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SC has fallen, lawyers’ group says after Sereno’s ouster

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Human rights lawyers said Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno’s ouster means the Supreme Court (SC) has surrendered its independence to political pressures.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) called the SC decision granting the Quo Warranto petition against Sereno as “deplorable, contemptuous and a contortion of the Constitution.”

Eight SC associate justices voted to grant the Quo Warranto petition Friday morning, saying Sereno became chief magistrate on the basis on an invalid appointment.

Associate Justices Teresita De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr and Alexander Gesmundo voted in the affirmative.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Mariano Del Castillo, Estela Perlas Bernabe, Marvic Leonen and Benjamin Caguioa voted against.

The NUPL however said the decision was dishonorable and is a red carpet for dictatorial rule by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Earlier, the NUPL said the Quo Warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General set “a very dangerous and ruinous precedent that can even be used against any impeachable officer, including other justices of the Supreme Court who go against the wishes of and in the crosshairs of the administration or interest groups.”

In its reaction to the decision Friday, the lawyers’ group said granting the Quo Warranto petition does not affect the Chief Justice alone.

“It primarily affects the entire nation as the Supreme Court literally sprawled the red carpet for dictatorial rule,” the NUPL in a statement said.

The NUPL called on judges and lawyers nationwide to step-up protests against “the breakdown of the so-called rule of law and the erosion of judicial independence.”

The group said it is planning and calling for nationwide simultaneous forms of protest against the SC decision to oust CJ Sereno on Tuesday, May 15.

Possible actions include wearing of black pins or armbands, court hearing holiday, picket at the SC and other courts, and legal fora and press conferences, the group said.

“Today is yet again not another good day to be a lawyer. But we will fight and hold fast. The people we serve deserve no less,” the NUPL said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER, KEEP POWER IN CHECK!

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World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2018
Manila, Philippines

 A Report by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR),
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP),
Philippine Press Institute (PPI), and
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ)

RODRIGO R. Duterte’s presidency has altered and controlled the public discourse so radically in its favor in ways rude and bold. Its tragic result: it has restricted and narrowed the celebrated freedom of the Philippine press and the people’s cherished right to know.

In his first 22 months in power, Mr. Duterte has earned the dubious honor of logging 85 various cases of attacks and threats on these dual values that the Constitution upholds as inalienable rights of the citizens. The number far exceeds those recorded under four presidents before him.

Separately and together, these 85 cases — murders, death threats, slay attempts, libel, online harassment, website attacks, revoked registration or denied franchise renewal, verbal abuse, strafing, and police surveillance of journalists and media agencies from June 30, 2016 to May 1, 2018 — have made the practice of journalism an even more dangerous endeavor under Duterte.

These cases project the force of presidential power dominating the political sphere, with zealous support from Duterte allies and appointees, and their sponsored misinformation army online and off. They have hurled at members of the press insults and unfair labels, and allegations of corruption and misconduct without firm basis in fact or in law.

These cases linger amid effete efforts at solution by state agencies, and in the context of the hostile and vicious discourse against the administration’s critics and the critical media.

The President, Cabinet members, and the House of Representatives have imposed and proposed unprecedented restrictions on journalist access to official news events. Congress and executive agencies have denied or delayed the corporate registration or franchises required for operation of media companies.

Some journalists and media groups have also reported police surveillance of their movement and their places of work.

Attacks on press freedom diminish not just the news media. These weaken the capacity of the news media to sustain the people’s unfettered exchange of ideas about public issues. Presidential intolerance of criticism is now a well-established aspect of Duterte’s leadership. While he is not the only chief executive who has become sensitive to press criticism, Duterte has made sure that everyone understands that misfortunes could hound and befall his critics.

And yet Duterte has promised change; his government should wish to tell the people when and where change has come to fruition, and whether it has triggered better or worse results. By keeping citizens and voters fully informed, the media empowers the public to check whether those they elected to power are doing right or wrong.  A free press sustains and strengthens democracy.

So far, that is not quite the situation under Duterte. Intimidated, restrained, and threatened with consequences, the news media have been significantly restricted to report well and fully on the war on drugs, the siege of Marawi, cases of alleged corruption in high office, questions about the wealth of the Duterte family, the public debate on Charter change and federalism, the shutdown of Boracay, and not the least significant, the incursions of China in the West Philippine Sea.

To be sure, the state of press freedom in the Philippines reflects long standing problems that beset the practice of the press, taking into account the economic inequalities among media organizations, the poor pay for many working in the provinces, and the opportunities for corruption for those vulnerable to political manipulation.

The phrase “attacks and threats” has been used by media watch organizations to sum up the many ways in which a free press is weakened, leading to the failure of its function as well as to its own dysfunctional operations.

Attacks and Threats: 22 Months, 85 Cases

By the diligent and independent monitoring of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), from June 30, 2016 to May 1, 2018, the following cases of attacks of press freedom have been recorded under the Duterte administration:

  • 9 journalists had been killed in the line of duty, with their last reports focusing separately on the drug trade, and local crime and corruption.
  • 16 libel cases with mostly by state officials/agencies as complainants, including three that had been filed before June 30, 2016. The courts have dismissed two of these three and acquitted the respondent in the third case.
  • 14 cases of online harassment, perpetrated mostly by Duterte supporters;
  • 11 death threats, after delivering reports critical of public officials, including Duterte;
  • 6 cases of slay attempts, mostly by gunmen riding in motorcycles;
  • 6 cases of harassment, mostly by state officials/agencies;
  • 5 cases of intimidation, mostly by local officials;
  • 4 cases of website attack;
  • 4 cases of physical assault, mostly by local officials;
  • 3 cases of cyber libel;
  • 3 instances of reporters barred from coverage, by the Office of the President;
  • 2 cases of registration revoked or franchise denial;
  • 1 strafing incident that occurred in Region XII; and
  • 1 case of verbal assault in Metro Manila, excluding multiple instances when the President himself took verbal broadsides, cursed, and scolded journalists, and threatened certain media agencies with closure.

Nearly all media platforms had been bruised and battered. The 85 cases have affected journalists and media agencies from radio, 30 cases; online, 22 cases; print, 19 cases; television, 12 cases; and online print/radio/TV and photojournalism, 1 case each.

By gender, nearly a third or 53 of the cases involved male journalists, while 16 female journalists and 16 media organizations make up the balance.

By location, nearly half or 40 of the 85 cases occurred in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila. One case of denial of access imposed by Philippine officials occurred in Singapore, to the prejudice of foreign correspondents working in Manila.

No cases were recorded during the period in four regions: Cagayan Valley (Region II), the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, MIMAROPA (Region IV-B, Southwestern Tagalog) and Northern Mindanao (Region X).

The other regions and their case breakdown follow:

  • Region XIII CARAGA, 7 cases;
  • Region IV-A, CALABARZON, 5;
  • Region V, Bicol Region, 5;
  • Region I, Ilocos Region, 4;
  • Region VIII, Eastern Visayas, 4;
  • Region XI, Davao Region, 4;
  • Region IX, Zamboanga Peninsula, 3;
  • Region VII, Central Visayas, 4;
  • Region XII SOCCSKSARGEN, 3;
  • Region III, Central Luzon, 2;
  • Region VI, Western Visayas, 2; and
  • Cordillera Administrative Region, 1.

Journalist killings

The killing of journalists whether or not in the line of duty is not a new problem. It is linked to other institutional flaws and weaknesses in the government system, not the least of which is the failure to punish, aligned with other conditions described as “a culture of impunity.” Such violence grows as it feeds on the indifference of many, including some working in the media who also believe, as some government officials have claimed, that those who are killed are corrupt. CMFR analysis has shown that corruption has figured only in a small number of cases of journalists killed.

The nine journalists killed during the first 22 months of Duterte’s presidency are a perfect match to the number recorded during the same covered period under Benigno S. Aquino III.

Duterte’s record, however, exceeds those in the first 22 months of Fidel V. Ramos, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Joseph Ejercito Estrada. In the first 22 months in office of Ramos, five journalists were killed, as would be the case during Arroyo’s term. Three journalists were felled during the same period in Estrada’s tenure.  Arroyo’s total number during her nine years tops the roster, though, as it included the Ampatuan Massacre of Nov. 23, 2009 where 58 persons, including 32 journalists and media workers, were killed.

While cases have been filed against suspects in some of these killings, most have barely received police investigation. Only the hired gunmen have been arrested and tried, with the masterminds escaping arrest and prosecution.

Of the 156 cases of journalists killed in the line of duty since 1986, only 17 have been partly resolved, with the conviction only of the gunmen while the masterminds remain free. In the case of Bombo Radyo-Kalibobroadcaster Herson Hinolan who was killed on Nov. 13, 2004, the murder case filed against convicted mastermind former Mayor Alfredo Arsenio of Lezo town in Aklan province, has been downgraded to homicide.

The trial of the 188 men charged in the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre entered its eighth year in 2017. The alleged masterminds in the killing of 58 people including 32 journalists are among those charged, together with policemen and paramilitaries in the pay of the Ampatuan clan. So far, only 112 have been arraigned. Not one of the accused has been convicted.

A strongman president could go far, if he chooses, to improve the capacity of police for forensic investigation as well as strengthen the prosecutorial skills of lawyers working in the Department of Justice. Such efforts would redound to the benefit of all Filipinos, especially those without the means to hire their own lawyers, and not just the besieged workers of media.

State-sponsored anti-media propaganda

President Duterte has recklessly accused the news media of inaccuracy and bias, of deliberately spreading “fake news” supposedly to discredit his administration. These accusations are echoed mostly online by Duterte supporters, some of whom have even incited others to commit violence against journalists.

Over social media, journalists and media organizations continue to be attacked by regime-sponsored trolls. Hate speech and threats are perennial and rampant occurrences in the comment sections of reports critical of the administration.

The phenomenon can be traced to 2016 when in an obviously orchestrated campaign, some bloggers and social media pages trumpeted Mr. Duterte’s candidacy for his promise of change. When he won the presidency, these same bloggers and pages continued to function as disseminators of his every word and even of false information. This they do while demonizing, along with the political opposition, his critics, dissenters, including journalists doing their mandated duty of reporting the truth.

Attacks on media organizations now include surveillance of journalists by state security forces. A journalist has reported that his news organization had been subjected to an unwanted police visit.  At least two other news organizations have noted plainclothes men around the location of their offices but these organizations decided not to make any attempt to identify who the policemen were and did not report the incident to authorities.

Also reminiscent of martial law, background checks have become a part of Philippine National Police (PNP) protocol for journalists covering the police beat. Members of the PNP Press Corps reported police visits and interrogations. Some of the questions were personal. In January this year, the PNP Chief denied that the checks were going on. But in February, media reported the PNP’s admission that it was indeed doing background checks on reporters newly assigned to cover the PNP.

Controlling the Media

At the center of this shrinking space for press freedom and the people’s right to know stands a leader who has used his power against the press with such hostility and with utter disregard for the constitutional protection of the press from such incursions on press freedom.

Mr. Duterte seems ready to do just as he pleases — heap personal insult at his perceived enemies and proclaim damning charges without evidence to discredit and intimidate the press, from the presidential podium.

Verbal abuse by itself would make the practice of independent journalism more difficult and problematic. But Duterte has unleashed much more violence against the autonomy of the press than has been seen since the overthrow of the Marcos regime in 1986.  Indeed, even without the legal instruments used during the period of Marcos-era martial law, the press has been placed effectively under government control.

All the President has had to do is show how he handles his critics and demonstrate what he is capable of doing to anyone who dares to stand up and oppose him.

It can be a missionary sister who is declared persona non grata and ordered deported with haste. It can be a sitting senator detained for imprecise charges. It can be an individual journalist asking an annoying question in a press conference, who is then shamed by his angry outburst complete with expletives. It can be media organizations whose reporters and photojournalists have tracked the deaths of thousands of men, women, and children, that some have described as extra-judicial killings or EJKs.

Rodrigo R. Duterte has brandished the power of fear. His threats and attacks bear the full weight of his office, the highest in the land. No need to test constitutional limits. All he seems to want to do is to make enough journalists understand that they should be very afraid.

But, like fear, courage could be contagious. And unlike fear that disempowers, courage built on the power of truth and the unity of all in media is a force that empowers.

To stand firm and to stand united for press freedom and democracy, to speak truth to power and to keep power in check — this much the press owes the people. Whoever is president, the paramount duty of a free press in a democracy is to defend and uphold the people’s right to know, in courage and in unity. — CMFR, NUJP, PPI, PCIJ, World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2018

 

Priest gunned down after celebrating Mass in Cagayan

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Another Roman Catholic priest was killed, this time in far north Luzon.

Fr. Mark Ventura, former rector of the Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary of Aparri, was gunned down Sunday morning after celebrating Holy Mass in Barangay Peña West, Gattaran, Cagayan.

The Seminary made the announcement on its Facebook page and posted photos of the murdered priest still wearing his cassock.

Ventura was lying on his right side beside the altar. It was apparent he was getting ready to take off his vestments when shot by still unknown assailants.

The killing recalls the murder by suspected state forces of St. Oscar Romero, Archbishop of Salvador, El Salvador, who was also killed while celebrating Mass at a Hospital Chapel.

Last December 4, retired priest and outspoken human rights defender Marcelito Paez of the Diocese of San Jose was also ambushed and killed in Jaen, Nueva Ecija after helping in the release of a political prisoner.

Like Romero and Paez, Ventura is said to have spoken against social injustices.

At the time of his death, Fr. Ventura headed the Archdiocesan San Isidro Labrador Mission Station in Gattaran and chaired the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao’s Migrants’ Desk.

Sources also told Kodao Ventura was active in the Archdiocese’s campaigns for the protection of the environment, good governance and peace.

He was also known for his advocacy on indigenous peoples rights.

Artwork by Bro. Jaazeal Jakosalem, OAR through an Order of the Carmelites Statement

A comment on the seminary’s announcement accused Ventura of spearheading rallies, along with nuns in northern Cagayan province.

His superior, Archbishop Sergio Utleg, has yet to issue a statement on his priest’s killing.

Bayan Muna Cagayan Valley regional coordinator Felix Randy Malayao condemned Ventura’s murder.

“We vigorously deplore and condemn the killing. He was a church man, a good shepherd. He did not deserve this,” Malayao told Kodao.

“Anyone of us can become a victim of killers and terrorists. Let us stand firm and denounce any form of destruction of human life. Justice for Fr. Mark!” the seminary added on its Facebook page. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Gabriela condemns govt’s removal of comfort woman statue

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Women’s group Gabriela strongly condemned the removal of the comfort woman statue along Roxas Boulevard in Manila Friday, saying the move is a desecration of Filipino women’s dignity.

Blaming Japan and the Rodrigo Duterte government for the statue’s removal, the group said the move casts a foul insult on hundreds of victims of sex slavery during the Japanese Imperial Army’s occupation of the Philippines in World War II.

Despite opposition from women’s rights advocates, historians and other sectors, “Japan once again succeeded in imposing its revisionist take on WW II on puppet regimes like the Duterte regime,” Gabriela in a statement said.

(Photo by Atty. Dennis Gorecho)

Groups and personalities are still trying to find out who ordered the removal, seeking explanations from both the Department of Public Works and Highways and the City Government of Manila.

Lawyer Dennis Gorecho, a volunteer during the statue’s erection and unveiling near Manila Bay’s breakwater, said the statue was installed with the blessings of the National Historical Institute and should be considered a historical landmark and monument protected under Republic Act No. 10066, otherwise known as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

The law protects the statue against prohibited acts such as intentional destruction, demolition, mutilation, damage, modification, and alteration, Gorecho explained.

Gorecho added construction and real estate development in any national shrine, monument, landmark and other historic edifices and structures, declared, classified, and marked by the National Historical Institute as such, are prohibited without the prior written permission from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).

This includes the designated security or buffer zone, extending five meters from the visible perimeter of the monument or site.

An image posted on Gorecho’s Facebook account however showed a backhoe machine operating near the statue. In the lower part of the image, the statue could no longer be seen.

(Image from Atty Dennis Gorecho’s Facebook page)

Lila Pilipina, the organization of women sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army, Tulay Foundation, a group whose members belong to Manila’s Chinese-Filipino community victimized by Japanese atrocities during the war, and other groups and individuals spearheaded the construction and installation of the statue.

It was unveiled last December 8 with NHCP executive director Ludovico Badoy in attendance, along with Gabriela, and others groups and personalities.

Similar “comfort women” statues were earlier erected in Korea, Australia, Canada, Germany, San Francisco and New Jersey, USA.

“The comfort woman statue supposedly serves as a reminder to future generations of Japan’s atrocities and abuses against Filipino women during the Second World War, and women’s historical victimization in times of wars of aggression,” Gabriela said.

Japan, however vigorously protested the erection of the statue with the Duterte government, threatening diplomatic and economic sanctions.

Japan has refused to acknowledge it sanctioned the sexual enslavement of hundreds of thousands of women during its rampage across the region during the war.

Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Seiko Noda reportedly expressed Tokyo’s disappointment over the erection of the statue along Roxas Boulevard during her courtesy call on Duterte last January 16 in Malacañan.

Gabriela blamed the Duterte government for caving in to Japan.

“[I]t is highly despicable that the Duterte government, like a thief in the night, removed the comfort woman statue in Manila. What has been left of the marker will be a stark reminder of how the Duterte regime pimped the dignity of women and the Filipino nation in exchange for multi-billion Japanese loans and technical assistance,” Gabriela said.

Despite the statue’s removal, Gabriela said it will vigorously pursue efforts to expose Japan’s sex slavery in the country and other parts of the globe.

“Women will persevere in highlighting the horrors of Japanese occupation, no matter how Japan and its puppets try to cover it,” Gabriela said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva / Photos by Atty. Dennis Gorecho)

Veteran disaster responder Carlos Padolina dies in road accident

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Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) official and veteran disaster responder Carlos Padolina died in a road accident Friday night in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.

Padolina, DSWD Climate Adaptation and Mitigation deputy program director, died after a motorcycle hit the tricycle he was riding at about midnight, a colleague told Kodao.

In a Facebook post, Padolina’s colleague Caroline Quevedo Catalan said it was a “sudden death.”

“After our orientation, he requested that we bring him to the bus terminal (bound) for Cagayan de Oro…By 11 pm, he took the tricycle from Balingasag area to (the) terminal and then they were hit by a drag-racing motorcycle that was without a headlight,” Catalan wrote.

Padolina was reportedly thrown off the sidecar and suffered massive internal haemorrhage that led to his death.

Padolina was in Mindanao to hold a program orientation with Caraga local government units and people’s organizations in Butuan City.

From Butuan, Padolina dropped by Balingasag to meet with other disaster response colleagues.

Padolina joined the DSWD in September 2016 after decades of disaster preparedness and response work with the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center and children’s rights advocacy with the Children’s Rehabilitation Center and Salinlahi.

(Photo from Padolina’s FB page)

The first major disaster response he participated with DSWD was supertyphoon Lawin that hit Northern Luzon in 2016 while among his last was Mount Mayon’s eruption earlier this year.

Before joining DSWD, Padolina spearheaded numerous relief and rehabilitation programs across the Philippines for nearly three decades.

He was reportedly planning to go back to CDRC after nearly two years with the DSWD.

The victim’s family has already been notified of his death, the source said.

The DSWD is planning to hold a tribute to Padolina during its flag-raising ceremony on Monday. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Labor feds unite, vow to hold biggest rally in decades

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Labor federations vowed to hold their biggest Labor Day protest on Tuesday after agreeing to jointly march against President Duterte’s failed promise to end contractualization.

In a press conference in Manila Friday, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said as many as 60,000 workers in Metro Manila and 150,000 all over the country will march as one on May 1.

“The growing frustration, disappointment and dissatisfaction of workers over President Rodrigo Duterte’s failure to fulfil a promise have only bonded workers,” KMU and Nagkaisa said.

Long rivals, the federations have formed an alliance after Duterte turned on his promise to end labor only contracting and issue an executive order ending the practice.

KMU and Nagkaisa said their joint May 1 protests are an “historic first.”

“This year’s commemoration of Labor Day will be different. It will be a national day of solidarity and action of leaders, members, allies and supporters of Nagkaisa and KMU and all citizens who have been frustrated over the injustices committed against workers and the Filipino people and government’s continued inaction and negligence,” Nagkaisa and KMU said in a joint statement.

“For two years, we participated in labor summits called for by ( the Department of Labor and Employment), dialogued with the President three times, drafted an Executive Order (EO) on contractualization, negotiated with him through five drafts—all to no avail,” KMU and Nagkaisa said.

The groups said they also intended to engage Congress on the issue but were stopped when informed by Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development chairperson Senator Joel Villanueva that Congress will act based on Malacañang’s ”signal”.

“Now that a directive by way of an EO that would declare direct hiring as the norm has been shelved, the Senate might just follow this lead,” the federations said.

“We are utterly frustrated. Despite our desire to continue sitting at the negotiating table and follow reason, the President has decided on retaining business-as-usual, by siding with local and foreign investors who have no respect for security of tenure,” the groups added.

“(Duterte) has agreed to the false ‘win-win solution’ of (the Department of Trade and Industry) that encourages manpower agency regularization and not direct hiring with the principal employers,” Nagkaisa and KMU said.

In an April 19 press briefing, DOLE secretary Silvestre Bello III said the President will no longer sign an EO but will instead certify as urgent a pending bill in Congress ending contractualization.

KMU earlier said legislators would only ensure such laws would be watered-down and mangled.

Nagkaisa and KMU said protesters will start marching from various points as early as six o’clock in the morning and will converge at Morayta Street at about 10 am before proceeding to Mendiola Tuesday. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Amid inflation, teachers storm Malacañan over low salaries

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Public school teachers staged a surprise protest action in front of Malacañan Palace’s Gate 6 today to demand pay hikes for education workers and teachers.

Held a few days before Labor Day, the teachers complained against the Duterte government’s refusal to grant salary increases to the largest group of civil servants after increasing police and soldiers’ wages.

“It is abominable how the Duterte regime has first played around with, then turned a deaf ear to our urgent call for economic relief,” Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) secretary general Raymond Basilio said.

Basilio referred to Duterte’s presidential campaign promise of increasing teachers’ salaries.

Protesting teachers held packs of rice, dried fish and instant noodles to dramatize what their families’ meals have been reduced to due to lack of a subtantial wage increase in years.

“The urgency for salary increase has doubled since the implementation of the TRAIN Law in January 2018,” Basilio said, adding 80 percent of teachers are already deep in debt due to steep inflation rates.

‘Worse, price increases have pushed more and more teachers to desperate measures such as ‘sangla-ATM’, taking sideline jobs such as tutorials and online-selling despite the already burdensome workload of teachers, and downgrading family diet and expenses just to make ends meet,” Basilio added..

ACT said it is pushing for substantial increase in the monthly basic pay of teachers in the basic and tertiary education, as well as for non-teaching personnel.

ACT said a basic salary of PhP 30,000 for an entry level teachear and PhP 16,000 for non-teaching education personnel are just. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Ang pamamaril sa mga magsasaka ng Sto Domingo, Nueva Ecija

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Ni Jek Alcaraz, Radyo Natin-Guimba

Nagko-cover ako ng kilos protesta ng mga magsasaka sa Baloc, Sto Domingo, Nueva Ecija noong Miyerkules, Abril 25.

Umaga pa lang, mga 9 am, nasa munisipyo na ako para i-cover ang pakikipagharap ng mga magsasaka kay Sto. Domingo mayor Imee de Guzman at chief of police PSupt Abraham Atencio. Inireklamo nila ang gabi-gabing pagpapaputok ng baril ng mga tauhan ng pamilya Jimenez mula sa loob ng kanilang compound. Dagdag pa, layunin din ng mga magsasaka na mag-protesta sa pagbabakod ng mga Jimenez sa 17 ektarya na lupa kung saan tatlong ektarya doon ay may tanim pang palay na kailangan nang anihin.

Dahil may sarili akong motorsiklo, nauna na ako sa area, sa tapat lang ng compound ng mga Jimenez. Ipinarada ko sa tabi ng kalsada ang aking motorsiklo. Kalaunan, doon din huminto ang bulto ng mga nagpo-protestang magsasaka.

Nag-video ako at saka ko nakita ang mga tao sa compound. Marami sila at kasama ang landlord na si Romulo Sangalang Jimenez at kanyang anak na si Jonjon.

Naisip ko agad, “Gulo ito.” Kaya inilihis ko muna ang aking motorsiklo. Saka ko nakita ang dalawang lalaki na papalapit sa bakod sa tabi ng kalsada. Hindi pa ako nakakababa at hindi ko pa napapatay ang makina nang narinig ko na ang putukan. Nakita kong nag-dapaan na ang mga magsasaka. Tiyak akong may nasugatan dahil nasa kabila lamang ng kalsada nanggagaling ang maraming putok.

I-click ito para mapanood ang video.

Screengrab mula sa video.

Tumakbo ako agad sa harap ng bulto para ma-video-han ko ang namamaril. Nakuhanan ko pang nagpaputok ang dalawang lalaki. Nakita ko ring naroon lang sa malapit ang mag-amang Romulo at Jonjon, pinapanood ang pamamaril. Nakita ko na tumakbo na iyong mga namaril papasok ng compound.

Nasugatan sa pamamaril ay si Virginia Galapon Guiang, 65 taong gulang. Tinamaan siya sa hita ng bala ng M16. Kasalukuyan siyang ginagamot sa PJG Hospital sa Cabanatuan City. Dinaplisan din ng bala ng kalibre .45 si Mariafe Orbido Magbanua, 46 years old. Namaga raw ang kanyang sugat kaya kailangan na ring iconfine sa hospital.

Unang naisip ko matapos ang pamamaril ay tumawag na ng pulis, kaya tinawagan ko ang hepe na si PSupt Atencio. Pagdating nila matapos ang limang minuto, hinabol nila iyong isang tricycle na tumatakas.

Lumapit si Jonjon Jimenez. Gusto niyang makausap ang mga pulis. Lumapit ako sa kanya upang tanungin kung puwede ba siyang magbigay ng pahayag tungkol sa pamamaril at kung mga tauhan ba nila ang mga iyon. Tinanong niya ako: “Sino ka ba?” Sinagot ko sya na media ako mula Radyo Natin Guimba. Sinabi niyang huwag ko siyang interbyuhin sa mismong lugar na iyon. Dinagdag niyang sa loob daw kami ng compound para “neutral at walang biases. Ilang beses niya akong kinunan ng litrato at video.

Makikitang nasa likod lamang ng namaril si Romulo Sangalang Jimenez na nakasuot ng kulay-rosas na tshirt. (Screengrab mula sa video)

Pagkatapos, ang mga pulis naman ang nagtanong kung kung nakuhanan ko ba yung pamamaril. Ang sabi ko, meron akong footage. Pagkatapos, ini-screen shot namin ang aking kuha ng mga suspect. Saka pumasok ang mga pulis sa loob ng compound para sa hot pursuit. Humarang si Sangalang Jimenez, dahil wala raw ebidensiyang sa loob ng compound tumuloy ang mga namaril. Sinabi pang itinanim lang ng mga magsasaka ang mga basyo ng bala.

Sinabi ng pulis na may actual video kaya huwag na sana siyang magkaila. Tinawag ako palapit doon sa kanila para sabihin sa may ari ng compound na may ebidensya. Sa pangalawang beses,. tinanong ako ni Jonjon kung sino ako at anong ginagawa ko sa lugar. Sinabi ko ulit na media ako at nagko-cover ako ng protesta. Tinanong ako ng pulis kung kaya kong mai-dentify ang suspect. Sabi ko, batay sa video na kuha ko, kaya kong i-identify iyon.

Muling nagtanong si Jonjon na paano ko raw ma-identify ang mga lalaking namaril kung wala naman ako sa actual event. Sinagot ko siya na kitang kita ng dalawang mata ko ang nangyari. Sinabi niyang media lang ako at walang karapatang mag-identify kung sino ang namaril. Dagdag niya: “Patunayan mo sa court ang mga sinasabi mo. Huwag dito dahil hindi ito iyung lugar. Kung gusto niyong mahuli ang mga tauhan ko, kailangan ay may hearing muna. Mag-file kayo ng warrant of arrest at ng search warrant para mahalughog nyo itong compound ko.”  Sumagot ako na naroon ako mismo sa pangyayari upang mag-cover ng protesta. Maaring isa ako sa pwedeng naging biktima kung hindi ako nakatabi dahil inilalayo ko ang aking motorsiklo.

Sinabihan na ako ni Jonjon matapos ang aming palitan ng salita na hindi ako pwede sa compound nila at wala akong karapatang mag-cover. Ipinagtulakan niya ako palabas ng gate. Nakita ng mga pulis. Sinabi ng PSupt Atencio: “Huwag mo namang itulak-tulak. Hindi naman na maganda iyan.”

Saka ako inakbayan ni Jonjon at sinabihang, “Umalis ka na rito.” Sinagot ko sya: “Bakit ako aalis, media ako at kailangan kong i-cover ang mga nangyayari?” Subalit iginiit niyang palabasin ako. Lumabas ako subalit matapos ang ilang minuto, ipinatawag ulit ako ni PSupt Atencio upang ituro sa mga inipon nilang mga tao kung sino ang namumukhaan ko. Itinuro ko ang salarin. Nagwala na ang mag-amang Jimenez. Hindi raw makukuha ang mga tauhan nila.  Naghihilahan sila at ang mga pulis sa suspect.

Dahil hindi makuha ang suspect, pinosasan na lang siya sa tricycle. Hinintay namin ang pagdating ng Provincial Director ng Nueva Ecija PNP na si PSSupt Eliseo Tanding. Pagdating niya, ipina-halughog niya ang buong paligid. Unang nakita ang isang 9mm na pistol na nakabalot ng tela sa may sukal. Sumunod ang isang shotgun na nakalagay sa sako na naka-suksok lang din. Iginiit ni Jonjon na planted ang mga ito at hindi sa kanila ang mga baril.

I-click ito para mapanood ang ikalawang video.

Ang mag-amang JImenez (Romulo, na naka-suot ng kulay rosas, at Jonjon, na naka-asul).

Habang kinukunan ko ang aktwal na pagkita sa shotgun, tinanong ulit ako ni Jonjon: “Ano ka ba dito? Official media ka ba ng mga pulis?” Sinabi ko sa kanya: “Obligado ba akong sagutin iyan. Media ako, hindi pa ba sapat iyon? Sabi niya ulit: “Aba! Pamamahay ko ito. Nandito ka sa bakuran ko. Dapat alam ko kung sino ang pinapa-pasok ko.” Sumagot ang hepe: “Siya ang nandito. Hindi na kailangan ng official media from PNP at siya na iyong nakasaksi ng mga kaganapan.”

Inimbitahan ako sa Provincial Office ng Nueva Ecija PNP upang magbigay ng salaysay. Nagtalaga ng tatlong pulis para sa aking seguridad. # (Jek Alcaraz, Radyo Natin-Guimba)

‘No plan, no heart’ in Boracay closure, envi group says

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Environmental activist group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) held a picket Tuesday at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) main office in Quezon City to protest the impending closure of Boracay island.

The group said the arbitrary six-month closure had no comprehensive scientific rehabilitation plan, but will displace thousands of workers in the process.

“Duterte’s Boracay closure order is like bar-drunk swagger that had no comprehensive, scientific basis and no heart for the 36,000 workers it will displace. His yes men are struggling to come up with rehab, security, and even completely illogical land reform plans, but these cannot justify the full closure of the island,” Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment national coordinator Leon Dulce said.

“With no comprehensive rehab plan whatsoever, we see Duterte’s closure order will benefit the only Boracay projects that have full plans and in full implementation, the Chinese-backed mega casinos,” Dulce added.

The environment group noted that the planned casino of Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment will be built on an inland forest area of Boracay and still has a provisional permit from the government in effect up to present.

“What kind of environmental rehab plan would allow the conversion of native tree forests into a mega casino? Despite the Department of Tourism’s claim the Galaxy casino is searching for a new location, locals report the company’s local partners recently continued to acquire land in Boracay. The DILG’s guidelines on the closure do not even include a moratorium for new construction projects which makes the closure order even more suspect,” Dulce said.

Part of the protest action at the DENR Tuesday. (Kalikasan PNE photo)

A Fact-Finding Solidarity Mission (FFSM) was conducted last week by environmental groups and people’s organizations to investigate the circumstances and effects of the impending closure of Boracay on the people.

The Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) was among the groups that joined the mission.

“Despite repeated requests by various organizations and even media outfits, President Duterte and the DENR has not yet divulged any plan or paper which details how exactly they are going to embark on rehabilitating the island, or as to why they arbitrarily chose six months as the supposed recovery period,” CEC researcher Lia Alonzo said.

“There was not even a public consultation held prior to Duterte’s verbal pronouncements on closing the island. Up to the present, there is still no order or legal basis for the closure,” she added.

Kim-Sin Tugna, of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) – Aklan, who was also part of the FFSM, reported that the deployment of 630 fully-armed police only sowed fear and terror among the populace.

“Despite the absence of a writ of eviction, which can only be issued by the courts, the DENR escorted by police forces have been asking residents to leave since their houses were said to be built on wetlands. The residents wondered why they were being evicted now when they have been paying taxes for the land they were occupying,” Tugna said.

“The intimidation of the police in fatigue uniforms and bearing high powered rifles caused fear and panic among the residents. During our public consultation, residents reported to that the police told them that they will ask for the deployment of soldiers and turn Boracay into a ‘new Marawi’ if the residents will resist,” Tugna added.

“Although the rehabilitation of the Boracay is indeed much needed, any move to help the islands heal should also not leave behind the livelihood concerns of the residents who have no other means to earn decent income in the first place,” Dulce said.

“But with a casino to be built on Boracay’s forest itself, the closure order only reveals that the Duterte regime’s environmental pronouncements are a sham. Moreover, we castigate the Duterte regime for enforcing its arbitrary closure order using draconic and dictatorial methods which only terrorize the people,” Dulce concluded.#

Thanks, but peace talks first, Sison tells Duterte

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for the latter’s offer for him to return to the country, but said such may be premature without substantial advancements to the peace talks.

“I thank President Duterte for his expressed wish for my soonest homecoming and for his assurances of hospitality and guarantees for my safety,” Sison said, adding he has long wished they could meet again and cooperate closely in enabling the peace process to advance from one item to another in the substantive agenda.

“I declare that I will certainly return home when a significant advance in the peace negotiations has been achieved within the framework of The Hague Joint Declaration and when my comrades and lawyers are satisfied with legal and security precautions,” Sison said.

Sison said that that if he return to the Philippines prematurely, he would expose not only himself but also the entire peace process to extremely high risks of violent sabotage and termination by spoilers who are out to terminate the peace process once and for all.

Over the weekend, Duterte again invited his former professor to return to the Philippines and possibly resume the peace negotiations in the country.

“I created a small window, 60 days. My proposal to Sison is that I no longer go to…We are talking about the Philippines here. So you come home,” Duterte said before motorcycle enthusiasts in Albay.

Duterte said Sison will be safe while in the Philippines.

“I will molest no one. I will order the military and the police to be nice to you,” he said.

Sison, however, said the important common task in the next few weeks is for the NDFP and Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiating panels is to prepare for the resumption of the peace negotiations by doing the following:

  1. Making a memorandum of agreement to respect existing agreements prior to Proclamation 360 (which terminated the peace process) and to remove the obstacles and hindrances to the participation of a significant number of NDFP negotiators, consultants and experts in the peace negotiations.
  2. Drafting the mutually satisfactory agreements on ceasefire and amnesty of the political prisoners as well as the parts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development and National Industrialization and Economic Development.
  3. Signing and approving the agreements well within the 60-day frame that President Duterte has set by way of resuming the peace negotiations.

Duterte terminated negotiations November last year and moved to have NDFP allied organizations, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army, proscribed as terrorist organizations.

Last Thursday, Duterte said he ordered the possible resumption of formal negotiations because he does not want GRP soldiers dying and in response to the NDFP’s desire to resume the peace talks.

Sison said he is confident that the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels, consultants and drafting teams will be able to produce in the next few weeks the documents necessary for resuming the peace negotiations and making the peace process strong and stable.

Meanwhile, the NDFP is set to celebrate its 45th founding anniversary on Tuesday, April 24. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)