalous transactions and narrow and corrupt interests of the few is of great importance or paramount to public interest. “COA should come in and make an independent assessment on the sky is the limit abuse and irregular expenditure of public funds,” it said.

The militant group said P 365.8 million were spent to buy lampposts and streetlights, while an additional P 70 million which was also drawn from the road users tax fund were spent to road asphalting, traffic surveillance cameras and other beautification projects.

Pamalakaya also asked COA officials to make the report available to the Filipino taxpaying public in soonest possible time. “This is the practice of Malacañang—to allow local government officials allied with her to feast on the available public funds and enrich themselves for the sake of political loyalty and patronage. The Cebu lamppost scam is a spin off the 2004 fertilizer scam and other crimes of corruption perpetrated by the ruling regime in Malacañang,” the group said.

The government entered into a contract with Gampik Construction and Development Inc. and Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co. to set up some 2,310 streetlights in Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.

According to reports, the DPWH agreed with Fabmik to set the unit price of the decorative lamps in Mandaue City at P 224,000 each, inclusive of installation. They also agreed to set up the unit price for single, double and triple arm units pegged at P 314,698, P 325,919 and P 350,090 respectively. Of the 2,310 lamps and streetlights, 1,860 were decorative lamps.

Pamalakaya said most of the lamps were installed in Lapu-Lapu with the total bill reaching P 174 million, followed by Mandaue City with a total bill of P 130 million and Cebu City with
P 61 million. Pamana-Sugbo, Pamalakaya’s chapter in Cebu, is one of the complainants in the plunder case filed against local government and private officials involved in the lamppost scandal. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:39 | link | comments (1) |

Pamalakaya: DAR Secretary mishandled Negros land row

“Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman has mishandled the long-running land dispute in Negros by favoring only one-side of the land reform beneficiaries, while abandoning the land reform rights of the unionized workers. There was a gross miscarriage of justice here.”

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has expressed this view, after Pangandaman yesterday led the installation of 57 farmer beneficiaries, who were among the 122 that were given certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAs) in 2002 in a small portion of the 400 hectare sugar estate of Roberto Cuenca in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

“Under the principle of thoroughgoing and justice driven agrarian reform, Secretary Pangandaman should have first eliminated the political and economic clout of the sugar baron, then proceed with honest-to-goodness distribution of land among the farmers and unionized workers of the Hacienda,” said Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap.

The militant leader said DAR should have told the farmers and the farm workers that they should not fight each other, because they both have the rights to own and till the land and that their common and narrow enemy in this fight is the sugar baron or any interested parties who want the 400-hectare sugar estate, including the national government.

“We sympathize with the cause of Task Force Mapalad farmers and the unionized workers of the Hacienda. They are the working people in making the sugar estate productive. Both deserve the fruits of their labor. But DAR’s incorrect handling of the case further fuels hatred and division that may end into bloody confrontation among the poor and this should not happen,” he added.

Hicap added: “DAR is pitting the farmers of the group Task Force Mapalad against the unionized workers allegedly identified with Cuenca. Secretary Pangandaman should have isolated the sugar landlord and tell farmers and farm workers that they have the right to the land they tilled since time immemorial.”

The Anakpawis nominee further said DAR failed to deliver social justice when it set aside the agrarian interest of unionized workers. What DAR installed, Hicap said, was the further division and hatred among land reform beneficiaries. “The poor farmers and farm workers will continue to engage in a fight over the sugar plantation. That would make easy for the sugar landlord to effectively rule in the 400 hectare sugar plantation, by pitting the farmers against farm workers. At the end of the day, it is still Cuenca who will be declared the winner in this endless land reform dispute,” Hicap said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:37 | link | comments |

Anakpawis, Pamalakaya: PGMA okays release of Road Users Tax for ASEAN Summit lamppost scam
Groups sought COA audit of RUT

The militant party list group Anakpawis and the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday said the release of
P 435 million drawn from the road users’ tax fund to pay overpriced lampposts installed for the holding of the ASEAN Summit last January was ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a joint press statement, Anakpawis secretary general Cherry Clemente and Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which collects the road users’ tax cannot release the money without the approval of the Office of the President and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) headed by head ex-congressman Rolando Andaya.

“PGMA, Secretary Andaya and Defense chief Hermogenes Ebdane, who was Mrs. Arroyo’s public works and highways’ head are the principal authors of the lamppost scandal,” both leaders said in a joint statement.

“ The lamppost scam is one of Mrs. Arroyo’s biggest crimes of corruption and Malacañang’s order to have it investigated is actually part of a major cover up since it wants Ombudsman’s probe to stop at the DPWH regional and local government level to spare Mrs. Arroyo, Ebdane and Andaya from being implicated,” Clemente and Hicap’s joint statement said.

Anakpawis and Pamalakaya also urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to immediately conduct a thorough audit of the Road Users Tax fund collected by LTO after reports confirmed that the funds were used to pay for the overpriced lampposts constructed in time for the ASEAN Summit in Cebu last January.

Both groups said COA audit is necessary since a national probe on use of government funds for anomalous transactions and narrow and corrupt interests of the few is of great importance or paramount to public interest. “COA should come in and make an independent assessment on the sky is the limit abuse and irregular expenditure of public funds,” they said.

Hicap, also a nominee of Anakpawis said DPWH regional office in Cebu confirmed that P 435 million of the P 816 million of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge Fund were channeled for the beautification of Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu cities during the commencement of the ASEAN Summit of Leaders last January.

He said P 365.8 million were spent to buy lampposts and streetlights, while the rest were spent to road asphalting, traffic surveillance cameras and other beautification projects.

Clemente also asked COA officials make the report available to the Filipino taxpaying public in soonest possible time. “This is the practice of Malacañang—to allow local government officials allied with her to feast on the available public funds and enrich themselves for the sake of political loyalty and patronage. The Cebu lamppost scam is a spin off the 2004 fertilizer scam and other crimes of corruption perpetrated by the ruling regime in Malacañang,” she said.

Pamalakaya and Anakpawis said the government entered into a contract with Gampik Construction and Development Inc. and Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co. to set up some 2,310 streetlights in Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.

Both groups said the DPWH agreed with Fabmik to set the unit price of the decorative lamps in Mandaue City at P 224,000 each, inclusive of installation. They also agreed to set up the unit price for single, double and triple arm units pegged at P 314,698, P 325,919 and P 350,090 respectively. Of the 2,310 lamps and streetlights, 1,860 were decorative lamps.

The groups said most of the lamps were installed in Lapu-Lapu with the total bill reaching P 174 million, followed by Mandaue City with a total bill of P 130 million and Cebu City with
P 61 million. Pamana-Sugbo, Pamalakaya’s chapter in Cebu, is one of the complainants in the plunder case filed against local government and private officials involved in the lamppost scandal.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said Pamana-Sugbo, its Cebu chapter and one of the complainants in the plunder case will also recommend the filing of an amended complaint, this time naming Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., former secretary of Department of Public Works and Highways (PDWH) as principal respondent along with Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano and DPWH regional officials.

“Ebdane must be included in the plunder case filed by the people of Cebu in connection with the Guinness Book of Record bound lamppost scam. We will work for the amended complaint that would enlist the former secretary of DPWH as principal respondent to this grandslam plunder of public funds,” he added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:36 | link | comments |

Group slams government decision to kill case vs. Petron in Guimaras oil spill
Massacre of truth and justice, says Pamalakaya

The left wing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday assailed the decision of the Guimaras Provincial Prosecutor’s Office to dismiss the case filed by the local government and affected fisherfolk and residents against Petron Corp., and the owner of the tanker Solar 1 over the massive oil spill that caused heavy damage to the marine environment and livelihood of the people.

Dismissing the decision as “grand massacre of truth and justice”, Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap said Malacañang and the Department of Justice had a hand in the decision of the provincial prosecutor’s office.

“The Office of the President and the Office of the Justice Secretary masterminded this first-rate crime and national betrayal of public interest. The Guimaras provincial prosecutor office will not go for a giant kill of national interest without direct order from the President and her injustice secretary to save no.1 oil exploiting company from national accountability,” Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap said Malacañang pushed for the withdrawal of the case, because the government as one of the major stockholders and decision makers in Petron could also be held liable for the Guimaras oil spill, and it is preventing the issue to reach the halls of the Palace and the Office of the President.

Last March 2, in a 17-page resolution, provincial prosecutor Luzermindo Calmorin found no probable cause and thrown out a criminal complaint filed by Nueva Valencia Mayor Diosdado Gonzaga and fisherfolk residents allied with or influenced by Pamalakaya-Iloilo chapter. The government prosecutor said while it appears that the oil spill has caused damage to affected communities and fisherfolk in the municipality of Nueva Valencia, it does not follow there is criminal liability involved.

Calmorin said Petron cannot be held liable for violating the Clean Air Act because the law applies to intentional or deliberate acts. The prosecutors’ office also cleared the respondents of violating the Solid Waste Management Act.

“The decision to kill the people’s case against Petron and the rest of the corporate interests behind the Guimaras oil spill emanated from Malacañang and the DoJ. The Petron puppets in the Macapagal-Arroyo government will surely deny this to high heaven, but we will stick to this politically correct assessment,” the Pamalakaya leader and Anakpawis party list nominee stressed.

But Hicap said the decision of the government prosecutor’s office to drop the case against Petron is not setback, saying it further exposed the bankruptcy and rottenness of the ruling Macapagal-Arroyo government.

“The class suit case against Petron and company can be brought to the international court of justice. A foreign court can address, hear and decide this case. In fact, President Arroyo and Justice secretary Gonzales can be named as additional respondents along with executives of Petron and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp.”, the activist fisherfolk leader said.

Pamalakaya said the Guimaras oil spill last year affected over 4,000 fisherfolk families or 26,000 individuals in 22 barangays of Nueva Valencia lost their livelihood. It also affected 7 wharves, 13 resorts, 9 fishing grounds, 7 scenic views, four diversities and a cave were mutated by the oil spill, 453 hectares of mangrove area and 116 hectares of seaweed plantation and 220 kilometers
of coastline. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:35 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya to name Ebdane as principal respondent
when it files amended complaint on ASEAN Summit’ lamppost scam

One of the complainants in the plunder case arising from government purchase of overpriced lampposts used during the ASEAN Summit last January will initiate the filing of an amended complaint, this time naming Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., former secretary of Department of Public Works and Highways (PDWH) as principal respondent along with Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano and DPWH regional officials.

The leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), through its provincial affiliate Pamana-Cebu, is one of the Cebu-based people’s organizations which filed the plunder complaint against Mayor Ouano and other public and private officials involved in the multi-million plunder case.

“Ebdane must be included in the plunder case filed by the people of Cebu in connection with the Guinness Book of Record bound lamppost scam. We will work for the amended complaint that would enlist the former secretary of DPWH as principal respondent to this grandslam plunder of public funds,” Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis party list chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

“We got the assurance from our chapter in Cebu, that they would include Ebdane in the charge sheet for plunder and elevate him to the hall of shame,” Hicap said. He said the discovery of lamppost scam should compel the former DPWH secretary to resign from his new post as secretary of defense, but Malacañang, the Anakpawis nominee said is not likely to fire him as head of the defense portfolio.

“Ebdane is one of the fair-haired boys of the ruling corrupt and brutal regime in Malacañang. This is going to be a tough fight, but we will do what we can do to convince the Ombudsman in Cebu to include Ebdane in the plunder charge it would file before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court,” the Pamalakaya leader and Anakpawis nominee added.

“Ebdane’s silence on the lamppost and streetlight scandal is a confirmation that he has something to do with the scam. He has to do a lot of explaining, while waiting for the plunder charge he would face in the soonest possible time.” Hicap added.

A fresh report on the investigation regarding the government procurement of overpriced lampposts revealed that Ebdane, as former secretary of DPWH approved the installation of 30 lampposts in a private beach resort in Lapu-Lapu City.

“As head of the DPWH at the time the purchase of overpriced lampposts was done, Ebdane should be charged along with local government and private officials under the principle of command responsibility and he has full knowledge of the illegal land scandalous transaction,” Hicap said.

A local contractor, Crisologo Saavedra who filed an amended complaint for plunder on Monday after DPWH regional office released P 50 million to Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co. Inc., one of the two contractors of the decorative lamppost project. Saavedra alleged that the lampposts and streetlights were overpriced. The local contractor said he has proposed to supply lampposts to Cebu City at P 31,000 each including installation work.

Saavedra said Gampik, one of the companies which won the bidding, supplied lampposts to Cebu City that cost P 83,000 to P 85,000 each and to Lapu-Lapu City at P 95,000 each including installation costs, which is P 50,000 to P 60,000 higher than the lampposts offered by his contractor. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:33 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya: DAR Secretary mishandled Negros land row

“Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman has mishandled the long-running land dispute in Negros by favoring only one-side of the land reform beneficiaries, while abandoning the land reform rights of the unionized workers. There was a gross miscarriage of justice here.”

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has expressed this view, after Pangandaman yesterday led the installation of 57 farmer beneficiaries, who were among the 122 that were given certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAs) in 2002 in a small portion of the 400 hectare sugar estate of Roberto Cuenca in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

“Under the principle of thoroughgoing and justice driven agrarian reform, Secretary Pangandaman should have first eliminated the political and economic clout of the sugar baron, then proceed with honest-to-goodness distribution of land among the farmers and unionized workers of the Hacienda,” said Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap.

The militant leader said DAR should have told the farmers and the farm workers that they should not fight each other, because they both have the rights to own and till the land and that their common and narrow enemy in this fight is the sugar baron or any interested parties who want the 400-hectare sugar estate, including the national government.

“We sympathize with the cause of Task Force Mapalad farmers and the unionized workers of the Hacienda. They are the working people in making the sugar estate productive. Both deserve the fruits of their labor. But DAR’s incorrect handling of the case further fuels hatred and division that may end into bloody confrontation among the poor and this should not happen,” he added.

Hicap added: “DAR is pitting the farmers of the group Task Force Mapalad against the unionized workers allegedly identified with Cuenca. Secretary Pangandaman should have isolated the sugar landlord and tell farmers and farm workers that they have the right to the land they tilled since time immemorial.”

The Anakpawis nominee further said DAR failed to deliver social justice when it set aside the agrarian interest of unionized workers. What DAR installed, Hicap said, was the further division and hatred among land reform beneficiaries. “The poor farmers and farm workers will continue to engage in a fight over the sugar plantation. That would make easy for the sugar landlord to effectively rule in the 400 hectare sugar plantation, by pitting the farmers against farm workers. At the end of the day, it is still Cuenca who will be declared the winner in this endless land reform dispute,” Hicap said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:32 | link | comments (1) |

Leftist groups fear AFP may invoke E.O 464 to skip Comelec hearing on electioneering raps

The militant Anakpawis party list and the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday said Palace officials and military generals named in their complaint against AFP electioneering would invoke the controversial Executive Order 464 to justify their non-appearance on March 23 before the Commission on Election.

Anakpawis nominee and Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap there is a strong possibility that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol, AFP chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Defense secretary Hermogenes Ebdane might use the Palace order barring government and military officials from testifying or attending hearings outside the executive branch of the government.

“We want to know how will Chairman Benjamin Abalos would address this concern once Malacañang, the AFP and the defense department invoke EO 464. Will he cite these political animals in contempt of the quasi-judicial body if they fail to engage us in a major political electoral face off?”, Hicap asked.

The militant leader added: “ We want an assurance from Abalos that Ermita and company will show on March 23. We are anticipating this major political showdown.”

Atty. Alioden Dalaig, Director IV of the Comelec law department has set March 23 as the date of hearing to hear the electioneering raps filed by Anakpawis and other allied militant organizations against the military. The case was docketed as E.O Case no. 07-19, which was filed last March 6.

The subpoenas were sent to Ermita and other respondents last March 7.

The Comelec on Monday said it would conduct its own investigation on alleged partisan politics committed by government troops deployed in 27 barangays in Metro Manila. The poll body’s spokesperson Arthur Jimenez said Comelec will conduct a probe, despite the denial of AFP NCR chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino that the troops were not engaged in electioneering activities against militant party list groups like Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela.

Pamalakaya and Anakpawis assured Comelec that they would present voluminous evidence, including testimonies and videotapes showing government troops campaigning against militant party lists and demonizing them in front of the people.

“We will show our stockpile of damning evidence against these political morons in Malacañang and the AFP that they are guilty beyond reasonable doubt of partisan political activities, gross human rights violations and wholesale violations of the people’s right to suffrage,” both groups added.

Pamalakaya and Anakpawis said more cases pertaining to AFP electioneering will be filed before the Comelec. The groups said they are gathering more evidence in the provinces and regions across the country, so they could file more charges before the Comelec.

Both groups did not discount the possibility that the fight against AFP electioneering and black propaganda campaign against militant party lists may reach the Supreme Court. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 01:46 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya to name Ebdane as principal respondent
when it files amended complaint on ASEAN Summit’ lamppost scam

One of the complainants in the plunder case arising from government purchase of overpriced lampposts used during the ASEAN Summit last January will initiate the filing of an amended complaint, this time naming Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., former secretary of Department of Public Works and Highways (PDWH) as principal respondent along with Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano and DPWH regional officials.

The leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), through its provincial affiliate Pamana-Cebu, is one of the Cebu-based people’s organizations which filed the plunder complaint against Mayor Ouano and other public and private officials involved in the multi-million plunder case.

“Ebdane must be included in the plunder case filed by the people of Cebu in connection with the Guinness Book of Record bound lamppost scam. We will work for the amended complaint that would enlist the former secretary of DPWH as principal respondent to this grandslam plunder of public funds,” Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis party list chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

“We got the assurance from our chapter in Cebu, that they would include Ebdane in the charge sheet for plunder and elevate him to the hall of shame,” Hicap said. He said the discovery of lamppost scam should compel the former DPWH secretary to resign from his new post as secretary of defense, but Malacañang, the Anakpawis nominee said is not likely to fire him as head of the defense portfolio.

“Ebdane is one of the fair-haired boys of the ruling corrupt and brutal regime in Malacañang. This is going to be a tough fight, but we will do what we can do to convince the Ombudsman in Cebu to include Ebdane in the plunder charge it would file before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court,” the Pamalakaya leader and Anakpawis nominee added.

“Ebdane’s silence on the lamppost and streetlight scandal is a confirmation that he has something to do with the scam. He has to do a lot of explaining, while waiting for the plunder charge he would face in the soonest possible time.” Hicap added.

A fresh report on the investigation regarding the government procurement of overpriced lampposts revealed that Ebdane, as former secretary of DPWH approved the installation of 30 lampposts in a private beach resort in Lapu-Lapu City.

“As head of the DPWH at the time the purchase of overpriced lampposts was done, Ebdane should be charged along with local government and private officials under the principle of command responsibility and he has full knowledge of the illegal land scandalous transaction,” Hicap said.

A local contractor, Crisologo Saavedra who filed an amended complaint for plunder on Monday after DPWH regional office released P 50 million to Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co. Inc., one of the two contractors of the decorative lamppost project. Saavedra alleged that the lampposts and streetlights were overpriced. The local contractor said he has proposed to supply lampposts to Cebu City at P 31,000 each including installation work.

Saavedra said Gampik, one of the companies which won the bidding, supplied lampposts to Cebu City that cost P 83,000 to P 85,000 each and to Lapu-Lapu City at P 95,000 each including installation costs, which is P 50,000 to P 60,000 higher than the lampposts offered by his contractor. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 01:45 | link | comments |

Batangas fishers disown Ermita for tolerating
military abuses in the province

Fisherfolk activists belonging to Haligi ng Batangueñong Anak-Dagat (Habagat) an affiliate of the leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday disowned Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as their fellow Batangueño for allowing military atrocities in the province.

“He is a big letdown, a major disappointment to the Batangueños,” said Habagat president Mario Santos in a press statement.

Santos said Ermita as the highest appointed government official from Batangas has used the province as a military laboratory for Oplan Bantay Laya, a six-year counter-insurgency program of the Macapagal-Arroyo government.

The Habagat fisherfolk leader said in 2005 alone, the group, together with the human rights group Karapatan has documented 45 cases of violations of human rights in the province. He said 29 fisherfolk and peasant activists have been killed by the military and death squads in the same year, while basic human rights and civil liberties of 1,843 people have also been violated in the course of military counter-insurgency operations in the province.

Santos said Ermita has endorsed Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2 as a military campaign in the province against communist guerillas. “Ermita allowed the AFP to enlist leaders of Habagat and Samahan ng Mga Magbubukid ng Batangas as enemies of the state and place them in the military’s order of battle,” he added.

Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap said the 13 leaders of Habagat, the peasant group Sambat and Anakpawis in Calaca, Batangas were recently included in the military’s order of battle. They are Barangay Coral councilor Pablo Vidal, 47 years old, Vicente Seguinal, councilor Virgilio Vidal, Rene Rodriguez, Gigi Bautista, municipal coordinator of Anakpawis party list, Longhino Panganiban, Teoducio Bautista, Rogelio Marasigan, Pedro Marasigan, Eddie Rodriguez, Guillermo Zara and Isidro Rodriguez.

Hicap said the military under the 704th Combat Group of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) continues to harass leaders and members of Habagat, Sambat and Anakpawis despite a dialogue held between the activist groups and the military last February 26, which was facilitated by Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles.

“They are not afraid of Archbishop Arguelles. That’s what the military told our members when they confronted them last week in Barangay Coral,” the Pamalakaya leader said. “The extreme arrogance and open display of state terror by the military only shows that they have the blessings of the national security syndicate in Malacañang headed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Secretary Ermita,” Hicap added.

Reports filed by Karapatan-Batangas chapter revealed that on March 8, the military started its crackdown of leaders and members identified with Habagat, Sambat and Anakpawis in Sto. Tomas, Lemery and Batangas City.

On March 15, the Philippine Army in Barangay Coral forced a number of fisher leaders to sign a blank paper, which Habagat believed will be used by the military to let them appear as communist guerillas who surrendered to the military and later to be presented as “ political trophies” to Secretary Ermita in Malacañang. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:35 | link | comments |

Leftist leader asks Bishop Bastes help to secure kin in Sorsogon

The leader of the leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has asked the help of Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes to ensure the safety of his father, his siblings and relatives in Castilla town because they under extreme danger from the military.

“I cannot rely on the Philippine National Police because they are cahoots with the military. The mayor of our town is a certified lapdog of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We ask the Church’s divine intervention through Bishop Bastes against this day-to-day political persecution committed by the armed forces against my family,” Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“My life is in extreme danger. Members of my family are facing the same ordeal and they were forced to stomach the blatant lies and the black propaganda of the AFP because of the present situation in the province where the military has converted it into a colony of AFP concentration camps,” Hicap said.

Bishop Bastes and Hicap are allies in the fight against the operation of Lafayette Philippines Inc. blamed by fisherfolk and residents of Rapu-Rapu, Albay and nearby coastal towns of Sorsogon for the two toxic spills last 2005. The two were part of over 800 complainants who filed a criminal case against Lafayette last year before the Makati Regional Trial Court.

The Sorsogon bishop also denounced the checkpoints put up by the military two weeks ago during a prayer rally in the province, saying the people were harassed by the presence of military in many barangays of Castilla and other towns of Sorsogon.

A checkpoint was placed some 10 meters away from the house of Hicap two weeks ago, and residents passing in and out of that checkpoint were required to sign a logbook by the military and residents are obliged by the military to man the military post. The Pamalakaya chair and Anakpawis nominee denied that his kin in Barangay Tomalaytay were supporting the presence of military and the installations of checkpoints, saying his father Florencio and sister Odessa were obliged to make favorable comments to the military for fear of military reprisal.

“If you say something against the military or say something against what the military are doing in the barangay, my relatives and neighbors will be treated as enemies of the state and the military establishment,” Hicap said.

Yesterday, Hicap urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the military harassment conducted by the military against him and his family in Barangay Tomalaytay, Castilla in Sorsogon province. The Anakpawis nominee made the appeal to the government human rights body, a day after his relatives said they were not bothered with the presence of military and scores of AFP checkpoints in Barangay Tomalaytay and nearby barangays in Castilla.

Prior to this, the military has done frequent visits in his house, asking members of his family about his whereabouts, because he, being the national chair of Pamalakaya is considered by the military as top communist official and therefore must surrender to government authority.

Last January, Hicap’s son Fryan, a veterinary student in Sorsogon and chairman of Sangguniang Kabataan was invited for questioning by the military under a certain 2nd Lt. Gamboa of the Alpha Coy of the 22nd Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army. The said military official told Hicap’s son to convince him to surrender to the military because he is the chairman of a communist front group Pamalakaya.

On February 16, Lt. Gamboa invited Hicap’s father for questioning, asking the latter to convince the Pamalakaya chair’s wife to go back and report to the military authorities. The military official claimed that if not for the presence of many houses within the periphery of their house, they could have burned Hicap’s house a long time ago. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:34 | link | comments |

Leftists slammed railroaded transfer of Satur to Leyte
Militants call across-the-nation outrage rallies to demand release of Ocampo

Colleagues of leftist lawmaker Satur Ocampo slammed what it called a politically railroaded transfer of the embattled militant solon to Hilongos Regional Trial Court in Leyte, despite a court order asking police security forces to defer the presentation of Ocampo until March 23, the date of the oral argument scheduled by Supreme Court to hear the petitions filed by the Bayan Muna lawyers before the high tribunal.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap called on their militant colleagues to stage an across-the-nation rallies to express their outrage and wholesale condemnation over the unjust, illegal and brutal transfer of the leftist lawmaker to Leyte despite a court order deferring the transfer.

“Let us go back to the streets and demand the release of Rep. Ocampo and call for the ouster of the criminal government of illegitimate President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” Hicap said in a press statement.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. confirmed that Ocampo was flew by the police to Leyte early this afternoon and were told that they would just get a copy of the order Hilongos RTC Judge Ephrem Abando before they return to Manila. Reyes of Bayan said the party list lawmaker was taken on a Cessna plane to Hilongos, Leyte.

“The national security syndicate in Malacañang wants to prove to the public that they can break the law anytime they want and persecute people critical of them at any given time,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap added.

The leftwing fisherfolk leader said they would issue a national memorandum to all its 43 provincial chapters nationwide to join all protest actions starting this week denouncing the arbitrary and illegal arrest of Ocampo and his unlawful transfer to Hilongos RTC this afternoon.

“The arrest of Ocampo and his illegal transfer to Leyte on the basis of psy war stories and trumped-up charges orchestrated by the military deserves national outrage,” Hicap said.

Anakpawis party list and Pamalakaya said President Arroyo allowed Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to execute the grand plan of removing the Bayan Muna Rep. from his detention cell in Manila Police District to Hilongos, Leyte.

“This militarist gang in Malacañang representing the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security is the political mafia behind the illegal transfer of Satur to Leyte. This civilian-military junta group ordered the police to forcibly transfer Ocampo,” the groups added.

Both groups said the police who arrested Ocampo was taking orders and instructions direct from Malacañang Palace channeled through the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“Malacañang has practically mobilized all government agencies and institutions to ensure the unlawful arrest, detention and transfer of Ocampo to Leyte. The Filipino people are not safe with the present ruling political mafia in Malacañang which is super obsessed to impose all-out authoritarian rule,” the groups added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:42 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya leader urges CHR to probe AFP harassment

The leader of the leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the military harassment conducted by the military against him and his family in Barangay Tomalaytay, Castilla in Sorsogon province.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap said the military has been conducting series of meetings in Barangay Tomalaytay and other barangays of Castilla that if residents say something bad against the military they would be considered “enemies of the state and the military establishment, and therefore, would be objects of military harassment and daily surveillance and interrogation.

Hicap made the appeal to the government human rights body, a day after his father Florencio Hicap and sister Odessa Hicap-Lagutin said they were not bothered with the presence of military and scores of AFP checkpoints in Barangay Tomalaytay and nearby barangays in Castilla.

“They are helpless under the present situation. Our barangay and the entire town of Castilla is under a huge military concentration camp. Military checkpoints are everywhere. People are compelled to sign log books every now and then and they are forced to act as military’s watchmen. If they refuse, the military will tag them as enemies of the state,” he said.

The Pamalakaya chair and Anakpawis nominee added: “Practically the entire Castilla town is under attack from the state military forces and the people are afraid to displease government troops and its para-military goons. How can they speak freely if military detachments are everywhere and they are treated like prisoners inside a virtual military concentration camp?”

Hicap said he had talked to his father and sister this morning and they told him that their relatives and neighbors were obliged to join the military in manning several checkpoints because that is the barangay measure imposed by the military in their barangay and other barangays of Castilla. “They want to resist, but the military insist that if they refuse, they would be considered as enemies of the government and the AFP. What is coming out in their mouth is not the sentiment of the people but the speaking lines of the military,” the militant leader said.

Hicap complained that the military has put up a military checkpoint some 10 meters away from his house in Barangay Tomalaytay. Prior to this, the military has done frequent visits in his house, asking members of his family about his whereabouts, because he, being the national chair of Pamalakaya is considered by the military as top communist official and therefore must surrender to government authority.

Last January, Hicap’s son Fryan, a veterinary student in Sorsogon and chairman of Sangguniang Kabataan was invited for questioning by the military under a certain 2nd Lt. Gamboa of the Alpha Coy of the 22nd Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army. The said military official told Hicap’s son to convince him to surrender to the military because he is the chairman of an communist front group Pamalakaya.

On February 16, Lt. Gamboa invited Hicap’s father for questioning, asking the latter to convince the Pamalakaya chair’s wife to go back and report to the military authorities. The military official claimed that if not for the presence of many houses within the periphery of their house, they could have burned Hicap’s house a long time ago.

The Pamalakaya chair and Anakpawis nominee has filed a case before the UN Human Rights Commission last month against what he called state terrorism and government persecution. Named respondents in the case were President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, AFP chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales. Hicap is set to file a formal complaint this week before the CHR and he would ask the human rights body to investigate and recommend the filing of appropriate charges against top military commanders operating in Castilla and other parts of Sorsogon.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:39 | link | comments |

Stop: Military Checkpoint wooden board placed on the fence of Hicap’s house
Army puts military checkpoint 10 meters away from
Pamalakaya leader’s house in Bicol

The military under Alpha Coy of the 22nd Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army based in Castilla town, Sorsogon has placed a one meter by one meter wooden board announcing the residents that they would be subjected to military checkpoint if they pass the area.

The “Stop: Military Checkpoint” board was placed on the fence of the house of leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap in Barangay Tumalaytay, 15 kilometers away from town proper.

“The Army placed the wooden billboard two weeks ago. About ten meters away from Hicap’s house, the military placed a sub-Army outpost to monitor the people coming in and out of our chairperson’s residence,” said Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz in a press statement.

“This is expressed and sheer state-terrorism to the highest order. Upon learning that Hicap filed a P 20-million libel case against retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan and brought his case before the UN Commission on Human Rights and upon learning that our chairperson filed anti-graft complaints against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and officials of Lafayette for destroying the environment and the livelihood of the people, the Palace-military ruling mafia started their dirty work assignment against our chairperson,” Corpuz said.

Corpuz said the mini-military post was placed near Hicap’s house to inform the community that the Pamalakaya fisherfolk leader and Anakpawis nominee was under surveillance and that the military is working for his surrender or arbitrary arrest once he goes back to his family.

“A certain Lt. Gamboa has been spreading tall tales and grand lies that Hicap is a top ranking communist leader being the national chairperson of Pamalakaya and the our leader will not yield to the military because of his position in the movement,” he added.

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz said Lt. Gamboa has told Hicap to surrender to him and meet him in Legaspi City. He said the Army lieutenant even gave his cell phone number 0920-5271624 to the Pamalakaya leader in case he decides to surface and surrender to the authority.

“The entire Hicap clan is under surveillance and consistent threat, harassment and intimidation by the military. This is the game plan being executed by the military command in Castilla to further terrorize his family and the Hicap’s neighbors,” Pamalakaya said.

The group said sometime in January 2007, Hicap’s son Fryan, chairman of Sangguniang Kabataan in Barangay Tumalaytay was invited for questioning by the military. His younger sons, Fullbert and Francis were being planned to be invited by the military for questioning, but decided to leave the place with their mother Amy to avoid harassment.

On February 16, the military invited Hicap’s father Lorenzo for questioning and asked for the whereabouts of the Pamalakaya leader. The older Hicap, instead gave the address and telephone number of Pamalakaya headquarters in Manila for the military to contact, but Lt. Gamboa said he will not go to Pamalakaya’s office and he wants to talk to his son in Legaspi City for his surrender.

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz said the military has also compelled residents of the barangay to go on 24/7 surveillance of the community to monitor who are going to and leaving from the Barangay Tumalaytay and nearby coastal and farming barangays. The military and the local official of Castilla have also compelled residents to secure a common ID and require them to pay P 35 for the ID and regularly show the ID together with cedula once they pass the military checkpoints. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:38 | link | comments |

Militants advised Ate Vi: Don’t let Ermita use you

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday advised Batangas gubernatorial candidate Vilma Santos-Recto to be extra-careful and exercise prudence upon learning that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita was one of the powerful Malacañang officials behind that prodded her to change her mind and face brother-in-law Ricky Recto and incumbent Batangas Governor Armand Sanchez.

“We have nothing against the Star for All Seasons’ decision to run for the governorship of Batangas. It is her right to seek any elected post. However, the Ermita factor might spoil whatever victory she might obtain in the May 14, 2007 elections. Ermita is synonymous to corruption, sheer brutality and betrayal,” said Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz in a press statement.

Yesterday, the seasoned performer declared bid for Batangas governor, a surprise turn around of her last month’s statement that she won’t compete with brother in-law Ricky in the gubernatorial race to avoid a Recto vs. Recto showdown in Batangas.

Some political observers had said that Mrs. Santos-Recto’s decision to run for governor of Batangas has something to do with his husband-senator Ralph Recto’s decision to run as candidate of the Team Unity in May 2007 polls. The President is about to declare Batangas a free-zone, since incumbent Gov. Sanchez is the official candidate of Lakas-NUCD, one of the allied political parties of Malacañang.

Corpuz added:” This is a friendly advice. Ate Vi should not allow the militarist faction of Ermita to use her to advance the Executive Secretary’s narrow agenda in Batangas politics. She must exercise an independent mind and pressure-free decision that would work for the people of Batangas and for the political agenda of the Ermita clan in the province.”

Ermita, along with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes were blamed for the extra-judicial killings of 835 leftwing activists and journalists across the country since 2001.

“We hope Ate Vi would take into account the politically checkered past and bloody career of Ermita as a strong and prime consideration to junk and resist any political ploy of the Executive Secretary to use her for political expediency and favor,” Corpuz said.

The executive secretary’s son Edwin Ermita is the running mate of multi-awarded actress, according to early reports.

“Secretary Ermita might use Vilma to recapture and control Batangas politics and impose the Ermita dynasty in the province. Mr. Ermita himself has blood debts with the people with his covert and overt participation in the execution of a national policy of extra-judicial killings as a Little President and militarist official of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime,” Pamalakaya’s Corpuz said.

The Pamalakaya information chief said the Pamalakaya-chapter in Batangas or Pamalakaya-Haligi ng Batangueñong Anakdagat (Pamalakaya-Habagat) so far has yet to decide on who among the three candidates would get their support, saying the criteria set for endorsement must be first met by the candidate in order to get their open endorsement and support.

Corpuz said while the wife of Senator Ralph Recto, his brother Ricky and incumbent Gov. Sanchez have equal chances of winning, they must satisfy the electorates’ main criteria like track record, their official position on various national, regional and local issues and their political stance on leftwing and militant organizations. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 05:58 | link | comments |

Leftists told RP special team
on US Congress probe on political killings to wait for their summons

Two leftwing groups on Tuesday told the Philippine government special team tasked by Malacañang to attend as observers in tomorrow’s hearings on extra-judicial killings to wait the US Congress summons rather than attend as “political gatecrashers”.

The militant party list group Anakpawis and the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the US House Committee on foreign relations and Senator Barbara Boxer, chairperson of the East Asia Sub-Committee of the Senate to reject the government’s appeal to attend the hearings, saying a separate face-off between the victims of the state-engineered extra-judicial killings and the officials of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration must be scheduled, after the scheduled on March 14.

“We appeal to Rep. Lantos and Senator Boxer to first hear the stories of our people on political killings before allowing the criminal elements of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to give their false remarks to US Congress at their own risk,” Anakpawis nominee and Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Malacañang yesterday ordered Philippine ambassadors to ask US Congress to allow them to help the American lawmakers distinguish “face from propaganda”. Palace Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said RP Ambassador to US Willy Gaa has asked US Congress for the inclusion of a “special team” of Philippine Representatives to face with representatives of Philippine human rights groups and leftwing organizations in the hearings regarding the spate of political killings in the country.

Hicap said the US Congress should invite UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston and ask for the true or certified copy of the 86-page report of the Melo Commission and the recent report of the US State Department regarding the unabated killings of leftwing activists by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The Anakpawis nominee said the US House of Representatives foreign relations committee and its counterpart in the Senate should request for reports of human rights watchdogs in the country, particularly reports filed by Karapatan, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the London-based Amnesty International that accounted the Philippine military as perpetrators of extra-judicial killings in the country.

Hicap said the US Congress probe on political killings should put premium or relate the US President George W. Bush policy on global war against terror and its corresponding support and military aid to the Macapagal-Arroyo government.

Earlier, Pamalakaya and Anakpawis asked US Ambassador to th