“Hindi tayo naniniwala na ang Balikatan Exercises ay gagawin para resolbahin ang isyu sa West Philippine Sea. Gusto lang pakalmahin ni Duterte ang isa pa niyang amo, ang US, dahil halata na ang pagma-manikluhod niya sa Tsina.” — Jeann Miranda, National Spokesperson, Anakbayan
Nagsagawa ng student strike ang mga grupo ng mag-aaral mula sa iba’t-ibang unibersidad at kolehiyo sa Gate 2 ng Ateneo De Manila University sa Katipunan, Quezon City bilang bahagi ng International Students Day, Nobyembre 17, 2020.
Pangunahin nilang hiling na magkaroon ng national academic break dahil sa sunud-sunod na sakuna na dumaan sa bansa gayundin ang mga pahirap na sistema sa online classes. Ang academic break, ayon sa kanila, ay maagang deklarasyon ng pagtatapos ng semestre at mass promotion ng mga estudyante.
Binatikos din nila ang Pangulong Duterte dahil sa kriminal na kapabayaan nito na tugunan ang pandemya, edukasyon at sakuna. # (Bidyo ni Joseph Cuevas/Kodao)
By Sanafe Marcelo
Students of a Central Luzon university are protesting plans to increase their tuition and other fees amid the coronavirus pandemic as well as the holding of online classes for the coming semester.
Students of the Holy Angel University (HAU) in Angeles City, Pampanga province launched a Twitter protest which became a trending topic nationwide “hashtag” #HAUyokoNa.
Their campaign reached more 12.3 thousand tweets from 6:00 PM of April 24 12 noon of April 25.
According to sources, the HAU management proposed last January an average of 6% increase on tuition and 22% on miscellaneous fees.
This led the University Student Council (USC) to launch a petition last February 26 against the fee increases.
Aside from the free increases, the students also protested the university’s decision to begin enrollment for the second semester of the current academic year on May 18 and start the academic year on July 15.
The students are also against the proposal by the university management to conduct online classes while the pandemic rages.
According to Anakbayan-HAU, the university’s decision ‘considering the situation we are all in at this moment, the said schedule ignores underprivileged students who may not be able to attend online classes which the school proposes.
“This will also leave the students with insufficient time to recover from their financial burdens caused by the pandemic,” the group said in a statement.
The students pointed out that many families are hard up during the government-imposed lockdown with the “No Work, No Pay” situation.
“This fee increase is another hindrance towards the goal of making education an accessible right for the youth,” Anakbayan said. #
“Sa bawat pagdanak ng dugo ng mga magsasaka sa mga sakahan, sa bawat binubuwag nilang picket line ng mga manggagawa, at sa bawat maralita na tinatanggalan nila ng karapatan sa paninirahan, ay ang pag-usbong ng bagong salinlahi ng mga kabataang rebolusyonaryo na handang kumilos at manindigan, buhay man ay ialay!”—Alex Danday, Anakbayan spokesperson
By Visayas Today
Former Bayan Muna congressman Neri Colmenares said he would sue those responsible for filing kidnapping and child abuse charges against him and several others over allegedly “missing” youth activists after the Department of Justice issued subpoenas for the respondents.
While acknowledging he had yet to read the complaint, filed by the Major Crimes Investigation Unit of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Colmenares said it was a “foregone conclusion” that “I’ll file a criminal case” against those responsible for filing the complaint and “witnesses who commit perjury.”
“We will not take this sitting down,” he said.
The complaint alleges violations of:
• Republic Act No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003
• RA 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act
• RA 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and other Crimes against Humanity
Aside from Colmenares, the named respondents are Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago, Anakbayan president Vencer Crisostomo and secretary general Einstein Recedes; Anakbayan members Charie del Rosario, Bianca Gacos, Jayroven Villafuente Balais, and Alex Danday; and, ironically, former Akbayan congressman Tom Villarin, who belongs to a party list group that is known to have been at odds with the organizations his co-accused belong to.
The complaint also seeks to include “all other officers” of Kabataan and “all other members” of Anakbayan in the complaint as “John and Jane Does.”
The case stems from the complaints of parents who claimed their children left home and went missing after being recruited into activist groups.
Among the complainants in the case is Relissa Lucena, whose daughter, 18-year old senior high school student and Anakbayan member Alicia, belied the claim that she was missing or had been kidnapped.
Alicia, who stressed it was her choice to join the youth group, said she left home in July after her parents refused to let her out and instead took her to Camp Aguinaldo, military headquarters, in hopes of making her “normal.”
Colmenares, who learned of the subpoena on Tuesday, August 20, while visiting Bacolod, dismissed the complaint.
“It is clear I have committed no crime, much less trafficking. This is a trumped up harassment charge,” he said.
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, which Colmenares chairs, also condemned the “false charge.”
“How in heaven’s name could someone like Neri be even remotely involved, connected or liable for such inane and contrived shotgun charges that have been debunked? Totally absurd,” NUPL president Edre Olalia said in a statement.
Olalia saw a more sinister pattern, linking the complaint to a perceived government crackdown on critics.
“Make no mistake about it: they are lining and rounding up the most voluble and visible people who stand in the way and who fight back against repression and injustice,” he said. #
Panayam kay Prof. Jose Maria Sison, Chair Emeritus ng International League of People’s Struggle, ni Prof. Sarah Raymundo hinggil sa maling pananaw sa aktibismo at paano ito nakakaapekto sa pagturing rito ng mamamayang Pilipino.
Agosto 16, 2019
“Ang mga manggagawa na nananawagan ng pagwawakas ng kontraktwalisasyon para sa nakabubuhay na sahod ay naibigay ba ni Duterte? Ang ibinigay sa atin ay TRAIN. Taas-presyo ng mga bilihin na lalong nagpapahirap at nagpapagutom sa taong bayan.”—Einstein Recedes, Anakbayan secretary general
Anakbayan secretary general Einstein Recedes were among the 19 NutriAsia workers, supporters and journalists jailed by the Meycauayan police last July 30.
A few hours after their release last Wednesday, Recedes narrated to wellwishers and reporters about a promise he made with hundreds of fellow inmates at the Meycauayan police station. (Video by Joseph Cuevas)
THE government must focus on ending poverty and its roots instead of killing the poor, progressive groups said at a rally at the House of Representatives yesterday said.
The protesters, led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, marched to last March 7 in protest of House Bill 4727 that seeks to re-impose death as punishment for drug-related crimes.
The Lower House nonetheless approved the bill on its third and final reading last night, with 216 congressmen voting in favor, 54 against and one abstaining. Read more
MILITANT workers celebrated “true Filipino heroes who follow in the footsteps of Andres Bonifacio” with a protest rally on the occasion of the national hero’s 153rd birth anniversary yesterday.
Thousands of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) unionists and their supporters marched from Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City to Mendiola Bridge in Manila to demand that President Rodrigo Duterte implement changes he promised workers during the election period earlier this year. Read more