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ITANONG MO KAY PROF: Podcast on Charlie Hebdo massacre

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SAGOT SA MGA TANONG NG KODAO UKOL SA CHARLIE HEBDO
Prof. Jose Maria Sison
January 9, 2015

Tanong 1: Ano ang inyong pagtingin sa pagkakapaslang sa mga staff/journalist/cartoonist ng Charlie Hebdo?

JMS: Kinokondena ko ang pagpaslang sa mga editor, cartoonist at staff ng Charlie Hebdo. May karapatan silang mabuhay at magpahayag. May karapatan sila sa due process. Hindi lang basta kung sino na lang ang pumaslang sa kung sino pa. Hindi sapat na dahilan ang mga sinulat at drawing nila para patayin sila.

Nakikidalamhati ako sa kamag-anakan, mga kolega at mga kaibigan ng mga pinaslang. Malalim ang simpatya ko sa kanila. Pero may kalipikasyon at hantungan ng aking simpatya. Hindi ko iproproklama ang sarili ko bilang Charlie Hebdo. Hindi ako sang-ayon sa anti-Islam at racial prejudices ng Charlie Hebdo at ang ginawang pang-iinsulto, panunuya at panghahamon sa mga Muslim at mga taong hindi puti.

May karapatan ang Charlie Hebdo na mamahayag, magpuna at magmungkahi. Pero may responsabilidad na igalang ang karapatan ng iba, mga indibidwal man, organisayon o komunidad. Lahat ay may mga karapatan at may responsabilidad na igalang ang karapatan ng iba. Maglalaro ka sa apoy kung saktan mo ang niloloob ng maraming tao, tutuyain mo at hahamunin mo pa dahil lamang sa relihyon nila o kulay ng balat nila.

Tanong 2: Ano po kaya ang maaaring impak sa buong daigdig ng massacre sa Paris, sa bansang maunlad gaya nito na sinasabing may kalayaan naman daw sa pagsasalita at pamamahayag ang mga tao.

JMS: Sa Pransiya mismo at sa ibang bansang imperyalista, may mga pwersang reaksyonaryo na gustong gamitin ang insidenteng Charlie Hebdo sa ngalan ng pagtataguyod ng press freedom para palitawin na terorista ang mga Muslim at mga taong hindi puti ang balat at para gawing lalong maigting ang represyon o terorismo ng estado at para bigyan din ng katwiran ang mga digma ng agresyon ng mga bansang imperyalista sa Middle East at North Africa.

Malamang na ang pumaslang sa tauhan ng Charlie Hebdo ay kumilos dahil sa labis na galit sa pambabastos kay propetang Mohamad at mga Muslim. Pero pinapalaki ng mga imperyalista ang insidente at tinataguriang terorismo para ilihis ang pansin ng mga mamamayan sa krisis sa ekonomiya at sa mega-terorismo o malakihang terorismo ng mga imperyalistang estado sa loob at labas ng bansa nila.

Sabi ng ilang ulat na ang dalawang magkapatid na suspetsado ay mga miembro ng Al Qaida o Islamic state ng Syria at Iraq (ISIS) na sumasalanta ngayon sa Syria at Iraq. Kung kailan lang, ang ISIS o ISIL ay pinondohan, inorganisa, inarmasan at sinanay ng mga imperyalistang ahente ng US, Inglaterra at Pransiya tulad ng dating ginawa sa mga tinaguriang Islamista na nagpabagsak sa gobyerno ni Qadaffi sa Lybia. May teorya ng ilan na mga ahente mismo ng gobyernong Pranses ang nagpakana sa Charlie Hebdo incident para gawing sangkalan ng terorismo ng estado ng mga imperyalista at mga papet nila.

Ang mga tunay at malaking o dambuhalang terorista ay mga imperyalistang kapangyarihan na pinamumunuan ng Estados Unidos. Kasama riyan ang Pransiya. Sa mga gera ng agresyon nila, milyun-milyong tao ang pinapatay at pinalilisan at winawasak ang kabuhayan at social infrastructure nila. Dahil sa paglubha ng krisis, ibayong lumilitaw ang rasismo, represyon at pasismo sa mismong mga imperyalistang bansa na nagyayabang na mga sentro sila ng demokrasya at kalayaan.

Groups press demand on fare rollback

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Train Riders Network (TREN), an alliance of workers, young professionals and other train riders today reiterated their call for the Supreme Court to pass a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implemented MRT-LRT fare hikes. They held a picket protest in front of the Department of Transportation and Communications after holding an information dissemination activity at the North Avenue MRT Station in Quezon City earlier.

January 12, 2015

ON THE MURDER OF THE CHARLIE HEBDO EDITORS, CARTOONISTS, STAFF AND SECURITY OFFICERS

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison

Chairperson

International League of Peoples’ Struggle

January 9, 2015

 

We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, condemn the murder of the twelve Charlie Hebdo editors, cartoonists, staff and security offices in Paris and we express condolences to their families, colleagues and friends. The victims deserve the sympathy and indignation of the people. No one ever deserves to be murdered.

 

The Charlie Hebdo personnel had the status of journalists and were entitled to the freedom of the press as well as the right of everyone to the right of free expression, subject to respect to the inviolability of the just rights of others, be they individuals, groups or communities. Whether the Charlie Hebdo personnel performed their calling responsibly or not, their murder is unjustifiable because they carried on their trade with pen and ink and were entitled to the fundamental right to life and of due process.

 

But we cannot go so far as to proclaim ourselves as Charlie Hebdo because we know that this publication has sought to earn money by trading on extreme religious and racial biases, insults and taunts to entire communities and to the Islamic world of more than 1.6 billion people. It is necessary to qualify our sympathy, which is focused on the aspect of murder, in order to prevent the use of the murderous incident to further inflame religious and racial hatred against the people of color, favor the rise of repression and fascism and approve the big scale terrorism of French imperialism abroad.

 

We object to and oppose the competition among political factions of French imperialists (like those parties headed by Hollande, Sarkozy and Le Pen) to use the murderous Charlie Hebdo incident to whip up state terrorism and make a wide boulevard or express way for fascism. Islamophobic attacks have begun to break out in several French cities. We must understand that the various political factions of the French big bourgeoisie created the domestic crisis situation and pushed the aggressions abroad which have led to the Charlie Hebdo incident.

 

We must recall that one after the other the Sarkozy and Hollande regimes have taken a major role in US-NATO aggressions against countries in North Africa and Middle East or West Asia, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Libya and Syria. They have participated in mega-terrorism involving the massacre and displacement of millions of people and the massive destruction of states, economies and social infrastructure.

 

Aside from using economic sanctions and weapons of mass destruction, the US and other Western imperialist powers (including UK and France) have shown a knack for creating their own Islamist terrorist groups in order to push imperialist objectives. They promoted Islamic fundamentalism for anti-communist purposes and this eventually led to the formation of Al Qaida of Osama bin Laden. They also financed, organized, armed and trained the Al Qaida types of terrorist groups to cause the downfall of Qaddafi in Libya and to carry out the current depredations in Syria and Iraq.###

 

The two major suspects in the Charlie Hebdo incident are supposed to be French citizens of Middle East origin who have been trained as operatives of Daash or the Islamic state (ISIS or ISIL) and who have just come from combat duty in Syria or thereabouts. The theories about them is that either on their own they were driven by the anti-Islamic satire of Charlie Hebdo to commit the murders or they are merely fictive agents or actual puppets in a 9-11 type of false flag operation carried out by French intelligence to divert attention from the worsening economic and social situation and justify the escalation of state terrorism in France as well as the aggressive actions of France abroad.###

 

 

 

 

BAYAN MUNA MOVES TO DEFER MRT/LRT FARE HIKE AT CONGRESS HEARING

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Says DOTC made 3 fatal admissions vs MRT/LRT fare hike

At the first hearing of the Congress Transportation Committee on the Light Rail Transit 1 and 2 (LRT 1 and 2) as well as the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT3) fare hikes Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said that Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Undersecretary (Usec.) Jose Lotilla made at least three (3) fatal admissions against the MRT/LRT fare hikes.

“No.1 is that Usec. Lotilla admitted that the DOTC does not have the authority to increase fares, so the fare hike is illegal. No.2 he also admitted that the MRT/LRT makes profit and that the fare hike would go to the concessionaire. No.3 Usec. Lotilla also said that under the concession agreement for the LRT1 extension, this would just be the first fare increase and that there would be fares hikes every two years,” said Senior Deputy Minority Leader Colmenares.

“There is treachery and deception on Malacanang’s part because they have not been forthright about these issues and are still doing all they can to justify the fare increase. It is also deplorable that DOTC Sec. Joseph Abaya did not even show up at the hearing but is all over media defending the fare hike,” added the progressive solon.

“As it is I already moved for the Transportation committee to recommend the deferment of the fare hike pending the decision of the Supreme Court for the TRO. We will do all we can to stop these hikes because this is just the start of fare hikes especially LRT1,” said Rep. Colmenares.

Based on a study of IBON Foundation, the LRT 1 is the biggest project auctioned so far by the Aquino administration under its PPP program at P65 billion. It is also one of the most controversial because the Aquino government has given greater guarantees and perks than the ‘sweetheart deals’ done by previous administrations, the grave effects of which the public is still paying or to this day.

Quoting again from the IBON study Rep. Colmenares said that; “among the guarantees and perks that MPIC-Ayala group now enjoy are 1.)  the government will actually be paying some P34.9 billion or more than the half the of the total project cost of P64.9 billion for right of way acquisition, purchase of coaches, civil works, etc. This means that Light Rail Manila Consortiums rail business in effect benefits from the lower borrowing costs of government including from official development assistance (ODA). There is also an additional P5 billion subsidy of ‘viability gap funding’. Moreover, the concession agreement allows Light Rail Manila to pay the premium in tranches- 10% up front and the rest in a quarterly basis after five years,”

“2.) They are also assured of fare hikes, with their concept of notional fare composed of the boarding fare which is charged to commuters per trip and a distance fare which is charged according to distance travelled from the boarding station to the exiting station. The concession agreement (CA) states that by August 1, 2014 the private concessionaire is granted an initial notional fare that is actually a fare hike, which what they are demanding now. The initial notional fare is a boarding fee of P12.13 plus a distance fare of P1.10 per kilometre. This provision will result in an increase of fares up to 101.7% per trip depending on the route,” he added.

“3.) The CA also allows Light Rail Manila to have periodic adjustments in the notional fare starting August 1, 2016. The consortium is allowed to increase by 10.15% every adjustment period (every two years). Also upon completion of the extension line to Niyog station in Bacoor, which is estimated to take three years, the notional fare at that time can be hiked by five percent. On top of this, the CA also allows to adjust notional fares automatically according to inflation rates (inflation-rebasing) every four years starting from 2018 onwards.  Aside from these there are other additional increases: 1.) another 5% hike upon completion of construction of the extension; 2.) a programmed periodic adjustment of some 10% every two years; and 3.) pass-on of power cost fluctuations up to 5% of the notional fare,” said the progressive solon.

“4.) The CA also contains a mechanism assuring Light Rail Manila that it will be able to collect the notional fare if the approved fare is lower. Which means the government will pay a ‘deficit payment’ to cover the gap. This is a regulatory risk guarantee and the consortium never had it this good but at the expense of commuters. Seeing the extent of the perks the MPIC-Ayala group are enjoying it is incumbent upon us to exhaust all means so that commuters would not be at the losing end of this more than a sweetheart deal,” ended Rep. Colmenares.. ###

MRT-LRT Fare Hike: Aquino’s Great Train Robbery

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Bayan calls on commuters and taxpayers to resolutely oppose the recent fare increases for the MRT3, and the LRT 1 and 2 train lines. These added burdens, treacherously announced and implemented during the holidays, are without legal basis and are patently anti-commuter. These increases merely serve the profit interests of the private companies with stakes in the train system while justifying government’s abandonment of its responsibility to provide affordable and efficient mass transportation for the people.

Aquino’s Great Train Robbery will victimize the 1.3 million daily commuters of the MRT and LRT, taking from their pockets P2.1 billion.
http://www.bayan.ph/2015/01/04/stop-the-runaway-mrt-lrt-fare/
http://www.bayan.ph

LRT-MRT FARE HIKE WILL NOT GO TO TRAIN IMPROVEMENTS, GROUP REITERATES

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The argument that the fare hikes for LRT 1 and 2 and MRT 3 are justified because it will go to the much-needed improvements for the train system is erroneous, research group IBON reiterated. It added that this claim is meant to appease growing opposition over the unreasonable and unjust fare hikes.

No less than the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) admitted that the MRT fare hike would go not to the much-needed improvements of the infrastructure, amid glitches and breakdowns, but to serve government’s questionable financial obligations to the MRT Corporation (MRTC).

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The DOTC announced the fare increases over the holiday break, which has sparked public outrage. IBON has stressed that the current fares are enough to cover the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of the light rail transport systems.

According to the group, low fares are not the reason behind bloated government expenses for the LRT/MRT. In the case of MRT, the costs swelled because of the onerous financial obligations of government arising from its build-lease-transfer (BLT) contract with the privately owned MRTC. Under the BLT, government agreed to pay for the guaranteed annual 15% return on investment (ROI) of the MRTC in the form of equity rental payments (ERP), as well as the settlement of MRTC’s tax liabilities.

Based on latest available data, these financial obligations under the BLT comprise about 81% of total MRT 3 expenses, while only 19% go to O&M. It should be noted that half of the projected Php2-billion ‘savings’ that government expects to generate from the fare hikes will come from the MRT.

For LRT 1 and 2, bulk of the expenses goes to  their debt servicing with more than 47%, based on latest available data. Government, through the taxpayers’ money, shoulders these expenses since the LRT system is a public investment.

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But what makes the fare hike more unjust, particularly in the case of LRT 1 that has been recently privatized, is that the people will bear an increasing share of the debt-servicing burden even as the system generates private profits for the consortium of the MVP-Ayala group and their foreign partners. The consortium won the LRT 1 public-private partnership or PPP project last year.

According to IBON, it is clear that there is no need for a fare hike if government will fulfill its mandate of providing a reliable and affordable mass transportation system. The group stressed that mass transportation should be measured not in terms of commercial viability but on its contribution to citizens and the economy. (end)

 

(IBON Media Release/Photos by Reggie Mamangun)

“NO NEED FOR MRT-LRT FARE HIKES!”- BAYAN MUNA SOLONS

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There are even double entries for MRT/LRT rehab on 2015 and supplemental budgets

Reacting to the planned Metro Rail Transit/ Light Rail Transit (MRT/LRT) fare hike announced by Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) secretary Joseph Abaya, Bayan Muna party list representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate urged the DOTC to stop the rate increase insisting that there are other options to improve the services of the mass rail systems without burdening commuters.

“It seems that the Aquino administration is really hell-bent on increasing the fares of the MRT and LRT, they have been proposing this added burden since 2011 and we will continue to oppose it. Mass transits are a public service and should be the responsibility of government and not a burden to the people,” said Rep. Colmenares.

“Sec. Abaya’s justification for hiking MRT 3 fares defeats the purpose of constructing mass transit systems which is to provide the public with cheap transportation services,” said Rep. Zarate.

“The 2015 and the supplemental budget provided for MRT and LRT of at least P11.109 billion, consisting of LRT1 North Extension (Common Station)-P 769,809,000.00, the LRT2 West Extension- P200,000,000, the MRT3 Rehabilitation and Capacity Expansion-P2,569,200,000, the Repair/ Rehabilitation of LRT Lines 1and 2-P977,690,000, MRT 3Rehabilitation and Capacity Expansion (Supplemental Budget)-P957,163,000, LRT 1 and 2 Rehabilitation (Supplemental Budget)-P977,690,000 and the Mass Transport Subsidy-P4,657,504,000. Now, where will all these money go including the double entries for the LRT 1 and 2 rehabilitation if the fare hike is implemented? ”asked Rep. Colmenares.

“While the Aquino government has no qualms in imposing rate increases to save P2 Billion, they can afford to splurge P54.9 billion for a useless endeavour to buy out the MRT which they lost because of a highly questionable sweetheart deal. Why don’t we use the P54.9 Billion to further upgrade the MRT-LRT service instead. Pag tubo palaging pinapaburan ang mga private corporations pero pag dagdag na bayarin taong bayan ang sisingilin. This is insensitivity to the public’s plight and is really unacceptable,” ended Rep. Colmenares.

Bayan Muna filed House Resolution 111 to investigate the proposed MRT/LRT fare hikes. # # #

News Release
December 22, 2014
Reference: Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares, 09178350459
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, 09177174014

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

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

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

Karapatan enumerated a number of these crimes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Bonifacio Day 2014 — Robin Padilla, Juana Change…

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Actor Robin Padilla, comedienne Juana Change and other luminaries join militants in commemorating the 151st birth anniversary of Filipino revolutionary martyr Gat Andres Bonifacio. ILPS-Philippines and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Chair Elmer Labog vows to continue the struggle for freedom and democracy. Also in the rally are Makabayan President Satur Ocampo, Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Manobos from Mindanao and leaders of various sectoral social movements.