LARAWAN: Rebolusyonaryong pagkilos ng sektor pangkalusugan sa ika-36 na taong anibersaryo ng MSP

Nagdaos ng lightning rally kaninang umaga ang Makabayang Samahang Pangkalusugan – National Democratic Front (MSP-NDF) sa panulukan ng CM Recto at Abad Santos, Maynila bilang pagdiriwang sa ika-36 na taon ng kanilang pagkakatatag. Ang MSP-NDF ay binubuo ng mga rebolusyonaryong doktor, narses, istudyante at manggagawang pangkalusugan na hayagang nananawagan na ibagsak ang rehimeng Aquino dahil sa patuloy na pagkatuta nito sa Estados Unidos, sa malawakang korapsyon at malalang paglabag sa karapatang pantao. Ang kanilang pagkilos ay bunsod din ng ika-46 na taong anibersaryo ng Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

CM Recto cor Abad Santos, Manila
December 16, 2014

Libro ni Prof. Jose Maria Sison, inilunsad

Inilunsad kaninang tanghali ang libro ni Prof. Jose Maria Sison na Detention and Defiance Against Dictatorship sa Isabelo Delos Reyes Auditorium, Solair, University of the Philippines sa Diliman. Ang aktibidad ay pinangunahan ng Anakbayan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan at Aklat ng Bayan na dinaluhan ng maraming kabataan mula sa iba’t ibang pamantasan at komunidad. Ito ay bahagi ng pagdiriwang ng ika-50 taong anibersaryo ng Kabataang Makabayan. Naging pangunahing tagapagsalita si Luis Jalandoni, Tagapangulo ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel.

Quezon City, Philippines
December 15, 2014

Torture by any other name

A day before International Human Rights Day, a long-delayed US Senate Intelligence Committee report on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EITs), or simply put torture, on post-9/11 suspected “terrorists” held in “black sites” or secret detention sites hosted by certain US allies, was finally made public.  But only a 500-page redacted summary was released with 6,000-plus pages of the complete report still classified on the grounds that these could compromise US national security.

While human rights groups calling for greater transparency and accountability are disappointed, the executive summary already says a mouthful about the extensive but ineffectual use of torture by the CIA during the administration of George W. Bush; how this was politically and legally justified in the context of the so-called War on Terror; and how this criminal conspiracy that constitutes a violation of international law was subsequently covered up at the highest levels.

It has been called a landmark report because of its official authorship, the highly controversial if not taboo subject matter, its revealing findings and the politically explosive consequences for the US.

The Senate Committee undertook a five and a half year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program conducted between 2002 and 2009. It was initiated in March 2009 based on a bipartisan vote of 14-1 when Committee members incidentally discovered that videos of EIC used on two Al Qaeda suspects were ordered destroyed by CIA officials thereby raising a red flag as to what was being hidden from congressional oversight.

Combing through 6.3 million pages of official documents, the study revealed that after the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Center, the CIA took charge of at least 119 suspected “terrorist”, some of them mistakenly or without sufficient grounds even by the CIA’s own standards, and then detained them indefinitely in secret sites outside the US.  All were subjected not only to “coercive interrogation techniques” (apparently still legally justifiable) but to “enhanced interrogation techniques” that constituted brutal and unremitting torture.

These included not only the kinds of torture already revealed in various leaks and lawsuits like waterboarding, staged mock executions and revved power drills near detainees’ heads.
Detainees were sleep deprived for days, forced to strip naked, subjected to beatings while hooded, and made to stay in painful stress positions even though they were already injured.  They were also subjected to extensive periods of sensory deprivation or were constantly shackled in isolated cells with loud noise or music. There were several cases of “rectal rehydration” for the purpose of demonstrating absolute control over the detainee.  Aside from death threats, detainees were also told their children would be killed and their wives sexually assaulted.

The ordeal eventually caused severe and irreparable physical and psychological injuries up to the death of one detainee from hypothermia after he was made to lie on a concrete floor half naked.

On the basis of the Senate report, Ben Emmerson, UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, declared in a statement, “The individuals responsible for the criminal conspiracy revealed in today’s report must be brought to justice, and must face criminal penalties commensurate with the gravity of their crimes.”  Moreover he said, “The perpetrators may be prosecuted by any other country they may travel to…Torture is a crime of universal jurisdiction.”

And yet prospects are not bright for such accountability taking place.  CIA officials with US President Obama’s blessing sought to prevent the report from coming out even as they undertook a campaign to distort and discredit its findings even before it was issued. The CIA has vigorously rejected the report since its release and continues to dispute one of its major findings; i.e. torture did not produce good intelligence.  The information extracted through torture was usually fabricated, not actionable nor could these not have been obtained using non-coercive means.

While much of the information revealed by the Senate report is new to the public, it is inconceivable that Washington was unaware of these.   Attorney General Eric Holder had conducted a detailed torture investigation during President Obama’s first term.  Holder had decided not to prosecute anyone for the CIA’s torture because “the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.”

As for Pres. Obama, when asked about investigating CIA torture in 2009, he replied that “it’s important to look forward and not backwards.” In fact the only person the Obama administration has prosecuted in connection with the torture program is a man who revealed its existence to the media, former CIA official John Kiriakou.  He was forced to plead guilty when threatened with decades of imprisonment and is now serving a 30-month jail sentence.

The Obama administration stands accused of other egregious violations of the American people’s and world’s people’s human rights with NSA spying revealed, police brutality against African Americans and other people of color, armed drone attacks leading to loss of civilian lives and properties in several countries that the US is not even at war with.

It is relevant to mention here the US’ continued refusal to accede to the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its functions, jurisdiction and structure, opening the doors to the prosecution of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and the crime of aggression. This would have made the US government and its notorious security and intelligence forces vulnerable or subject to prosecution by the ICC.

But what the report doesn’t say is just as important.  According to Prof. Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research, “The terms unethical and immoral are mentioned (in the report). The criminality of those who ordered these actions at the highest levels of government, however, is not acknowledged.”   Furthermore he asserts, “The actions directed against alleged jihadists are categorized as ineffective in the process of revealing intelligence…What of course is not acknowledged is that the alleged terrorists who were tortured were framed by the CIA.”

And the biggest deception of all: “The September 11, 2001 attacks provided the green light to wage a ‘Global War on Terrorism’. While the report acknowledges CIA brutality, it does not question the legitimacy of the ‘Global War on Terrorism’. The acts of torture were all for a good cause.”

The US Senate report can be used to expose the US as the world’s foremost terrorist state or, perversely, to refurbish US credibility as a bastion of democracy and defender of human rights.  The findings must be brought to their logical if unintended conclusion:  to expose and oppose US imperialist wars of aggression and intervention in the guise of “humanitarian wars”; unmask the continuing use of “terrorism” as justification for war crimes and crimes against humanity; rouse the world’s peoples to demand the trial and punishment of the perpetrators of CIA torture and all other gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the US government.  #

People’s verdict on US-Aquino regime’s human rights violations: Panagutin, Palayasin!

The US-backed Aquino regime stands trial for crimes against the Filipino people as organizations led by Karapatan, Manilakbayan, Bayan, and Defend-Southern Tagalog gather to commemorate the International Human Rights Day.

“The witnesses are the victims of human rights violations or their kin. Their testimonies are their own harrowing experiences under the US-Aquino regime. Today, they will declare the verdict on the US-Aquino regime’s crime against the Filipino people, its violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. For these crimes, we say, the US-Aquino regime is guilty,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

Karapatan enumerated a number of these crimes:

· BS Aquino paid no heed to the demands of the Manilakbayan contingent, mostly peasants and indigenous peoples, to pull out the 55 battalions of AFP combat troops in Mindanao that implement Oplan Bayanihan and protect big foreign mining corporations and plantations, which plunder the country’s resources.

· The 226 victims of extrajudicial killings—84 of them are from Mindanao; 136 are peasants, and 54 are indigenous peoples. There are also 225 victims of frustrated killings. What is more alarming is the manner by which a number of victims were killed. To date, there are 15 victims of extrajudicial killing who were brutally slain, involving individuals who were tortured to death, beheaded, hogtied and dumped in a shallow grave.

· There are more than 145,000 victims of the AFP’s use of, and encampment in, schools, medical, religious and other public places for military purpose. Most of the documented cases are in Mindanao.

· BS Aquino regime used trumped-up criminal charges against activists and community leaders to silence them and quell protests against government policies and projects that attack their communities. There are 491 political prisoners, most of them falsely charged with criminal offenses.

· Millions of people’s money were used by Voltaire Gazmin’s Department of National Defense and Mar Roxas’s Department of Interior and Local Governments as bounty for “communist leaders” in their Order of Battle (OB). The practice has victimized civilians who are jailed by insisting they are the persons whose names appeared in their OB list. For 2014 alone, Gazmin and Roxas’s departments gave away Php 51.2 million to “informers” as reward money.

· While mouthing slogans of peace, BS Aquino continues to stand in the way of peace. It refuses to seriously face the National Democratic Front of the Philippines at the negotiating table, disregards previously signed agreements and reneges on its commitment to release “all, if not most” of political prisoners. It has not ceased to arrest and detain NDFP peace consultants. There are currently 14 NDFP detained consultants who are protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

· The violation of rules of engagement and international humanitarian law against the civilians and the seven members of the New People’s Army in a Northern Luzon Command-led military operation in Lacub, Abra on September 3-6. Recca Noelle Monte was killed without any gunshot, and Arnold Jaramillo’s body was riddled with bullets. The two, with five other NPA members Brandon Magranga, Ricardo Reyes, Pedring Banggao, Robert Beyao and Roberto Perez were tortured, willfully killed and their remains desecrated.

· The BS Aquino regime isguilty of treason for the US re-occupation of the Philippines and the sell-out of the country’s sovereignty through the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.The BS Aquino regime isguilty for the systematic human rights violations perpetrated under the Oplan Bayanihan, and directed by the US through its Counterinsurgency Guide of 2009.

Palabay said, “The victims of typhoons Yolanda and Ruby taught us not to depend on the government that is unreliable and useless; that our safety and well-being rest in our own hands and in our collective power. We can apply this lesson in dealing with our miserable situation under the US-Aquino regime.”

In its more than four years in power, Palabay said, the “BS Aquino regime has done nothing but exaggerate the actions it has taken supposedly to address human rights violations; or ignore as baseless or propaganda the complaints of violations against his regime. He calls the people’s protests against human rights violations as heckling, hooliganism or vandalism.”

These cases will also be brought before the international community through the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) on the Crimes of the US-Aquino Government Against the Filipino Peoplebeing organized by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and other international groups, in July 2015. “We call on the international community to support the Filipino people’s voices at the IPT,” said Palabay.

“In the end, because the US-Aquino regime does not uphold and protect our individual and collective rights, it is also our right as a people to kick out a president that has only served well the corrupt bureaucracy, his own landlord class and his master, the US imperialism. Thus, we say: US-Aquino regime,papanagutin, palayasin,” ended Palabay.

http://karapatan.org/2014+monitor+year-end

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Environmentalists, Manilakbayanis pay tribute to Francis Morales

Francis Morales would have joined the hundreds of Mindanaoans who are now in Metro Manila to demand food and peace for Mindanao from the Manila government. But he succumbed to complications of leukemia a few weeks ago.

“Tatay Francis” (Father Francis) was a seminarian who thumbed down privileged treatment so he can be dissuaded from his activism. Only short of his ordination, he chose instead to work full time among peasants and indigenous peoples teaching them literacy and sustainable agriculture. He joined the New People’s Army when the Philippine Army was out looking for him. In jail, he never wavered in his commitments to the people. Until he reached old age he was still in the forefront working for the people’s interest.

Francis was active calling for justice for the victims of natural and human disasters. He put high and mighty government officials to task in whatever forum. Mindanaoans feel orphaned by his death.

This video shows the humble tribute organized by Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and the Manilakbayan who could not attend his funeral in Davao.

Learning history’s lessons

carol aurollo(Photos by Mon Ramirez)

On the 151st birth anniversary of The Great Plebeian, Gat Andres Bonifacio, nationwide protest actions calling for government accountability and genuine societal change were launched, inspired by the revolutionary vision and example of the Supremo of the Katipunan.

More than historic symbolism and patriotic fervor were on display as the people who marched and demonstrated were spurred by burning issues that have plagued this country since flag independence and despite the trappings of a modern democracy — institutionalized corruption and plunder of public funds; policies that entrench poverty, backwardness and inequality; injustice that breeds armed conflicts and social unrest; violations of human rights with impunity; and continuing affronts to national dignity, territorial integrity and sovereignty.

They consciously partook of the revolutionary spirit embodied by Bonifacio with the tagline “Diwa ni Bonifacio, Tunay na Pagbabago” but capped this with the provocative call “Panagutin si Aquino!”  For indeed, theirs was a call meant to finally unmask the pretentions of a reactionary regime that had decked itself out as the harbinger of change (in a copycat take on US presidential candidate Obama’s campaign slogans revolving around “change we can believe in”).

Hot-button issues that rang out in the protesters’ slogans and speeches included the following:  President Benigno Aquino as pork barrel king and chief purveyor of patronage politics;  “daang matuwid” as empty rhetoric when applied to KKK (kaklase/kamag-anak/kabarilan);  caciqueism epitomized by Hacienda Luisita; high growth rates where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer;  Yolanda and Pablo typhoon victims abandoned and treated with bureaucratic contempt; public infrastructure, utilities and services handed over for private profit-making through so-called public-private partnerships (PPPs); devastating militarization campaigns disguised as “bayanihan” and pursuit of peace;  foreign policy defined as “Kano ang boss ko!” ergo give the US what it wants and more.

There was heightened vexation over Mr. Aquino’s leadership style characterized by a disdain for the masses who he thinks he is able to hoodwink with his populist speechifyng; intolerance for any kind of criticism or opposition and a tendency to retaliate; a laid back manner bordering on incompetence and laziness;  a propensity for credit grabbing and believing in his own propaganda; coddling of the crooked in his inner circles; unabashed pro-Americanism and whose idea of patriotism is belligerent bluster against a resurgent China, admittedly the US’ biggest creditor and trading partner.

Such grievances, exasperation and indignation were enough to bring these protesters to the point of saying “Enough of Aquino!”  But do they mean “We want Binay?”  We can safely hazard their reply, “Of course not.”  Because these politically conscious, new breed of Filipinos have learned their lessons about cosmetic changes that merely bring about a changing of the guards, a mere rigodon of factions of the same exploitative and oppressive ruling elite.  Think EDSA I and II.

They look to bringing about a kind of change that will usher in a real break from the past in terms of a political platform of governance that is truly pro-people and pro-Filipino; of political leaders from the ranks of the masses and the middle class and not the old dynasties of the elite; of true transparency, responsibility and accountability to the people.

The 11-point program of the Pagbabago (People’s Movement for Change), one of the groups at the forefront of Bonifacio Day demonstrations gives us the gist of such a program.

  • Honest leaders chosen in fair and free elections.
  • Good governance:  prioritizing the country’s interests; addressing poverty, providing accessible and affordable basic services; resolving the problem of onerous public debt and high debt service; responsible utilization of public funds; fearless against organized crime without resort to violations of rights.
  • Land for the peasantry; food self-sufficiency; modern agriculture and rural development;.
  • National industrialization and development of the domestic economy; decent jobs and sources of livelihood.
  • Uphold the people’s democratic rights; end abuse of authority and punish the abusers.
  • Peace based on addressing roots of armed conflicts.
  • Respect for the rights and advance the status of women.
  • Culture that serves the interests of the many and teaches the value of service to the people.
  • Protection of the environment and wise utilization of natural resources.
  • Uphold national dignity, territorial integrity and sovereignty; cooperate and seek mutually beneficial relations with all countries.
  • Recognition and respect for the rights of the Moro people and other national minorities.

Because constitutional succession means more of the same, they are open to transitional arrangements where leadership does not fall on the vice president but to a transition council of the most actively involved in booting out the old and bringing in the new.  A collective kind of leadership which is not to be sneezed at since our experience with the current presidential system is absurdly unsatisfactory while parliamentary systems that represent organizations of the people at different levels democratically making and executing decisions are worth a try.

This is until truly democratic elections can take place where lack of resources, political pedigree and clout is not a bar to competent, upright and hardworking citizens running for public office made synonymous to real service to the people.

Now what’s the point of calling for Aquino’s accountability and for him to step down, be impeached or  ousted when time is said to be running out. The 2016 electoral derby is closing in with elite politicians already briskly engaged in the standard mudslinging and obligatory horse trading.  Why not just wait for the end of Aquino’s term and the start of a new regime?

Let us assume that we are facing another national, electoral exercise that will not be a big departure from before; that is, elections still dominated by the reactionary political class and their foreign-backed, moneyed sponsors.  The push for strengthening the national consciousness and the people’s movement that banner these issues, calls and aspirations before the 2016 elections can mean altering the national agenda and terms of reference, boosting the chances of viable, alternative candidates with progressive politics and breaching the erstwhile monopoly of power by the elite.

And yet the people’s movement for change is in for the long haul.  It will take much more awareness building, organizing strong and autonomous people’s organizations and cause-oriented groups and engaging the powers-that-be in myriad arenas of struggle for fundamental changes to take place.

But the writing is on the wall: the old elite social system and the old elite politics are rotten to the core and moribund.  Our visionary forebears led by Gat Andres Bonifacio have shown us the way of revolutionary struggle for revolutionary change.  #

Published in Business World

1 December 2014