Sa seryeng ito ng panayam kay National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison, kinumusta natin siya matapos ng pagpanaw ng kaniyang kabiyak na si Prof. Jose Maria Sison. Ano ang kanyang pinagkaka-abalahan ngayon? Anong yugto na ang kanyang mala-epikong proyektong tipunin ang lahat ng sulatin ni Prof. Sison? Ano ang silbi ng paglilimbag ng lahat ng ito sa pormang libro at sa online?
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/jdl.jpg6871030Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2024-03-24 11:43:072024-03-25 13:05:31PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)
Former president Rodrigo Duterte admitted he threatened to kill the late National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison that contributed to the 2017 termination of the peace process between his government and the revolutionary Left.
In a radio interview with his former chief legal adviser Salvador Panelo over DZRJ 810 AM last Wednesday, December 20, Duterte said he cursed at Sison in a phone conversation who returned the favor.
“[W]e ended up…nagmurahan kami. Pinu-t****** ko siya, sumagot din siya ng put****** mo…Sabi ko, huwag ka umuwi sa Pilipinas, papatayin kita!” Duterte narrated. (We exchanged expletives. I told him he was a son-of-a_b****. He responded in kind. I then told him, ‘Do not go home to the Philippines, I will kill you.)
Duterte did not give details on when his conversation with the Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairperson–his one time political science professor–happened.
Duterte said his call with Sison started politely, both greeting each other and their respective families with pleasantries. But their exchange turned for the worse when they started arguing about the definition of terms in the peace proposals submitted by the NDFP.
He said the particular phone call was probably listened in to by the military.
“That was the saga of the peace talks during my time. So it was terminated. Sabi ko, no peace talks anymore. Ever,” Duterte said.
The former president terminated formal negotiations with the NDFP in June 2017 when both parties were set to sign a prospective Interim Peace Agreement that included social and economic reforms and a long-term ceasefire.
In May 2017, Duterte ordered his negotiators, led by then labor secretary Silvestre Bello III, to cancel the fifth round of formal talks when both parties were already in The Netherlands for the continuation of what could have been the most successful episode in the nearly three decade history of the GRP-NDFP negotiations.
Wednesday’s rant was the longest that Duterte has addressed the peace talks issue since the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government has announced an ongoing dialogue for the possible resumption of the negotiations.
Duterte admitted that his termination of the peace negotiations with the NDFP “was only good for my (his) term.”
“[But] A new president has initiated another,” he said, adding he wishes there would no longer be negotiations with the NDFP.
Father joins daughter in opposing talks
Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio also expressed her opposition to the resumption of the negotiations, calling the November 23 Joint Statement between the GRP and the NDFP a “deal with the devil” in her first-ever public rebuke of Marcos Jr.
Leaders of both the House of Representatives and the Senate have however expressed support for the initiative, lending support to speculations of a widening rift between the Dutertes and the Marcoses.
Aside from the peace talks with the NDFP, both political dynasties are seen to differ on the use of confidential-intelligence funds and the government’s stance on the West Philippine/South China Sea issue.
The Dutertes are known to be close to China while Marcos is seen to be close to the United States of America that are inching towards a possible military confrontation in the region.
The Marcos government is also seen as open to the Philippines rejoining the Rome Statute creating the International Criminal court where the Dutertes are facing investigations for alleged crimes against humanity in relation to the former president’s bloody drug war that has reportedly killed thousands in a span of just over two years. # (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 Productions2023-12-22 11:41:332023-12-22 11:53:54Duterte admits threatening to kill Joma, joins Sara in opposing talks resumption with NDFP
A former Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) peace negotiator advised the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to help solve many of the government’s problems at once.
“This is an unsolicited advice: they resume the peace talks with the NDFP. Because, the first thing that may happen if things turn out well, there will be lasting ceasefire,” Braganza said in Filipino.
Braganza’s advice came after Esguerra asked him about Marcos’ signing of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act last July 7 relieving 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries of amortization fees.
Aside from being a formal and “backchannel” government peace negotiator under three successive administrations, Braganza also served as Department of Agrarian Reform secretary under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government.
Branganza said the loan pardon program was actually a NDFP-GRP agreement in 2017 under a more comprehensive free land distribution concord.
“It is in one of our documents, free land distribution. Of course, when we say free, it will be the responsibility of the government for our farmers. It is the same as debt condonation. This was part of the peace talks,” he said.
Braganza said they duly submitted the document to Malacañan Palace and expressed regret that the previous Rodrigo Duterte government did not continue with the negotiations.
“If Presidente Duterte pushed through with the talks, this could have been part of it. It could have helped pacify Filipinos who take up arms,” he said.
Joma’s jest
Braganza said it is up to the Marcos Jr. government to take another look at the peace process if it wants to solve many problems at the same time.
He said it is obvious that poverty, lack of jobs and livelihood as well as opportunities for economic development pushes many Filipinos to join the armed struggle against social injustices.
The veteran peace negotiator added that if the government wishes to address social problems, “[it] might as well put in in a document that could end the armed conflict in a much shorter period.”
“[This,] rather than wait for them to lay down arms. If you can solve this by negotiating, that’s it. That’s the entire idea of it,” he said.
Braganza recalled a jest by the late NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison who told the government negotiators: “You don’t have to talk to us. The government only needs to do its job.”
“Most of all, Mr. Joma Sison, when he was still alive, signed that he will go home to the Philippines if the free land distribution agreement was signed by the GRP,” he said.
From Marcos to Marcos
In response to Esguerra’s question if the current political atmosphere is conducive to the resumption of the peace talks with the NDFP, Braganza said it all depends on a sitting president’s political will.
“Well, first of all, how many million votes did the president get? Thirty-one million. It is bigger than the previous president, so it is a huge political capital,” he said.
Second, the Marcos Jr. government enjoys control over the Senate and the House of Representatives, he cited. “How can you go wrong?” he asked.
Braganza, a student activist during Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s reign, added that it would one of the better legacies of the current Marcos administration to end the armed conflict with the NDFP.
“[B]ecause majority of the problem of insurgency in the Philippines started with the implementation of martial law (by Marcos Sr.). So, if it started then, because they have the same surnames, wouldn’t it be better if this one ends it?” he asked.
Braganza said it would not be impossible, saying peace tables with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade and the Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army have successfully concluded under previous Manila governments.
“So it could be a good legacy for this administration to end what most of what started during the time of the father. It would be a good closure,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/nani.jpg5491030Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-07-17 15:16:162023-07-17 15:20:20Ex-GRP negotiator advises resumption of peace talks with NDFP
Activist groups trooped to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday morning to press the Philippine government to remove its designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as a terrorist organization and to resume peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
On the occasion of the late NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison’s 84thbirth anniversary, about 40 national and regional organizations said it is time for the government to remove its “arbitrary and erroneous” terrorist designation of the CPP, NDFP and the New People’s Army.
“Instead of the practice of ‘terrorist designation’, the Philippine government should embark on serious peace negotiations to address the roots of the armed conflict. The Marcos regime is the first post-EDSA regime that has not undertaken peace negotiations with the NDFP,” the groups said in a statement.
In the absence of negotiations, the groups added that the basic civil and political rights of NDFP peace consultants, political prisoners and other individuals are violated through the actions of the government’s Anti-Terrorism Council.
Another peace consultant arrested
After the rally at the DOJ, however, human rights group Karapatan reported that NDFP peace consultant Ariel Badiang, was taken under custody by military men in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon last Monday, February 6.
NDFP peace consultant Ariel Badiang Karapatan reported to be missing since Monday after taken into custody by government soldiers. (Karapatan photo)
The 64 years old Badiang could not be contacted by his family who have sought the public help in determining his whereabouts.
“If he is in the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we demand that they immediately surface Badiang, and that they respect his constitutional rights as well as rights under international humanitarian law,” Karapatan said.
In a forum before the rally, the groups said that the terrorist designation of NDFP peace negotiators such as Sison, former NDFP chief negotiatior Louis Jalandoni and peace consultants, activists and other individuals is a violation of their basic universal right to due process.
“We believe that the designation leads to even more human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law. The indiscriminate terrorist designation of individuals, groups and movements, along with the persistent practice of red-tagging, has led to surveillance, extrajudicial killings, abductions and torture of activists, the groups said.
They cited NDFP negotiators who were “summarily executed”, such as poet Ericson Acosta, Menandro Villanueva, NPA spokesperson Jorge Madlos and others.
They also cited civilians killed who were earlier tagged by government forces as so-called terrorists, Chad Booc and companions as well as activists in Manila, Cebu, Kalinga, Central Luzon and Batangas who were abducted by state security forces because of allegations of “terrorist activities.”
“We attribute the brutal treatment of these persons, including the elderly and sick, to the terrorist-labeling done by State forces. From the above incidents, it now appears that the terrorist designation has given rise to a ‘Guantanamo mindset’ where a labeled person is no longer entitled to basic rights as a human being,” they said.
Unfair and dangerous
The groups said the terrorist designation of the revolutionary groups is unfair and dangerous as it is politicized, lacks transparency, admissible evidence, nor any objective standards as to what specific acts constitute “terrorism”.
“As such, the act of designating groups and individuals as terrorists has become arbitrary and subject to grave abuse. This has been so clearly exhibited in the terrorist designation of community doctor Natividad Castro who was unilaterally labeled a terrorist in a resolution that did not provide any credible, competent and admissible evidence nor specific acts that would support the claim of the ATC,’ they said.
Among the groups that signed the statement areBagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), GABRIELA National Alliance of Filipino Women, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), League of Filipino Students (LFS), Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP),
Migrante Philippines, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), Sandugo — Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination, Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR), Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA), Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women and many others.
The groups cited Manila RTC under Judge Marlo Malagar’s September 2022 decision in a previous case under the Human Security Act that pointed out that the CPP and NPA are not “terrorist” groups and that their resort to armed struggle is in furtherance of their political program which includes land reform and national industrialization.
They also pointed out that membership in the CPP is not illegal after the anti-subversion law had been repealed under the Fidel Ramos presidency.
Stumbling block to peace
In their statement, the groups asserted that the terrorist designation is a stumbling block to peace as it shuts the door to any meaningful peace negotiations and does away with the important agreements made in the course of the peace talks since 1992.
Important agreements signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.
Before the Rodrigo Duterte government turned away from the negotiations in June 2017, the GRP and NDFP Panels have initialed drafts on important parts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms that include land reform, rural development and national industrialization.
“To start with, the almost universal legal principle on the nature and object of rebellion as a political act militate against designating its actors as ‘terrorists’,” the petitioners said.
“We call on the Philippine government to remove the terrorist designations and other stumbling blocks to peace and work to resume formal peace negotiations towards addressing the roots of the armed conflict, the groups said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/received_485085480505488-01.jpeg8301600Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-02-09 10:07:232023-02-10 14:03:26Groups demand removal of terrorist designation to revolutionary organizations
nang sinabi ng bida, na ang mga alipin ay itinulak
sa hangganan, kung kaya’t nag-aklas.
O sa When Our Love Blooms:
dumaan man ang mga dekada,
ay hindi bumitiw ang aktibistang piyanista
sa ipinaglalaban ng mga manggagawa.
Katatapos ko lang ng Bridal Mask,
at habang tino-torture ang minor character,
malapit mang matigok ay sukat pang nangahas magsalita
na ang tunay na terorista,
ay ang mga nagnanakaw sa bayan.
At dito, sa Capital Scandal na ngayo’y sinusundan,
ganito ang usapan:
Tanong: Bakit ka pa nagbabasa ng tungkol sa sosyalismo at kasarinlan?
Ako, ang gusto ko lang ay ipagtanggol ang aking mga minamahal.
Sagot: Iyan mismo. Ganyan ang sosyalismo.
Ganyan ang pakikipaglaban para sa kasarinlan.
Natutunan namin sa iyo
ang maghangad na maging tulad ni Atorni Woo:
ano man ang kapansanan at pagkukulang,
ay nagsisikap pa ring mag-ambag
tungo sa pagkamit ng katarungan.
Maaalala ka, lagi’t lagi,
lalo namin na iyong mga tagahanga, at tagahanga ng K-drama.
Sa K-drama, naaalala ang batang ako (back to me ba?), na nagbabasa,
pinag-aaralan ang mga akda ni Ka Joma,
na noo’y ipinagbabawal,
kung kaya’t hindi nailalabas sa aklatan.
Yumao ka man, Tito Joe, aming Ka Joma,
ay hindi lilisan ang iyong pamana.
Maaalala ka sa bawat martsa, sa bawat labanan,
sa bawat sandali ng patuloy na paglilingkod sa masa.
Mananatili kang tanglaw ng aming pakikibaka.
*Nasulat para sa interpretasyon ni Bibeth Orteza sa tulong ng mga kasama ng kani-kanilang paboritong K-drama.
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lamp.jpg8101080Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-12-29 08:36:422022-12-29 08:46:51Kung Bakit ko Naaalala si Ka Joma Habang Nanonood ng K-Drama*
Diplomats, comrades, friends and family pay tribute
Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison was laid to rest in Utrecht, The Netherlands on Tuesday, December 27.
A two-hour farewell ceremony was held prior to Sison’s cremation the NDFP said was attended by family, comrades, representatives of political parties and groups, progressive allies, former staff members, friends and admirers.
“They came from the US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Philippines, Turkey, Iceland, the UK, Spain, France, Switzerland and Norway. Representatives of NDFP revolutionary mass organizations in Europe were also present, among them the CPP, Kabataang Makabayan, Makibaka, and Christians for National Liberation,” the NDFP information office said in a statement.
Representatives of the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG) were also present, led by Special Envoy Kristina Lie Revheim, Third Party Facilitator to the peace process between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
The NDFP said the farewell ceremony was filled with poetry and songs, the fallen leader being well-known for his award-winning poetry and passion for singing.
NDFP National Council Member and NDFP Chief International Representative Luis Jalandoni led in the tributes to Sison, describing his comrade as “an imperishable leader” who was loved by the masses in the guerilla zones he had visited.
Jalandoni said that Sison declared in his last message to the Filipino before he died that “the Filipino people’s democratic revolution is invincible.”
In her tribute, NDFP Peace Panel member and underground women’s liberation group MAKIBAKA international representative Coni Ledesma said Sison was “a friend, a teacher, a leader.”
“I and so many others will be guided by his wisdom, thoughts and vision…..we will go on with the struggle knowing he will still be there leading us. Joma (Sison’s moniker), we will continue bearing the torch and fight on until victory. Thank you, Joma, for the gift of you,” Ledesma said.
The international tribute for Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison in Utrecht, The Netherlands on December 27. (NDFP photo)
International tribute
In her tribute, Revheim said that on behalf of Norwegian diplomats, it was a privilege to have worked with Sison on the peace process through the years.
The Special Envoy described Sison as having a “rich personality and having a great impact on Philippine politics, history and society, where navigating controversies is part of the political landscape”.
She said Ka Joma was respectful and kind who patiently explained the intricacies of Philippine politics to the various Norwegian diplomats involved in the peace process.
Revheim said one can have an open and honest discussion with Sison, disagreeing on some issues but always with mutual respect. She added that aside from Sison’s intellectual capacity, he had a pragmatic side to always find new possibilities to break the impasse in the negotiations.
The RNG representative revealed that five days before he died, Sison messaged her, saying, “Please tell Kristina we are always open to peace negotiations.”
Representative of political parties and progressive groups from Belgium, Germany and Norway also paid tribute to Sison at the ceremony, saying Sison has been an inspiration to European progressives and activists.
“For Joma, it wasn’t only about theory and practice but also attitude and camaraderie. His revolutionary optimism and perseverance will echo for a long time not only in the Philippines but also in Europe,” a speaker from Belgium said.
Filipino underground revolutionary groups and friends of Sison also spoke, including a former Utrecht neighbor who described him as a kind, amiable, friendly and jolly person. The neighbor said he was her inspiration for studying law.
Joma’s work to continue
Sison’s daughter Joy, responding to the tributes in behalf of the family, said her father’s greatest gifts to her were teaching her the ability to empathize with the plight others and being introduced to his comrades who selflessly serve the people.
Julie de Lima, NDFP Peace Panel chairperson and Sison’s wife and comrade-in-arms narrated the pain she suffers in her husband’s passing.
“[Y]ou took your last breathe and now you are relieved of pain. The pain is with me now and forever will be. It squeezes my heart every time I breathe, and I will always, until I join you,” de Lima said in an emotional farewell.
“It is love that binds us and us to our four children and grandchildren, to our comrades and friends, and the people whom we have served all our lives. I shall always love you. I shall always feel your presence with every air that I breathe, in the sunlight that sheds on me, in the water that I drink on the ground which I tread, and in all the things that I do,” she added.
De Lima, Sison’s editor in many of his books, said their unfinished projects keep her going.
She revealed that Sison left her many notes that she may be finish as additional books to her husband’s nearly 30 volumes of collected writings so far.
In an earlier tribute, de Lima said that there are unfinished articles however that only Sison could have completed. She expressed hope that someone may be able to take them up and finish them in the future.
De Lima then read Sison’s last scribble in his note pad: “It is unfair that an entire society is called capitalist, and yet so few can call themselves capitalist and look down on the rest of the people. It is outrageous that the capitalists boast of being the creators of the wealth created by labor. It is simply unjust and revolting that the capitalists dominate the exploited and exploit living labor. It is best to fight for a society where everyone can call oneself like others a socialist, and live with honor and equality.”
The NDFP said Sison’s ashes will remain in the crematorium for one month, in keeping with Dutch legal laws. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/tribute1.jpg13332000Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-12-28 08:01:592022-12-28 08:02:00Sison, PH’s most influential political figure, cremated in Utrecht
“We have so far frustrated the enemy’s declared objective of crushing the Party, the NPA and all forms of people’s resistance,” the CPP said.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) gave Jose Maria Sison, founding chairperson of its Central Committee, “extraordinary tribute” in its traditional statement on its founding anniversary today.
On its 54th anniversary statement, the CPP said Sison, who died in The Netherlands last December 16, utilized his “masterly grasp” of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in guiding the Party from inception, infancy and growth.
The revolutionary group also said that Sison’s writings—more than 30 volumes of essays and poems—will continue to guide them.
“Ka Joma has bequeathed to us a treasure trove of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist work in which his immortal revolutionary spirit will forever live to guide the next generation of Party cadres to greater heights,” the group said.
Sison’s books Philippine Society and Revolution as well as Struggle for National Democracy have been required reading for countless activists who later joined the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) that has waged one of the world’s oldest armed revolutions.
Celebrating their first anniversary without its ideological leader, the CPP also said it lost members of its Central Committee, its Political Bureau and Executive Committee as well as cadres, Red fighters and mass activists in the last year.
The Party however said its 54th year remains to be a cause of celebration for the “great achievements” it accumulated in “more than five decades of leading the people’s democratic revolution and advancing the Filipino people’s aspiration for freedom and democracy.”
‘Amid government’s onslaught’
The CPP said it has built and maintains “thousands of committees of leadership and branches” in 14 of the country’s regions as well as in hundreds of towns and districts and in thousands of villages across the country.
It said the NPA has “thousands” of Red fighters primarily armed with high-powered rifles and explosives.
“In the course of waging protracted people’s war, the NPA has established more than 110 guerrilla fronts across the country and has built thousands of local mass organizations,” the CPP said.
The group also said the NPA has frustrated Manila government’s offensives as well as focused and sustained operations by shifting from one guerrilla front to another.
The CPP said the NPA have successfully mounted tactical offensives against isolated, weak and tired enemy units to disrupt the government military’s operations and plans.
“We have so far frustrated the enemy’s declared objective of crushing the Party, the NPA and all forms of people’s resistance,” the CPP said.
“The Party and revolutionary movement have withstood more than five years of relentless attacks which have employed the worst forms of state terrorism,” it added.
Earlier, the CPP has directed the NPA to perform military tributes to Sison at daybreak today.
Both the CPP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier said they will not be declaring ceasefires over the Christmas and New Year holiday season. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/npa-honors.jpg360640Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-12-26 16:29:072022-12-26 16:40:21CPP@54: Joma’s immortal revolutionary spirit will forever live
The Marcoses and San Miguel Corporation have a shared history
It did not take long for new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to exercise his veto power and against a bill seen as favorable to an entity long associated with his family: San Miguel Corporation (SMC). And it raised quick questions from one of his family’s long-time nemesis.
Marcos sent a letter to the Senate on July 1—his first day in office—explaining his opposition to the proposed law creating the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport spearheaded by SMC. Marcos said he sees “substantial fiscal risks” in the proposal as well as inconsistencies with existing tax laws that focus more on income generation for the government.
“While this administration recognizes the objective of the proposed measure to accelerate economic growth in its locality, I cannot support the bill considering the provisions that pose substantial fiscal risks to the country and its infringement on or conflict with other agencies’ mandates and authorities,” the President wrote.
The veto, however, raised questions from one of his family’s long-time nemesis, Jose Maria Sison, who wondered about Marcos’ real motive.
‘Run-away cronies’
Reacting to the news of the veto, Marcos martial law survivor Sison asked: Is the Marcos family trying to take back controlling stocks in the SMC it allegedly entrusted to the long-time chairperson of the conglomerate: Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco.
Cojuangco was regarded as among the closest cronies of the late dictator Marcos Sr. who spearheaded the Coconut Levy Fund from 1973 to 1985 worth billions of pesos. Cojuangco later used the fund to acquire and take control of both the United Coconut Planters’ Bank and the SMC.
The Corazon Aquino government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), said Cojuangco served Marcos family’s financial interests through the bank and the conglomerate.
In a September 2012 decision, the Supreme court affirmed that the 27% block of SMC shares were government-owned, worth at least P71 billion at the time. The coconut farmers who were forced to contribute to the funds said the money should be given back to them.
Cojuangco died in June 2020 at the age of 85.
Long-time SMC vice chairperson and chief operating officer Ramon Ang succeeded as chairperson and chief operating officer in June 2012 after reportedly acquiring Cojuangco’s stock shares. It is under Ang that the Bulacan ecozone project started in 2018 with a corporate life of at least 50 years.
The project’s centerpiece is SMC’s P740-billion New Manila International Airport, capable of up to 100 million passengers per year and is expected to rival Philippines’ main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla in a radio interview Monday morning said the president’s veto is entirely his decision, saying the president sees the proposed measure as disadvantageous to government. Remulla said the measure, known in the 18th Congress as House Bill 7575, will give ten years of tax incentives to SMC while similar measures only offer five to six years.
Once signed into law, the government would surrender much of its oversight powers on the airport and freeport to the powerful conglomerate, Remulla added.
As expected, Ang defended the project, saying the Bulacan economic zone will be managed by government while its tax incentives will still require Department of Finance review and approval.
“My intention is to help create (a) science and technology export hub with cheapest logistics cost because of nearest airport and Manila seaport. World-class semiconductor manufacturing power battery storage, manufacturing electric vehicles (and) manufacturing and modular nuclear power assembly plants target to export $200 billion annually to help our GDP (gross domestic product) growth,” Ang told The Philippine Star.
In a later statement, press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said President Marcos fully supports the project and his decision to veto is meant to cure its “defects”.
“Presidential Veto is fastest way to cure the defects of HB 7575 especially the provision which exempts the Commission on Audit to look into the financial transactions on the special economic zone and freeport,” Angeles said. “Had the President not vetoed the HB 7575, it would have lapsed into law on July 4 or 30 days after the bill was sent by the legislature to Malacanang,” she added.
Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he will advise incumbent senators to re-file the bill without the provisions objectionable to Marcos.
Sison however said the new President is likely already spending time running after so-called run-away cronies like Cojuangco who may not have given back assets entrusted to them, in much the same way that the PCGG “ran after Marcos loot hidden under multi-layered schemes to conceal ownership.”
“The Ecozone will be revived as soon as the issue is settled behind the scenes?” Sison asked. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/bbm1.jpg9001350Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-07-04 12:22:442022-07-04 12:22:45Bongbong’s first veto surprises, raises questions
‘Journal report is fake news designed to help Marcos Jr.’
National Democratic Front of the Philippines chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison condemned as fake news a news report alleging he is a key contributor and an adviser to Vice President Leni Robredo and her spokesperson Atty. Barry Gutierrez.
In a statement, Sison denies the allegations in the article written for Journal News Online by Lee Ann P. Ducusin.
“I have not been advising Leni Robredo although I think that she is a far more qualified candidate for president than Ferdinand Jr. who has no qualification but to campaign with too much money from the bureaucratic loot of the late unlamented fascist dictator, Ferdinand Sr.,” Sison said.
He also denied consulting with Gutierrez.
The article, published by the Journal Group’s online version last Thursday claimed Sison admitted advising Robredo.
The article claimed Sison, through the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) official organ Ang Bayan, “encouraged all partisans to persevere and be steadfast in supporting Leni, who vowed to stand with the people in the fight against an oppressive system.”
The article further claimed that Sison and Gutierrez were engaged in “several phone conversations…where he laid down several pointers on how to initiate a media attack on other presidential candidates, particularly Isko Moreno and Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.”
Sison revealed that he has never been approached or interviewed by Ducusin.
CPP’s chief information officer Marco Valbuena has since denied the CPP had ever published a statement related to what Ducusin and the Journal claimed.
“This is obviously fake news concocted by Marcos in the hope of lending credibility to claims of a ‘coalition’ between the Robredo camp and the CPP in the hope of consolidating the support of the anti-communist military and police officers for Marcos,” Valbuena said.
Gutierrez also denied the report’s allegations.
“Absolute lie. Nabaliw na yata ‘yung writer. (The writer must have turned crazy.) Desperate much?” Gutierrez said on Twitter.
The Romualdez family-owned Journal group of publications is known for its anti-Robredo articles.
The powerful clan from Leyte, headed by Representative Martin Romualdez, is closely related to Marcos Jr. through his mother Imelda who was born a Romualdez. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
Jose Maria Sison, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant, said Leody de Guzman is the best among the candidates in the May 2022 presidential elections.
In a tweet on Thursday, March 3, Sison praised de Guzman’s candidacy and said he wishes the labor leader the best.
“Despite his lack of financial resources, he is the best of the presidential candidates in the 2022 elections,” Sison wrote on his Twitter account.
“Whatever is the outcome of his electoral campaign, he advances the just cause of the Filipino people in the struggle for national and social liberation,” one of the country’s most prominent political personalities added.
Sison was reacting to de Guzman’s answer to a media interview on what he thinks of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) co-founder who had been labelled as so-called terrorist by the Philippine government.
“I believe he is a revolutionary, not a terrorist,” de Guzman told One PH program “’Wag Po!” on Tuesday evening.
“If the issue is that he’s called a terrorist, not for me. My view of him is that Joma Sison is a revolutionary individual,” the candidate added.
Leody de Guzman is a principled and courageous political leader from the working class.He is the best of the presidential candidates in the 2022 elections. Whatever is the outcome of his electoral campaign, he advances the just cause of the Filipino people.https://t.co/OkD1GvcZUo
Sison thanked de Guzman for defending him against the “false charge of terrorism.”
“For making his statement below, he is a principled and courageous political leader from the working class,” Sison said.
De Guzman is the presidential candidate most open to resuming formal peace negotiations with the NDFP, saying he had been espousing many of the same advocacies as those who were forced by social injustices to take up arms.
He also repeatedly said he does not consider the CPP, the New People’s Army and the NDFP as terrorist organizations.
“We should begin with an honest-to-goodness recognition they are not terrorists. We should acknowledge that their issues are legitimate,” he said.
If elected, de Guzman said his administration shall try to overturn the social system that makes rich people richer and the poor poorer. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/leody-1.jpg11102048Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-03-03 12:01:132022-03-03 12:01:15Joma says Leody is the best candidate
