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Groups renew call to repeal oil deregulation law after today’s big-time price hike

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By Nuel M. Bacarra

Transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) condemned the big-time oil price hike that took effect today, August 8, and demanded that the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government repeal the Oil Deregulation Law and suspend the expanded value added and excise tax on petroleum products.

According to the group, the increases on fuel prices are triggered by the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act (Republic Act 8479) that had been wreaking havoc on the livelihood of public utility vehicles (PUV) drivers and small operators since the start of its implementation in 1998.

For the fifth consecutive week since last month, oil companies implemented price increases, this time to an average of P4.10 increase per liter of diesel and P0.50 per liter of gasoline.

Today’s oil price increase had been the steepest since July 11.

PISTON national president Mody Floranda said, “Oil price increases in the country are expected by the Department of Energy to continue in the succeeding weeks, and the inaction of the Marcos administration (on petitions to repeal the law) is a direct attack on the livelihood of the drivers and the people.”

In the last four weekly oil price hikes alone, PISTON said jeepney drivers lost an average of P90.00 per day or a total of P2,250.00 a month.

The group pointed out that this development came after Marcos Jr. said in his State of the Nation Address less than three weeks back that Filipinos are benefitting from so-called reduction in prices of commodities.

Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) clarified that the latest spate of price hikes could not be blamed on oil exporting countries alone.

Bayan secretary general Raymond Palatino said Saudi Arabia’s plan to cut down oil production by one million barrels a day has yet to take effect by September.

“There’s no actual cut yet, no reduction in production yet. [There is] only news that they will reduce production and yet the prices already increased,” Palatino complained.

“The one that really benefits from the oil price hikes is the government because of its excise tax and VAT (value-added tax) on oil products. It is fine if the government really uses it for the people. But based on their budget (2024) proposal, where will it go? To confidential funds, foreign trips, Maharlika!” Palatino added.

KADAMAY members in Quezon City hold a protest action against the recent spate of oil price hikes. (Kadamay Facebook Page photo)

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) earlier said the government is set to release P2.95 billion worth of fuel subsidies for PUV operators and drivers “to cushion the impact of the increase in fuel prices”.

The financial assistance package will also cover tricycle drivers and delivery riders, the agency said last Sunday.

“We will make sure that the assistance to our PUV drivers will be distributed immediately so they can use it, pay for their fuel and improve their daily income,” transportation secretary Jaime Bautista said.

PUV drivers will receive a one-time cash grant from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board while the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Information and Communications Technology will hand out the financial assistance to tricycle drivers and delivery services riders, respectively.

The financial aid will be given through the beneficiaries’ cash cards, the government announced.

Yesterday, Monday, members of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) held a protest event at the corner of Quezon Avenue and Agham Road in Quezon City against the latest series of oil price hikes.

KADAMAY said they also demand the abolition of the excise tax on oil prices and the junking of the oil deregulation law.

The group said that in addition to the fact that most PUV drivers are residents of urban poor communities, the series of oil price hikes also drive the prices of basic commodities to go higher and cause further hardships to the people. #

Consumers demand cash aid, wage hike as more oil price increases loom

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A network of consumers’ rights advocates demanded that government continue with the roll out of its promised aid to families severely affected by recent spikes in prices of goods and services.

The Samahan at Ugnayan ng mga Konsyumer para sa Ikauunlad ng Bayan (SUKI Network) said their demand for cash assistance for affected families, transport workers, small businesses and producers are unchanged despite the rollback in oil prices this week.

The group also pressed the government to implement salary increases and reduce prices by scrapping oil excise taxes to help poor families recover from pandemic consumer woes.

SUKI Network is composed of organizations of poor sectors such as drivers, the urban poor, workers, farmers, small entrepreneurs, academics, church people, advocates of the right to food and basic needs, social services, public utilities, among others.

Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) officer Eufemia Doringo said such demands are just as they see further increases in prices of goods and services as another round of oil prices loom nest week.

“Transport workers with the Pinagkaisang Lakas ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON) say they are far from recovered with the Php11.45/liter rollback. They have lost income from 11 consecutive weeks of oil price increases this year exceeding Php30.00,” Doringo said.

Doringo reported that in the urban poor community of Sitio San Roque, Barangay North Triangle, Quezon City, rice is being sold at Php35-36/kilo, pork bones at Php250-300/kilo, dried fish at Php10-20/piece, cabbage at Php50-80/piece and sugar at (Php53-Php70/kilo.

Consumer rights advocate Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada at Kuryente (BKKK) also criticized increased electricity rates it said would impact so-called lifeline consumers.

BKKK convenor Prof. Louie Montemar said the government should consider using the Malampaya funds to subsidize electricity rates and offset the new Php0.0625 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase, bringing rates to Php9.6467 per kWh.

Government shows lack of control

Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis meanwhile said that the rollback indicates price manipulation on the part of oil cartels.

“They easily announced a rollback after raking super-profits from the total several weeks’ hike of up to Php30.75 per liter in the price of diesel, up to20.50 for gasoline and PHp24.90 for kerosene,” Casilao explained.

The former legislator said the rise and fall in oil prices also shows government’s lack of control of the oil industry under the Oil Deregulation Law.

“As long as deregulation is in place, the nation and the public are at the mercy of giant oil companies’ opaque pricing schemes. The unbundling of the price of petroleum products in the recommended amendments to the deregulation law would be welcome,” Casilao said.

The SUKI network said it demands the unbundling of petroleum product prices, scrapping of the oil excise tax and Oil Deregulation Law, Php10,000 cash assistance for the 18 million poorest households, Php15,000 subsidy to producers, substantial support for small local businesses, and a Php750 national minimum wage.

Collect Marcoses’ unpaid taxes

The network said Duterte’s recent order to increase its monthly financial aid to the poorest Filipino families affected by oil price increases from Php200 to Php500 still only amounts to just Php16.67 per day.

It also cited figures from economic think tank IBON Foundation that the real value of the minimum wage has fallen from Php536.74 in 2016 to Php494.02 in February 2022.

According to IBON, the living wage is now at Php1,072 per day or Php25,252 per month for a family of five in the National Capital Region.”

“The argument that there aren’t funds for the people’s demands is worn and torn,” SUKI Network spokesperson Prof. Reginald Vallejos said.

“IBON has shown that if the Duterte government really wants to help its constituency, it can reallocate the trillions it budgeted for big-ticket infrastructure, debt servicing, and military and police modernization; recover tax cuts given to big corporations; and tax the bilionaires,” Vallejos said.

Kadamay’s Doringo added that the government must also decisively collect Php203 billion estate tax arrears of the heirs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as additional source of funds for its cash aid roll out.

“Instead of letting them go scott-free while tens of thousands of small businesses are forced to close due to lack of government support, the Marcoses should be obliged by government to face the law and pay up”, Doringo said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Court acquits activist couple in Manila

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Another Burgos-Villavert warrant dismissed

By Joseph Cuevas

A Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge acquitted two political prisoners on Wednesday, November 24, dismissing charges against them based on a search warrant issued by a controversial Quezon City judge.

In a 13-page decision, Branch 19 judge Marlo Mardazo-Malagar said that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt Michael Bartolome and Cora Agovida’s ownership or possession of illegal firearms, ammunitions and explosives the police alleged were seized from the couple.

The polices’ Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) raided Agovida and Bartolome house in Sta. Ana, Manila on October 31, 2019, later alleging they found hand guns and a hand grenade during the raid.

In a text message, Atty. Katherine Panguban of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers told Kodao that the couple’s arrest sprung from the implementation of a series of “questionable” search warrants issued by Quezon City Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert in 2019 against Metro Manila based activists and rights defenders.

Burgos-Villavert also issued warrants against Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Metro Manila’s Ram Bautista, Manila Workers’ Unity’s Alma Moran and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay)-Manila’s Reina Mae Nasino based on police information that the activists were part of a gun-running syndicate.

Other Burgos-Villavert warrants have been either quashed or junked by fellow judges, including the one used against journalist Lady Ann Salem and trade union organizer Rodrigo Esparago in December 2020.

Salem and Esparago were released last March after the Mandaluyong City RTC dismissed charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the two..

Womens group Gabriela said it welcomes the court decision, adding the development is a slap on the Rodrigo Duterte administration that has incessantly attacked activists and human rights defenders.

Agovida is Gabriela-Manila’s chairperson and regional spokesperson of Gabriela-Metro Manila while Bartolome is a Kadamay-Metro Manila organizer. #

‘Justice,’ Kadamay says of death of Badion’s alleged assassin

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Urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) said its assassinated secretary general Carlito Badion had been given justice with the reported death of one of his alleged assassins.

This was the group’s reaction to a report that one of Badion’s alleged killers, Jojo “Pekulo” Lucero, had recently been punished with death by the New People’s Army (NPA) last June 25 in Ormoc City.

“What we have seen through the punishment done by the NPA is that Filipinos are seeking alternative methods for justice as the government continues to fail them. Kadamay supports all oppressed sectors in their search for justice and accountability,” the group said.

Badion, long-serving Kadamay secretary general, was tortured and murdered in his home city of Ormoc in Leyte in May 28, 2020.

Badion defended urban poor communities from violent demolitions and was known critic of substandard and dangerous government relocation sites.

He had been a repeated victim of red-tagging by government security forces until his death.

In an announcement through the underground Eastern Visayas newspaper Larab last October 2, the NPA said it conducted investigations and found Lucero guilty of being one of Badion’s assassins.

The decision was reached by a “people’s court” and was carried out by the NPA, the Larab report said.

The NPA said Lucero also took Badion’s laptop computer, mobile phone and money after the urban poor leader was killed.

“Sa isinagawang imbestigasyon sa kaso, napatunayang nasa ilalim ng proteksyon ng pulis si Lucero. Ayon sa nakalap na impormasyon, ‘sumuko’ siya sa lokal na yunit ng Philippine National Police (PNP) matapos paslangin si Badion,” the NPA said. 

(The investigation conducted proved Lucero was under police protection. According to pieces of information we gathered, he ‘surrendered’ to the local PNP unit after Badion was killed.)

But the police did not press charges against Lucero and instead sent him home with money and grocery items, the group added. 

Lucero was also a known police asset who, despite being involved in theft charges has not been jailed, the NPA said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Nanay Mameng

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Mother Mameng delves deep into the character of a woman who has experienced extreme poverty and domestic violence and rose from from it all to become the beloved personality, well-known to the Philippine mass movement.

Written and directed by Adjani Arumpac and produced by Kodao Productions, this 2012 bio-docu was the Gawad Urian Best Documentary that year.

Carmen Deunida passed away due to old age last July 19, still the beloved icon of the urban poor movement in the Philippines. (Featured artwork by Tom Estrera.)

LAHAT NG INA’Y AKTIBISTA

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(Para kay Nanay Mameng)

Ni Katrina Yamzon

ang lahat ng ina’y aktibista.

walang papantay sa tapang niyang angkin.

nang siyam na buwan ika’y kanyang dalhin.

wala nang hihigit sa hapding kanyang tiniis,

marinig lamang una mong munting pagtangis.

inihele ka ng palabang himig

ng kanyang mga oyayi at kundiman,

habang ika’y nahihimbing

sa pag-ugoy niya ng iyong duyan.

gumabay siya sa bawat mong paghakbang,

lumalaban sa balakid sa iyong daraanan,

tumutuligsa sa iyong bawat mga kahinaan,

umuunawa sa bawat mong pakikipaglaban.

kakayanin niya ang lahat.

gagawin niya ang lahat.

kahit pa ang

pumatag ng bundok,

tumangan ng armas,

bumago ng sistema,

magpalaya ng lipunan

para sa anak na pinag-aalayan

ng buhay nito’t kamatayan.

ang lahat ng ina’y aktibista,

na umiibig

kaya’t nakikibaka.

Urban poor champion Carmen Deunida passes away

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Carmen Deunida, founding chairperson of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), died yesterday, Monday, July 19.

“It is with sadness that we announce that our great leader and founding chairperson has passed away at 93 years old,” Kadamay announced in Filipino.

Deunida was a 50 year old single mother in Leveriza in Manila when she became an activist and a community leader after listening to political discussions held in their house by youth groups her son was part of in 1978.

She was also a women’s rights advocate, being a victim of domestic violence.

Frail-looking but a master of rousing speeches, Deunida first gained prominence at anti-Joseph Estrada protest rallies and became among the most popular speakers in rallies against the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presidency.

She remained a critic even during the Benigno Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte administrations.

“Lalaban hanggang may dugo. Titigil lang ako sa kapag ako’y nasa kabaong na!” was one of her most memorable and oft-repeated lines. (I will fight on while there is still blood in me. I will only stop when I am inside a coffin.)

Deunida’s popularity was instrumental in the establishment of Kadamay after the second people power uprising that ousted Estrada in 2001.

She witnessed the organization’s growth into the country’s biggest and most militant organization of the urban poor.

Deunida had been in an undisclosed hospital for several days before she died.

Deunida was the subject of the bio-documentary “Nanay Mameng” that won the 2012 Gawad Urian Best Documentary. Produced by Kodao Productions, it was written and directed by Adjani Arumpac.

Kadamay said it will soon announce schedules of tribute activities and Nanay Mameng’s internment. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

QC houses demolished amid strict Covid lockdown

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[UPDATED, 7:00 AM, April 6, 2021] Amid an extended round of the latest Covid pandemic lockdown, several houses had been demolished today along Maginoo Street, Barangay Pinyahan in Quezon City.

Urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) reported that elderly residents who lived in the demolished houses have been forced out on the streets, raising fears they may later be arrested by the police for curfew and lock down violations.

Eleven families were affected and no relocation has yet been offered to them, Kadamay told Kodao.

Private claimant-couple Nicolo and Luzviminda Junsay led the demolition, Kadamay said.

The group claimed the demolition is illegal and that barangay officials had no prior knowledge of the incident.

Kadamay said that prior to today’s incident, the affected residents were being forced to sign certain documents but no court order and notice have been presented before the demolition team swooped down on the community.

Demolition along Maginoo Street, Brgy. Pinyahan, Quezon City. (Kadamay photos)

“While we are under the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), the demolition pushed through. No notice, no relief goods, no assistance had been given to those affected and straight out on the streets they went,” Kadamay said in an alert.

The group blamed both the National Housing Authority and President Rodrigo Duterte as promoters of demolitions.

“They order us to stay at home while new coronavirus cases are on the rise, but they continue to endanger people. Those affected have lost their houses and are likely to be arrested while they are out on the streets,” Kadamay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Walang doktor sa maralitang pamayanan, puro militar’

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Sumapi ang Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap o KADAMAY sa protestang SONAgkaisa noong Lunes, Hulyo 27, upang irehistro ang anila’y militaristang tugon ng gubyernong Rodrigo Duterte sa pandemyang COVID-19 sa mahihirap na pamayanan.

Imbes umano na mga doktor ang ipadala sa kanilang mga pamayanan, militar ang dumating sa kanila.

Tinuligsa rin nila ang iba pang panggigipit sa kanila at kawalan ng lubos na tulong sa kanila habang may krisis. (Bidyo nina Maricon Montajes at Alicia Manganti)

Ang pighati ng maralita sa pagpaslang kay ‘Karletz’

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Pighati ang nadarama ng mga maralitang lungsod sa pagpanaw ng pangkalahatang kalihim ng Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap o KADAMAY. Nananawagan sila ng katarungan para sa pagpaslang kay Carlito Badion na anila’y mga ahente ng estado ang malamang na may kagagawan. Bago ang kanyang kamatayan, napilitan si ‘Karletz’ na umuwi sa Silangang Bisayas dahil sa sunod-sunod na banta sa kanyang buhay mula sa militar at pulisya. Ani ng kanyang mga kapwa maralita, martir si Karletz sa kanilang pakikibaka para sa pabahay at katarungang panlipunan. (Music: Isang Minutong Katahimikan ni Erickson Acosta)