Groups slammed the reported decision of a state university to turn over copies of Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace negotiation books to the military and the police.
Pilgrims for Peace, ACT for Peace and the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) said the decision by the Kalinga State University(KSU) was a move for the mis-education of students about the peace negotiations between the parties.
In a statement last Saturday, September 11, Pilgrims for Peace said it is deeply concerned about the decision of the KSU Board of Regents (BoR) to withdraw from its Bulanao Campus Library 11 books on the peace negotiations between the Manila government and the NDFP.
The books include the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHIHL) English-Filipino; CARHIHL English-Hiligaynon; CARHIHL English-Visaya; GRP-NDFP Declaration of Understanding; NDFP Declaration and Program of Action for the Rights, Protection, and Welfare of Children; and The GRP NDFP Peace Negotiations: Major Arguments and Joint Statements-September 1, 1980-June 2018.
Also included were The GRP-NDFP Peace Negotiations Major Written Agreements and Outstanding Issues; NDF Adherence to International Humanitarian Law; Letters to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Secretary-General; NDFP Adherence to International Humanitarian Law: On Prisoners of War (POWs); two articles on The People’s Struggles for Just Peace; and The NDFP Reciprocal Worrying Committee (RWC) Respective on Social and Economic Reforms.
The books were published by the NDFP Nominated Section of the Joint Secretariat of the CARHRIHL Joint Monitoring Committee based at the Diocese of Cubao in Quezon City.
“[T]he university administration has practically surrendered its academic freedom to the state security agencies that have constantly undermined our people’s quest for a just and lasting peace,” the group said.
Pilgrims for Peace added KSU’s “dismaying” decision was blind allegiance to the “myopic anti-insurgency campaign” of the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
“As a result, these university officials are now [instruments] in the state’s efforts to vilify not only the NDFP but also those who fight for academic freedom, human rights, and just peace,” the group’s statement said, also signed by ACT for Peace and the SCMP.
The groups added that the school has become complicit in the vicious red-tagging campaigns against by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict that has led to extra-judicial killings, unjust searches and illegal arrests, and a host of other human rights violations.
The Manila Times reported last September 9 that the KSU-BoR has decided to withdraw the books from one of its libraries to “protect students from embracing ‘NDFP ideology.’
The report said the military has lauded the decision.
The peace advocates however urged university officials to rethink their decision and study the books.
The groups noted that CARHRIHL has been hailed by the European Parliament as a “landmark” agreement and an outstanding achievement of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, along with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees.
“These materials are readily available online, with different sites hosting them, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Peacemaker website,” they added.
“We encourage them to study the peace negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP. Furthermore, study the roots of poverty and political unrest in the country,” the groups said.
Higher Education commissioner and KSU-BoR chairperson Lilian de las Llagas has yet to respond to Kodao’s request for comment.
Commission on Higher Education chairperson Prospero de Vera was involved as GRP Negotiating Panel adviser immediately prior to his appointment to his current position. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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“We have said it before that what must be done to lessen the spread of the COVID virus is proper mass testing, tracing, isolation and treatment. We have said it again and again that improving medical infrastructures, adding up the capabilities and capacities of our hospitals, benefits of our medical frontliners and the like were key issues that must immediately be addressed by the government.” — Christian Lloyd Magsoy, Spokesperson, Defend Jobs Philippines
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.png00Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-09-08 13:43:522021-09-08 13:43:53Defend Jobs Philippines on another 'unli-lockdown' by the government
The invitation of President Rodrigo Duterte to address a state university’s anniversary celebrations was an affront to the school’s tradition of excellence and service, a teachers’ group said.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said it was ironic for the Philippine Normal University (PNU) to have invited someone who has neglected the education sector to address its 120th anniversary celebrations last Wednesday, September 1.
“Irony of ironies: The President who let education down speaks before [the] teachers’ university,” ACT added.
The group also criticized Duterte, saying: “We don’t know where Duterte found the gall to speak before teachers and future teachers whom he has consistently failed to protect in all his years as President.”
ACT pointed out that the Philippines currently suffers one of the longest school closures in the world as a result of Duterte’s failed coronavirus pandemic response.
Other proofs of Duterte’s dismal track record in education include the country’s gravest learning loss during his presidency as well as worsening hardships of education workers, the activist group added.
“He is also responsible for the grim state of teachers as overworked, underpaid, and under-supported. He betrayed teachers with his sham promise of a substantial pay hike, then attacked those of us who are fighting to hold him accountable. The deep impacts of his legacy of neglect and attacks on education will be suffered by generations to come,” ACT secretary general Raymond Basilio said.
ACT said PNU’s students, professors and alumni protested Duterte’s inclusion in yesterday’s program through a petition shortly after school authorities made the announcement late Tuesday.
About 200 PNU professors, students and alumni have signed the petition as Duterte’S pre-recorded message was streamed online yesterday, ACT said.
“The President who has continuously neglected the people and the education sector should not be invited as a guest,” ACT Education Students-PNU said in a separate statement.
PNU’s live streaming of the event was also peppered with laughter emojis and comments critical of Duterte.
A real time comment even made fun of the President’s speech, saying, “DO NOT READ FROM YOUR NOTES!”
Duterte’s brief message during the online celebration launch indicated however the school’s invitation was mere formality, paid in equal measure by the President’s perfunctory delivery. The President read 30 seconds worth of prepared notes and an even shorter ad lib saying his late mother was a PNU alumna. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) urged the people to brace for an even worse crisis because of the government’s ineffectual response to the coronavirus (COVID) pandemic.
In a statement, the CPP said that due to President Rodrigo Duterte’s “unbridled neglect and failure of governance,” there appears to be an imminent break out of an even worse crisis in the coming months.”
The underground Party said there is a possibility that the COVID pandemic would lead to the downfall of the economy and people’s lives due to Duterte’s reliance on lockdowns and other onerous and burdensome policies.
If it happens, the Duterte regime would falter with the wearing down of the people’s patience, the group said.
Last August 6, the day the government imposed its strictest quarantine for the third time since the pandemic began last year, the Philippines has overtaken Indonesia with the most number of active COVID cases at close to 120,000 cases as compared to its neighbor’s more than 118,000 cases.
Since Saturday, August 14, the country registered upwards of 14,000 new cases daily, nearly matching the all-time high of more than 15,000 registered last April.
“[T]he continuing worsening of the pandemic is a result of Duterte’s pigheaded refusal to prioritize health measures,” the CPP said, noting that the government has no new solution to the emergent Delta variant of the virus but repeated lockdowns.
The group warned there is a strong possibility that COVID will spread more rapidly beyond the capacity of hospitals and facilities in the coming months due to the government’s lack of testing and contact-tracing capacity, in addition to its “turtle-paced vaccination” activities.
No recovery in the horizon
The CPP also said government’s assurances of an economic recovery appear empty due to the lack of investments to kick-start production and consumption.
“Based on experiences in 2020, there is the threat of unemployment shooting up within a few months and rapid rise of businesses losses and bankruptcies,” it said.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced last August 6 that 5,322 workers have lost their jobs on the first day of the current lockdown as at least 178 establishments said they were closing down or cutting their workforce.
Last March 30, DOLE said 4.2 million remained unemployed while 7.9 million workers took pay cuts from shorter working hours.
The CPP said the situation will cause the intensification of workers exploitation and further deterioration of the lives of millions in both cities and the countryside.
“People are forced to desperate straits by the rotten, failed and oppressive Duterte government. Millions of Filipinos daily suffer in long queues for food, aid and vaccines,” the group said.
All the while, government officials abuse power, politicize aid and vaccine distribution, pocket public funds, squander on counterproductive wars, or repay the ever rising government debt which did not benefit the people, the group alleged.
Human rights activists accuse Duterte of instigating mass killings of civilians. (Kodao file photo)
Resistance vs. tyranny
The CPP urged the people to act and express outrage against the Duterte government’s failed policies and response to the crisis.
“They cannot remain silent and dispersed. They cannot forever wait for aid or rely on the good-heartedness of others to avoid extreme hunger,” it said.
“The people must resist being silenced by Duterte’s shock and terror. Their silence will all the more embolden Duterte and his vassals and minions to trample on the their rights and welfare, plunder public funds, impose heavier taxes, betray and conspire with foreign powers, monopolize political power, sow terror and perpetuate themselves in Malacañang,” it added.
It also challenged its forces as well as progressive, patriotic and democratic activists to bear “the responsibility of guiding and leading the Filipino people in their fight against Duterte’s ruling tyranny.”
“The Filipino masses have been deprived of everything. They have nothing else to lose,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/oust.jpg8161728Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-08-17 08:06:552021-08-17 08:09:10Reds urge people to brace for worse COVID crisis; rallies forces to lead fight vs. ‘tyrant Duterte’
As hospitals announce an overflow of coronavirus patients, calls for accountability are again mounting for the Rodrigo Duterte government’s “ineffective” response to the pandemic.
On Friday, the Quezon City (QC) government announced its general hospital is set to convert its chapel as a COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) ward in response to the increasing demand for beds for severe medical cases.
The chapel inside the QC General Hospital and Medical Center will be utilized as a 21-bed COVID-19 ICU to allow admission of more severe Covid-19 cases, the local government unit said.
“Our COVID-19 ward and ICU has already reached its full capacity. With this extension facility, we hope to admit more COVID-19 patients who are in need of urgent and extensive treatment,” QCGHMC Director Dr. Josephine Sabando said.
QC’s two other city-run hospitals, the Rosario Maclang Bautista General Hospital and the Novaliches District Hospital, are at 100% and 125% occupancy rates as of August 12, respectively.
The city’s 11 COVID-19 community caring facilities are currently at 95.08% occupancy rate with 1,468 patients, the local government reported.
Meanwhile, the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), one of the country’s leading COVID-19 treatment hospitals, announced it was already near full capacity as the new strict lockdowns began last August 6.
“Presently, we are nearing our maximum capacity when it comes to patient occupancy rate. As of this morning, our occupancy rate for COVID-related beds or admissions is around 90 percent already and for the critical units, around 90 percent,” LCP emergency room and Covid-19 Triage Task Force head Dr. Randy Castillo said in a media interview.
Department of Health spokesperson Ma. Rosario Vergeire announced last Monday that 236 hospitals in the country have reached “critical levels” of at least 85% occupancy rate because of the ongoing rise in COVID-19 cases brought about by the more contagious Delta variant.
Twenty-five hospitals in the National Capital Region, epicenter of the current outbreak, are nearing full capacity, Vergeire added.
On Friday, the government reported 13,177 new COVID-19 cases, the second single-day high since April of this year.
It also reported 299 new deaths and a positivity rate of 23.6% among those newly tested for the virus.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes said the positivity rate of nearly one in every four tested is alarming, given that only about 57,000 tests were administered.
“[The government’s] response now is no different from the 2nd ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) — impose a lockdown and hope transmission slows down,” he said.
“Testing remains very low. Government continues to ignore the call for #MassTestingNow….It has gotten worse,” he said in an earlier tweet, noting that the positivity rate was even worse last Thursday, August 13.
“#DutertePalpak,” Reyes said. (Useless Duterte.)
Community medicine expert Dr. Gene Nisperos agreed with Reyes, adding DOH secretary Francisco Duque should have been fired already.
“His (Duque’s) track record is one of DISMAL FAILURE since Day 1 of this pandemic. We remember, that’s why we want him out. Du30 (Duterte) does not care for human life, that’s why he keeps Duque. If Du30 cared one bit, he would have kicked Duque out long ago,” Nisperos said in a Twitter reaction to Duque’s claims of achievements since becoming health secretary.
“Magsama silang dalawang hangal,” Nisperos said. (Those two fools deserve each other.) # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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The Rodrigo Duterte government targets and forces farmers to pose as surrenderers and be counted as trophies in its anti-insurgency campaign, an investigation by a farmers’ group revealed.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said a nationwide profiling campaign is ongoing against farmers, many of whom are later listed and presented as surrendered New People’s Army (NPA) members or supporters by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The KMP said the attacks on the peasant sector was affirmed by its series of online fact-finding activities with campaign group Tanggol Magsasaka on farmers, leaders, and other residents in 11 provinces nationwide from July to August.
More than 70 victims gave their testimonies and affidavits on over a hundred cases of human rights abuses perpetrated by state forces, KMP said.
The groups’ first ever online fact-finding activity was aimed to “expose the Duterte regime’s dirty and brutal war targeting farmers, to silence their collective struggle for land, economic reforms, and social justice. “
The fact-finding mission was held just as President Duterte bragged in his last State of the Nation Address last July 26 that about 17,000 NPA members have already surrendered to government forces.
“More than 17,000 former communist rebels have surrendered to the government. They have returned to the fold of the law and are happily reintegrating to the community,” Duterte said.
The President added his administration’s projects such as farm-to-market roads, livelihood, education and sanitation were able to destroy 15 NPA fronts, which he did not identify.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) however laughed at the President’s claim, pointing out past military claims the NPA has no more than 4,000 fighters left.
“”Fifteen guerrilla fronts dismantled? Dream on, Duterte. Si Gen. Hermogenes Esperon ng NTF-ELCAC nagsabi, mahigit daw 4,000 noong June ang NPA mula 3,700 noong December,” CPP information officer Marco Valbuena said.
Civilians
The KMP said many of those claimed by NTF-ELCAC’s to be surrenderers were civilians, including farmers, farm workers, peasant leaders, rural women and youth, and fisher folk.
“[T]he majority of these so-called surrenderers are civilians — ordinary farmers who were either coerced, forced, or duped into ‘surrendering’ to the government,” the KMP said.
The group said that based on initial findings of its online investigation, red-tagging, threat, harassment, and intimidation are the most common forms of abuse by state forces.
Other instances of abuses include:
* Home and farm “intimidation visits” by police, military, and intelligence agents;
* “Forced presentation” of peasant leaders, farmers, and civilians to village authorities and Philippine Army camps to have their names “cleared”; and
* Forced attendance in village meetings organized by the military to be “lectured” on counterinsurgency.
KMP said that individuals targeted for forced surrender were intimidated to sign document denouncing local organization and the CPP-NPA-NDFP alleged as “Communist Terrorist Groups.”
The group’s accusations mirror the December 2019 Philippine Army admission it manipulated a photo to show a group of so-called NPA surrenderers in Masbate province.
The Philippine Army photo it released to the media that it also later admitted was manipulated.
Automatic NPA supporters
The KMP revealed government forces automatically accuse local peasant organizations and associations supporters of the NPA or have links and relations to the CPP, NPA and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
“Farmers and rural populations in localities are often red-tagged as members of the so-called Milisyang Bayan and Sangay ng Partido sa Lokalidad. Legitimate peasant organizations engaged in farm campaigns, campaigns for land reform, against land-grabbing, against high land rent, and other forms of feudal exploitation are always and automatically red-tagged and vilified by state forces,” KMP said.
The group added its affiliates as well as those of other peasant organizations have been red-tagged, including Danggayan, Dagami, Kaguimungan, UMA-Isabela, AMIHAN-Ambi, PIGLAS and CLAIM in Quezon, AMB in Bulacan, KMB, BCPAI, and LAMBAT in Bicol, and local organizations of farmers in Cavite, Camarines Sur, Albay, Iloilo, and Capiz.
“In the course of the comprehensive and sustained forced surrender campaigns, state forces, and authorities use varied forms ranging from persuasion, deception, fraud, subterfuge, suppression, coercion, and outright use of force and violence,” the KMP said.
It added the government’s counter-insurgency campaign takes full advantage to enforce more restrictions in peasant communities, making peasant communities and villages virtual military garrisons.
The group said its fact-finding mission will continue in the coming weeks to further probe the situation in other regions and provinces. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison described their group’s designation as “terrorist” by the Rodrigo Duterte government as “diabolical”, aimed at not just further closing every possibility of resuming peace negotiations but to kill more of their consultants and resource persons.
Reacting to the Anti-Terrorism Council’s (ATC) June 23 resolution designating the NDFP as a terrorist organization, Sison said the government clearly intends to:
Close further every possibility of resuming the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations at least for the duration that Duterte is in power,
Harass, silence, arrest or even kill the NDFP consultants and resource persons and others involved in the peace negotiations and target even the broad range of peace advocates, critics and oppositionists,
Allow Duterte to control and rig the 2022 elections, stay in power together with (Davao City Mayor) Sara and prevent his (Duterte’s) arrest for crimes against humanity on the prospective warrant that may be issued by the International Criminal Court, and
Pave a wider path for the Duterte regime to declare martial law and impose a fascist dictatorship on the people either before the anticipated 2022 elections or after this is rigged in order to preempt the 1986 type of people’s uprising.
“The diabolical purpose of the Duterte regime in designating the NDFP as terrorist cannot be understated because this has been preceded by the murder of NDFP consultants committed so flagrantly by Duterte death squads,” Sison said.
In its Resolution No. 21 (2021) issued last June 23, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) designated the NDFP as a terrorist organization/association, saying the group is “an integral and inseparable part of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA).”
Sison cited the murder of Randy Malayao, Randall Echanis, couple Agaton Topacio and Eugenia Magpantay, couple Antonio Cabanatan and Florenda Yap, Reynaldo Bocala and Rustico Tan as proof the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) is into killing NDFP consultants.
The victims were killed after Duterte ordered the GRP Negotiating Panel to walk away from the peace negotiations in mid-2017.
Sison also cited the arrest of NDFP consultants Adelberto Silva, Rey Casambre, Vicente Ladlad, Renante Gamara, Ferdinand Castillo and others who have been arrested and imprisoned on so-called trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
He added that the designation is “at war” with basic principles of international humanitarian law on the legitimate status, rights and character of national liberation movements such as those by the NDFP.
‘War hawks to blame’
A group of peace advocates blames so-called war hawks in the ATC for NDFP’s designation as terrorist.
The group Pilgrims for Peace (PfP) said GRP’s move bodes ill for human rights, democracy and the quest for peace under the Duterte administration.
“The war hawks are hell-bent on killing peace negotiations and instead pursuing all-out war in the government counterinsurgency program as well as casting a wide net of suppression against all opposition and dissent through state terror as embodied in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020,” the group in a statement said.
PfP said the designation can only intensify the “nefarious red-baiting/ terrorist-tagging by the National Task Force-End Local Communist Armed Conflict, with dire implications on and further deterioration of the human rights situation and constriction of democratic space in the country.”
The group added the designation directly contravenes a basic tenet of peace advocacy: addressing the roots of the armed conflict through earnest peace negotiations.
“[B]y designating those who have stepped forward to engage in peace negotiations as ‘terrorist,’ the Duterte administration is blatantly acting against the principle and practice of peace building,” PfP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/joma-duterte-0510-800x321.jpg321800Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-07-19 22:37:092021-07-20 05:52:03Joma, peace advocates: ATC move vs. NDFP ‘diabolical’, to worsen armed conflict
The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has added the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to its list of terrorist organizations, dashing what remains of hopes for the resumption of formal peace negotiations between the parties.
In its Resolution No. 21 (2021) issued last June 23, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has designated the NDFP as a terrorist organization/association, saying the group is “an integral and inseparable part of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA).”
The designation was signed by ATC chairperson and executive secretary Salvador Medialdea and council vice-chairperson and national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon.
“[The] NDFP is organized, controlled, acting on behalf of or at the direction of, and operated by the (CPP), a designated terrorist organization, association and/or group of persons under ATC Resolution No. 12 (2020),” the ATC said.
The Council said the NDFP is the last of three major components, along with the CPP and the NPA, that provides support to the armed and organizational expansion of the Communist movement in the country.
Founded in April 1973, the NDFP describes itself as “[A] revolutionary united front organization of the Filipino people fighting for national freedom and for the democratic rights of the people.
“The NDFP seeks to develop and coordinate all progressive classes, sectors and forces in the Filipino people’s struggle to end the rule of US imperialism and its local allies of big landlords and compradors, and attain national and social liberation,” its website says.
Aside from the CPP and the NPA, the NDFP has at least 15 other “revolutionary allied organizations” and is present in 70 out of the country’s 81 provinces.
Since 1992, the NDFP has been holding peace talks with the GRP to “address the roots of the armed conflict.”
After two years of fruitful negotiations across four formal rounds in three countries in Europe from 2016 to 2017, President Duterte walked away from the process and has since designated the CPP and NPA as so-called terrorists.
Observers said NDFP’s exclusion from GRP’s list of terrorist organizations provides hope that it is still open to resuming negotiations with the underground group.
NDFP officials have yet to respond to requests for comment on this development. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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Panayam ng Kodao Productions, sa pamamagitan ni Prof. Sarah Raymundo, kay Prof. Jose Maria Sison hinggil sa mga isyu ukol kay Pangulong Duterte, International Criminal Court (ICC), National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), State of the Nation Address (SONA), at Eleksyong 2022.
ITANONG MO KAY PROF
Duterte, ICC, NTF-ELCAC, SONA at Eleksyong 2022
July 12, 2021
Prof Sarah: Isang maganda at mapagpalayang araw sa lahat ng ating tagapakinig. Nagbabalik ang Itanong Mo Kay Prof!
Usap-usapan ang pagtakbo muli ni Duterte sa pusisyong Vice-President sa halalan 2022. Si Sara Duterte naman ang Presidente sa tambalang ito. Simula nang sumingaw ang ganitong usapan, napakaraming mamamayan ang nagugulat, nababahala, nagagalit, at marami-rami na rin ang mga kritiko mula sa oposisyon, kilusang progresibo, samahan ng mga abogado, periodista, educador, taong-simbahan at kabataan ang nagpahayag ng kritikal na suri rito.
Sabi nga ng mga kritiko, kapit-tuko si Duterte sa kapangyarihang ginamit lang naman niya para sa korapsyon, karahasan at sukdulang pagpapahamak sa ekonomiya at mamamayan sa gitna ng pandemya.
Makakasama natin muli si Professor Jose Maria Sison, Chairperson Emeritus ng ILPS at Chief Political Consultant ng NDF upang mapagusapan at masuri ang usaping ito at iba pang kaugnay na usapin katulad ng imbestigasyon ng International Criminal Court kay Duterte, ang Peace Talks at CASER, at ilan sa mga sikat na personahe na tatakbo bilang presidente sa 2022. Maalab na pagbati, Prof. Sison!
Prof Sison: Maalab na makabayan pagbati sa iyo Prof. Sarah Raymundo at sa lahat ng ating tagapakinig.
Mga Tanong
Prof Sison, ano po ang masasabi ninyo sa pagtakbo raw ni Pangulong Duterte sa 2022 eleksyon bilang vice president? At may nauulinigan din na tatakbong presidente naman si Sara Duterte. Ano ang inyong opinion sa bagay na ito?
JMS: Garapal na kasakiman ng iisang pamilya na kandidatong presidente at bise president sina Sara Duterte at Rodrigo Duterte. Nais nilang magpanatili ng dinastiya. Dating pamantayan na sa isang partido ang nagtatambal na kandidato para sa tungkuling presidente at bise presidente ay galing sa magkaibang rehiyon. Ang dalawang sakim na Duterte ay galing sa iisang pamilya. Pambihira talaga. Naiilang pati ang mga alyado nila. Sabi nila political incest.
Hindi pa klaro kung sino sino nga ba ang tatakbong presidente sa 2022. Pero may nakapagsabi na tatakbo daw si Senator Manny Paquiao at Manila Mayor Isko Moreno. Ano ang inyong masasabi hinggil dito, Prof Sison? Sa tingin niyo ba may pag-asa ang mamamayan sa dalawang ito?
JMS: Malalakas ang dalawang posibleng kandidato na binanggit mo, sina Manila Mayor Isko Moreno at Senator Manny Pacquiao. Malayong matitinong lider ang dalawang ito kaysa sa mga Duterte. Maasahan sila ng mga mamamayan. Mas malaki rin ang following nila kung ihambing sa following ng mga Duterte. Imbento lamang ng mga bayarang poll survey firm at troll army ang umano’y mataas na popularity rating ng mga Duterte.
Dahil sa napakaraming krimen na gawa ni Duterte laban sa sambayanang Pilipino, kaunti na lang ang sumusunod kay Digong Duterte. Itinuturing siyang traidor at bentador ng West Philipine Sea sa Tsina, berdugo at mamatay-tao, mandarambong at manggagantso. Pero kontrolado niya ang Comelec at bilangan ng boto sa halalan ng 2022.
Ang International Criminal Court (ICC) ay handa ng mag-imbestiga sa Pilipinas hinggil sa mga kinakaharap na kaso ng paglabag sa karapatang tao ni Duterte sa mamamayan. Inisnab ito ni Duterte. Sinasabing hindi naman na tayo kasapi ng ICC kaya walang dapat harapin sa kanila. Ano ang inyong paliwanag sa bagay na ito Prof Sison?
JMS: Maliwanag sa Tratado ng Roma na nagbuo ng International Criminal Court na saklaw pa rin nito ang mga krimeng gawa ni Duterte habang myembro pa ang Pilipinas sa tratado kahit na umalis pa ang Pilipinas sa tratado. Isa pa, kahit na maging presidente ang anak niya at siya ay maging bise presidente at haharangin nila ang warrant of arrest, puedeng lagyan na ng ICC ng emcumbrance ang mga bank account at investments ni Duterte sa abroad para managot sa mga damage claims ng mga biktima.
Kung maging presidente at bise ang dalawang Duterte sa pamamagitan ng pandaraya tulad ng ginawa sa midterm elections noong 2019, tiyak na magkakagulo sa Pilipinas at mapapatalsik sila mula sa kapangyarihan tulad ni Marcos noong 1986. Kung mapipigil nila ang posibilidad na ito, lulubha ang krisis sa ekonomiya at pulitika ng naghaharing sistema at lalagablab ang armadong rebolusyon ng sambayanang Pilipino hanggang maibagsak ang mga Duterte. Puede pang habulin si Duterte ng people’s court ng kilusang rebolusyonaryo kung mailagan nya ang ICC at justice system ng reaksyonaryong gobyerno.
Ang National Task Force – End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) ang nagpapatupad ng Executive Order 70. Grabe ang ginagawa nilang red tagging sa mga indibidwal at organisasyon. Kayo Prof Sison ay kasama rin sa nilalagyan ng sungay ng mga ito at ikinakalat inyong larawan hindi lamang sa Kamaynilaan kundi maging sa mga probinsya. Ano po ang inyong masasabi sa kanila?
JMS: Mga militarista at pasista, mga mamatay tao at mga magnanakaw ang nasa National Task Force-ELCAC. Sila ang mga tunay na terorista. Nagrered-tagging sila sa mga indibidwal at organisasyon na pumupuna at sumasalungat sa mga krimen ng rehimeng Duterte. Pagkatapos pinapatay at inaagawan ng ari-arian ang mga biktima ng red-tagging.
Antemano bilyun-bilyung piso ang pondo ng task force. Pinagnanakawan ito ni Duterte at mga heneral niya sa ngalan ng surveillance, intelligence, psywar, arrest, combat operations at pakunwaring community development. Walang auditing. Yong red-tagging at murder operations ng task force ay para takutin ang masa, kontrolin ang takbo at resulta ng halalang 2022 at mangurakot ng pondo ng bayan.
Marami po ang nananawagan na buwagin ang NTF-ELCAC at ibaling na lamang ang bilyon bilyong pondo nito sa ayuda sa mamamayan. Sa kasalukuyan Prof Sison ay lugmok pa rin sa kahirapan ang marami nating kababayan. Marami ang walang trabaho, nawalan ng trabaho, nabawasan ang kita at nabaon sa utang. Ano ang inyong paliwanag sa bagay na ito, Prof Sison?
JMS: Dapat buwagin ang NTF-ELCAC at ibaling ang bilyun-bilyong pondo nito sa ayuda sa mamamayan. Makatarungan na gamitin ang pondong ito para makaahon ang marami nating kababayan mula sa kahirapan na bunga ng krisis sa ekonomiya at pandemya.
Lantad ang katotohanan na marami ang walang trabaho, nawalan ng trabaho, nabawasan ang kita, nabaon sa utang at hindi makaagapay sa implasyon o pagtaas ng presyo ng mga batayang pangangailangan sa pagkain at iba pa. Sukdulang lumala at lumaganap ang kahirapan sa Pilipinas dahil sa patakarang neoliberal, korapsyon, militarisasyon at pagiging pabaya ni Duterte sa pandemya.
Malapit na ang State of the Nation Address o SONA ni Pangulong Duterte. Ito na po ang huling taon ng kanyang administrasyon. Sa limang taong nakalipas, may ilang natutuwa sa kanyang pamumuno pero mas marami ang nagagalit at humihingi ng hustisya sa maraming paglabag sa karapatang-tao, kawalan at kapos na ayuda sa panahon ng pandemya, kawalan ng subsidyo para sa mga magsasaka, kawalan ng hanapbuhay sa maraming kababayan at marami pang KAWALAN. Ano ang inyong masasabi sa nakalipas na limang taon ni Duterte, Prof Sison?
JMS: Sa pagiging presidente, maraming malalaking krimen na ginawa ni Duterte bilang traidor, tirano, mamamatay-tao, mandarambong at manggagantso.
a. Traidor siya at papet ng dalawang imperyalistang kapangyarihan. Hinahayaan niya ang US sa pagiging dominante pa rin sa ekonomiya, pulitika, militar at kultura sa Pilipinas dahil nagbibigay ng armas na panupil sa mga mamamayan. Bentador siya ng West Philippine Sea sa Tsina at kasabwat siya ng mga kriminal na Tsinong sindikato sa pagpuslit at pagkalat ng illegal na droga.
b. Nagkunwari si Duterte na laban siya sa illegal drugs at nag-utos sa pagpaslang ng higit sa 33,000 drug suspects. Pero ginawa niya itong paraan para maging supremo ng mga drug lord, kumita ng malaki, manakot sa publiko at gawing kriminal, korap at pribadong utusan ang mga pulis.
k. Nagkunwari rin siyang Kaliwa at sosyalista at nangakong palayain ang lahat ng bilanggong pulitikal, magkaroon ng seryosong peace negotiations at sumunod sa people’s agenda. Pero hindi nagtagal lumitaw ang pakana niyang sirain ang peace negotiations para magpataw ng terorismo ng estado sa sambayanang Pilipino at magpanatili ng sarili sa kapangyarihan. Pananagutan ni Duterte ang pagpaslang ng maraming tao sa ngalan ng “counter-insurgency” o kontra-rebolusyon.
d. Isa pang dahilan kung bakit sinira ng Duterte ang peace negotiations. Marahas na tutol siya sa tunay ng reporma sa lupa at pambansang industrialisasyon. Nang malapit nang malubos ang borador ng Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms, nagpahiwatig na ayaw na niyang matuloy ang peace negotiations. Pusakal na burukrata kapitalista si Duterte at aso siya talaga ng mga imperyalista,malalaking komprador at asendero.
e. Nangako si Duterte na puksain ang korupsyon sa gobyerno. Lumitaw na siya pala ang pinakagarapal na mandarambong sa pondo ng bayan. At pinalaya pa niya ang mga alyado niyang mandarambong tulad nina Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, mga Marcos, mga Estrada, Enrile, Revilla at iba pa at pinawalang-saysay ang mga kaso laban sa kanila. Mga kasuklam-suklam na mga burukrata kapitalista sila lahat.
g. Nangako ng subsidyo sa mga magsasaka. Hindi niya tinupad ito at hinahayaan niyang binabarat ng mga komersyante ang lokal produkto sa agricultura at pinaluwagan niya ang pag-angkat ng bigas at asukal. Sinira ni Duterte ang kasarinlan ng Pilipinas sa pagkain.
h. Nangako na itigil niya ang endo. Hindi niya tinupad ito. Pinipigil pa niya ang pagtaas ng minimum wage samantalang walang tigil ang pagtaas ng presyo ng mga batayang kalakal dahil sa TRAIN law at malaking pagbagsak ng ekonomya sa nakaraang dalawang taon. Dahil sa implasyon at bangkarote ang gobyerno muhing-muhi ang mga mamamayan kay Duterte.
i. Hinayaan ni Duterte na kumalat ang Covid-19 sa Pilipinas sa palagay na kikita siya sa mga Chinese casino at 500,000 na Chinese tourist. Pagkatapos nangako ng mass testing, libreng panggagamot at ayuda sa mga tao. Hindi tinupad ang pangako at ibinulsa niya ang bilyun-bilyon na inilaan para sa ayuda at pagbili ng bakuna at PPE para sa mga front liner.
l. Dati nang pinalulundag ni Duterte ang utang ng Pilipinas dahil sa korupsyon at military overspending. Sabi pa niyang hindi mapigil ang korupsyon at ipinagmamalaki pa na pinalalamon niya ng pera ang mga heneral. Palaki nang palaki ang depisit sa badyet ng gobyerno at sa foreign trade. Magmula 2016, pinalundag ni Duterte ang utang ng Pilipinas mula 5.9 trillion pesos hanggang 10.9 trillion pesos. Sa huling taon, pinalundag niya ng 2 trillion persos ang utang sa ngalan ng pandemya.
m. Pananagutan ni Duterte ang malubhang krisis ngayon ng naghaharing sistema sa ekonomiya at sa pulitika. Makapal pa ang mukha niyang tumindig na magiging tunay na kapangyarihan sa likuran ni Sara bilang papet niya. Parang hindi niya alam na sa susunod na taon lalong lulubha pa ang krisis at lalong babalikwas ang masang Pilipino.
Meron po ba kayong gustong iwan sa ating mga tagapakinig, Prof Sison.
JMS: Dapat ilantad at kondenahin ang mga mga krimen ni Duterte. Dapat tayong magalit sa mga krimen na ito at sa tiyak na gagawin niyang pandaraya sa darating na eleksyon para manatili sa kapangyarihan at mahadlangan ang warrant of arrest mula sa International Criminal Court.
Gawin ng sambayanang Pilipino at mga makabayan at demokratikong pwersa ang lahat na magagawa para labanan at gapiin ang lahat ng pakana at kilos ng pangkating Duterte para manlinlang at manakot sa masa at manatili sa kapangyarihan.
Pag-isipan na rin kung ano ang dapat nating gawin sa 2022 at sa anim na taon na susunod sa halalan, para sa pagsusulong ng pakikibaka para sa pambansang kalayaan at demokrasya. Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino!
Prof Sison: Maraming salamat at paalam sa inyo Sarah at sa lahat ng ating tagapakinig.
Prof Sarah: Extro. Maraming-maraming salamat Prof. Sison para sa malaman at komprehensibong pagtalakay sa mga kasalanan sa mamamayan ni Duterte sa nakaraang limang taon. Nilinaw ni Prof Sison na walang silbi ang pagtakbo ni Duterte, gayundin ng kanyang anak na si Sara Duterte, kundi ang matakasan ang mga kaso at krimen na patuloy na namemerwisyo sa mga mamamayan. Kaalinsabay ng pagnanais ng mga Duterte na paghariin ang impunity o ang kawalan ng pananagutan at kaparusahan para sa mga makapangyarihang gumagawa ng krimen laban sa mamamayan ay ang patuloy na pagkamal ng kita są pusisyon sa gubyerno.
Sinumang kumalaban sa kapangyarihan ni Duterte ay nararapat lamang na tahasang kondenahin at umagapay sa malawak na kilusan ng mamamayan na nagsasabing, Wakasan Na ang tiraniya sa bansa. Parusahan ang presidenteng kapit-tuko sa kapangyarihan.
Muling sumasainyo, ito po si Sarah Raymundo, guro ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas at aktibista ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. Tandaan po natin Ang pagpili ng maka-mamamayan at makabayang mga kandidato na matapang na tutunggali sa tiraniya ay nararapat lang sabayan ng bawat mamamayan ng pakikipagkaisa sa pagbubuo at pagpapalakas ng malawak na kilusang masana nagsasabing “Duterte, wakasan na!”
End
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/vlcsnap-2021-07-15-20h17m45s677.png10801920Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-07-15 20:18:212021-07-15 20:18:22ITANONG MO KAY PROF: Duterte, ICC, NTF-ELCAC, SONA at Eleksyong 2022
