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

Leftists lament: Dutch gov’t wasted 12 years of peace efforts with arrest of Joma based on trumped-up charges

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Friday said the Dutch government wasted its’ 12 years of support by hosting the peace talks between the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) with their arrest of the NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison based on fabricated murder charges.

“From 1992 to 2004, the Dutch government host to the NDFP-GRP peace talks. In fact 9 of the 17 major written agreements were signed by the negotiating panels of both parties in The Netherlands. But the peace negotiations is sabotaged with the arrest of Prof. Sison based on trumped-up charges,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap said the written agreements in connection with the peace talks signed in The Netherlands were: The Joint Hague Declaration (Sept.1, 1992), The Breukelen Joint Statement (June 14, 1994), the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Feb.24, 1995), the Joint Agreement on the Ground Rules of the Formal Meetings Between the GRP and the NDPF panels (Feb.26, 1995), the Agreement on Additional Implementing Rules Pertaining to the Documents of Identification (June 26, 1996), the Supplemental Agreement to the Joint Agreement on the Formation, Sequence and Operationalization of the Reciprocal Working Committees (March 18, 1997), the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (March 16, 1998), the agreement on the Additional Implementing Rules on JASIG pertaining to the Security of Personnel and Consultations in Furtherance of Peace Negotiations ( March 16, 1998), the Joint Agreement in Support of Socioeconomic Projects of Private Development Organizations and Institutes (March 16, 1998) and the Joint Statement on the Resumption of Peace Talks (March 9, 2001).

The other agreements were the Joint Agreement on the Formation, Sequence and Operationalization of the Reciprocal Working Committees of the GRP and the NDFP Negotiating Panels (June 26, 1995), the Oslo Joint Communiqué (April 30, 2001), the Oslo Joint Statement (Feb.14, 2004), the Second Oslo Joint Statement (April 3, 2004) and the Partial Supplemental Guidelines for the Joint Monitoring Committee (June 25, 2004).

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said the Dutch government, as host providing “neutral venue” to the peace talks by political orientation is politically obliged to protect the NDFP chief political consultant from any form of political harassment and persecution by the Dutch government and the GRP.

But Pamalakaya expressed a high level of optimism that the embattled founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) will overcome the challenge on what it called the Dutch-RP conspiracy to politically persecute Prof. Sison.

“The political offensive undertaken by the government of The Netherlands in conspiracy with the terrorist government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against Prof. Sison would soon backfire on them. That’s the law of truth and justice,” the fisherfolk group said.

Pamalakaya added: “The political animals who concocted trumped-up charges against Sison are jumping like chimpanzees. But soon they would realize that what they did was politically costly and morally embarrassing to them. At this point, the terrorist government to terrorist government pact to persecute and incarcerate Sison has been exposed to the Filipino public and the international community.”

The group said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales who hailed the arrest of Sison as a giant step toward peace and victory for justice and rule of law will soon find themselves as objects of global condemnation, with the Dutch government drawing flaks for conniving with the criminal regime of Mrs. Arroyo over the immoral, illegal and highly detestable arrest of Sison based on fake charges.

Pamalakaya said the Dutch and the Manila governments until now can’t accept the fact that they lost their case in the European Court of First Instance last month, referring the decision of the European court to delist the former CPP chair from terrorist listing and the unfreezing of his assets in The Netherlands, previously frozen by the Dutch government. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:38 | link | comments |

CHR, DSWD urged to charge soldiers for torture of 8 kids in Sulu

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to file criminal and other appropriate charges accused of torturing eight children in Sulu.

Pamalakaya said the CHR and DSWD must immediately take to court Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan and other members of the Joint Special Operations Force about the alleged arrest of 8 children and their subsequent psychological torture in the hands of the team.

Pabustan denied the children and their parents were tortured, but admitted that arrests were made during the implementation of the gun ban in the province. CHR regional director Jose Manuel Mamauag said if the allegations were true, the military committed psychological torture against the eight children.

“Children are being subjected to state terrorism in the name of unjust and immoral war. We oblige the CHR and DWSD to file criminal raps and other appropriate charges against Gen. Pabustan and members of the special operations force,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“This is tantamount to crimes against humanity,” he added.

Hicap said the CHR and the DSWD should treat the case as high profile, and repel any move of the Philippine Army and the defense department to scuttle the case to allow justice to take its course.

The Pamalakaya leader also asked Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to immediately relieve Pabustan and his men for committing grave violations of human rights and allow them to face charges and be tried in any regular civilian court.

Bai Racma Imam, DSWD Secretary in ARMM was furious after receiving reports that Gen. Pabustan and his men committed both human rights violations and child abuse, adding that the department is now looking for the children and their parents so charges can be filed against those committed the abuse.

On August 19, all the six children and 6 other adults were brought to Camp Teodulo Bautista, main base of Task Force Comet, 104th Army Brigade and Joint Special Operations Force in the capital town of Jolo.

A 13-year old girl told members of the Consortium of Bangsa Moro Civil Society, a non-government organization said she and two other children witnessed how soldiers tortured their fathers. The children said guns were pointed at the heads of their fathers, who were in tears.

They said a jungle knife was pointed at their necks, including those of the 4 year old and 6-year old children. The soldiers were wearing bonnet masks and they asked the children where the guns of their father are and ordered them to dig their graves.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said the Senate and House of Representative committees on committees on defense, justice and human rights and women and children should conduct separate or joint congressional inquiry on the case of eight Sulu children. “This is not a simple case of petty crime. The members of the special task force in Sulu committed a major blunder, an act of state terrorism against civilians and children,” he added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:27 | link | comments |

Militants want second opinion on Guimaras findings

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday wants a second opinion regarding the condition of Guimaras mangrove, a day after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Western Visayas said mangroves heavily contaminated by last year’s oil spill are showing signs of resiliency and natural recovery.

“Everybody loves a welcome news. But we doubt the credibility of the DENR. It has performed its role to the hilt as no.1 apologist for Petron Corp. and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp, owners of MT Solar 1. That’s why we want an honest-to-goodness second opinion,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The Pamalakaya leader said an independent scientific study must be done to verify the June 18-29 study conducted by DENR. “The assessment made by the DENR could be motivated by interest groups which want to eliminate the ghosts of last year’s Guimaras oil spill tragedy,” Hicap said.

DENR-Western Visayas reported that even in severely contaminated sites, regeneration of different species were observed to be growing robustly and in numbers. The assessment, which is the third conducted in mangrove areas, also noticed prominent growth of lenticels in heavily contaminated plant parts.

“The study was made last June 18-29; we were in Guimaras last August 11. What we saw were mangrove areas under the state of catastrophe. We are not scientists, but we know how to distinguish what is real and what is fake,” said Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz.

Last August 11, Pamalakaya and the Iloilo-based Save Our Lives, S.O.S-Panay and Guimaras group conducted a public forum on the impact of Guimaras oil spill to the livelihood of small fishermen and the environment of the island province, a year after the oil spill tragedy.

The forum held in Nueva Valencia was attended by local government officials, victims and damage claimants and non-government workers in Guimaras.

Pamalakaya and Save Our Lives, S.O.S- Panay and Guimaras had asked lawmakers to pass a law that would focus on the rehabilitation of Guimaras and other affected areas over the next three years, adding that the proposed fund of P 10-B for rehabilitation should come Petron Corp.

The groups proposed that the rehabilitation fund for Guimaras oil spill will not come from taxpayers’ money. They said the law would require Petron Corp. to fund the P 10 billion peso three-year Guimaras rehabilitation plan beginning the last quarter of 2007.

“Let this appeal reaches the halls of both Congress. The people of Guimaras want Petron Corp. to shoulder the costs of rehabilitation and that’s their collective sentiment and interest. Our groups are just echoing the voices from the grassroots,” they said.

Pamalakaya and the Panay and Guimaras environmental group proposed that under the Guimaras Rehabilitation Act, P 6 billion of the P 10-billion Guimaras Rehabilitation Fund would be used for environmental and marine biodiversity rehabilitation.

The groups said the remaining P 4-B would be spent for the economic rehabilitation, with P 2-B to be allocated for the first year of implementation, P 1 B for second year and P 1 B for the last year. “At all cost, Petron should be obligated to finance the comprehensive rehabilitation of Guimaras,” they said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:26 | link | comments |

Leftists call visiting pro-Bush US lawmakers as troublemakers
They don’t deserve Filipino hospitality, says Pamalakaya

Visiting lawmakers from the camp of US President George W. Bush don’t deserve the hospitality every Filipino would give to any stranger.

In strongly worded statement, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) regarded the US congressmen allied with Bush’ Republican Party as trouble makers dressed in lawmakers’ suits.

“They are here to propagate the US-led war on terror, extend political support to US military intervention in the country and uphold Bush government’s support to the extrajudicial killing republic and terrorist regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

Five members of the US Congress, some heading military related committees in US House of Representatives visited American troops currently deployed for RP-US Joint Military Exercises last Saturday to see the conduct of joint exercises between American troops and their Filipino counterparts.

The delegation was headed by Texas Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a staunch ally of US President Bush and chairman of the permanent committee select committee on intelligence and the armed services committee. He was joined by other pro-Bush congressmen namely New Jersey Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, member of the appropriations committee and the select intelligence overnight panel; New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson of the committee on energy and intelligence committee and Maryland Rep. C.A “Dutch” Ruppersberger of the appropriations and intelligence committee.

New York Rep. Gregory W. Meeks was the only Democrat- US congressman who joined the bipartisan delegation. “We hope Rep. Meeks will act as check and balance opposition and report to the Filipino and the American people the militarist adventure and intervention of lawmakers allied with the terrorist camp of Mr. Bush and Mrs. Arroyo,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap said.

The Pamalakaya leader said the unannounced visit of pro-White House congressmen in Mindanao last Saturday was a go signal for the US military officials and troops in Mindanao to proceed with their actual basing and involvement in combat operations against political armed groups in the Mindanao particularly the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the communist-led New People’s Army.

“The joint RP-US military operations against the Abu Sayyaf bandits is just for show, since Bush real intention is to wage war against armed political groups critical of US economic and military agenda in the South,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Rep. Reyes also assured the Philippine government that there would be no cut in his country’s military assistance to the Philippines. The US lawmaker said the US Congress will continue to support the country’s fight against terrorism, including financial aid to boost efforts of both countries to fight terrorism.

Pamalakaya said the visit of pro-Bush congressmen was a follow up to the short stint of US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who was here last month to attend the 40th ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “It was follow up to that recent stint of Mr. Bush’ top terror official in the Philippines.” #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:33 | link | comments |

15 Cabinet officials recommended for punitive action
Pamalakaya told PAGC: Name names

Critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday urged the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to name 15 cabinet officials, which it recommended for punitive action for graft-related offenses.

In a press statement, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) asked PAGC Director Charito Alvarado to disclose to the public the names of 15 Cabinet officials accused of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“The PAGC is constitutionally, legally and morally bound to reveal the names of big time corrupt officials in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. That’s their job and they should report it to the taxpaying public, not to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

Hicap added:” In the name of public accountability, transparency, public service and national interest, the PAGC should start naming names and repel Palace efforts to keep this shocking news within the ruling syndicate in Malacañang.”

The Pamalakaya leader said powerful Palace officials close to President Arroyo are sabotaging the PAGC report on the high crimes of corruption perpetrated by the appointees of President Arroyo to keep these acts of corruption as best kept secrets among President Arroyo and her political associates in Malacañang.

“Malacañang is again in complete state of denial. The President and her company of bureaucrat capitalists are preparing the red carpet walk-in-the-park escape project for those who are in the list of PAGC charged for committing first-rate crimes of corruption,” Hicap added.

An earlier report quoted PAGC that 15 of the 24 Cabinet members of the President Arroyo were facing punitive action having been involved in 90 cases of graft and corruption investigated by the anti-graft commission.

Executive Secretary Ermita denied the report, saying only four Cabinet officials were on the graft list of PAGC, adding that they were on the list of 35 cases, and not 90 cases as previously reported. But he refused to reveal the identities of the four Cabinet officials and how high up they were in the official hierarchy.

“If this is not a major cover up on the part of Secretary Ermita and President Arroyo, then what is it? They are protecting the entire Cabinet group from possible charges of corruption and other criminal and administrative suits. This is unfair to the taxpaying public, unfair to 87 million Filipinos,” Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, along with the Senate and House of Representatives Oversight Committees should come in and compel the PAGC to disclose the names of 15 Cabinet officials identified and recommended for punitive action for committing acts of corruption and for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“These constitutionally mandated bodies in Congress must do their work, compel the PAGC to submit the names of corrupt officials, conduct congressional inquiries and recommend without fear and with fervor the filing of charges before the appropriate court,” the militant group said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:21 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya chair turned down Army
invitation to appear in anti-Red seminar

A top leader of the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) turned down the invitation of the Philippine Army to attend the three-day anti-communist seminar billed as Peace and Development Forum in Barangay Tomalaytay, Castilla in Sorsogon province.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said Philippine Army 2nd Lt. Alex Parohinog enlisted him as name of one of the invited participants in the three-day seminar from August 24-26. The militant leader said as invited delegate, he would be classified either as a communist terrorist surrenderee/sympathizer or those with direct involvement in communist terrorist movement in the province.

The Pamalakaya leader said the directive ordering the barangay captain to produce him, including his son Fryan Hicap, Sangguniang Kabataan chairman and three other residents of Barangay Tomalaytay- Edmundo Pareja Jamon, Roberto Barcela and Loreto Navas, whom the military suspected of maintaining links with underground movement.

The three-day anti-communist terrorist seminar was signed by Parohinog, officer-in-charge of the Special Operations Team (SOT) Patrol Base located in Barangay Mayon, Castilla town, Sorsogon province.

The SOT in-charge of the three-day seminar belongs to the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army based in Barangay Poblacion in Castilla town. The anti-NPA seminar was the second for this month, the first was held last August 10-12, and is part of the community-based operations conducted by the military under the AFP campaign plan Unlad Bayan.

Hicap said he was invited by the Army to the seminar to disclose his involvement in the communist movement, including his alleged participation in the recruitment of persons to become NPAs, in the extortion activities of communist insurgents and in their violent and non-violent activities in Castilla.

“I will file criminal and administrative charges against Lt. Parohinog for terrorizing me, the members of my family and the residents of our barangay. This political harassment has been going on since December last year. It is time to see these and compel these AFP terrorists in court,” Hicap said.

“The Army in our town are the real terrorists doing their mercenary work in the name of government-sponsored terrorism and for the survival of the criminal and terrorist president in Malacañang. They are the real enemies of the people, not me, not my son, not my neighbors,” Hicap lamented.

The three-day anti-Red seminar which would end today is held at the Sorsogon State College in Barangay Mayon. Military organizers hoped to mobilize at least 500 participants mostly former NPA fighters, sympathizers, supporters and surrenderees, according to the invitation letter disseminated by the SOT groups in different barangays in Castilla town.

Last March, the Philippine Army put up 30 checkpoints in Barangay Castilla, and16 were set up in the 13 kilometer road from the national highway starting in Barangay Cumadcad to the house of Pamalakaya national chair. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:19 | link | comments |

Published by the United Press International (UPI)-Asia online

Commentary: Japan eyes tuna in trade pact with Philippines
MANILA, Aug. 22
GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Guest Commentary

The current debate in the Philippines on the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement has been focused on the importation of Japan's toxic waste and the Philippines' exportation of Filipino nurses and other medical practitioners to the Land of the Rising Sun. To set the record straight, this one-sided, syndicated and unscrupulous trade pact between the Japanese and Philippine governments is not about dumping Japan's toxic waste in exchange for nursing jobs in Japan.

The biggest stake here is the Philippines' national patrimony and sovereignty being sold -- for political convenience and to the economic advantage of local power brokers in the administration of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo -- to Japan, the second largest exploiting economy across the globe, next to the United States.

What the Japanese government and its transnational fishing clients are really after are the Philippines' precious tunas. Under Article 28 Section 3 of JPEPA, the Philippine government will allow 8,000-ton commercial fishing vessels from Japan to explore the country's marine resources and fish for our tunas.

Japan is known to consume 630,000 tons of tuna per year or 11 pounds of tuna per person. With the current catch shrinking in their own seas, Japanese tuna groups are targeting the Philippines as their major source of tuna in Southeast Asia. They are particularly eying areas with confirmed rich tuna deposits like the Moro Gulf and Celebes Sea in Mindanao and other tuna potential areas across the Philippine archipelago.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, or Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines with 43 provincial chapters and an individual membership of 80,000, has strongly opposed the Philippine Senate ratification of the trade agreement. Leaders of the group have asked all senators to reject the economic treaty, saying it was tantamount to a second invasion of the Philippines by imperial Japan since World War II.

An initial study by Pamalakaya said more than 180,000 fish workers in the tuna industry in South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos City and Davao will be affected or displaced by the entry of Japanese "tuna factory ships" in the country if the trade pact is implemented.

Proponents of the deal said the same privilege would be given to small Filipino fishermen under this economic treaty. How could the small Filipino fishermen go far with their 3-ton small fishing vessels and low-level fishing technologies? The one-sided equation of 8,000-ton Japanese fishing vessel ranged against the average 3- to 20-gross ton Filipino fishing boat is a clear manifestation that this treaty is one-sided and caters mainly to the interest of exploiting capitalists of Japan.

Another point is that JPEPA will pave the way for the entry of substandard Japanese food to the country, including mercury-infested fish. In the early 1970s, over 100 Japanese either died or became very ill because of their exposure to methyl mercury emanating from local industrial discharge that poisoned the nearby fishing grounds in Minimata, Japan.

Japan is known for dumping surplus fish products in the Philippines, like the "Japayuki" fish which is being sold at local markets across the country. During the time of former President Joseph Estrada, the Japayuki fish became controversial because of the presence of formalin in them.

Just recently, China tightened the quarantine of food imported from Japan after Chinese authorities found out that 30 batches of imported food from Japan failed to meet China's quality rules. The Chinese food authorities found excessive sorbic acid in Japanese fish sausages, which was 17 times higher than the 1.3 grams per kilogram allowed by Chinese sanitation authorities. In eastern China's Shandong province, some frozen octopus and fish imported from Japan were found to contain dangerous bacteria that may cause meningitis and blood poisoning. In Guangdong province in southern China, potato powder imported from Japan contained excessive sulfur dioxide while the cadmium content of some frozen oysters was five times higher than the permissible upper limit.

The JPEPA will encourage and institutionalize the importation of substandard and toxic-contaminated food from Japan, aside from its economic implications that would affect local producers and the livelihood of small farmers and fishermen across the archipelago.

We hope the Philippine Senate will not give JPEPA a chance. The trade agreement, which was approved by the Japanese Parliament early this year, is like allowing Japan to treat Filipinos as objects of transnational greed.

The Philippine government had been importing an average of 10,000 metric tons of various fish and marine products from Japan since the country signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and became an official member of the World Trade Organization in 1995 in exchange for high value fishery products Japan was importing from the country.

Beginning 2002, Japan slowed down the exportation of fish products to the Philippines reducing its total exports to 6,765 metric tons and concentrated more on importation of high value fish products from the country. In the same year, Japan imported 30,065 metric tons of high-value fish products from the Philippines on the condition that the Philippines would relax its policies on Japanese investments.

Such strings-attached trade and investment agreements with Japan paved the way for the incursion of Japan into other investments and business opportunities in the country. Japan is now active in offshore mining in search for oil and gas. It is investing some US$6 million dollars in oil and gas exploration in Tañon Strait, a protected seascape separating the islands of Cebu and Negros.

In exchange for our fish exported to their country, the Japanese want to control the Philippine seas for fish, oil and gas. They want the Philippine market for 221,450 passenger cars, 145,950 commercial vehicles and 462,100 motorcycles per year, once the tariff on imported cars is eliminated under the trade pact.

For the 87 million Filipinos, JPEPA is like an agreement between the most powerful mafia in Japan and its puppet mafia in the Philippines. In this context, the Arroyo government has committed the high crime of treason. The Senate must not be a part and shall never be a part of this crime of treason to the highest order. The senators must cross party lines and send this anti-fisherfolk and anti-Filipino economic treaty to the dustbin of history.

--

(Gerry Albert Corpuz is a correspondent of Bulatlat.com, an alternative Philippine online news site. He is also currently the head of the Information Department of Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. His Web site is www.gerryalbertcorpuz.motime.com, and he can be contacted at themanager98@yahoo.com.)

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:23 | link | comments (2) |

15 Cabinet officials recommended for punitive action
Pamalakaya told PAGC: Name names

Critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday urged the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to name 15 cabinet officials, which it recommended for punitive action for graft-related offenses.

In a press statement, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) asked PAGC Director Charito Alvarado to disclose to the public the names of 15 Cabinet officials accused of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“The PAGC is constitutionally, legally and morally bound to reveal the names of big time corrupt officials in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. That’s their job and they should report it to the taxpaying public, not to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

Hicap added:” In the name of public accountability, transparency, public service and national interest, the PAGC should start naming names and repel Palace efforts to keep this shocking news within the ruling syndicate in Malacañang.”

The Pamalakaya leader said powerful Palace officials close to President Arroyo are sabotaging the PAGC report on the high crimes of corruption perpetrated by the appointees of President Arroyo to keep these acts of corruption as best kept secrets among President Arroyo and her political associates in Malacañang.

“Malacañang is again in complete state of denial. The President and her company of bureaucrat capitalists are preparing the red carpet walk-in-the-park escape project for those who are in the list of PAGC charged for committing first-rate crimes of corruption,” Hicap added.

An earlier report quoted PAGC that 15 of the 24 Cabinet members of the President Arroyo were facing punitive action having been involved in 90 cases of graft and corruption investigated by the anti-graft commission.

Executive Secretary Ermita denied the report, saying only four Cabinet officials were on the graft list of PAGC, adding that they were on the list of 35 cases, and not 90 cases as previously reported. But he refused to reveal the identities of the four Cabinet officials and how high up they were in the official hierarchy.

“If this is not a major cover up on the part of Secretary Ermita and President Arroyo, then what is it? They are protecting the entire Cabinet group from possible charges of corruption and other criminal and administrative suits. This is unfair to the taxpaying public, unfair to 87 million Filipinos,” Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, along with the Senate and House of Representatives Oversight Committees should come in and compel the PAGC to disclose the names of 15 Cabinet officials identified and recommended for punitive action for committing acts of corruption and for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“These constitutionally mandated bodies in Congress must do their work, compel the PAGC to submit the names of corrupt officials, conduct congressional inquiries and recommend without fear and with fervor the filing of charges before the appropriate court,” the militant group said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:09 | link | comments |

Widespread offshore mining alarms fishers’ group
Pamalakaya identifies 13 petroleum companies engaged in oil and gas exploration

The widespread offshore mining in declared protected seascapes across the country caused a major alarm among leaders and members of the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

Pamalakaya identified 13 foreign and local companies have been identified for their aggressive oil and gas exploration activities all over the country. The Department of Energy (DoE), on the other hand, announced that at least 20 petroleum firms have expressed interest in exploring the country’s oil and gas deposits in offshore areas.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the oil and gas exploration groups are Japan Petroleum Exploration Corp. Ltd. (Japex) and Forum Exploration Canada (Forum) in charge of oil hunt in Tañon Strait, a protected seascape separating the island provinces of Cebu and Negros and the Trans-Asia and Energy Development, Alcorn Gold Resources Corporation, Petro Energy Corporation and the Australian-owned AustralAsian Energy Ltd. and Ottoman Energy Ltd, all tapped to undertake oil exploration in Cebu-Bohol Strait and Northeastern Leyte.

Hicap said aside from Central Visayas, investors in offshore mining are now encroaching the waters of Antique in Panay Island, Palawan, Ragay Gulf in Bicol and other parts of Mindanao to search for oil deposits.

The Pamalakaya leader confirmed the plan of the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp (PNOC-EC) -the government owned and controlled corporation and the Malaysian oil firm Petronas Carigali Overseas Snd Bhd (PCOSB) to undertake a joint exploration off the coast of Culasi town in Antique starting third week of August up to third week of next month.

The offshore mining site is 12 kilometer south of Maniguin Island in Culasi town, about 61 km north of the capital town of San Jose. The site is 58 kilometer form Boracay Island and 260 kilometer of Batangas province is part of the exploration site of PNOC-EC and the Malaysian oil company covering 14,667 square kilometer east and south of Mindoro Island and west of Panay Island.

“From Guimaras oil spill tragedy to corporate takeover of Panay waters for offshore mining, this is too much. We have resisted and will continue to resist to stop these oil exploring syndicates from destroying the marine bounty of Visayan sea,” the group said.

Proponents said the oil exploration would cost Petronas and the Philippine government
$ 20 million in total investment , which would yield 160 million barrels of oil, the biggest oil deposits in the country according to ex-DOE Secretary Lotilla.

Lotilla said over 20 firms had eyed energy exploration contracts in the country, specifically in nine areas offered by DoE for petroleum exploration, with an aggregate total of 71,357.3 square kilometers in Cagayan province, in Mindoro-Cuyo area, east Palawan, the Visayan basin, and the Agusan-Davao area in Mindanao.

“The shopping mall-like three-day sale propaganda of DoE is paying good dividends for the transnational clients of Malacañang and the bureaucrat capitalists in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration at the expense of the Filipino people and the environment,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap said.

While Australian firms AustralAsia and Ottoman Energy groups are conducting oil and gas exploration activities in Cebu-Bohol Strait and Northeastern Leyte, another Australian company- NIDO Petroleum Ltd. is training it sights in the Northwest Palawan to undertake oil exploration activities in the tradition of Malampaya oil project.

In its disclosure to Australian Stock Exchange, NIDO issued 78.2 million ordinary shares to investors in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia to raise cash for the funding of its exploration activities off the coast of the island province.

David Whitby, NIDO managing director said the company had raised $ 17.9 million from the issuance of 78 million ordinary shares to prospected investors. The funds, according to Pamalakaya, would be used to finance oil explorations covered by service contract 54 which covers 540,000 hectares of marine waters, service contract 58, which covers 1.3 million hectares and service contract 63, which covers 1.056 million hectares, all in Northwest Palawan.

“Where they will fish? In Japan? In China? In Taiwan? Everything has been identified as site for offshore mining. Government authorities and private security personnel of NIDO will not allow fish catch activities once these crocodile dundees start their operations,” the Pamalakaya group said.

The Otto Energy Ltd. group is also following the NIDO hunt for investor partners for service contracts 50, 52 and 55 in Northwest Palawan.

Not to be outdone, the Scotland registered but Dutch owned Premier Oil is set to undertake an oil exploration off the coast of Ragay Gulf in Bicol region under service contract 43. The Dutch group will invest between $ 3.6 million and $ 9.6 million for oil exploration with support funding from partners---Pearl Energy of Singapore and the PNOC-EC.

Meanwhile, the oil exploration group Wellex Petroleum Corp said it has signed a partnership with a subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Crop (Sinopec), one China’s biggest oil companies to venture into oil mining activities in the Philippines.

The Filipino mining group said Sinopec is now the process of applying for exploration permits in Palawan and Samar areas.

“Who’s next among the prospected investors of the Arroyo government—the Germans? the Italians, the Belgians? the South Koreans?” Pamalakaya said.

The government is expecting to generate at least $ 180 million in fresh investments from opening the country’s oil potential waters to foreign investors, according to DoE undersecretary Guillermo Balce, adding that 9 service contracts are now being processed and would likely be awarded by next month.


The DoE said oil exploration sites will be declared in Quezon, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental and Zamboanga Sibugay. “The government is inviting investors as if it is a huge realty corporation conducting regular open house sessions. This is tragic, really tragic,” Pamalakaya said.

Severe fish crisis

Pamalakaya warned of severe fish crisis if the government will not cancel all offshore mining activities in the Visayan Sea, in Palawan and other parts of the country adding that the far reaching effect of oil and exploration could lead to decrease of 600,000 metric tons in the yearly production of fish in the country or approximately 20 percent annually.

The group said the offshore mining in Central Visayas and other parts of the Visayan Sea alone will affect not less than 100,000 small fishermen and 500,000 dependents, will further exacerbate the problem of food security of 87 million Filipinos.

Pamalakaya said the left-and-right oil and gas exploration in the Visayan Sea will affect fish
production in Region VI composed of provinces Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental which account for an average for 350,000 metric tons of fish harvest per year, while Region VII composed of Negros Oriental, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor account for 205,000 metric tons of fish produced.

Region VIII made up of Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar and Southern Leyte yield and average of 100,000 metric tons of fish per year. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:18 | link | comments |

Money will flood literally, says Pamalakaya on the P 7.4 B flood control budget in 2008

“Money will flood literally with the government allotting over 7 billion pesos of taxpayers’ money next year on flood control projects.”

This was the quick assessment made by the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), a day after hearing the news broke by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that the national government plans to set aside P 7.4 B next year for flood mitigation projects.

“Does the government really want to control flood or it wants to fatten the pockets of government officials allied to Malacañang? Which is which?” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya on Saturday said of the P 7.4 B proposed budget for flood control, P 6.6 B will be used to build flood control structures, while P 800 million will be used for the repair and maintenance of existing flood control structures.

The budget for flood control constitutes eight percent of the proposed P 94.46 B budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) next year.

The Pamalakaya leader said the DBM and the DPWH should come out an explanation where and how the P 7.4 B will be spent by concerned government agencies.

Hicap said the Senate and the House oversight committees must see to it that everything is scrutinized and audited up to the last centavo to assure the public that the flood control funds will not go the pockets of corrupt government officials and politicians loyal to the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

“The P 7.4 B will come from taxpayers’ money. We don’t want to lose these hard-earned taxes to the greedy dogs of Malacañang. The sterling track record and outstanding performance of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime as far as super crime of corruption is concerned is the concern of everybody here,” the Pamalakaya chair added.

Pamalakaya also scored Malacañang for raising the budget of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for flood control next year from P 101 million to P 256 million next year. The militant group said President Arroyo and the DBM were treating MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando like a spoiled brat by giving him funds and questionable powers that belongs to DPWH-National Capital Region.

“The MMDA cannot even solve the traffic problem and petty traffic quarrels in Metro Manila. Now Malacañang wants Mr. Fernando to solve the flood problem in the main capital. This is ridiculous,” the militant group said.

DBM Secretary Andaya said the national government approved the supervisory authority of the MMDA on flood control projects in Metro Manila, which was once under DPWH-NCR. He said the transfer of management powers was carried out to ensure faster coordination among various government agencies.

Andaya said increased funding was possible because of higher government revenues and savings last year. “This government is insane for giving supervisory powers to an unproductive and troublemaker government agency like MMDA, the group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:15 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya protests Petron’s P 118 million reimbursement from Guimaras clean up

Does Petron Corp. deserve damage claims from last year’s Guimaras oil spill?

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday protested the P 118 million the oil company reimbursed from the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPCF) for the expenses it incurred in the clean up of 2.1 million litters of bunker fuel spilled off Guimaras Strait on August 11 last year.

“Where is Petron and IOPCF sense of justice? Where in this part of the planet did the IOPCF get its horrible idea that Petron should be compensated for the costs of the clean up? This is extremely detestable,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap learned that during the 37th session of the Executive Committee of IOPCF held from June 12-15, the international compensation group had accepted the application of Petron for reimbursement initially pegged at P 196 million. The IOPCF provisionally assessed Petron’s costs of clean up for P 118 million, and that interim payment for the amount had been sent to the oil company.

The Pamalakaya leader in his letter dated August 13, 2007 to IPOCF Claims Manager Patrick Joseph, Mr. John Gillies, Chairman of the IOPCF Executive Committee, Mr. Leonce Michel Ogandaga, Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee and Mr. Willem Oosterveen, the IOPCF executive director urged the international oil compensation group to take back the interim payment it made to Petron Corp. and nullify its previous decision granting Petron’s claim for the cost of clean up.

“Please allow us to question and assail this act of IOPCF. The act is grossly immoral and totally unfair to the victims of Guimaras oil spill tragedy. A direct assault to the people’s quest for truth, justice and fair play,” Hicap said in his letter.

The Pamalakaya letter to IOPCF officers also reads: “For the benefit of IOPCF officials, please allow us to state the findings of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry. The MT Solar 1 captain Norberto Aguro was not a licensed oil tanker master, which led him to violate and disregard regulations, policies and requirements for seaworthiness. The owner of MT Solar 1 and Petron were declared liable for overloading the vessel. These findings were upheld by the Philippine Senate, when it conducted its own inquiry last year.”

Pamalakaya asserted that Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., the owners of MT Solar 1 and Petron were guilty of violating the Clean Air Act of 1999, the Clean Water Act of 2004 and the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000, that prompted the special board of marine inquiry and the Philippine Senate to recommend the filing of criminal and other appropriate charges against the owners and top officials of Sunshine Maritime and Patron Corp.

“The decision of IOPCF to reimburse Petron for the costs of the clean up is unfair, unwarranted and lacked legal and moral merits,” the group said.

Pamalakaya also scored the IOPCF for rejecting the second batch of claimants numbering to 100,000, of which, 32,500 claimants came from Nueva Valencia, the most affected coastal town in Guimaras province. The oil pollution compensation group had so far paid a total of P 177 million to 22,000 oil spill victims. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:05 | link | comments |

Anti-HSA group urges MTRCB to allow commercial showing of Orapronobis
Brocka film banned since 1989

Critics of the recently passed Human Security Act of 2007 on Wednesday urged the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to lift the ban and allow the commercial exhibition of Orapronobis (Fight For Us), the anti-militarization film directed by the late national artist and activist director Lino Brocka in 1989.

In a press statement, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said it is high time the film banned during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino be shown to commercial theaters to give the public the idea how the government would implement the anti-terror law, which critics said is a shotgun piece of legislation that aims to terrorize the people and violate their human rights and civil liberties.

Pamalakaya said Orapronobis will help the public relate with the spate of political killings and enforced disappearances, and growing cases of violations of human rights and civil liberties across the country.

“The highly insecure President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and military and police generals loyal the ruling national security syndicate in Malacañang is afraid to let this critically independent film to be witnessed by a large segment of the population. If they are not afraid, they would instruct the MTRCB to give the go signal for the Brocka film to be shown before the Filipino public,” Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said in a press statement.

Corpuz said the 1989 film which was exhibited during the 42nd Cannes Film Festival that year is an open testimony on how the national government and the military establishment will use, exploit and abuse the anti-terror law to go after enemies of the states or groups and individuals critical of the present administration and its national security policies.

The Pamalakaya information chief said the had seen Brocka opus several times in various human rights forum held between 1990 and 1992, and described the film as one of the most agitating films and a true-blue and honest-to-goodness independent film, because it challenged the political-military establishment and exposed the political crimes of the state against the people.

“Let this film be shown to the Filipino people and let their critical minds appreciate why we see this film as a concrete proof on how the terror law would work under the present administration of Mrs. Arroyo,” Corpuz said.

Corpuz said the present MTRCB leadership has yet to make an official statement regarding previous requests from various film groups and enthusiasts, including cause-oriented groups to allow the commercial showing of Orapronobis.

“The film Orapronobis is a national treasure. It should be allowed to be shown in the yearly film festivals held here and abroad. But President Arroyo and the military are stopping all efforts to have this film exhibited commercially knowing this film is politically connected and relevant to the spate of political killings and abductions of leftwing activists and the anti-terror law of the state,” the Pamalakaya information chief said.

The French funded production was banned from commercial exhibition since 1989 because the Aquino administration and the succeeding administrations and the military establishment reduced the Brocka opus as anti-military propaganda movie that seeks discredit the Aquino administration and the military, three years after the first People Power uprising.

Film activists who had seen Orapronobis regarded the Brocka film as one of the best Filipino films in the last century along with another Brocka movie Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Ishmael Bernal’s Himala and Mike de Leon’s Sister Stella L , all shown before the 1986 EDSA Revolution.

Made for 22 days by Brocka for an independent French film outfit, Orapronobis tells the story of Jimmy Cordero, an ex-priest and a long time political prisoner during the Marcos dictatorship, who was freed together with several political activists detained by the late strongman with the Aquino assumption of the presidency after Marcos fell down from power courtesy of the first Edsa revolution. Multi-awarded actor Philip Salvador essays Cordero’s role in the film.

The film begins with members of the vigilante group Orapronobis shooting an Italian missionary, blowing his brain out. The next scene shows actor Kumander Kontra, head of the vigilante group and played by seasoned actor Bembol Roco holding part of the priest brain close to his mouth.

Cordero turned into a human rights activist witnessed the continuing human rights abuses and atrocities perpetrated by the military under the Aquino administration. He learned that the leader of the vigilante group who killed the priest was freed from detention and was declared by the military and the government as stalwart of democracy. Cordero found out that the same group headed by Kumander Kontra killed his first wife Esper, played by Gina Alajar and his son during a massacre staged by the Orapronobis group in a peasant village where he hid during his underground days.

The Brocka film also showed a scene where a group of peasant villagers were being hunted and gunned down by members of the vigilante group for mere suspicion that they were members or supporters of the New People’s Army.

Realizing that no justice will be achieved under the present system, Cordero decided to go underground again and resume his revolutionary work. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 05:27 | link | comments |

LAWMAKERS ASKED TO ENACT GUIMARAS REHABILITATION LAW
Pamalakaya says Petron should fund P 10-B Guimaras rehab

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday asked lawmakers to enact a law that would focus on the rehabilitation of Guimaras Island over the next three years, and the proposed fund of P 10-B for rehabilitation projects would come Petron Corp.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz urged senators and congressmen to legislate a particular bill initially called by his group as Guimaras Rehabilitation Bill that would compel the oil group to allocate 10 billion pesos to rehabilitate Guimaras and provide strategic economic options for the small fisherfolk and residents of the island province affected by the oil spill disaster.

“Let this appeal reaches the halls of both Congress. The people of Guimaras want Petron Corp. to shoulder the costs of rehabilitation and that’s their collective sentiment and interest. Our group is just echoing the voices from the grassroots,” Corpuz said.

Corpuz, along with the leaders of the broad environmental group Save Our Lives, S.O.S! – Panay ang Guimaras conducted a consultation forum in the municipality of Nueva Valencia last August 11 coinciding with the first year anniversary of Guimaras oil spill tragedy. The forum was attended by local officials of Nueva Valencia and some 100 victims from said municipality.

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz proposed that P 6 billion of the P 10-billion Guimaras Rehabilitation Fund would be used for environmental and marine biodiversity rehabilitation, spread for over three years, with P 2 billion spent on each year from 2007-2009.

Corpuz said the remaining P 4-B would be spent for the economic rehabilitation, with P 2-B to be allocated for the first year, P 1 B for second year and P 1 B for the last year. “Petron should be obligated to finance the comprehensive rehabilitation of Guimaras.

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz also questioned Petron for asking the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPCF) for reimbursement regarding the expenses it incurred in the clean up of oil spill last year.

The IOPCF granted the claim of Petron Corp. amounting to P 118 million for the costs of the shore clean up, but Pamalakaya said the oil company being grossly liable for the Guimaras oil spill tragedy has no right to damage claims.

“Where in this part of the planet did the IOPC get its horrible idea that Petron Corp. should be reimbursed for the costs of the clean up?” asked Pamalakaya.

The oil pollution group, during the 37th session of the Executive Committee held June 12 to 15, 2007 reported that Petron’s claim initially pegged at P 196 million were provisionally assessed for a total of P 118 million or roughly equivalent to 1.25 million Euros, and that interim payment for that amount had been made by the IOPCF.

Pamalakaya said the findings of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry or SBMI. Last February, the SBMI created a special body to determine the circumstances surrounding the sinking of MT Solar 1, which was carrying 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel when it sunk nine miles southwest of Guimaras Island on Aug.11 last year.

The body found out that the oil tanker was overloaded. There were lapses and incompetence on the part of vessel’s crew. The MT Solar 1 captain Norberto Aguro was not a licensed oil tanker master, which led him to violate and disregard regulations, policies and requirements for seaworthiness. The owner of MT Solar 1 and Petron Corp. were declared liable for overloading the vessel. These findings were upheld by the Philippine Senate, when it conducted an inquiry last year.

Petron and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp were guilty of violating several environmental laws including but not limited to Clean Air Act of 1999, Clean Water Act of 2004 and Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. The decision of IOPCF to reimburse them for the oil spill clean up is unfair, unwarranted and lacked legal and moral basis.

“To address this issue, we ask the IOPCF leadership to take back the P 118 million in total claims the oil compensation group had awarded to Petron Corp., and instead use this amount for the damage claims made by affected fisherfolk and residents, who were victimized by Petron’s great rush for super profits,” Pamalakaya said.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:46 | link | comments |

London-based oil compensation group told:
Stop giving flimsy excuses, pay oil spill victims

Two groups supporting the plight of Guimaras oil spill victims on Saturday pressed the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) to quit from issuing flimsy excuses and fast track the payment of damage claims asked by victims of the one of worst oil spill disasters ever recorded in history.

In a joint press statement the Iloilo based Save Our Lives, S.O.S!- Panay and Guimaras coalition and the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) demanded the IPOC through claims manager Patrick Joseph to refrain from issuing grossly insulting statements against the victims, and instead, finish the processing and payment of damage claims within the next two to three months.

Ms. Geobelyn Lopez, convenor of Save Our Lives, S.O.S!- Panay and Guimaras said the victims were hurt by earlier statement issued by Joseph that majority of claimants in the second batch were only accommodated due to political consideration of local government officials because of the election campaign.

“How dare him to say that to victims of Guimaras oil spill. He should stop treating our people like beggars begging for alms. This guy has no sense of truth and justice,” she said.

Lopez reminded the IOPC’s claims manager that his job is to ensure that all victims get their compensation claims in accordance with the principles of truth, justice and fair play and should not subject the victims to round-the-clock humiliation, making them appear like professional racketeers before the Filipino people and international community.

“The job of the IOPC is to process and distribute proportionally and justly the 250,000 to 300,000 US dollars insurance of MT Solar 1 to all victims of Guimaras oil spill. So that’s roughly P 1.3 B to P 1.5 B based on the current foreign exchange rate,” she said.

In a forum organized by Save Our Lives, S.O.S!-Panay and Guimaras, guest speaker and Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said IOPC decision to reject 99,800 claims out of the 100,000 claims registered in the second batch of claimants was tantamount to an open declaration of war against the Guimaras oil spill victims.

“The IOPC is not in the position to set standards and parameters in identifying the rightful claimants. That’s ridiculous. It is the people of Guimaras and other affected communities should define and declare who are the rightful claimants with the support of recognized people’s organizations, non-government organizations and respected government officials,” he said.

The Pamalakaya spokesperson said the P 177 million granted by IOPC to 22,000 oil spill victims was still way below compared to the actual number of victims. He said the devastating impact of Guimaras oil spill has spilled over a number of fishing communities in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros, Cebu and Aklan.

Corpuz said not less than 200,000 agricultural producers and dependents, mostly fisherfolk and farmers and their families were affected by the Guimaras oil spill last year based on population census and based on census on population distribution by economic participation

Pamalakaya and Save Our Lives, S.O.S!- Panay and Guimaras said they would write the IOPC to protest the statement issued by its claims manager last month. Both groups the fight swift and just compensation for all victims of Guimaras oil spill tragedy would be brought in the international arena to compel the IOPC to honor the rightful claims of oil spill victims.

Pamalakaya scored flowers in the sea photo op

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz also assailed what he called a trivial and cheap publicity stunt staged by the members of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) and Task Force Solar 1 Oil Spill which led the first anniversary commemoration of Guimaras oil spill tragedy.

“No doubt it was a cheap publicity stunt engineered by the self-proclaimed and closet apologists of Petron Corp. and MT Solar 1,” he said.

On board, the Coast Guard ship BRP Edsa 2, officials attended a mass as the ship traveled the route of MT Solar 1 from Guimaras Strait to the spot around 13.5 nautical miles southwest of Guimaras where the oil tanker sank, spilling 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel August 11 of last year.

“It is very, very trivial. A mere display of how public officials can exploit photo op sessions to project good and caring image before the starving and justice hungry people of Guimaras. Enough of these cheap tricks, and we want productive results for the people of Guimaras,” the group’s information chief added.

Fund delay questioned

At the forum attended by oil spill victims and local government officials, the two groups also questioned the delay in the release of P 863 million approved government funds for the rehabilitation of Guimaras.

“The May 14, 2007 elections is over. The government has ran out of reasons to postpone the release of funds. The P 863 million Guimaras fund must be released now and let the people in total transparency see how the government would spend this amount for genuine and comprehensive rehabilitation,” Corpuz said.

Local government officials had joined the oil spill victims in questioning the delay on the release of funds for Guimaras rehabilitation. Earlier, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported that about 30 percent of the P 863 million Guimaras funds had been released three months before the May 2007 polls.

Based on DBM records, P 100 million of the Guimaras rehab funds will go the Department of Agriculture (DA), P 30 million to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), P 22 million to the Department of Health (DOH), P 247 million to the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), P 250 million to local government units, P 50 million to University of the Philippines-Visayas and P 64 million to other government agencies.

DoJ secretary slammed

The Save our Lives, S.O.S!- Panay and Guimaras and Pamalakaya fisherfolk group also used the occasion to berate Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales, saying the controversial DoJ Chief might have a hand in the dismissal of the complaint filed by Guimaras oil spill victims against owners and officials of Petron Corp. and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp.- the owner of sunken MT Solar that spilled 2.1 million litters of bunker fuel off Guimaras waters last year.

On March 2, 2007, the Provincial Prosecutor of Iloilo province dismissed the case filed against Petron and owners of MT Solar 1 for lack of evidence. Oil spill victims and their supporters cried foul as they vowed to appeal the case.

“The summary execution of the case people of Guimaras and the Philippines vs. Petron and Sunshine Development Corp. was done to save the transnational clients of Malacañang, nothing more, nothing less and Secretary Gonzales essayed a tour de force performance in shooting down the people’s quest for truth and justice,” the groups added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:15 | link | comments |

“DoJ sabotaged Guimaras oil spill case vs. Petron, tanker owners”- Pamalakaya
One-year after the oil spill, DoJ failed to file charges

The left-leaning fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday accused the Department of Justice (DoJ) of sabotaging the people’s case against Petron Corporation and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp.- the owner of MT Solar 1 tanker that sunk off waters of Guimaras Strait causing massive oil spill last year.

“The past actions of the DoJ under Secretary Raul Gonzalez showed that the national government has dropped the Guimaras people’s case against Petron and owners of the sunken oil tanker,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

According to the Pamalakaya leader, the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on March 2 dismissed the complaint filed by affected fishermen and residents led by Nueva Valencia Mayor Diosdado Gonzaga against Petron President Khalid Al-Faddagh, Petron’s chairman and chief executive officer Nicasio Alcantara, VP for operations Felimon Antiporta and Clemente Cancio, president of Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. for lack of evidence.

Provincial prosecutor Luzermindo Calmorin issued a resolution dismissing the complaint against the respondents for violating Clean Water Act of 2004, the Clean Air Act of 1999 and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 for lack of evidence. “The provincial prosecutor dismissed the complaint against the main actors behind the Guimaras oil spill because that is the order of the Office of the President and the justice secretary, which is to save Petron and the rest of the respondents from the class suit filed by the affected people and entities. We are loosing this case to the lapdogs of transnational puppets in the government,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap said.

Petron last year rejected the proposal of Pamalakaya for the oil company to foot the bill in the rehabilitation of Guimaras waters, saying the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) will take charge of paying the compensation to oil spill victims.

Pamalakaya last year demanded Petron to set aside P 10-B for the clean up operations and rehabilitation of Guimaras Strait destroyed by the largest oil spill in the country. The IPOC has so for granted a total of P 177 million in total compensation for 22,000 affected residents, mostly small fishermen.

The militant group said the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) tasked to investigate the Guimaras oil spill recommended to the DoJ the filing of criminal and administrative charges against owners of Petron and MT Solar 1 in February 2007. “The findings of SBMI revealed that Petron was liable for overloading the vessel. The special boards likewise found out the crew manning MT Solar 1 were incompetent, and its captain Norberto Aguro was not a licensed oil tanker master. The ship’s captain was also found guilty of disregarding regulations, policies and requirements governing the seaworthiness of the sunken oil tanker,” Pamalakaya asserted.

Pamalakaya said the recommendations of the SBMI submitted to DoJ last February were also contained in he Senate report, which also investigated the Guimaras oil spill last year. “The DoJ’s concern is not to get justice for the oil spill victims but to save the day for Petron and the owners of MT Solar 1,” the group lamented.

Pamalakaya said DoJ did not put premium to the results of the separate investigations and rejected the people’s clamor to hold Petron and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. accountable for the oil spill tragedy that destroyed thousands of mangrove areas and other marine biodiversities in Guimaras waters and nearby areas. “The DoJ is designated by Malacañang to act as legal counsel for the defense of Petron and company, that is why the provincial prosecutor in Iloilo has displayed this extreme behavior in favor of the respondents to the class suit filed by the people of Guimaras,” the group explained. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:50 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya slams P 12 wage hike in Metro
Labor chief, NCR wage board told: Workers not asking budget for small size bottled drinking water

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday joined militant labor unions in condemning the P 12 wage increase granted by the National Capital Region-Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (NCR-RTWPB) dismissing it as “ultimate violation of workers rights and welfare”.

“The workers’ legitimate, constitutional and moral demand is P 125 daily wage hike to get immediate relief. They are not asking for a budget for a small size of bottled drinking water. The P 12 increase is extremely deplorable,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion on Monday announced that the regional wage and productivity board had completed its deliberations on the petition for a P 75- wage hike filed by the moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

The labor secretary said the board denied the petition and instead agreed to grant a P 12-wage hike among workers in Metro Manila plus the P 50 cost of living allowance (COLA) to the basic pay which is P 350 including COLA.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said workers in Metro Manila have no choice but to challenge the regional wage board decision in Mendiola, in the halls of Congress, in any regular court and in the court of public opinion, adding that NCR based labor groups should stage a Metro wide protest and pressure politics to achieve the desired P 125 increase in their daily take home pay.

“It is high time for our Filipino workers to make their presence felt and let authorities and business clients of Malacañang feel the workers’ collective rage and political power,” he said.

Citing the recent study made by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), Pamalakaya said the P 362 each worker in Metro Manila would receive; including the P 12 pay increase is very, very low. A worker with a family of six members needs at least P 768 per day to survive in Metro Manila.

Pamalakaya said the current P 350 minimum wage is actually worth P 245.61 today based on the present inflation rate. In the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), this has the lowest minimum wage pegged at P 200 a day, a family of 6 needs P 1,008 a day to survive. However, the nominal basic pay of P 200 if translated to a real wage would only be P 136.71 today.
Secretary Brion asserted the P 125 wage hike would be disastrous for the economy, adding a better option would be to raise wages through regional wage boards and collective bargaining agreements. The labor secretary warned that more workers would be laid off due to increase in daily take home pay.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) stressed that 99 percent of the 783,000 firms in the country are micro, small and medium sized enterprises which would be compelled to lay off workers as a result of wage hike. But Pamalakaya said Secretary Brion was merely bluffing and presenting doctored statistics to justify the rejection of the P 125 pay hike demanded by militant labor unions like the Kilusang Mayo Uno.

“Absolute lies,” cried Pamalakaya’s Hicap saying most companies in the Philippines merely spent not less than 20 percent of their total production cost on labor. The militant leader said enterprises can accommodate wage increases up to P 250 per day, and would not result to dramatic decrease in profits. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:48 | link | comments |

Leftwing militants slam Palace for slashing SC budget by P 1 B
“A national foul play stemming from political vendetta”- Pamalakaya

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has joined Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan in questioning President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over her decision to cut by about P 1 B the budget for judiciary.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap described the move as an open declaration of war against the Supreme Court and the entire justice system, and a national foul play stemming from all-out political vendetta against the high tribunal for taking critical positions on a number of controversial issues like extrajudicial killings.

“Malacañang should restore the P 1 billion budget the country’s taxpayers had allotted for judiciary and refrain from performing acts of vengeance against Supreme Court Justice Reynato Puno and other Supreme Court justices who had caught the ire of Arroyo and her gang,” Hicap added.

The Pamalakaya leader agreed with the observations rose by some political quarters that the developments were disturbing and will send signals that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is now waging a silent dirty war against the Supreme Court.

“The P 1 billion slash is the start of the Palace’s series of dirty games against the high tribunal. We expect more of these Palace well-staged political pressures to undermine the Supreme Court with the objective of transforming the high tribunal into a rubber stamp of Malacañang,” Hicap warned.

Sen. Pangilinan said aside from cutting the budget of the judiciary by P 1 billion, Malacañang also sacked the brother of Chief Justice Puno--Carlito Puno, chief of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and disapproved the funding for the Manila City Hall of Justice requested by the Supreme Court Chief justice.

“Mrs. Arroyo is using the power of the purse to undermine the constitutional duties of the Supreme Court and the judiciary to let the ruling civilian-military junta in Malacañang to function uninterruptedly. The Chief Executive and loyalist generals in the Armed Forces of the Philippines were extremely angered and unhappy over Puno’s holding of the summit on extrajudicial killings,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

Hicap said Malacañang and pro-Arroyo generals in the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) also disliked Puno’s critical statements on the Human Security Act of 2007 and the human rights situation across the country.

“The political signal the Palace wants to deliver is clear. It wants to cripple the Supreme Court and pressure the judiciary to act in accordance with syndicated interest of Malacañang and pro-Arroyo generals in the military and police establishments,” the Pamalakaya group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:47 | link | comments |

P 10-B subsidies to GOCCs in first half of 2007
used to support Palace bets in last polls, leftist group says

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday accused Malacañang Palace of using over 10 billion pesos in total subsidies to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to beef up the campaign kitty of Palace bets in the local and national elections during the May 14 2007 polls.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said P 10.58 billion in taxpayers money were channeled to five GOCCs as conduits to facilitate the funding of the election campaign of administration candidates in the last May 2007 elections.

Records from the Department of Finance (DoF) showed that the National Housing Authority (NHA) received P 2.213 B in total subsidies, followed by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp with P 2.048 B, the Technical Livelihood Center with P 1.368 B, Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) with P 1.286 B and the Philippine National Railway (PNR) with P 926 million.

The DoF said the subsidies have already breached the full-year limit, which was officially set at
P 4.89 B and represented a 55-percent increase from the P 6.82 B recorded in the first half of 2006. The increase in subsidies in the first half of 2007 was in contrast to the objective of reducing the financial independence of GOCCs and government financing institutions (GFIs) to the national government.

“This record-breaking performance of Malacañang as far as providing questionable subsidies to graft-ridden government owned and controlled corporations or GOCCs must be assessed in the interest of the tax paying public. The crime happened during the conduct of the May 14, 2007 elections and it is not coincidence, but part of the grand design to allow the flow of huge amounts of money to the campaign kitties of national and local candidates backed by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration,” Hicap said.

The government said the funds allotted to Land Bank were used to finance the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), a financial official said. The DoF official said the failure of Congress to enact a higher budget for 2006 forced the government to use the 2005 reenacted budget for 2005.

The Pamalakaya leader added: “Malacañang was only allowed to spend P 3.17 B to subsidize GOCCs, but the Department of Finance showed subsidies for state-owned and controlled firms went up by an unprecedented increase of 200 percent. And this took place during the election period where the government is being accused of mobilizing taxpayers’ money for its favored senatorial and local bets in the May 2007 elections.”

“The public wants to know where is that P 10.58 B. For Mrs. Arroyo’s information, P 10.58 billion is
P10.58 billion, that’s a lot of fortune. It can make or unmake senators, congressmen and other political wannabes. A fraud free and credible audit is needed to know the truth and nothing but the truth. The COA must do its assignment now and locate where our taxpayers’ money is and how the government used these hard-earned funds,” Pamalakaya said.

Meanwhile, Pamalakaya asked Senate President Manuel Villar to immediately appoint the chair and members of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and take the case of P 10.58 B subsidies to government owned corporations for full-blown investigation.

“Senate President Villar must take into account that the government could have spent over 10 billion pesos of taxpayers’ money somewhere else in violation of national and collective interest of the Filipino people. The ongoing political intramural on the chairmanship and membership of the Blue Ribbon Committee might derail if not spoil the people’s objective to know the real score why the government subsidies for GOCCs skyrocketed by as much as 200 percent increase,” the group said.

“The Senate is currently pre-occupied over debates regarding who’s in and who’s out in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. This is not good for the Filipino people asking where their taxes go, especially with the character and track record of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her political associates in Malacañang,” Pamalakaya added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 07:46 | link | comments |

Miriam asked: Grill Secretary Reyes on midnight air pollution deal
A strong material for Commission on Appointment’s rejection of Reyes --------- Pamalakaya

The militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday urged Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to lead the investigation of what it called a “midnight deal” concerning an air pollution project signed by former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Angelo Reyes before the latter’s transfer to Department of Energy (DoE) last July 31.

“If Senator Santiago is looking for a strong material to justify the rejection of Reyes’ appointment as new energy czar, this case involving the full payment of $ 1.3 million for a white elephant project authored and engineered by Reyes is a prize puzzle for her,” Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap added: “We hope Senator Santiago and her colleagues in the Senate will put extra premium on this matter concerning one of President Arroyo’s fair-haired boys. If this is the kind of public official that we will put in the DoE, then the energy sector is in extreme danger.”

The Pamalakaya leader said before leaving the DENR last July 31, on July 16, Reyes approved the payment of 1.3 million dollars to Guam-based Emissions Technology Incorporated (ETI) in back fees for a component of $ 6.2 million Air Monitoring Project.

After signing the LOU on July 16, Reyes appointment to DoE was signed on July 17 and was announced by Malacañang on July 18. “This is the grandmother of all midnight deals. The signing of the deal, the signing of appointment to DoE and the announcement to new appointment were done within 72 hours,” Hicap said.

Hicap, also chair of the militant environment group Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment which first exposed what he called “ a first rate crime of corruption”, said a letter of undertaking (LOU) was received by ETI and the Environment and Management Bureau (EMB) on July 31, the same day Reyes assumed the energy secretary post.

The air pollution project was signed on November 2002 between the DENR and partners ETI and Industramach Inc. It required the involve groups the setting up, maintenance and operation of 10 air quality monitoring stations in the National Capital Region to measure ambient air and pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter and total suspended solids.

Pamalakaya and Kalikasan-PNE asserted that the air pollution devices set up near Ateneo de Manila University on Katipunan Avenue, Valenzuela City, Clark Air Base, Cavite State University, among others were not only substandard, but also failed to produce the needed results.

The project became further controversial when the other partners Imach withdrew from its joint venture with ETI on Feb.14, 2005 after EMB and DENR’s own legal departments recommended to stop payment to ETI-Imach and terminate the contract for the joint venture’s failure to meet technical and legal issues.

On Dec.13, 2006, Secretary Reyes disregarded the recommendation and approved the payment of
$ 1,117, 864.13 worth of unsettled billings to ETI and raised the possibility of extending the project by another year.

Pamalakaya and Kalikasan said the government has already paid $ 3,235,582.56 for the project that has failed to achieve its’ purpose. The deal signed by Secretary Reyes last year with ETI, prompted Imach managing editor Eduardo Me