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Kian was a just a regular kid, neighbors say

Residents of Barangay 160 in Caloocan City rejected accusations by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Kian Loyd Delos Santos was a drug runner who walked around the community with a .45 caliber pistol on his waistband.

Joining a condemnation rally Monday, Kian’s neighbors said they could never believe the 17-year old victim was capable of being a drug courier who deserved the violent death from the police.

“Manininda lang ng chichiria, ginawa na nilang tulak,” neighbor and friend “Alex” (not his real name) said. (He was a simple snacks vendor, but they made him into narcotics courier.)

Delos Santos was killed Wednesday night in an alley a few blocks from his home by police officers assigned to the nearby PNP-Caloocan Precinct 7.

“Kilala ko si Kian mula ng bata pa kami. Ayan o, magkatabi lang ang bahay namin. Kabiruan ko yan. Alam ko kung may kalokohan ‘yan. Wala talaga,” Alex said. (I knew Kian since we were younger. We are neighbors. We kidded each other a lot. I would know if he did something wrong. I knew of nothing.)

Maxima (not her real name), another neighbor, described the victim to be an ordinary kid who had lots of friends in the urban poor community.

Iyang mga teen-ager na iyan, mga barkada ni Kian ‘yan,” Maxima said pointing to a group attending the wake. “At iyang mga mas bata, tinutulungan niyang mag-igib diyan sa igiban,” she added. (Those teen-ages were all Kian’s friends. And those younger ones, Kian used to help them fetch water.)

Maxima said the victim was even friends to the elderly in their community.

“May matanda kami rito sa loob na palaging binibiro ni Kian. Kaya iyak ng iyak ang matanda noong nalaman niyang pinatay ang bata,” she said. (We have an old woman here who Kian used to kid a lot. That’s why the old woman cried hard when she learned the boy was killed.)

Some participants in yesterday’s condemnation rally at Brgy. 160, Caloocan City.

Condemnation rally

Hundreds of supporters led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Karapatan and Rise Up marched two kilometers in the rain to Barangay 160 for a condemnation rally yesterday.

“Nakikiramay po kami sa pamilya at sa buong pamayanan sa pagkamatay ni Kian sa kamay ng mga pulis,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said. (We condole with the family and your community for the death of Kian at the hands of the police.)

Reyes informed the community of the second autopsy report that concluded Delos Santos was lying on the ground and was shot three times, twice on his head that probably killed him.

Malinaw po na hindi lumaban si Kian kundi pinaslang ng walang kalaban-laban,” Reyes said. (It is clear that Kian did not put up a fight but was killed in cold blood.)

Barangay 160 residents participated in a moment of silence at the start of the rally as well as the candle-lighting ceremony at the end.

They also chanted “Justice for Kian!” along with the marchers who meandered through the community’s narrow alleys and roads.

“It was as if they were in a drama”

Maxima said it was as if Kian’s murder was well-scripted but badly staged.

“Habang nagpapaputok sila, kunwaring tumatawag sa celfon yung isang pulis na nagpapasoklolo. Parang sira,” she said. (While they were firing shots into the air, one of the officers made a show of loudly calling for backup. They’re crazy.)

Tapos tinututukan nila yung mga taong dumungaw sa bintana,” Maxima added. (And then they trained their guns on people looking out their windows.)

A closed-circuit camera footage also showed one of the police officers asking community guards to see if he was hit as he lifted his shirt and turned around to show his back.

Maxima said the police has earlier killed another minor in their community who was killed in place of another family member who was involved in drugs.

“Hindi na lamang nagkaso ang pamilya kasi natakot siguro,” she said. (The family chose not to file charges, probably because of fear.)

Maxima said the police had been incessant in their Oplan Galugad, but made a mistake in Delos Santos’ case.

Iyang Galugad na iyan, sinasanay na kami dito. Palagi iyan. Pero inosente itong pinatay nila,” Maxima said. (Oplan Galugad had been constant in our community. But they killed an innocent child.) # (Report and photos by Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

 

 

 

Kadayawan for whom?

by Krista Melgarejo

Growing up in Davao City, I’ve spent most of my years looking forward to the festivities happening around the city. Floral floats, street dances, the parades and most especially in-season fruits like the durian being sold at rock bottom prices. These things always come to any Dabawenyo’s mind with the Kadayawan – traditionally a festivity of the lumads to celebrate the abundance of their harvest.

But these past years, the Kadayawan has lost its true essence, especially for the lumads.

The history of the lumads is one of struggle, with decades of fighting for their ancestral lands and their right to self determination. With the continued harassment by military and the paramilitary elements, the lumads have become no strangers to walking thousands of miles away from their ancestral lands in order to find sanctuary in the lowlands and the big cities – from the premises of the UCCP Haran in Davao City to the major thoroughfares of Metro Manila.

With Digong’s Martial Law in effect since the Marawi siege, it has only given state forces the license to intensify its harassment against the national minorities of Mindanao.

The Save Our Schools Network reported there are over 7,609 lumad individuals who have been victims of threats, harassments and extrajudicial killings by state forces since the beginning of Duterte’s presidency. Under Duterte’s Martial Law, the numbers have been exponentially increasing.

With the closing down of more lumad schools and more people being driven out of their lands, they have found refuge in places like the University of the Philippines – Diliman which they will call home for the next few months. While the smiles of these energetic and eager lumad kids will never fail to inspire activists like myself, the thought of them being traumatized and becoming accustomed to the bakwit life is painful and enraging at the same time.

With the festivities of the Kadayawan capping off as of this writing, Dabawenyo or not, perhaps we should all stop and think about how do we perceive and deal with the issues of our national minorities. Have they merely become cultural tokens during these festivities or are we also prepared to stand next to them in these trying times?

Let’s call this wishful thinking, but I hope that as a fellow Dabawenyo and the former mayor of the city, Digong does the same. # (Featured image by Kilab Multimedia)

Hinagpis at laban ng mangingisda ng Pook Maliksi

Ni Denver Del Rosario at Mark Kevin Reginio

Musmos pa lamang ay pangingisda na ang kinamulatan ni Fredo Paguna, 64 taong gulang.  Ito ang hanapbuhay na minana niya mula sa kaniyang ama. Subalit sa katanghalian ng kanyang buhay, humina ang pangingisda sa kanyang sinilangang lalawigan ng Leyte. Napilitan siyang tawirin ang malawak na dagat upang makipagsapalaran sa Cavite.

Sa kabutihang palad, isang masaganang look ang kaniyang natagpuan sa Pook Maliksi sa bayan ng Bacoor na naging masaganang batis ng kanilang kabuhayan sa loob ng 18 taon.

Subalit kaniya ngayong pinangangambahan ang isa na namang unos na unti-unting lumalapit sa ‘di kalayuan. Ang taning ay dalawang taon bago sila paalisin sa umampong lupang nagsilbing tahanan upang bigyang daan ang reklamasyon sa dagat na kanyang ikinabubuhay.

Halos pitumpung hektarya ang sakop ng nakatakdang reklamasyon sa lalawigan kung saan sampung barangay ang tatabunan kapalit ng itatayong Cavite Business Economic Zone. Sa darating na mga taon, ang mga dating kabahayan ay mapapalitan ng mga lugar-libangan tulad ng casino at mga restawran.

Mariin ang naging pagtutol ng mga residente ng Pook Maliksi. Anila, hindi na muli sila magpapaloko sa mga planong reklamasyon, tulad na lamang nang nangyari sa Manila-Cavite Expressway o Cavitex. Naging paspasan ang mga operasyon ng mga tao sa likod ng reklamasyon. Tinambakan nila ng lupa ang mga katubigan ng halos iglap lamang at hindi na nagawang pumiglas ng mga komunidad. Ang noo’y dalampasigan kung saan nag-uumpisa ang kanilang paglalayag para makapangisda ay isa na ngayong malapad na laso ng sementong binansagang Cavitex na tila isang higanteng pader sa pagitan nila at ng dagat. Hirap na ang mga bangkang makalusot sa makipot na siwang sa ilalim ng expressway at pakonti nang pakonti ang kanilang mga nahuhuling isda.

Ito rin ang banta ngayon sa mga mangingisda ng Pook Maliksi.

Hindi pa man nagsisimula ang konstruksyon, muntikan nang mapaalis nang wala sa oras ang pamilya ni Mang Fredo dahil sa isang trahedyang hindi nila malilimutan.

Alas kuwatro ng hapon, tatlong buwan ang nakalilipas, nagkaroon ng malaking sunog tumupok sa kanilang mga bahay. Walang nagawa ang mga residente ng Pook Maliksi laban sa lagablab na hinipan pa ng hangin mula sa dagat.  Isang libong pamilya ang nawalan ng tahanan at napilitang muling magsimula mula sa wala.

 

Matapos ang malaking sunog na tumupok sa halos 600 kabahayan sa Pook Maliksi, tanging pinagtagpi-tagping plywood na lamang ang makikitang nakatayo sa pook. Isa ang bahay ni Mang Fredo, na nakatirik malapit sa tubig, sa mga katatayo lamang matapos silang makapangutang sa usurero.

Tanging pag-iyak na lamang ang nagawa ni Mang Fredo matapos maabo ang kaniyang mga lambat at ibang kagamitan. Ang tatlong daang piso sa kanyang bulsa noon ay sa pagkain lamang kumasya. Hindi rin sila agad nakabangon dahil sa pagliit ng kanilang kita dulot ng pagharang sa kanila ng Cavitex.

Muling nagtirik ng bahay ang mga taga-Pook Maliksi matapos ang sunog.  Ngunit pati ang lupang kanilang tinitindigan ay nanganganib pang mawala dahil sa banta ng reklamasyon sa lugar. Patuloy ang kanilang ginagawang paglaban, ngunit ang kinabukasan sa kanila’y walang kasiguruhan.

Ayon kay Mang Fredo, magmula noong itinayo ang Cavitex noong 2011, humina ang kanilang kita sa pangingisda. Kung dati’y hindi baba sa isanlibong piso ang kanilang kinikita kahit sa gilid lamang sila ng bahay, ngayo’y hindi tataas sa tatlong daang piso kada araw ang kanilang nakukuha kahit pa dumayo sila sa kalagitnaan ng look.

Naabong kabuhayan

Tanging pagtakbo na lamang ang nagawa ng pamilya ni Elsa Felas, 59, noong kasagsagan ng sunog. Sa sobrang bilis ng apoy, may mga ilang residenteng nagsitalunan sa look upang iligtas ang kanilang mga buhay samantalang namangka naman sina Aling Elsa patungong tambak ng Cavitex upang makaligtas sa halimaw na apoy.

Bakas sa mukha ni Aling Elsa ang pighating dinulot sa kanilang pamilya ng nasabing sunog. Nakatayo sa kaniyang likod ang tindahang binuksan nila matapos ang trahedya na siyang nagsisilbing kabuhayan nila sa tuwing walang kita ang kaniyang asawa sa pamamakyaw.

Natupok ang lahat ng kanilang lambat pati na ang mga motor ng kanilang mga bangka, dahilan upang tuluyang hindi makapamalakaya sina Aling Elsa. Upang may ipangkain araw-araw, lumuluwas patungong Parañaque ang kanyang asawa para mamakyaw ng mga isda na kaniya namang itinitinda sa mga palengke ng Laguna.

 

Ilan lamang ang mga tahananang ito sa mga tinupok ng apoy. Tinatayang nasa 1,000 ang apektadong pamilya, kabilang sina Aling Elsa at Mang Fredo.

Wala pang panahon na sila’y kumita ng malaki. Madalas na lugi, kadalasan ay tabla. At sa panahong walang maisubo sa kanilang mga bibig, umaasa na lamang sila sa maliit na tindahang kanilang itinayo matapos ang sunog.

Sa halos dalawang dekadang paninirahan sa Pook Maliksi nina Aling Elsa, ngayon lamang nakaranas nang matinding pagkalugmok ang kanilang pamilya, bukod pa sa banta ng reklamasyon sa lugar.

‘Pahirap ang reklamasyon’

“Pahirap nang pahirap ang buhay,” ang hinaing ni Noelyn Tigon, 43.

Labis ang panghihinayang ni Noelyn sa mga pagmamay-aring tinupok ng apoy kabilang ang kaniyang mga kagamitang pangisda. Dagdag pahirap pa ang sinisimulang reklamasyon na nagdudulot nang pagbaba ng kanilang huli.

Mayroon mang sariling bangka, hindi naman sapat ang huli upang tustusan ang araw-araw na pamumuhay. Mula sa lagpas isang libo kada araw, umaabot na lamang ng isang daan ang kanilang kita dahil kakaunti na lamang ang mga isdang nahuhuli. Limitado rin ang lugar na kanilang maaaring pangisdaan na naging dahilan upang mawala ang dating kasaganahan.

Hindi na alam ni Noelyn kung saan pa kukuha ng panggastos sa araw-araw. Dagdag pa ang gastos sa eskwela ng lima sa kaniyang pitong anak.

Mula noong nagsimula ang reklamasyon, lalong lumala ang kanilang buhay. Mula sa masaganang huli na nagbibigay sa kanila ng isang libong piso bawat huli, bumagsak sa tatlong kilong alimasag at pusit na lamang ang kanilang nahuhuli. Hindi ito sapat para sila ay mabuhay tulad ng dati.

Nasa halos dalawang timba na lamang ang dala-dalang huli ng isang mangingisda sa Pook Maliksi. Ito ay matapos ang sunog na lumamon sa kanilang mga kagamitan at ang ambang reklamasyon sa lugar.

Noong alukin sila ng pamahalaan ng relokasyon sa isang lugar malayo sa dagat, hindi pumayag sina Noelyn. Aniya, nasa Pook Maliksi ang kanilang hanapbuhay, ang kanilang kinagisnan. Pangingisda ang nagpa-aral at nakapagpatapos sa kanyang mga anak kaya patuloy nila itong igigiit.

‘Hindi kami aalis’

Tulad ni Noelyn, bumagsak din ang huli at kita nina Myrna Candinato, 62, matapos ang tatlong serye ng mga salot na tumama sa kanilang buhay — una ang ginawang Cavitex, pangalawa ang nangyaring sunog, at pangatlo ang pagsisimula ng bagong reklamasyon.

Isang makipot na tulay ang iniwan nang pagtatayo ng Cavitex sa mga mangingisda ng Pook Maliksi.

Habang ang mga sasakyang de gulong ay malayang nakapaglalakbay gamit ang nasabing daan, hindi naman basta-bastang makalusot ang mga bangka sa ilalim ng tulay dahil sa sikip nito na maaaring makasira ng mga bangka. Dagdag pa ang daluyong ng tubig na pilit tumutulak sa mga bangka papasok sa makitid na daanan.

Itinuturo ni Aling Myrna ang tulay ng Cavitex na nagsilbing hadlang sa kanilang pangingisda sa mga unang taon nang pagkakatayo nito. Ngunit, matapos ang ilang pakikipagdayalogo sa lokal na pamahalaan at sa tulong na rin ng kanilang mga ginawang pagkilos ay nilawakan ang dating makipot na daan.

Hindi rin nalalayo sa mga karanasan ng mga residente ng Pook Maliksi ang nangyari kina Aling Myrna matapos ang nagdaang sunog — natupok ang mga lambat, nawalan ng anim na motor ng bangka, at walang natirang kagamitan. Tuluyang bumagsak ang kanilang kabuhayan kaya hindi niya alam kung papaano muli makakapangingisda.

Mas masahol pa ring maituturing ang banta ng sinisimulang reklamasyon sa lugar, ayon kay Aling Myrna. Sa bisa ng Supreme Court mandamus na nag-uutos na “to clean and rehabilitate the Manila Bay” ay tuluyang nilansag at nilinis ang tahungan nina Aling Myrna na lubos na nakaapekto sa kanilang kabuhayan.

Mula sa dating limandaang galong mga tahong na nagkakahalagang labinlimang libong piso ay kumikita na lamang ito ngayon sa limampung galon na ang kapalit ay limandaang piso.

Hindi lalagpas sa limampung galon ang nahuhuli nina Aling Myrna sa ngayon. Kulang na kulang ito para sa kanilang pang-araw-araw lalo pa’t may pinasasahod pa siyang dalawang manggawa.

Dagdag-pahirap din sa kanilang mga mangingisda ang dating Republic Act (RA) 8550 na ngayo’y pinaigting na RA 10654 o ang Philippine Fisheries Code of 1989. Pinagbabawalan ng batas na ito ang mga mangingisda na pumalot at manghuli lagpas sa itinakdang 15 kilometrong pangisdaan mula sa baybayin. Dulot nito ang hindi mabilang na kaso ng pagkakulong at pagmumulta ng mga mangingisda na mas mahal pa ang halaga kaysa sa kanilang mga kita sa mahabang panahon.

Labis ang galit ni Aling Myrna matapos hindi payagan ang kaniyang natitirang dalawang bangka pumalaot dahil sa maling kulay nito. Ang mga ganitong polisiya kabilang ang pagkuha nila ng ID ay dagdag pa sa mga problema ng mga mangingisda sa Pook Maliksi.

Sa patuloy na panunupil ay ang pina-igting na laban na lamang ang natitira sa kanila upang makapanatili sa kanilang pamayanan. Sa kabila ng mga pasakit na ibinibigay sa kanila ng gobyerno, patuloy ang kanilang pagsusumikap na mabuhay. Anila, hindi sila mga ilegal na mangingisda dahil nagbabayad sila ng karampatang buwis. Sa ngayon, patuloy nilang pinapalakas ang laban sa lansangan.

Bagaman patuloy ang pag-aalok sa kanila ng pabahay sa ibang lugar, nananatiling malakas ang kanilang panawagang manatili sa kanilang pamayanan at ipaglaban ang kanilang karapatan sa katubigan. Anila, sila ay mga mangingisda. Ito ang bumuhay sa kanilang mga pamilya sa loob ng mahabang panahon at ito ang bubuhay sa kanila sa mga darating na panahon.

Sa gitna ng unos, patuloy nilang lalabanan ang agos hanggang sa matagumpay silang maka-ahon. #

 

 

 

 

 

Para kay Kian Loyd “Pulong” Delos Santos, 17 taong gulang

Paano ba pinapalaki ang isang anak?

Pinapakain, binibihisan, pinag-aaral, pinapangaralan.

“Anak, maging mabait palagi.

Huwag sayangin ang sakripisyo ng iyong ina,

Nagpapakaalipin sa ibang bayan.”

 

Itatakbo sa doktor kapag nagkasakit,

Ipinaghihimay ng ulam sa hapag.

“Anak, kumain kang mabuti para laging malusog.

Mamaya, huwag kang hahara-hara sa daan,

Maraming masasamang-loob diyan sa labasan.”

 

Binibihisan ang bunso, sinusuklayan

Sinisigurong pumapasok sa paaralan at binibilinan.

“Anak, mahirap lang tayo, walang kayamanan.

Pag may nangyari sa iyo, Pulong, wala tayong kakayanan,

Delikado lalo ngayon, baka pati ika’y mapagkamalan.”

 

Tinatangisan ang anak kapag napaslang.

Higit lalo ‘pag biktimang walang kalaban-laban.

“Anak, bakit ka nila pinatay?

Paano na ang iyong pangarap,

Maging pulis at maglingkod sa bayan?”

 

At mula sa kabaong ay sumagot ang anak,

Nananaghoy ng katarungan.

“Itay, sinunod ko lahat ng inyong tinuran.

Sadya lamang, hindi lahat ng Pulong ay binibiyayaan

Hindi kasi Digong ang inyong pangalan.”

 

                                                19 Agosto 2017

                                               12:11 n.h.

                                               Lungsod Quezon

‘Judy’s ideology is to serve the people’–Recto

Senator Ralph Recto delivered this speech in anticipation of the confirmation of Prof. Judy Taguiwalo as Department of Social Welfare and Development secretary at the Commission on Appointments hearing Wednesday.

Recto said he was for Taguiwalo’s confirmation, but was defeated in a secret balloting by majority of his fellow CA members.

Read Recto’s full speech he read after the CA has announced it has endorsed the rejection on the Senate floor.

——

Mr Chairman, my dear colleagues:

I have been told that the nominee is a fan of my grandfather, and of my wife. That she can recite passages from Don Claro’s writings. And hugot lines from the movies of Vi.

So on that score alone, she gets my vote.

But if my grandfather were alive today, he, Vi and the nominee, would make a mutual admiration club.

Don Claro would only have the deepest esteem for someone who did not only agree with his causes, but spent a lifetime fighting for it.

And Vi would find in her, as she does, a real life character who looms larger than Sister Stella L, and who has more guts and grit than all the strong women she had played on the silver screen.

Mr Chairman:

The first pages of the nominee’s CV describe an intellectual at home in the academia.

Retired professor of UP. Head of its Center for Women Studies. Director of Research and Extension for Development Office. Faculty Regent.

In a school where merit is rewarded, she would not have been able to assume these posts without the academic degrees that validate a first-rate mind:

She has a PhD from UP, a Masters from a Canadian university, and a Social Work degree from the same state university where she graduated cum laude in 1970.

She could have been magna cum laude, Mr Chairman, if she did not let her real-life education outside of UP interfere with her studies.

Indeed, her CV catalogues, in fine print, the research papers, articles, books she had written.

But what is not there are her other engagements in her storied life which I believe makes her qualifications more sterling – and prove without doubt her fitness to perform the duties of the office she holds.

She is also an alumnae of 3 Martial Law prisons, went underground, and joined the resistance – only because legal pathways for change were blocked, and peaceful avenues to protest were closed.

To those who would see this as impediment to a Cabinet post, here’s my rebuttal: Political imprisonment is no bar to public office and neither is the taking up of arms when conditions warrant.

On the contrary – these are experiences we should look for in scouting for talent because they are the toughest “stress tests” one can endure.

I don’t have to remind you that in our pantheon of heroes, those who were jailed for their beliefs occupy an honored place. Warriors, especially women, are revered, from Gabriela Silang to Tandang Sora.

I think, Mr President, that it is her work during the “unsalaried phase” of her checkered career which is her biggest qualification in holding the DSWD portfolio.

It immersed her into the grinding poverty that continues to slave our people. It allowed her to closely see how the denial of basic social services drives people, first, to despair, and then, defiance.

If the ideal DSWD secretary is one who possesses competence, compassion and commitment, then it can be said that UP gave her the first, her activism gave her the second, and her underground years gave her the third.

We can never ask for a package as complete as her. She had been serving DWSD’s clientele long before Digong thought of running for mayor.

So if we would like to know her views about poverty, we can leaf through the forest of newsprint that contains her writings.

But if we would like to know if she really cares about the poor, then her stints in factories, in farms and in forests are enough to dispel any doubt.

Mr Chairman:

The nominee should not be dismissed as one of the token Leftists in the Cabinet. She was not put there as a memento to prove Digong’s Big Tent approach in forming a government.

Rather, I believe that she holds the post by virtue of her ability, and not by her affiliation.

She is not there to represent one color in Digong’s rainbow Cabinet. She is there to serve all the colors in the tapestry of our democracy.

She represents all of us, all our dreams, all our aspirations for our nation, our people, and our children. She personifies that elusive political ideal that persons of different persuasions can come together for the common good.

If she is an ideologue, then the ideology she subscribes to is the same one we believe in, and that ideology is to serve the people.

Mr Chairman:

I am seconding her confirmation because she brings a fresh perspective in the DSWD – and that is to treat not poverty’s symptoms but its roots, for the poor need more than relief, but a release from the social shackles that prevent them from bettering their lives.

It is, therefore, my pleasure to endorse the confirmation of the appointment of Doctor, Professor Judy M. Taguiwalo, or Ka Judy, as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development.

——–

(Featured image by Kilab Multimedia)

 

Activists and Reds blame Duterte for Taguiwalo’s rejection

The Commission on Appointments (CA) vote rejecting the appointment of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Judy Taguiwalo immediately earned condemnation from progressive groups, which blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for allowing so-called vested interests to win yet again.

Minutes after the CA rejection was read at the Senate, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said vested interest won over good governance, pro-people polices and genuine service.

“This one is on Duterte as it is on the CA…The President could have asked his allies in Congress to confirm Judy yet he again chose to ‘bend the knee’ to pork barrel lawmakers, neoliberal economic managers and the militarists in his cabinet,” Reyes said.

“The rejection exposes the utter bankruptcy of the current ruling system and the reactionary character of the Duterte regime. He chose business-as-usual, reactionary politics over genuine change,” Reyes said in his Facebook post.

In a secret vote, at least 13 CA members comprising majority of the commission voted against Taguiwalo’s confirmation.

Pork barrel in the DSWD

Taguiwalo’s troubles with both houses of Congress began when she issued her Memorandum Circular 9 on August 6, 2016 clarifying that DSWD assistance to the poor shall no longer require “guarantee letters” from representatives and senators.

Lawmakers grilled Taguiwalo during the two 2017 DSWD budget hearings of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives last year, accusing her of trying to prevent them from helping the poor in their respective districts and sectors through DSWD services.

Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin claimed that congressmen were the first people that their constituents seek help from and that MC9 implied their guarantee letters were in violation of the Supreme Court ruling against pork barrel.

Negros Oriental Representative Arnulfo Teves challenged Taguiwalo whether it was the DSWD or the lawmakers who know the poor’s plight better, while House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Farinas threatened to drastically reduce DSWD’s proposed budget.

“We are not asking money from you. You are asking money from Congress. No budget can be spent on your programs without the (Congress) granting it,” Fariñas told Taguiwalo.

During her confirmation hearings, Taguiwalo was also repeatedly questioned about her past as a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and joining the New People’s Army to fight the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

Taguiwalo said she will always be proud of her decision to go underground during Marcos’ martial rule.

Duterte’s militarist swing

But National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said CA’s rejection of Taguiwalo is actually part of Duterte’s increasing attack against the Left.

Expressing dismay over the negative vote, Sison said patriotic and progressive forces can expect more ultra-reactionary actions from the Duterte government.

Taguiwalo, along with Agrarian Reform secretary Rafael Mariano and National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Liza Masa are NDFP nominees to the Duterte Cabinet.

“The rejection of the appointment of Judy Taguiwalo is one more sign that the Duterte regime is becoming more and more reactionary and servile to anti-national and anti-democratic interests,” Sison told Kodao in an online interview.

Sison said the development is in line with the increasingly militaristic track being implemented by Duterte, something both legal progressives and the underground revolutionary groups must prepare to fight.

“The revolutionary forces and people must deal with the fact that Duterte has junked the peace negotiations and is carrying out a single-minded policy of war, death and destruction. They must fight resolutely and fiercely against a brutal and fascist Marcos-type regime that scandalously operates like a Mafia syndicate of corrupt bureaucrats, drug lords and gangsters,” Sison warned.

Duterte’s former professor said attacks against progressives are in line with the all-out war policy which the President has carried out since the beginning of his administration under the counter-insurgency policies Oplan Bayanihan and Oplan Kapayapaan.

“All patriotic and progressive forces have to develop a broad united front against the puppet and reactionary US-Duterte regime,” Sison urged. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CA rejects Taguiwalo, bucks popular support for ‘hard-working secretary’

The Commission on Appointments (CA) recommended not to confirm Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Judy Taguiwalo in a hearing Wednesday.

Bucking popular nationwide support for Taguiwalo, at least 13 CA members constituting the commission’s majority voted against the secretary’s confirmation.

The CA resolution read by Rep. Joel Almario did not give a reason for their negative vote.

Sen. Ralph Recto, however, praised Taguiwalo’s year-long leadership of the DSWD saying she should not be dismissed as a “token Leftist” in the Rodrigo Duterte Cabinet.

As a nominee of the underground National Democratic Front of the Philippines, Taguiwalo (NDFP) was hounded at the CA hearings by questions on her past as a guerrilla fighting the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

Sen. Loren Legarda also expressed gratitude to Taguiwalo, saying she had been a “hard-working secretary.”

Duterte gave Taguiwalo six ad interim appointments before the CA rejection.

Fellow NDFP nominee to the Duterte Cabinet, Agrarian Reform secretary Rafael Mariano is also expected to face rough waters in his next confirmation hearing.

National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Lisa Maza, another NDFP nominee, does not require a CA confirmation to stay in office.

Earlier, hundreds of Taguiwalo supporters held a rally in front of the Senate gates.

Social media also lit up with calls for Taguiwalo’s confirmation. # (R. Villanueva)

STREETWISE by Carol Pagaduan Araullo: No love lost between Duterte and the Left

One need not be such a keen observer of Philippine politics to note the quite dramatic deterioration in the relationship between the Left and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, self-styled “Leftist” and “socialist” president of the Philippines.

At the beginning, a de facto tactical alliance existed between the two. It was premised on Duterte’s promise that he would bring about a real change in government. For the Left, foremost was the release of all political prisoners, peace talks to arrive at fundamental socioeconomic and political reforms, and an independent foreign policy to reverse decades of US neocolonial domination.

A year later, Duterte has reneged on his promise to amnesty all political prisoners and has practically, if not formally, scuttled the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. He is brandishing what he thinks is a more formidable “all-out war” against the CPP-NPA-NDFP topped by a martial law declaration in Mindanao, targeting what the AFP claims to be the movement’s strongest base of operations.

For the Left, Duterte has emerged as a full-blown reactionary president, a fascist defender of the exploitative and oppressive status quo, while still trying to deceive the people with token, populist measures and an image of being tough against corruption and criminality.

The signal fire, in retrospect, was when Duterte collapsed the 5th round of GRP-NDFP peace talks saying that he would not pursue negotiations unless the CPP-NPA-NDFP entered into an indefinite bilateral cease-fire. Echoing the hawkish line of his security officials, Duterte said talks can not go anywhere if the NPA continues to launch attacks against the AFP and engages in “criminal extortion” or what the CPP-NPA calls “revolutionary taxation.”

But what supposedly got Duterte’s ire was the directive of the CPP leadership to the NPA to intensify its tactical offensives against the military and police upon the declaration of martial law in Mindanao. Glossed over is the fact that no cease-fire was in effect at that time because the Duterte government failed to declare a unilateral cease-fire before the 4th round of talks even though the two sides had earlier agreed upon a simultaneous declaration of unilateral cease-fires.

The preconditioning of the peace talks to an open-ended cease-fire before any bilateral agreement on socioeconomic reforms had been reached not only violates previous agreements that the Duterte government affirmed when it revived talks with the NDFP, bottom line is that the GRP wants the revolutionary movement to agree to its voluntary pacification in exchange for nothing. In effect, to surrender on the negotiating table as a prelude to surrendering in the battle field without achieving any meaningful reforms through a supposedly negotiated political settlement.

It appears that the NDFP Negotiating Panel tried its best to salvage the situation by proposing ways of easing pressure on the Duterte government with the onset of the Marawi crisis.

Unfortunately, Duterte quickly swung rightward. He allowed the militarist troika of Lorenzana-Año-Esperon to lead the way, not only in dealing with the ISIS-inspired Maute rebellion in Lanao province by aerial and artillery bombardment leading to the destruction of Marawi City, but in pursuing the government’s counterinsurgency program against the CPP-NPA-NDFP, this time utilizing the vast powers of martial law in all of Mindanao to tamp down any opposition.

Flush with the imprimatur given by the Supreme Court to the imposition of martial law in Mindanao, Duterte railroaded its extension until yearend via a pliant Congress. Independent reporting on the continuing devastation of Marawi City and its after effects is virtually impossible with the military controlling all sources of information. Heightened human rights violations in other parts of Mindanao have been swept under the rug.

The direct involvement of the US Armed Forces in the military campaign against the Maute Group has been welcomed and justified by Duterte despite his posture that he is against US intervention in the country’s internal affairs. (Apparently he was only referring to US criticism of his bloody anti-illegal drugs campaign).

His anti-US tirades have softened of late and been replaced with friendly meetings with the US ambassador and US Secretary of State; echoing the US line against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and reports of an agreement to allow armed US drones to strike at ISIS and other “terrorist” targets.

Clearly the ISIS “threat” is being overblown as an excuse to prolong martial law and possibly even expand it outside Mindanao. It is also providing the rational for expanding US military presence in the country and steadily growing US military involvement in armed conflicts labelled as “terrorist”.

Duterte’s attempt to appear conciliatory when he addressed the Left-led SONA protest failed to mollify the protesters who persistently chanted their calls for genuine reforms, an end to martial law, and the continuation of peace talks. Duterte was forced to end his pretense at openness and departed in a huff.

Duterte’s speeches have become consistently virulent against not just the revolutionary Left but also political and social activists who are leading the fight for reforms. He threatened to bomb lumad schools that he said were NPA schools. He said he would not hesitate to use violence against militant urban poor if they again tried to occupy abandoned public housing. He rained invectives on activists and said he would not heed their demands even if they resorted to nonstop protest in the streets.

In response, activists are stepping up their opposition to what they now call the “US-Duterte fascist regime.”

What is interesting is that Duterte has not fired three Leftist Cabinet members despite the downward spiral of relations with the Left. For one he has no basis to kick them out except that they are identified with the Left. For another, they are no threat to him; in fact, one might say they are objectively helping to deodorize his regime by just doing their jobs competently and consistent with their pro-people stand.

Neither have the three tendered their resignations to the wonderment of those who tend to think the Left one-track minded and monolithic. Perhaps this is all that remains of what once was a promising alliance between Duterte and the Left. A tenuous bridge for communications before all hell breaks loose.

(This article first appeared in an opinion column of the same title on BusinessWorld. http://bworldonline.com/no-love-lost-between-duterte-and-the-left/

Carol Pagaduan-Araullo is a medical doctor by training, social activist by choice, columnist by accident, happy partner to a liberated spouse and proud mother of two.)

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Philippine women broadcasters elect new set of officers, to host int’l confab in November

An association of women broadcasters in the Philippines elected a new set of officers ahead of its hosting of an international biennial conference in the country this November.

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT)—Philippine Chapter held a meeting Saturday in Quezon City and elected its officers as it prepares for one of the most significant gathering of women broadcasters in the world this year.

Jola Diones Mamangun of Kodao Productions was re-elected as chapter president, along with Miriam College’s Lynda Garcia as vice president, DWNE’s Sonia Capio as secretary, and Bulatlat’s Ronalyn Olea as Treasurer.

People’s Alternative Media Network filmmaker Ilang-Ilang Quijano, Farmers’ Development Center radio broadcaster Marvie Matura and Kodao’s Yanni Roxas were elected as board members.

Mamangun said the officers and the chapter will focus on organizing the 37th IAWRT Biennial Conference as well as continue its aggressive recruitment of new members, especially in Mindanao.

The chapter shall also continue to actively participate in the programs and projects of IAWRT International.

IAWRT is a global organization of women in electronic and allied media that aims to ensure women’s views and values in mass media. It enjoys a consultative status with the United National Economic and Social Council.

In the Philippines, IAWRT is also in the midst of establishing the country’s first-ever women-led disaster risk reduction community radio station in Cebu Province in partnership with Kodao Productions and the Farmers’ Development Center in Central Visayas.

In conjunction with one of IAWRT-International’s core programs of providing trainings and workshops, the Philippine chapter also organizers such activities for local women broadcasters. # (Edna Cahilog-Villanueva / Photos by Jomaline Diones Mamangun)

IAWRT Philippines officers 2017-2019. (From left) Board members Marvie Matura, Yanni Roxas, Ilang-Ilang Quijano; treasurer Ronalyn Olea; secretary Sonia M. Capio; vice president Lynda Garcia; and president Jola Diones-Mamangun.

 

Herbert Bautista willing to help NDFP consultants

Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista is willing to take cognizance of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants who may be rearrested after a government official threatened to have their bail bonds cancelled.

In a statement released through the Quezon City Public Information Office, Bautista said he is willing to help in any way possible to advance the peace process, including acting as guarantor for the continued freedom of Leftist peace negotiators.

Bautista is GRP peace adviser on local government units and is a member of the government panel’s reciprocal working committee on social and economic reforms.

“If we would be asked and such assistance would be allowed by the courts, we don’t see why not,” Bautista said.

Solicitor General Jose Calida last July 20 threatened to initiate petitions to have courts cancel the bail bonds of at least 18 Leftist negotiators freed last August 2016 after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the suspension of formal talks.

Church leaders, civil society groups and political leaders in the past have taken cognizance of NDFP consultants and other political detainees for humanitarian reasons or to allow them to participate in peace negotiations with the government.

“I personally hope that our NDFP counterparts shall not be ordered rearrested because I wish that formal negotiations will soon resume,” Bautista’s statement said.

“But should it come to that (bail bond cancellation), I will assist in whatever way I can because achieving peace is everyone’s responsibility,” he added.

The NDFP for its part praised Bautista’s statement, saying it shows the local executive is supportive of the continuation of the formal peace negotiations.

“If true, it is nice.  It is good that someone is standing up for the continuation of the talks,” NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson Fidel Agcaoili told Kodao Productions.

“What he said is praiseworthy,” NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison for his part said.

Earlier, NDFP Legal Adviser Edre Olalia said Calida’s threat to have majority of NDFP Peace Consultants rearrested is premature, adding there is no written formal notice of termination yet of the formal peace process.

“It is premature and precipitate. There is yet no written formal notice of termination properly addressed to the NDFP as mandatorily required by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), which is a solemn bilateral agreement that protects negotiators, consultants, staffers, security and other personnel of both Parties involved in the peace negotiations,” Olalia said.

Duterte’s threats to serve notice to the NDFP of the termination of formal peace talks did not push through last week, giving hope it will be revived in the future.

“I hope sobriety shall prevail in order to save the peace process and go back to the reasons why it must be pursued despite periodic challenges along the way,” Olalia said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)