“She will continue to be known as among the most loathed public officials in history. Arroyo and her enabler Rodrigo Duterte deserve condemnation for all the anti-people policies they are implementing,” KMP chairperson emeritus and Anakpawis President Rafael Mariano said.
“Sa wika at panitikang Filipino ay mas malayang naipapahayag natin ang ating mga puso at kaluluwa. Sa pagtanggal ng mga araling ito ay unti-unti nila tayong binubusalan.”
The Philippines has never reached the recommended ratio, the group said, and this indicator even worsened from 14.4 beds per 10,000 population in 1990 to only 9.9 beds per population in 2014. The number of government hospitals even fell from 732 in 2011 to 423 in 2015.
“Kaya nakakadismaya ito sa ating mga Pilipino dahil imbes na tatagan ang ating pagkatao sa pamamagitan ng edukasyon at kulturang Pilipino ay inilalayo tayo sa posibilidad na higit nating makilala ang ating pagkatao.”
The issue is Tulfo’s brand of “journalism,” and we are using the term very liberally since what he and his ilk practice bear little resemblance to the profession of truth, which, ironically, is what this administration seems to prefer even as it vilifies those who do their work seriously and credibly.
“Ang wika ay hindi lang salita. Kamalayan din iyon at sensibilidad. Nasa panitikan at kasaysayan ang dangal ng bawat bayan. Sambayanang walang alam sa sarili? Iyon ang gusto ng manlulupig.”
The manufactured results of the midterm polls strengthens the hand of the Duterte administration and its elite supporters to implement self-serving economic and political measures at the expense of the Filipino public.
“Ang pagtanggal sa Filipino at Panitikan sa Kolehiyo ay isang palatandaan na nakakaligtaan nila na ang edukasyon ng mga Pilipino ay ibinatay sa edukasyon ng mga kolonyalistang Amerikano.”—Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, chairperson emeritus, Concerned Artists of the Philippines/Pambansang Alagad ng Sining
That the incident happened on the first day of Cagayan de Oro’s celebration of Press Freedom Week, an annual event dear to the hearts of our colleagues in the City of Golden Friendship, indicates it was intended as a warning to all journalists to go easy on critical reportage and commentary.
“A critical press serves the public interest and should therefore not be subjected to attacks,” Orias said.