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

Pamalakaya to Revilla Sr: Dream on but not at the expense of fisherfolk and Manila Bay environment

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday told Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) chair Ramon Revilla Sr. that he is free to dream and it is for free but not at the expense of small fisherfolk and poor people of Cavite and the Manila Bay environment.

Pamalakaya made the statement after Revilla spoke about his dream to develop the Sangley Point in Cavite City as international logistics hub where casinos, hospitals, call centers and recreational centers would be constructed along Manila Bay.

“We cannot stop this aging and has-been actor-politician from dreaming. But please not at the expense of small fisherfolk and poor people and the fragile environment of Manila Bay,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The former senator and strong ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the P 200-billion Sangley Point Development Project can lead to various business establishments, and if completed could rival other major international ports in Asia like that in Singapore and Hong Kong and could generate jobs to people of Cavite.

“That’s the biggest pipe dream of a lifetime. The ambitious plans directed by his main benefactor in Malacañang in conspiracy with the business clients of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to make Cavite as the bastion of bogus industrial and commercial development will practically wipe out, if not place all the people of the province and the Manila Bay environment under the Intensive Care Unit,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap added,

“Please allow us to state the fact that the reclamation of Manila Bay waters did not only pave way for demolition of fishing communities and destruction of livelihood, it also facilitated and enhanced the growth marine cancer in the bay,” Pamalakaya said referring to the 2,000 hectare reclamation project the PRA has envisioned to make Sangley Point a major international seaport and container terminal in Asia.

Revilla said the reclamation project is 40 percent completed. If it is finished, it would be able to host additional export processing zones, industrial, commercial, military and tourism facilities. He said the Sangley Point conversion project was a birthday gift to him by President Arroyo.

“What a gift. He is one of the luckiest guys in town having received that P 200-billion project from the most corrupt President his country has ever had,” Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya said close to 3 million coastal people in Metro Manila and Cavite are still dependent to fishing as principal source of livelihood, and any move to transform or convert Manila Bay for other purposes like the $15-billion casino project, the Cavite Phase II Coastal Road project and the Sangley Point Development Project will have a killing impact on the livelihood of small fishermen, aside from the fact that they would be demolished from their communities, once construction of support structures and establishments begins.

“From 1992 to 1995, the demolitions of coastal shanties became an everyday ordeal in Pasay Reclamation area. Houses were uprooted on almost day-to-day basis. Small and big time bribery to divide the communities were conducted to facilitate the demolition of coastal communities.

The setting up of casino and resorts, including SM’s Mall of Asia was all in the master plan of the government known as Manila Bay Master Development Plan that officially started during the time of President Ramos and projected to end between 2020 and 2025.

The Pamalakaya leader recalled that 3,500 small fisherfolk in Pasay Reclamation Area and another 3,000 coastal and urban poor families along the coastal shores of Parañaque were evicted by the government of former President Ramos to pave way for the construction of the proposed casino that would make the Philippines the Las Vegas of Asia. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:08 | link | comments |
manila bay

Anti-corruption center built in RP to remind GMA about her crimes of corruption

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday said the first ever institution in Asia that will focus on the study and prevention of corruption will be built in the country to remind President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo about her high crimes of corruption.

“It is actually both a rebuff and a reminder to Malacañang that the world is watching President Arroyo about allegations that her government committed acts of plunder and first-rate crimes of corruption against the Filipino people,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said at the sideline of an alternative forum on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights sponsored by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) this morning.

“Arroyo’s Republic is a corrupt Republic. It is better that the anti-corrupt institution in Asia will be established here to study the extremely corrupt behavior and practices of Mrs. Arroyo and her ruling gang in Malacañang. We hope the anti-corruption center will act as a anti-corruption watchdog in its strict sense and orientation,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

However, Hicap said it is ironic that the Center for Asian Integrity (CAI) forged a partnership with the Office of the Ombudsman currently headed by Ombudswoman Atty. Merceditas Gutierrez, a known staunch ally of the President.

“That’s the mother of all irony. This office under the leadership of Gutierrez is not trusted by the Filipino public over allegations that the Ombudsman is protecting the President and her close associates on numerous plunder and corruption charges filed before the Ombudsman’s office since 2001,” Pamalakaya said.

The militant group filed three plunder and anti-corruption complaints against President Arroyo and other government officials.

These charges stemmed from the malversation of P 728-million fertilizer scam in that was used to finance the election campaign of Mrs. Arroyo and other politicians in 2004, the offshore mining in Tañon Strait in Central and Western Visayas and Rapu-Rapu mining in Albay province, which Malacañang allowed in 2005, and the P 130-B coconut levy fund together with business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco also in 2005.

Pamalakaya said Ombudsman Gutierrez did not act on these complaints because she cannot go against Mrs. Arroyo who appointed her as Chief of the Office of the Ombudsman. “It is really very ironic, very, very ironic,” the militant group said.

Atty. Gutierrez led the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding which will pave way for the establishment of the anti-corruption center. Among the programs of the center are incorporation of Ombudsman’s training center, which will train trainers, investigators and prosecutors on integrity. She said the Ombudsman Academy will be transferred to CAI center.

The center will also incorporate a research program to provide qualitative and quantitative research on corruption using international methodologies. It will also entail a curriculum and course development on integrity courses accredited by the University of the Philippines.

Ombudswoman Gutierrez said the establishment of the anti-corruption center was an indicator that the government is doing its job to control corruption. #

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

Leftists, Joker want overstaying US troops out of Mindanao

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and pro-administration Senator Joker Arroyo on Wednesday said the overstaying US troops in Mindanao should leave the war-ravaged island.

The veteran senator criticized what the described as “overstaying” American troops in Mindanao, adding the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) has been dubbed as the Overstaying Forces Agreement because of the continuous stay of US forces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

This is not the first time Senator Arroyo questioned the presence of US role in resolving the peace problem in Mindanao. Earlier, the senator criticized the presence of US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenny in Kuala Lumpur for the scheduled signing of stalled GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

“Like Senator Arroyo, we demand the immediate pullout of Washington troops in Mindanao. We will not buy the military line that the American forces are there to conduct humanitarian mission for the victims of the ongoing shooting war in Mindanao. That is a flimsy and dime-a-dozen alibi to justify their seemingly lifetime stay in the South,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The Pamalakaya leader went one step ahead by challenging Senator Arroyo to file a bill in the Senate urging the abrogation of VFA and another resolution urging the appropriate committees of the Senate to investigate the overstaying US troops. “Since he has opened his big mouth, it is time to for him to flex his political muscles against the overstaying and meddling US troops in Mindanao,” Hicap said.

“The US embassy in Manila should tell their troops in Mindanao to pack up their things and go back home. They are saying their troops are there for humanitarian mission. That is a false claim. The humanitarian aspect of war can be done by the International Red Cross and the US troops has no mandate to grab that work from Red Cross,” Hicap added.

Aside from pullout of US troops, the fisherfolk leader also urged Malacañang, the Department of National Defense and the AFP to stop its all-out war in Mindanao, particularly the escalation of military offensives in Maguindanao and North Cotabato which paved way for the rise in the casualties of war among Moro people and Christians as well.

“The government’s red carpet bombing and shooting sprees in Mindanao must be stopped. This all-out war of Malacañang must be scrapped and instead pursue the resumption of the peace talks between the GRP-MILF. The first thing that the government should do is to clear the path for the resumption of peace talks by removing US troops from Mindanao and order the AFP forces to stop the all-out war offensive,” Pamalakaya added.

Last week, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claim that the US troops who were seen inside the military’s 64th Infantry Batallion in Datu Saudi town, which is near the Mamasapano town where government troops have been firing cannons towards the MILF lairs.

“The AFP should not tell us that the US troops are there as mere viewers of an Olympic shooting intramural between two belligerent forces. We were not born yesterday not to understand the real score in the field. The Washington bad guys are there to orchestrate, direct and participate in the puppet government’s all-out war against the MILF and the Moro people,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson said the US troops were not directly participating in the punitive action against the group of Commander Bravo and Commander Kato with 700 followers, adding that the US troops are just part of the humanitarian team and they are barred from leaving the army camp because of the ongoing fighting.

According to Pamalakaya, when the U.S. declared Mindanao as the “Second Front” in its “War against Terror” in 2002, an undetermined number of U.S. forces have been deployed in the Moro areas. The group said in 2002, the U.S. started deploying 660 personnel based in the Joint Operations Task Force base in Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City and an additional 160 U.S. troops in Basilan for the RP-U.S. Balikatan exercises. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:04 | link | comments |
civil war

Pamalakaya’s appeal for Pope to see human rights situation in RP reaches international shores

International media across the United States and Canada led by the world renowned The International Herald Tribune, the European sister company of The New York Times published the story of the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) inviting Pope Benedict XVI to come over to see the true state of human rights and civil liberties in the country.

On April 20, the International Herald Tribune ran the Pamalakaya story written by the Associated Press entitled “Activists urge Pope to visit Philippines to investigate alleged human rights violations”.

The story lead was “leftwing Philippine activists urged Pope Benedict XVI to visit the predominantly Catholic country to investigate extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.

The same story was written as breaking news written by D’Jay Lazaro for GMA News TV and Delfin Mallari Jr. of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the same day. Pamalakaya information officer and international liaison officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said, their appeal to Pope Benedict XVI was also broadcasted in several radio stations across the United States and Canada.

Among the radio stations abroad the aired the appeal were radio stations Country 105-FM in Canada, CJob 68, AM 980, AM 900, AM 640, 630 CHED, AM 770 and 570 news in Canada and the United States, Canada East, British Columbia region radio station, Prince George Citizen radio station, Q2 Montreal News and the Canadian Press and Hamilton News Radio in Canada, the CKWS-TV in New York, the Bangkok Post of Thailand and Irrawady news of Burma and Southeast Asia.

“We hope our appeal that reached the people of the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia will merit the attention of the Holy See. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s crimes against humanity remain an issue all over the country. Her government’s policy of extrajudicial killings and campaign of political repression of her administration and the military continue to dominate the local political landscape,” Corpuz said.

“In behalf of the human rights community in the Philippines, we thanked the international media for giving us the space to air our issues and struggles in advocating and defending the basic human rights and civil liberties of the people against the criminal regime of Mrs. Arroyo,” the Pamalakaya information chief added.

Pamalakaya’s appeal for Pope Benedict VXI stemmed from the landmark address of 81-year old German pontiff to the United Nation General Assembly who said that human rights are the common language and ethical substratum of international relations and promoting these rights is the best way to eliminate inequalities.

Pope Benedict said victims of hardship and despair, whose human dignity is violated with impunity, become easy prey to call to violence, and they can then become violators of peace. By contrast, he said, recognition of human rights favored conversion of the heart, which then leads to a commitment to resist violence, terrorism and war.




Benedict said the international community sometimes had the duty to intervene when a country could not protect its own people from “grave and sustained violations of human rights”.

“We strongly appeal to archbishops and bishops of CBCP and to CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo to invite and convince Pope Benedict XVI to come to the country so he could listen to the voices of the grassroots people and their defenders who are suffering from state-sponsored terrorism, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and political persecution,” Pamalakaya said.

Citing the date provided by the human rights watchdog Karapatan, Hicap said from 2001 up to April 2008, the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was responsible for the summary executions of 902 leftwing activists and enforced disappearance of 180 political activists during the last seven years.

Pamalakaya said Malacañang, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police under the command of the National Security Council are also engaged in fabrication of rebellion and criminal charges against top leaders of the open mass movement to effectively stop and silence them from advocating the people’s issues and basic human rights

The militant group was referring to fabricated charges filed against Randal Echanis, Deputy Secretary General of the left-leaning peasant alliance Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). Echanis is currently detained in Manila City Jail for his alleged participation in the Hilongos killings of former communist rebels.

Pamalakaya said Bayan Muna Party list Reps. Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño, Gabriela party list lawmaker Liza Maza and former Anakpawis party list Rep. Rafael Mariano are also facing charges for concocted murder cases in Nueva Ecija, which the group said was part of the campaign of political persecution orchestrated by Malacañang against critics of the Arroyo administration and the military establishment.

“Pope Benedict XVI should be informed that the Macapagal-Arroyo government and the pro-Arroyo chain of command in the military are also resorting to fabrication of criminal and murder charges against human rights defenders and advocates of genuine reforms to be able to contain them from exposing and opposing the crimes of the ruling de facto Martial Law in Malacañang,” the group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:50 | link | comments (1) |
human rights

Farmland as collateral bills would lead to massive cancellation of farmers’ land titles, rural groups say

Four of the biggest of rural-based organizations- the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the peasant women federation Amihan and the agricultural workers group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) on Saturday said the proposed five farmland as collateral bills in the House of Representatives would lead to massive cancellation of land titles currently hold by farmer beneficiaries of agrarian reform program.

“The proposed five farmland as collateral bills in Congress are shotgun pieces of legislation. They are meant to re-concentrate lands in the hands of landed monopolies and deny peasant land rights all over the country,” the groups said in a joint statement.

There are currently five bills in the House of Representatives namely House Bill 32 authored by Rep. Jose Carlos Chua (3rd district, Negros Occidental), House Bill 1868 authored by Rep. Monico Puentevella, House Bill 2083 authored by Rep. Junie Cua, House Bill 2707 authored by Rep. Diosdado Arroyo and House Bill 3368 authored by Rep. Edgar Chato.

All these bills are seeking to allow agrarian reform beneficiaries to mortgage farmlands awarded to them to avail loans from banks and other financial institutions, using their land titles such as their certificates of landownership awards (CLOAs) and emancipation patents (EPs) to gain broader access to credit.

“The House of Representatives should realize that farmland as collateral bill, if enacted into law, would not provide farmers broader access to credit. They should consider that most of the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) are impoverished and bankrupt and would find it difficult to repay loans. Thus, it would lead to cancellation of the EPs and CLOAs through foreclosure of the mortgage. This would lead to re-concentration of the lands back to the hands of the landowners or the moneyed-few,” KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos said in a press statement.

Ramos said one strong argument against these bills is the fact that the data on cancellation of CLOAs and EPs is very horrible and terrifying. And the cancellation proceeds from the nonpayment of the farmers of the amortization for the awarded lands either under PD 27 or CARP.

50,000 cases pending before DAR

The KMP leader said In September 2007 DAR reported that 5,049 EPs while 103,092 CLOAs were already cancelled involving 204,579 hectares of lands. “This figure does not include pending cases of cancellation of EPs and CLOAs before the DAR. The agrarian reform department records likewise show that there are almost 50,000 cases pending before it which involves exemption, conversion and cancellation of EPs and CLOAs,” Ramos asserted.

Supporting the KMP’s claims, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said DAR to date has not made an actual determination and inventory of how many CLOAs/EP were cancelled.

Citing a study by militant think tank Ibon Foundation, Hicap said more than 2,000 EPs and CLOAs, covering 380,000 hectares of land, were cancelled by the middle of 2004 alone. This shows a huge discrepancy with the report of DAR.

“The figures simply show that farmers could not afford to pay the amortization of the lands and it would be more difficult for them to pay the loans given their present situation. Thus, it is most certain that if ever farmlands would be mortgage, the result would be foreclosure of the mortgage for nonpayment of the loan,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

Pamalakaya stressed that farmland as collateral bill will have the same effect as section 26 of RA 6657. CARP places the burden of “owning” land to the farmers by compelling them to pay for the value thereof without however, providing for sufficient support services to them.

“In essence, the bill would allow the “second mortgage” of farmlands to persons or entities. The first mortgage is that provided under section 26 of Republic Act 6657. It would therefore only exacerbate farmers’ indebtedness, usury and landlessness,” the fisherfolk group added.

Pamalakaya said Section 26 of CARP provides that the awarded lands shall be paid for by the beneficiaries to the LBP or the landowner in thirty (30) annual amortizations at six percent (6%) interest per annum and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) shall have a lien by way of mortgage on the land awarded to beneficiary. This mortgage may be foreclosed by the LBP for non-payment of an aggregate of three (3) annual amortizations. Under said provision, a beneficiary whose land has been foreclosed shall be permanently disqualified from becoming a beneficiary under CARP.

“The truth of the matter is like CARP, farmland as collateral if enacted is like offering the remaining lands in the possession of farmers to the altar of bankruptcy and extreme landlessness,” the militant group said.

Pamalakaya noted that at present, a general interest rate in farmers’ loan of 15% to 35% per cropping season or a four-month period is imposed by landowners and moneylenders. There are cases, however, where interest rates more than 100% to 300% per cropping. Aside from the interest, usurers extract bigger profits from the farmers through strings of conditions tied to their money-lending business. These include cornering and under pricing the farmer’s harvest, selling of overpriced farm inputs, and renting out farm equipment at higher rates.

“With the farmland as collateral bill, the above-stated situation will not be destroyed but will be reinforced. It would legalize usury and the unconscionable conditions attached to the money lending business of the land owners and investors to the detriment of the farmers,” the group said.

GARB, not farmland as collateral or CARP revival

For their parts, UMA ans Amihan peasant women federation asserted that the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) or House Bill 3059 essentially has all the provisions that would answer all the needs of the farmers, not the farmland as collateral bills or the revival of the bankrupt agrarian reform law.

UMA President Rene Galang and Amihan spokesperson Zen Soriano said HB 3059 primarily seeks to break land monopoly and to achieve social justice. This can only be attained if tenants or farmers are secured in the lands awarded to them; if they can use the land according to the manner or method which they deemed best, for agricultural production; and if they are enjoying the fruits of their labor and of the land.

“If the elements of security of tenure, the right to use and the enjoyment of the fruits of the land awarded to the farmers coupled with adequate support services are all in place, then, in all probability, farmer-beneficiaries will not be tempted to sell, mortgage, alienate, or transfer the land. On the contrary, he will endeavor to make it more productive,” Galang said in an interview with Bulatlat.

“HB 3059 provides for the maximum guarantee and protection of farmer’s right to security of tenure, to the use and the fruits of his land. There is no more reason to sell, mortgage, or alienate the land, which was given to him for free in the first place,” Amihan’s Soriano added.

Atty. Jobert Pahilga, Executive Director of Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo ( SENTRA- Center for Genuine Agrarian Reform), a peasant legal advocacy group said from the experience of farmers in CARP implementation, it was established that a farmer had only been compelled to enter into sale or mortgage of his land because:

1. He was obliged to pay for the value of the land awarded to him, which obligation did not take into consideration his capacity to pay and the fact that State has the corresponding obligation to correct the social injustice that was committed to him;

2. He was to provide for the daily needs of his family;

3. He needed the amount to pay the expenses for production as there as not enough support services given him;

4. He was in danger of losing the land due to non-payment of amortization or land use conversion;

5. He was or will be displaced because the land owner was allowed to retain the area he has already cultivated and made agriculturally productive.

6. The land that was initially subjected to agrarian reform was later on exempted or excluded from coverage for one reason or another.

Farmers rights’ fully secured and guaranteed under HB 3059.

To prevent any instance that would compel the farmer to sell or mortgage the land, Atty. Pahilga said HB 3059 provides the following:

Free distribution:

1) The lands shall be distributed at no cost to farmer beneficiaries (Section 8). Their amortization schedule or any balance under CARP or PD 27 is written off and the farmer-beneficiaries are deemed their full owners upon the effectivity of the Act (section 9).

2) Lands with canceled CLOAS or EPs or with pending cancellation proceedings are restored to the ownership and possession of original farmer-beneficiaries who shall be deemed full owners of the land upon the effectivity of the Act (section 10)

3) The farmer is issued, at no cost, a Title of Full Emancipation (section 11) to recognize his being the owner-awardee of the land.

4) The lands are immune from any levy on unpaid taxes and there is a provision on tax moratorium in case of failure to pay taxes brought by fortuitous event and the tax arrearages and delinquencies of lands already distributed under P. D. 27 and R. A. 6657 are written off. (Section 50)

HB 3059 is about free land distribution to the tiller which is the essence of a genuine land reform program.

Under HB 3059, the beneficiaries are under no obligation to pay anything as a condition to enter and begin working on the land; they have no more master, be it a landlord or a bank, to which they must visit every month/year to remit their payments. They can now use their resources for production or making the land more productive; to provide for the needs of their family; to send their children to school; to provide for health and medication of their families.

In such a case, farmers have freedom from fear, worries, anxieties and sleepless nights that they might lose the land one day for failure to pay the land amortization.

HB 3059 distributes the land free to the farmers not because they are mere stewards but because HB 3059 recognizes that farmers have already paid the landlords the value thereof as they have for so many years devoted their lives for the service of the landlords and to the improvement of their landholdings.

More importantly, the State, in recognition of social justice and general welfare, has the duty to improve their living conditions and for which reason it should not unduly burden the farmers of paying the value of the lands to be the owners thereof. This is to correct the social and moral injustice and inequity that farmers have experienced and suffered under the present system of our society.

Therefore, under HB 3059, it is the State that should pay landowners just compensation for the value of their lands. To unduly burden the farmers with the payment of the land awarded to them when the government has enough funds to fully compensate the landowners, which funds were only lost to graft and corruption, would run counter to the social justice provision of the Constitution especially when the stark reality shows that the horrendous situation of the farmers would result to non-payment of the amortization.


Support Services

Under HB 3059, lands are awarded to the farmers for free with the corresponding support services and their only obligation is to make it agriculturally productive. If they will do their part and for which certainly they will, they will contribute to the development of the agriculture of the country. In this sense, agrarian reform is considered to have fully served the interest of the farmers. It is on this sense that agrarian reform could very well be said to be the foundation of national industrialization. It is only under this scheme that land monopoly would truly be destroyed and social justice achieved.
To attain this, 75-80 % of the funds of GARB are devoted to support services in order to remove the grounds which compel beneficiaries to part with their lands. In addition, twelve (12) sections of the bill starting from section 53 to section 65 provides for the mechanism on the implementation of support services to the farmers.

Full tenurial security and protection to the farmers

According to critics of HB 3059, not only is the beneficiary under it a steward because the farmers are enjoined to sell, mortgage, or transfer the land, but his stewardship is even tied to his “physical ability” to directly till the land. According to their slanted and malicious interpretation, HB 3059 supposedly not only fails to provide the beneficiary “full tenurial security” over the land but even fails to provide the beneficiary “social security” and penalizes the beneficiary with the seizure of his land once he is no longer capable of physically tilling it.

Again, they are blatantly and terribly wrong on this respect.

Contrary to their supposition, HB 3059 provides for full protection and security of farmer’s tenurial right over the land.

HB 3059 provides that:

Farmers’ enjoyment of ownership rights, protection, and privileges, over the land awarded them shall commence at the moment of their identification as beneficiary of land distribution. (Section 40)

The lands covered by land shall not be subject to reclassification (section 49)

The lands are immune from any levy on unpaid taxes and there is a provision on tax moratorium in case of failure to pay taxes brought by fortuitous event and the tax arrearages and delinquencies of lands already distributed under P. D. 27 and R. A. 6657 are written off. (Section 50)

The act of land distribution shall be indefeasible except on the issue of adverse claim of another farmer-beneficiary to preferential right over the land and its indefeasibility takes effect upon the identification of the farmer-beneficiaries as beneficiary of land distribution. (Section 51) By indefeasibility in means that the act of land distribution could not be undone or the act of distribution could not be annulled.
The land shall be considered land reform zones and protected areas under section 52.

“Under these conditions, who would then think of selling, mortgaging, transferring or alienating his or her land? “ Pahilga said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:49 | link | comments |
garb vs carp

US troops asked to leave Mindanao and
leave humanitarian mission to Red Cross

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday urged the United States government to pull out its troops participating in the annual Balikatan exercises in the war-ravaged Mindanao to prevent US soldiers from meddling in the ongoing shooting war between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The US embassy in Manila should tell their troops in Mindanao to pack up their things and go back home. They are saying their troops are there for humanitarian mission. That is a false claim. The humanitarian aspect of war can be done by the International Red Cross and the US troops has no mandate to grab that work from Red Cross,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Aside from pullout of US troops, the fisherfolk leader also urged Malacañang, the Department of National Defense and the AFP to stop its all-out war in Mindanao, particularly the escalation of military offensives in Maguindanao and North Cotabato which paved way for the rise in the casualties of war among Moro people and Christians as well.

“The government’s red carpet bombing and shooting sprees in Mindanao must be stopped. This all-out war of Malacañang must be scrapped and instead pursue the resumption of the peace talks between the GRP-MILF. The first thing that the government should do is to clear the path for the resumption of peace talks by removing US troops from Mindanao and order the AFP forces to stop the all-out war offensive,’ the Pamalakaya leader added.

Hicap issued the statement in response to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claim that the US troops who were seen inside the military’s 64th Infantry Batallion in Datu Saudi town, which is near the Mamasapano town where government troops have been firing cannons towards the MILF lairs.

“The AFP should not tell us that the US troops are there as mere viewers of an Olympic shooting intramural between two belligerent forces. We were not born yesterday not to understand the real score in the field. The Washington bad guys are there to orchestrate, direct and participate in the puppet government’s all-out war against the MILF and the Moro people,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson said the US troops were not directly participating in the punitive action against the group of Commander Bravo and Commander Kato with 700 followers, adding that the US troops are just part of the humanitarian team and they are barred from leaving the army camp because of the ongoing fighting.

According to Pamalakaya, when the U.S. declared Mindanao as the “Second Front” in its “War against Terror” in 2002, an undetermined number of U.S. forces have been deployed in the Moro areas. The group said in 2002, the U.S. started deploying 660 personnel based in the Joint Operations Task Force base in Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City and an additional 160 U.S. troops in Basilan for the RP-U.S. Balikatan exercises.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:47 | link | comments |
civil war

Pamalakaya asks Ralph Recto to junk stupid move
New NEDA chief pressed to stop government plan to borrow $ 200 million loan for subsidies

Fisherfolk activists belonging to the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday dared newly installed National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) secretary Ralph Recto to junk the government plan to borrow $ 200 million in fresh loans from the World Bank to strengthen a conditional subsidy program which aims to cushion the adverse effects of high food and fuel prices on the poor.

“We challenge NEDA socio-economic planning Secretary Ralph Recto to make a decisive move against this silly proposal of the national government to borrow 200 million dollars from World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The Pamalakaya leader made the appeal after National Treasurer Roberto Tan over the weekend announced the fresh bid of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to secure fresh loans from IMF-WB to support the government’s short-term conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme, which is an expanded version of previous social welfare-related loans.

Last week, the World Bank-led foreign donor community announced it would support government efforts to expand its direct cash subsidies to the poor while phasing out “less efficient programs” such as rice subsidies.

The World Bank said the implementation of a modern social protection system, the need for rice price stabilization and rice distribution would diminish overtime. The proposed funding would range from $ 150 million to $ 200 million in fresh loans from international donor agencies.

“For Secretary Recto’s information, nothing is good about this plan to borrow $ 200 million dollar from World Bank. This silly proposal must be thrown to the dustbin of history. This is another debt trap in the making, with millions of the Filipino people being offered further to the deathbed of World Bank corporate exploitation,” Hicap added.

“Secretary Recto must admit to himself that the $ 200 million fresh loan is not a modern social protection system, but a social contract of modern-day slavery. Something must be done to stop the national government from pursuing this stupid undertaking,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Instead of securing fresh loans from World Bank, Pamalakaya told the NEDA chief to suggest to senators and congressmen to cross party lines and pass a law that would suspend this year’s debt payment to foreign and local creditors, and re-channel the budget to address the present economic woes.

“National interest dictates Malacañang and Congress to at least suspend debt payment for this year and instead prioritize the funding for pressing concerns and needs of the people. Nobody is asking Malacañang to go to World Bank and conduct puppet show to the financial lords of World Bank and IMF. Secretary Recto knows that and he should do his homework correctly,” Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya said instead of begging for another $ 200 million in fresh loans, Malacañang, NEDA and Congress should agree to suspend payment for debt servicing this year amounting to P 295.7 B and re-channel the funds for social services and other urgent needs of the people.

“The solution is doable, the only principal obstacle here is the lack of political will of President Arroyo, who always wants to keep her position as the no.1 puppet girl of the US controlled IMF-World Bank and no.1 money market pleaser of financial oligarchs in the world,” the fisherfolk group added.

Aside from suspending debt payment, Pamalakaya is also demanding the national government to scrap the 12 percent expanded value added tax imposed on petroleum products, water and electricity.

Pamalakaya said the government should scrap the P 54-billion EVAT collected from oil products, and as well as EVAT on power and water to substantially provide economic relief to millions of people.

Earlier, Pamalakaya sought the distribution of free NFA rice to coastal and farming communities ravaged by super typhoon Frank. The group also proposed for a monthly P 7,500 subsidy for fisherfolk owners and operators of small fishing boats across the country to jumpstart municipal fishing operations hampered by the intermittent increases in the prices of gasoline, the fish ban and fish scare imposed by the Department of Agriculture.

The group said there are about 170,000 small fishing boats across the country, which employs an average of 2-3 fishermen including the small fishing boat owner. It said a monthly subsidy would cost the national government at least P 1.3 B a month, or more or less P 4 billion for three months in total oil subsidy. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:45 | link | comments |
economic slavery

Militants frown over MMDA chief’ stint in GMA 7’s ‘Celebrity Duets’
Cruel intentions, obsession for power behind Bayani escapade, says Pamalakaya

The inclusion of the controversial Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Bayani Fernando, as one of the eight contestants in the second season of GMA 7 Celebrity Duets was not welcomed by the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

“It is not only done in bad taste. This modern day Hitler and Rated-A puppet of the ruling political syndicate in Malacañang joined the singing reality show for celebrities in the name of his cruel intentions and obsession for power,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap added: “This is really insulting to the collective intelligence of the Filipino people and to the tens of thousands of urban poor and struggling vendors in Metro Manila who suffered so much in the brutal hands of the MMDA chief and his principal benefactor in Malacañang.”

The Pamalakaya leader said the MMDA chair will use his stint in GMA 7 Celebrity Duets to show his human side and counter his dictator image as a result of his day-to-day demolition sprees of urban poor homes and vendors’ stalls all over the National Capital Region.

“Mr. Fernando and his army of demolition men are violating the basic human rights and destroying the hard-earned livelihood of ordinary people everyday. His singing, patented humor and tweetum politics in national TV will not erase his everyday crimes to humanity. His crimes, like that of President Arroyo will be forever etched in the memories of his victims,” Hicap stressed.

Pamalakaya earlier slammed the MMDA over its plans to help the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to demolish 50,000 fisherfolk and urban poor families along the lakeshore towns of Rizal and Laguna provinces, and Pasig, Cainta, Taguig and Muntinlupa to pave way for the government reclamation activities and the construction of dikes and road structures.

“Fernando and his army of destroyers are targeting the poor people of Laguna Lake for summary demolition. We expect him and his men to enforce that patented millennium brutality of Malacañang and the MMDA, and that is one of the biggest battles the lake people would face in the very near future,” the group added.

The second edition of GMA 7 Celebrity Duets will start tomorrow with the MMDA chair leading the stellar cast of celebrity hopefuls that would compete for the P 1 million in total cash prize. Fernando will be joined in the center stage by seven other celebrities namely former Miss International turned actress Melanie Marquez, controversial young star Carlene Aguilar, fashion designer JC Buendia, actor-politician and TV host Joey Marquez, lifestyle TV host Cory Quirino, soccer player Philip Younghusband and chef JL Cang.

The show which will be hosted for the second time around by real life screen sweethearts Ogie Alcasid and Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez also presented the three judges in yesterday’s press launching of 2nd Celebrity Duets namely Tessa Prieto-Valdez, its first grand winner, concert and theater director Freddie Santo and composer and arranger Danny Tan.

Fernando who expressed interest to run for President in 2010 presidential elections revealed that his wife, Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando convinced him to join Celebrity Duets because it is a good for exposure for the MMDA Chief. He said his exposure in Celebrity Duets will help him raise the awareness of the Filipino voting public on him as possible presidential contender in 2010. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:25 | link | comments |
mindboggling people

Kin, supporters of detained KMP leader say DoJ Secretary Gonzalez blocking transfer of Echanis back to PNP Custodial Center

Relatives and supporters of detained peasant leader Randall Echanis on Thursday said Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez is blocking the transfer of the 60 year old deputy secretary general of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) back to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

“Justice Secretary Gonzalez is a certified liar and a man of injustice. During a dialogue with him two weeks ago, he told us that his office has nothing to do with transfer of Echanis from the police custodial center to Manila City Jail, and that he would ask the undersecretary of interior and local government to facilitate the request of relatives and supporters of our peasant colleague to have him move back from Manila City Jail to PNP custodial center,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap recalled.

“The DoJ secretary is a shameless political animal. He did not honor his promise to the relatives and supporters of Echanis. He has no palabra de honor,” Hicap added, after learning today that the DoJ through Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong, State Prosecutors Niven Canlapan and Gino Paolo Santiago opposed the motion of Echanis counsels to have him returned to the PNP Custodial Center.

“Secretary Gonzalez is the no.1 puppet of the puppeteers composing the National Security Council in Malacañang. This aging and has-been politician has no balls to honor his words. He has no sense of justice and objectivity,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Pamalakaya asserted that Echanis’ status is a political prisoner accused of fabricated crimes by an oppressive and repressive government. The group said the detained leader is being politically persecuted for his involvement in the peasant movement and people’s opposition to the brutal, criminal, militarist and puppet government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Echanis is political prisoner, but the inter agency legal group of the National Security Council wants him to be presented as a common criminal to justify his detention behind the rotten jail of the oppressive regime. The fight for his immediate and unconditional release will be a hard won battle, but we will not give up and will continue to assert his well deserved freedom,” the militant group said.

In their response to the motions dated August 8 and August 15 filed by Echanis lead counsel Atty. Romeo Capulong of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC), the government prosecutors maintained that the PNP Custodial Center is merely temporary detention center and not a regular jail as contemplated by the Rule 113 Section 3 of the Rule of court.

State prosecutors Ong, Canlapan and Santiago said Echanis wish to impress the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32, which is handling the case, that the KMP leader is an activist and political detainee, Echanis being a member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines Reciprocal Working Committee, and fully protected under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) must be given preferential treatment.

The government prosecutors said they beg to disagree because the KMP leader is charged for multiple murder which is common crime. They said Echanis must be prosecuted and detained like any other ordinary and common criminal. The prosecutors also asserted that it is beyond the power and authority of the Manila RTC to grant transfer of an accused by reason of a jail’s condition that is not conducive to the detainee. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:21 | link | comments |
human rights

SHOTGUN APPROACH, decries Pamalakaya
Leftwing group says PNP gambling civilian lives in Mindanao by arming them against MILF

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday slammed plans of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to distribute shotguns to residents who will join police auxiliary forces in Mindanao in the government fight against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The PNP is gambling the lives of civilians in Mindanao in the government’s all-out war against the MILF. This is not the politically correct thing to do. It will only place Mindanao under extreme and bloody situation,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“This shotgun approach to this peace must be shot down,” the fisherfolk leader added.

PNP Chief Director General Avelino Razon on Wednesday announced his plans to distribute 1,000 shotguns to residents who will join the PNP auxiliary forces in connection with the police expanded role to participate in internal security operations against insurgents.

Razon said if the project would be successful, the PNP would order 12,000 more shotguns and have it distributed to residents who will join the PNP as backed up forces against the MILF and other armed groups in Mindanao.

“What is the intention of the National Security Council in allowing the PNP to buy and distribute arms to residents? It seems to us Malacañang wants to escalate the war in Mindanao against MILF in vain attempt to shift the public attention away from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and serve whatever sinister agenda the Palace has in mind nowadays,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Pamalakaya said the government is preparing the stage for the revival of military backed notorious vigilante groups in Mindanao, similar to what the military established during the 14 years of Marcos dictatorship to fight political armed groups and anti-dictatorship organizations in the island in the early 70s up to the last years of the Martial Law era.

“The intention of arming civilians is clear, and that is to revive the careers of anti-Moro and anti-communist death squads in Mindanao that proliferated during the Marcos era known for violating the human rights and civil liberties of the people like the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus or Tadtad, the Greenans, the Puluhans, the Ilagas and the Yellow Greens,” the militant group said.

Hicap agreed with the proposal of Bayan Muna party list Rep. Teodoro Casiño for the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF to go back to the negotiating table and resume the stalled peace talks, with the respect for human rights and international humanitarian law as the top agenda of the talks to address the current results of the ongoing shooting war between the government and the Moro separatist rebels.

PNP’s Razon said the distribution of shotguns to civilians is legal and proper under Executive Order No. 546 issued last year which expands the PNP’s role in internal security operations. Under the order, the police provincial directors will determine how guns will be distributed. The police chief said those qualified to receive the guns are law-abiding citizens with no criminal records, village chiefs and barangay security forces. They will undergo training and receive allowances. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:19 | link | comments (1) |
human rights

Word war sparked by DENR chief’s polluted mind remark
Pamalakaya declares 2nd Battle of Manila Bay vs. Atienza

“Look who’s talking?”.

This was the immediate reaction of the left-wing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in response to environment Secretary Joselito Atienza’s statement that the criticisms made by the group against the P 100-B fund needed to restore Manila Bay to its former state were unwarranted and merely made by jaundiced and polluted minds.

“That statement is a declaration of war. If that is the case, then the Manila Bay fisherfolk are declaring the 2nd Battle of Manila Bay against environment Secretary Joselito Atienza,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“This aging and has-been politician who found a political career by joining the league of the corrupt regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants to pick up fight with us. He is not doing his homework and has kept himself busy in attacking the victims of government’s commercialization and sell out of Manila Bay to the highest bidders,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

The DENR denied an accusation made by Pamalakaya that P 100-B for the rehabilitation of Manila Ba was not a prelude to a “money making scheme”. Vet Vitug, public affairs director of the environment department said the amount was a rough estimate given by Secretary Atienza when the Supreme Court asked him how much it would cost to bring back Manila Bay to an “ SB” classification.

Vitug said the money would be used to put up the long delayed water treatment facilities that should have been established by Maynilad and Manila Water, the two water concessionaires which have contracts with the national government.

Pamalakaya reiterated its reiteration that the rehabilitation of Manila Bay was never a priority of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. The group said Secretary Atienza is now making day-to-day news on the need to rehabilitate Manila Bay to solicit funds from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and other foreign donor agencies to generate 100 billion pesos in total funding.

“P 100 billion is P 100 billion. Again that is fortune of a lifetime for the corrupt regime of Mrs. Arroyo,” the militant group said. Pamalakaya said Secretary Atienza was misleading the public when it said the disposal of untreated wastes into the bay is the main reason for the deterioration of the bay.

The militant group said untreated water waste is just part of the huge problem of Manila Bay. Pamalakaya said 80 percent of all solid and water wastes come from industries and commercial establishments situated along the bay. It also said the reclamation activities of the government are also destroying Manila Bay preventing the marine life from generating.

Pamalakaya said 20,000 hectares of Manila Bay have been claimed over the years to give way to special economic zones in Bataan and Cavite, the commercial spaces occupied by the Manila Film Center, the GSIS Building in Pasay City, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Folk Arts Theater in Manila, and the SM Mall of Asia and other commercial companies in Pasay and Parañaque City. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:02 | link | comments (2) |
manila bay

Fishers group hit DA officials for dropping Spratly claim in baselines bill

THE MILITANT FISHERFOLK ALLIANCE Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday slammed Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BAFR) Director Malcolm Sarmiento for pressuring lawmakers to drop the country’s claim over the Spratlys in the pending baselines bill.

“The common position taken by the agriculture secretary and the bureau of fisheries director calling Congress to pass the baselines bill without the Kalayaan group of islands in the country’s territorial waters is consonance with the position aggressively pushed by China and not reflective of the people’s collective and national interest,” according to Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

“Instead of legitimizing and strengthening our legitimate political and territorial claims on the Spratly islands, these government officials are further weakening our position which has been legitimized by past and present historical accounts and national practices,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

The country has nine months left to pass a law that would strengthen the Philippines’ claim to extensive archipelagic baselines before a May 2009 deadline set by the United Nations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas or Unclos.

BFAR’s Sarmiento said failure on the part of Congress to enact a baselines bill will push the country to lose substantial volumes in mineral, petroleum and natural gas reserves as well as marine fishery resources. He said the country must first define its archipelagic baselines prior to making claims to a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and another 150-mile Extended Continental Shelf (ECS), where much of the valuable resources are found.

Sarmiento said while the country’s claims over the Spratly islands are not included in the baselines bill, it does not mean the government is abandoning its claims to the Spratlys or other islands as claimed by some groups.

“It seems to us that DA officials headed by Secretary Yap and director Sarmiento are performing their roles to the hilt as de facto Filipino spokesmen of the Beijing government in connection with the controversy involving the country’s decades old claim to Spratly islands,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap stressed.

Pamalakaya asserted that the non-inclusion of Spratlys in the baselines bill and the mysterious visit of President Arroyo to China has something to do cannibalization of the pending baselines bill in Congress that removed the country’s legitimate claims over the Spratlys to pave way for the revival of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU).

The group said one of the main purposes of the Mrs. Arroyo’s visit to Beijing is top inform top officials of the Chinese government that her government has decided to drop the country’s claim to Kalayaan group of islands as prescribed in the defanged baselines bill.

“With the removal of Spratlys in the baselines bill, it is now all systems go for China to conduct the biggest oil hunt courtesy of the corrupt and commission obsessed regime of President Macapagal-Arroyo,” Pamalakaya added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:28 | link | comments |
spratly

Fishers group hit DA officials over pressure to drop
Spratly claim in baselines bill

THE MILITANT FISHERFOLK ALLIANCE Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday slammed Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BAFR) Director Malcolm Sarmiento for pressuring lawmakers to drop the country’s claim over the Spratlys in the pending baselines bill.

“The common position taken by the agriculture secretary and the bureau of fisheries director calling Congress to pass the baselines bill without the Kalayaan group of islands in the country’s territorial waters is consonance with the position aggressively pushed by China and not reflective of the people’s collective and national interest,” according to Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

“Instead of legitimizing and strengthening our legitimate political and territorial claims on the Spratly islands, these government officials are further weakening our position which has been legitimized by past and present historical accounts and national practices,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

The country has nine months left to pass a law that would strengthen the Philippines’ claim to extensive archipelagic baselines before a May 2009 deadline set by the United Nations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas or Unclos.

BFAR’s Sarmiento said failure on the part of Congress to enact a baselines bill will push the country to lose substantial volumes in mineral, petroleum and natural gas reserves as well as marine fishery resources. He said the country must first define its archipelagic baselines prior to making claims to a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and another 150-mile Extended Continental Shelf (ECS), where much of the valuable resources are found.

Sarmiento said while the country’s claims over the Spratly islands are not included in the baselines bill, it does not mean the government is abandoning its claims to the Spratlys or other islands as claimed by some groups.

“It seems to us that DA officials headed by Secretary Yap and director Sarmiento are performing their roles to the hilt as de facto Filipino spokesmen of the Beijing government in connection with the controversy involving the country’s decades old claim to Spratly islands,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap stressed.

Pamalakaya asserted that the non-inclusion of Spratlys in the baselines bill and the mysterious visit of President Arroyo to China has something to do cannibalization of the pending baselines bill in Congress that removed the country’s legitimate claims over the Spratlys to pave way for the revival of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU).

The group said one of the main purposes of the Mrs. Arroyo’s visit to Beijing is top inform top officials of the Chinese government that her government has decided to drop the country’s claim to Kalayaan group of islands as prescribed in the defanged baselines bill.

“With the removal of Spratlys in the baselines bill, it is now all systems go for China to conduct the biggest oil hunt courtesy of the corrupt and commission obsessed regime of President Macapagal-Arroyo,” Pamalakaya added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:43 | link | comments |
spratly

President Arroyo told: Do a Musharraf

Leaders of the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to follow the footsteps of controversial Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf who resigned on Monday after nine years in power to avoid the threat of impeachment.

“President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo is Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf trapped in a woman’s body. She should resign like her male counterpart in Pakistan to allow the Filipino people to recover from scores of high crimes like political killings, rated A corruption and class A puppetry,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

In an emotional televised address, President Musharraf said he decided to resign because of his assessment of the present situation and upon the advice of his legal advisers and political allies. The former army chief, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 was under heavy pressure from the governing coalition to step down before it launched the first impeachment proceedings since 1947.

In November 2007, Musharraf imposed a state of emergency to force his re-election to another five-year term through the Supreme Court, but his so-called fresh mandate is threatened by the dominance of the opposition who won majority of the seats in Pakistani parliament, and capable of throwing him out of power.

The Pamalakaya leader said both Arroyo and Musharraf have a lot of similarities. Hicap said like the Pakistani President, Mrs. Arroyo does not enjoy the support of the majority of the people and the country’s military and police.

Hicap said like Musharraf, President Arroyo is accused in many counts of high crimes of corruption, election irregularities, crimes against humanity that stemmed from political killings and grave human rights abuses committed by the military and police loyal to Malacañang, gross violation and desecration of the 1987 Constitution and grave abuse of power and misconduct.

“Musharraf is to Pakistan as to Arroyo is to the Philippines. That’s one way of correctly addressing this political equation,” Pamalakaya said. The militant group refused to buy the statement of Malacañang that President Arroyo is going to step down in 2010 and that she was only after a surgical amendment to the 1987 Constitution to allow the proposed creation of 11 federal states including the Bangsamoro homeland.

“Once the charter is open for revision, Arroyo and her loyal congressmen and senators will seize the opportunity to cannibalize the reactionary charter and make it worse to the advantage of power obsessed President and her equally power starved allies in the Senate and House of Representatives,” Pamalakaya said.

This fear was confirmed by La Union Rep. Victor Ortega who last week said that President Arroyo’s allies in the House of Representatives will pursue term extension for the Chief Executive, once the Senate and the House agree to convene into a Constituent Assembly to discuss the proposed shift of government from presidential to federalism.

Another Arroyo ally, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said, aside from extending the term of President Arroyo, the term of congressmen would also be extended from three years to five years in case majority of congressmen decided to push their own term extension once both chambers of Congress convened into a constituent assembly to effect Charter Change. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:11 | link | comments |
gma resign

GRP, not NGOs should talk with MILF on Mindanao peace process

Leaders of the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) lambasted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over her proposal for non-government peace advocates to lead in public discussions on the Mindanao peace process.

“What kind of political game plan is this? President Arroyo is the principal of the GRP which is the other party in the peace talks. Therefore she should be in the forefront of the talks with the MILF. The NGOs do not represent the US-backed puppet government of Mrs. Arroyo,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“It seems to us Mrs. Arroyo wants to tap the services of NGOs to represent Malacañang in its proxy war and proxy peace talks with MILF in exchange for something. The MILF is a belligerent movement and therefore deserves the GRP peace panel in the negotiating table and all aspects of the peace process including the campaign for public information dissemination,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Hicap said President Arroyo should candidly admit through the GRP peace panel that her government was not sincere in granting genuine autonomy to the Moro people and that her government’s purpose in supposedly signing the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain was part of a general design and calculated action to outmaneuver and derail the MILF and the Bangsamoro people aspiration for self-determination.

“What will these NGOs do? Tell and convince the public that the MOA on ancestral domain is just a piece of paper as asserted by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, GRP peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, and that the pact on ancestral domain is still subject to government laws, further legislation and amendments, and on one hand make MILF the bad guys in the eyes of the uninformed and misled public?”, Pamalakaya said.

Secretary Ermita over the weekend mentioned the two NGOs which could help the government in addressing the peace process in Mindanao namely the Christians-Muslims for Peace and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy.

Pamalakaya admitted that they do not know these NGOs mentioned by Malacañang, but still advised the groups to be extra, extra careful in dealing with Malacañang, the US government and the US Embassy in Manila and the US State Department in case they decide to accept the offer of the Arroyo government.

“Malacañang and company should not be trusted. We hope these NGOs will think over a million times before accepting the tempting offer of the US puppet government,” the group warned.

Earlier, Pamalakaya asked lawmakers from both houses of Congress to undertake an all-out probe on the alleged role of the United States government in the peace negotiation between the GRP and the MILF.

Pamalakaya appealed to Congress top leaders Senate President Manuel Villar and House Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. to conduct a joint or separate congressional inquiry that would look into the alleged direct intervention of Washington in the peace process between the government and the Moro separatist movement.

‘The US did not act as third party facilitator to the GRP-MILF peace talks. It went beyond to what is politically and morally accepted. First they used the US peace non-government organization to front act for top US officials. As the peace talks progresses, Washington political players took the front seat courtesy of Malacañang,” it said.

Pamalakaya said President Arroyo is guilty of treason for allowing the US government through the US Institute for Peace to intervene in the peace talks. The Pamalakaya leader also said Mrs. Arroyo committed an impeachable offense.

Bayan said based on the report of the US Institute for Peace, US President George Bush and President Arroyo supported the US peace NGO program known as the Philippine Facilitation Project. The report said there were three meetings held between the officials of US Institute for Peace with President Arroyo, one in 2004 and two in 2004.

According to US Institute for Peace report, the US government divided its work between the peace NGO, the USAID and the US embassy and the US State Department. The US Embassy role in t he peace talks between the GRP and the MILF is to encourage the Philippine government to pursue the peace talks. The USAID will take charge of the economic development, while US Institute for Peace was tasked to engage and influence key players in the peace process. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:08 | link | comments (1) |
peace talks

DENR chief pressed to reveal P 100-B Manila Bay rehabilitation project

Saying there were not informed about the master plan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) about the P 100-B Manila Bay rehabilitation project, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday pressed environment Secretary Joselito Atienza to reveal details of the ambitious undertaking that seeks to restore one of the country’s major fishing grounds to its healthy state.

“This is the first time we got across with this P 100-B Manila Bay rehabilitation project. We demand full disclosure of this hundred billion peso escapade of the environment department,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The Pamalakaya leader said their chapters in Bataan, Bulacan, Navotas and Cavite were also not aware of the P 100-billion project intended for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay. He said this is the only first time Pamalakaya leaders and members in the areas got to know that such plan exists and was already completed three years ago.

Last Tuesday, Secretary Atienza told the Supreme Court that the government needs P 100 billion to rehabilitate Manila Bay. The DENR chief said it would be impossible to clean the water in the Manila Bay as long as domestic wastes flow into the canals into the Pasig River and into Manila Bay.

The former Mayor of Manila made the statement in asking the high tribunal to reverse the decision of Court of Appeals requiring them to come up with a consolidated plan to rehabilitate Manila Bay. Atienza and other government officials also asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the original complaint the concerned citizens led by environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. filed against them more than eight years ago.

“The Operation Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy which details the projects and budget to rehabilitate Manila Bay was completed in 2005. It is now 2008 but nobody knows what this master plan is all about. It is only Secretary Atienza, the master showman of DENR who is aware that there is such a thing as P 100- B Manila Bay rehab plan,” Hicap lamented.

Pamalakaya also scored the DENR for blaming small fishermen and urban poor residents for the present poor condition of Manila Bay. The militant group said the national government has been blaming fishermen and urban poor residents over the continuing deterioration of Manila Bay.

The militant group said 60 percent of pollution entering Manila Bay comes through the Pasig River, and 80 percent of the pollution comes from industries and commercial establishments situated along the country’s major river system in the National Capital Region. Another 15 percent of the pollution that gets into Manila Bay comes from Pampanga River, which the group said, is colonized by big and small polluting factories.

“The government is blaming over fishing as a major factor in the degradation of Manila Bay. That is a flimsy and ridiculous excuse. The massive privatization and conversion of public lands and coastal communities along the bay since the Marcos dictatorship up to present administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the principal reason why Manila Bay is under the Intensive Care Unit, and suffering from environmental comatose,” Pamalakaya said.

The militant group said not less than 20,000 hectares of Manila Bay have been subjected to reclamation to pave way for the construction of special economic zones in Bataan and Cavite, the commercial spaces presently occupied by Manila Film Center, the GSIS Building in Pasay City, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Folk Arts Theater in Manila, and the SM Mall of Asia and other commercial companies in Pasay City.

Pamalakaya said the government intends to reclaim areas in Pasay City for the setting up of $ 15-B Casino Project in Pasay City, and it is also inclined to reclaim another 8,000 hectares of foreshore areas in Cavite for the coastal road project from Bacoor to Sangley Point in Cavite City. The coastal project alone will evict 26,000 small fishermen and urban poor from their main source of livelihood and communities. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:09 | link | comments |
manila bay

Militants asked Congress to probe US role in GRP-MILF peace talks

Leaders of the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday asked lawmakers from both houses of Congress to undertake an all-out probe on the alleged role of the United States government in the peace negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The peace negotiation and the process that was involved in the peace talks are politically sacred to parties in armed conflict. Based on accounts and what transpired during the negotiations, the US dictated its own terms to the puppet government of President through the Washington funded US Institute for Peace and that is foreign intervention to the highest order,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap appealed to Congress top leaders Senate President Manuel Villar and House Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. to conduct a joint or separate congressional inquiry that would look into the alleged direct intervention of Washington in the peace process between the government and the Moro separatist movement.

‘The US did not act as third party facilitator to the GRP-MILF peace talks. It went beyond to what is politically and morally accepted. First they used the US peace non-government organization to front act for top US officials. As the peace talks progresses, Washington political players took the front seat courtesy of Malacañang,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

Hicap said President Arroyo is guilty of treason for allowing the US government through the US Institute for Peace to intervene in the peace talks. The Pamalakaya leader also said Mrs. Arroyo committed an impeachable offense.

For his part, Pamalakaya vice-chairperson for Luzon Salvador France supported the call of the leftist umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) to have President Arroyo and her top peace and military officials investigated for giving the US the political franchise to intervene in the peace negotiation between the GRP and the MILF.

But France said President Arroyo and her top officials are expected to invoke executive privilege even if the Senate or the House of Representatives agrees to investigate the matter and compel the President and other officials involved in the peace process to shed light on the alleged intervention of the US government.

“While Mrs. Arroyo and company are expected to bankroll on executive privilege as their tool to hide, if not obscure the truth, US Ambassador Kristie Kenny is expected to unleash the bankrupt power of diplomatic immunity,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

Bayan said based on the report of the US Institute for Peace, US President George Bush and President Arroyo supported the US peace NGO program known as the Philippine Facilitation Project. The report said there were three meetings held between the officials of US Institute for Peace with President Arroyo, one in 2004 and two in 2004.

According to US Institute for Peace report, the US government divided its work between the peace NGO, the USAID and the US embassy and the US State Department. The US Embassy role in t he peace talks between the GRP and the MILF is to encourage the Philippine government to pursue the peace talks. The USAID will take charge of the economic development, while US Institute for Peace was tasked to engage and influence key players in the peace process.

Pamalakaya agreed with the observations of some political experts that Ambassador Kenny was there at the aborted signing of the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain to present herself as friend of the Bangsamoro people.

“ She was there at the aborted signing to make sure US interests like plans of setting up permanent bases in Mindanao and the possible tapping of an alleged 1.9 billion barrels of oil in the areas covered by ancestral domain pact would be entertained once the Bangsamoro homeland is established,” the group said.

Rebecca Thompson, spokeswoman of the US embassy in Manila, said Kenney and the other diplomats were invited to the signing ceremony, asserting further that the US government is not a party to negotiations, and that the aborted signing was between the Philippine government and MILF with Malaysia's help. The embassy spokesperson said the US is a committed partner for peace, development, and prosperity in Mindanao. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 11:07 | link | comments |
peace talks

P 100- B fund generation campaign behind Atienza’s Manila Bay noise, says fishers’ group

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday said fund sourcing is the ultimate motive why Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza is now talking on rehabilitation of the Manila Bay, which the group said was not a priority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.

“All of a sudden Secretary Atienza transformed himself into crusader for the environment and called on the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other funding agencies here and abroad to finance the P 100-B Manila Bay rehabilitation plan. This is money making at its best,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap added: “Secretary Atienza even mentioned the problem of climate change and global warming indicating that Malacañang and the DENR are set to make an ambitious project proposal for Manila Bay rehabilitation. P 100 billion is P 100 billion and its a huge fortune for the corrupt regime of Mrs. Arroyo.”

Yesterday, Secretary Atienza called on the attention of various donor agencies to help the national government in restoring the quality of Manila Bay by providing support to DENR’s plan to put up water treatment facilities that would clear water wastes before these come out into the river and out into the bay.

Secretary Atienza said setting up water treatment facility alone would cost the national government at least P 25 billion in taxpayers’ money. He said water concessionaires Maynilad of the Lopez group and Manila Water of the Ayala group have yet to comply with their agreement with the national government regarding the setting up of water waste treatment facilities.

The DENR chief said the deterioration of the water in Manila Bay will continue as long as wastewater from houses, the domestic waste of residences continue to flow from the Pasig River to Manila Bay that connects Cavite, the National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan and Bataan.

Atienza said the second major contributor of Manila Bay waters’ deterioration is the proliferation of fishpens along the coast of the bay from Cavite to Bataan. He ordered the demolition of all illegal fishpens in Manila Bay starting August 26.

Pamalakaya rebuked Atienza’s theories that the dumping of untreated water wastes and the proliferation of fish pens are to be blamed for the deterioration of the waters of Manila Bay, adding that the DENR secretary is misleading the public.

The militant group said the full-blast commercialization of Manila Bay that started during the time of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos up to the present administration of President Arroyo is the main reason why the 190 kilometer bay is on the brink of general collapse.

“Please allow us to state the real score about Manila Bay. Eighty percent of the untreated water wastes that are thrown or dumped into the bay come from industries and commercial establishments situated along the bay. The reclamation activities of the government that began during the Marcos era up to present are also destroying Manila Bay and have prevented the ecosystem and marine life to regenerate,” Pamalakaya said.



“We are not happy with the way the national government is treating Manila Bay. We are being blamed for its deterioration. Why us? We are not destroyers of natural resources and marine environment. We cannot destroy our main source of livelihood. It