Posts

Media groups urge Marcos Jr to ensure media freedom

Manila’s Cardinal Advincula: ‘When truth is at stake, remaining apathetic and being silent is a sin’

International and local media groups urged the incoming Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government to commit to protecting media freedom they said has since deteriorated after being restored upon the ouster of the first Marcos regime in 1986.

Reminding that the media was “restricted and regulated” during his father’s regime, seven media groups said media freedom has also suffered under the outgoing Rodrigo Duterte government with increased attacks on journalists and independent media.

“The president-elect of the Philippines as a result of the May 9 election must ensure the protection of media freedom in the country. Media freedom is important to fulfill the right to information for the public, which is one of the keys to democracy,” the seven groups said.

In a statement, the Alliance of Independent Journalists, Center for Independent Journalism, The Movement of Independent Media / Gerakan Media Merdeka, Freedom Film Network, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, and Association of Journalists of Timor Leste cited that the Philippines has declined on the World Press Freedom Index in the last five years.

“Using new metrics to measure press freedom in its 2022 index, Reporters Without Borders ranked the Philippines 147th, the third lowest in Southeast Asia,” the groups said.

They added that the guarantee of media freedom must be implemented by enacting press freedom laws, establishing independent media councils, decriminalizing defamation, ending censorship and bans on the media, and stopping lawsuits.

The groups also said the Philippine government must stop the practice of impunity by committing to uncover and prosecute the perpetrators of attacks against journalists and media, both physically and digitally. Perpetuating impunity will result in a prolonged cycle of violence.

Letter to President-elect Marcos

In a separate May 23 letter, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) President Jodie Ginsberg requested President-elect Ferdinand Jr. to reverse Duterte’s “abusive acts and policies” targeting independent media and journalists and to restore the Philippines’ “once-proud standing as a regional bastion of press freedom.”

Ginsberg said that Marcos should undo Duterte’s long campaign of intimidation and harassment of the press and “give top priority to this urgent task.”

“The legitimacy of your administration should be based on independently reported facts that allow for the kind of true public accountability that is the hallmark of strong democracies. The people of the Philippines deserve no less,” Ginsberg wrote.

Ginsberg said the new Marcos administration should end the relentless persecution of journalist and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Ressa she described as “a global beacon of press freedom.”

“CPJ calls on your government to immediately drop all pending charges against Ressa, her colleagues, and the Rapplermedia group,” Ginsberg wrote.

She said the cases against Ressa and Rappler were trumped-up in attempts to shutter Rappler and carry potential prison penalties.

Ginsberg also mentioned Rappler reporter and NUJP director Lian Buan who complained of being shoved and blocked several times by the president-elect’s security detail and media relations officer while covering Ferdinand Jr.’s campaign events.

The CPJ said it also strongly calls on the incoming Philippine government to restore the operating franchise of ABS-CBN and to stop the Duterte regime’s red-tagging of journalists.

“Red-tagging is especially dangerous considering the Philippine military’s alleged role in extrajudicial killings and torture of accused communists,” Ginsberg wrote.

The CPJ also called on Marcos Jr. to drop the red tagging-related charges pending against journalist Frenchiemae Cumpio who has been languishing behind bars for over two years in an attempt to silence her reporting on the Philippine military’s operations against communist rebels and alleged associated human rights abuses.

“As the Philippines’ newly elected leader, you have the mandate to reassert your country’s damaged democratic credentials by forthrightly promoting and protecting press freedom. We urge you to seize this important moment and state clearly from the outset that journalists will be free to report without fear of reprisal, intimidation, or imprisonment during your tenure,” Ginsberg said.

‘Combat lies with truth’

Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula warned of a “crisis of truth” and urged the Catholic faithful to combat lies.

Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula (wearing miter) mobbed by “selfie”takers at the end of the Thanksgiving Mass on the canonization of St. Titus Brandsma at the Cubao Cathedral last May 28. (R.VillanuevA/Kodao)

At the thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of Dutch Carmelite priest Titus Brandsma last Saturday, Advincula said the media should only be used to promote truth.

“When we seem to be experiencing a crisis of truth especially on social media, St. Titus inspires us to use social media as a pulpit from which we must proclaim, and if need be, defend the truth,” Advincula said.

Hailed as the Catholic Church’s martyr for press freedom, St.Titus Brandsma was arrested and killed by German occupiers for refusing to publish Nazi propaganda during World War II.

Advincula led the thanksgiving at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao with the Carmelite community in the Philippines after Brandsma’s elevation to Catholic Church sainthood by Pope Francis last May 15 in Rome.

“This makes St. Titus very relevant to our times. If there are forces that use social media to deceive and spread lies, let us come combat them with flooding it with the truth of God’s word,” the Cardinal said in his homily.

“St. Titus reminds that when truth is at stake, remaining apathetic and being silent is a sin,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

ITANONG MO KAY PROF: Hinggil sa Halalan 2022

Panayam ng Kodao Productions, sa pamamagitan ni Prof. Sarah Raymundo, kay Prof. Jose Maria Sison hinggil sa katatapos lang na Halalan 2022.

ANXIETY, FEAR, HOPE: A first time voter’s journal

By Justine Nicole Malonzo

I was nervous when I stepped inside our voters’ precinct last Monday. I held my ballot and pen gently, afraid I might accidentally put an unwanted mark or shade the wrong circle that would invalidate my vote.

I was worried when the machine didn’t read my ballot the first time. And the second time. And the third time. I gave out a nervous laugh and the election inspector, in an effort to relax me a bit, said, “The machine is just tired.” I do not know if it was in their manual of operations but the machine finally read my ballot on my fourth try after the inspector suggested I feed it bottom first. Relief washed over me when my voters’ receipt reflected my votes correctly.

It was 10 AM in the morning when I cast my first-ever ballot.

Except for my ballot-feeding difficulties, my entire family had an easy time of it, unlike many other voters. As a first time voter, I was curious at the long lines I saw in other precincts. We were lucky, it turned out.

We left for home soon after, except for my father who is a media worker and had to do his job. As a Kontra Daya volunteer, I later on proceeded to its Quezon City headquarters, excited to be contributing my time verifying reports of election anomalies. Kontra Daya is a poll watchdog that documents and reports poll fraud. I was oriented on what I would be doing, verifying reported anomalies in precincts listed in a Google Sheet I was given. To verify said reports, I would call and ask sources for further details.

My elation at having successfully cast my first ever ballot was again replaced with anxiety when reports of broken vote counting machines (VCM) came flooding in. There were also reports of illegal campaigning and other issues, such as VCMs refusing to print ballot receipts. Hundreds of precincts had to resort to asking voters to sign waivers agreeing to let the poll watchers feed the ballots to replacement VCMS when and if they arrive.

The issue of broken VCMS persisted until nighttime. I was still talking to people who failed to cast their votes even when the precincts have supposedly closed by 7 PM. By then, the unofficial count was already being projected at the headquarters, and the one leading in the presidential race was the son of the dictator.

And my anxiety turned to foreboding. I was scared for myself, for my family, for every Filipino’s future.

As a journalism student I’ve studied in several courses about what Marcos supporters now tout as the “golden era of the Philippines.” I heard from a professor her experiences under Martial Law that prompted me to read up on our recent history. I also met people who survived imprisonment and torture under Marcos Sr.’s regime. With the election results scrolling before my eyes, I felt so bad and devastated for all those who either died or survived the dictatorship.

Nearly a week after the polls, I still cringe whenever I see someone celebrating Marcos Jr.’s impending victory. I cried when my best friend told me how her family ridicules student activists protesting on the streets — I was one of them. My friend’s family also mocks her, a Robredo supporter, telling her to give up because the margin of Marcos’ victory was insurmountable. I cry every time I hear “Rosas”, that aspirational song I sang lustfully with the Pink crowds during the campaign period. It’s now a song that reminds me of what could have been had my candidate won.

I am sad at how the first election I directly participated in turned out. But it’s not over because I am not losing hope. I will oppose the next six year if it turns out to be the same horror story that I heard and read about. I believe there are enough number of Filipinos who will not let it happen again.  I am hopeful that the Filipino youth are discovering their worth and would be the generation that will stand up for truth. They will not let the people be silenced and oppressed again. #

Human rights stalwart Marie Hilao-Enriquez passes away

Karapatan’s chairperson emeritus Amaryllis Hilao-Enriquez has died on April 24 in California, USA, the human rights icon’s family announced.

Hilao-Enriquez’s daughter Andrea said her mother died at 12 noon Sunday (California time). She was 68.

 “My mother, Amaryllis Hilao-Enriquez, passed away at 12 noon today. She is reunited with her sister, Liliosa, who died under martial law in the Philippines,” Andrea wrote on Facebook.

 “My mother dedicated her life to fighting for justice and human rights. She was a beautiful person, funny, intelligent, brave, and strong. She was loved and will be greatly missed,” she added.

Karapatan also announced her death, adding it mourns with her family along with human rights violations victims, their families and communities.

Hilao-Enriquez was also a former chairperson of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensiyon at Aresto (SELDA) and former convernor of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA).

Hilao-Enriquez had long been suffering from various illnesses.

Martial law survivor

Fondly-called Marie by the Philippine human rights community, Hilao-Enriquez was a scholar at the College of Medicine at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) taking up occupational therapy when she first became involved in activism.

She eventually joined the Kamuning chapter of the youth organization Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth).

Karapatan further described its former long-time chairperson as a stalwart in the anti-Marcos dictatorship struggle and in the relentless advocacy for justice and accountability of the Marcoses.

“[S]he and her family endured gross human rights violations during that dark period of our nation’s history. Her sister, student journalist and activist Liliosa, was the first reported case of killing under military detention after Marcos’s martial law was imposed,” Karapatan said.

After Liliosa’s death, Marie went underground and continued her work as community organizer.

In 1974, Hilao-Enriquez was arrested, tortured and was detained for two years. She became part of the Kapisanan para sa Pagpapalaya at Amnestiya ng mga Detenidong Pulitikal sa Pilipinas or Kapatid after she was released from prison and as she campaigned for the release of her detained husband, Karapatan said.

After the late dictator was ousted in 1986, she joined SELDA and helped in the filing of the historic class action suit against Marcos in Hawaii.

Hilao-Enriquez helped in consolidating the data and finding the lead plaintiffs for the class suit. Her mother and younger sister were two of the ten named plaintiffs in the case.

She led campaigns for justice and reparations of human rights violations victims against the Marcoses, including in the advocacy for the enactment of Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

She led the formation of CARMMA in 2016, having campaigned against what Karapatan said are historical lies of the Marcoses throughout decades.

Hilao-Enriquez continued in leading the campaigns for people’s rights as the founding secretary general of Karapatan in its establishment in 1995 and became its chairperson in 2009.

“She worked for the release of political prisoners and the dismissal of trumped up charges against those detained, in pursuing justice for victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture, and in working for the signing and implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),” Karapatan said.

“Hilao-Enriquez mentored numerous activists and human rights workers throughout decades. We are deeply indebted to her brilliant, selfless and passionate work as among the foremost human rights defenders in the Philippines. We vow to strive to honor her legacy of service to the Filipino people in every possible way that we can and as long as tyrants and dictators remain in our midst,” it added.

READ: Marie Hilao-Enriquez: An Icon of Human Rights Activism in the Philippines

Marie Hilao-Enriquez (Photo from Andrea Enriquez’s announcement)

‘From Manila to the world’

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia said he is very sad at the news of Hilao-Enriquez’s passing.

“Tita Marie (Hilao-Enriquez) was very dear to me. We walked together in many a journey to defend, protect and promote human rights. From Manila to Geneva, from Utrecht to Oslo to New York, she was a partner, aunt, comrade, and friend,” Olalia said.

The lawyer added that Hilao-Enriquez was “unique, indefatigable, funny, thoughtful and selfless, even as she was naughty and sometimes pesky in her own adorable way. I got only the fondest, funniest and feistiest of memories of her.”

To say that Hilao-Enriquez is an icon of the human rights struggle is an understatement, Olalia said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

[FIRST PERSON] EDSA, kaarawan at Oishi 2022

Ni Amy V. Padilla

Ipinanganak ako sa panahon ng Martial Law. Ang diktador na si Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. na ang kinagisnan kong presidente hanggang sa mapatalsik ito ng mamamayang Pilipino noong 1986 Edsa People Power. Isang event at petsa na minemorya lang ang Martial Law. Sa madaling salita, buong formative at elementary years ko ay lansakang mga kasinungalingan na ng ‘golden years’, ‘peace and order’ at maayos na pamumuhay ang tinuro sa paaralan.

Kung dati si Maricel Soriano lang alam kong ka-birthday ko, mula nang 1986 ay lagi nang may tambal na Edsa at komemorasyon.

May mga kalat-kalat akong alaala bilang bata bago mag People Power. Tumatak sa akin ang matinding kagutuman ng mga sacada ng Negros, at dahil ito sa makapangyarihang larawan ng batang malnourished na kalaunan ay namatay. Naririnig ko ang usapan ng mga matatanda sa bahay – mataas na presyo ng langis, bilihin, maraming gutom – na hindi ko pa intindi. Ang naging intindi ko lang ay ganito rin ang sasapitin namin kaya inipon ko ilang natirang barya mula sa baon, pumunta sa sari-sari store at bumili ng mga tsitsiriang Oishi at Kirei prawn crackers para may pagkain kami. Nilagay ko pa ito sa cabinet at sinabi sa Nanay ko. Natawa sya.

Noong 1983 ng pinapatay ng diktador na si Marcos ang dating Senador Benigno Aquino, naiyak ang aking Nanay. Hindi ko unawa bakit.

Bago mapatalsik ang mga Marcos at patapos na ko ng elementarya, ang isa kong Tita naman ay nagpakilala sa akin ng akda ni Renato Constantino na “The Miseducation of the Filipino”. Nagsikap akong unti-unting basahin at unawain sa abot ng makakaya – na napakasalat. Ngunit dito ang simula ng unawa ko ng kolonyalismo at paggamit ng edukasyon para isulong ang interes ng mananakop. [Sa pagtanda na ang unawa sa papel ng ruling elite sa pananatili nito at ng imperyalismong US.]

Noong Edsa 1986, nakisali lang ako sa mga matatanda sa bahay sa pagmonitor ng balita; hindi nagtagumpay makalabas ng bahay ang Nanay ko dahil sa higpit ng lolo ko. Pero ng sumunod na taon, sinama ako ng Nanay ko sa Edsa para gunitain ito. Masaya ang atmosphere.

Kung kaya malaki ang pagpapasalamat ko sa aking Nanay at aking Tita na hindi pulos boladas ng rehimeng US-Marcos ang natanim sa akin bilang bata. Ang mga magulang ko ay kapwa mga kabataang aktibista noong dekada sitenta. Turing kong badge of honor na luwal ako ng mga kabataang mulat at kumilos sa partikular na sirkumstansya nila noon.

Pinatalsik ang mga baseng militar ng US sa huling taon ko high school – marginal lang sya sa akin habang nagkukumahog pumasa sa NCEE (eto pa dati) at college entrance exams. Ngunit sa Catholic high school nasimulang mabuo ang diwa ng paglilingkod sa kapwa, bagaman wala pa sa lente ng makauring pagsusuri.

Sa pagpasok ko ng kolehiyo, unti-unting mas nasistematisa ang unawa sa lipunang Pilipino lalo sa ilalim ng diktadurya – ang pangangayupapa sa US sa neoliberal na mga patakaran (para manatiling bansot, atrasadong agraryo, pre-industrial ang ekonomiya) at mga malalaki nitong base militar, burukrata kapitalismo na crony capitalism ni Marcos, pandarambong, at talamak na human rights violations.

At ano ang partikuar na kalagayan noong 1983 na nag-Oishi panic buying ako? Kasagsagan ng foreign debt borrowing binge ni Marcos na may kaakibat na austerity measures na lalong nagpahirap sa ordinaryong mamamayan. Sa tindi ng pangungutang ng diktador, Pilipinas lang ang tanging bansang bansa sa Asya na kumaharap ng debt crisis.

Sa tuwirang pakikisalamuha at pakikisangkot sa isyung masa mas luminaw ang lagim ng diktadurya –  lalo na ng makilala at makasamang kumilos ang mga biktima nito gaya nila Ka Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran at napakarami pang iba.

Hindi hugot sa hangin ang tala ng Amnesty International na mula 1971 hanggang 1981, nasa 72,00 ang nakulong; 34,000 ang tinortyur at 3,240 ang pinatay. Ang mga pangalan ng martir ng Martial Law, kabilang ang nagsulong ng armadong pakikibaka para labanan ang diktaduryang US-Marcos, ay nasa Bantayog ng mga Bayani.

Isang ‘shining moment’ sa ating kasaysayan ang Edsa People Power na nagsilbing inspirasyon sa buong mundo. Akumulasyon ito ng mahabang panahong paglaban ng mga mamamayan sa matinding pahirap ng rehimen, bunsod pangunahin ng napakalalang krisis pangekonomiya.

Subalit hindi nito binago ang pundamental na karakter ng lipunang Pilipino na malakolonyal at malapyudal; ang paghahari at pagsasamantala ng iilan sa mayoryang naghihirap na mamamayan; at ang kontrol ng imperyalismong US. Wala namang ilusyon na sa isang iglap ay maisasakatuparan ang pambansang demokratikong interes at kahilingan ng batayang masa na hindi nababago sa saligan ang moda ng produksyon.

Ngunit maraming aral ang Edsa na mahalaga. Ang sama-samang pagkilos ng mamamayan laban sa tiraniya at diktadurya para sa demokrasya. Ang maninidigan para sa interes ng mga mahirap at api, na ubod ng Kristiyanong panananampalataya na ‘love thy neighbor’ o ‘serve the people’ sa aktibistang turan. Lalo ngayon, ang labanan sa abot ng ating kayanin na huwag manumbalik ang mga Marcos sa Malacanang at manatili ang copycat Duterte sa poder sa pamamagitan ng anak. Ang pabulaanan ang malawakang historical revisionism at distortion na aktibong ginagawa ng mga Marcos.

Sinuka, pinatalsik na ng bayan ang pamilyang Marcos. Nasa kasaysayan maging ng buong mundo ang pandarambong, pagpatay at pagpapasasa sa nakaw na yaman. Hindi na sila dapat manumbalik pa at bagkus, dapat papanagutin sa mga krimen at kasalanan sa mamamayang Pilipino.

Tatlumpung-anim na taon matapos ang Edsa People Power, malayo na inabot ng unawa mula sa petiburges, musmos Oishi panic-buying ng dekada otsenta. Dapat namang may pagkatandaan. Ngunit mas marami pang aral na hahalawin sa praktika at teorya – kabilang ang mula sa mga nakakatandang naghahawan ng landas, gumagabay sa susunod na mga henerasyon. Lalo sa pagdiin ng ating abang mortalidad sa panahon ng pandemya, mahalaga ang legacy na iiwan.

Sa aking sariling salinlahi na lumaking mulat at may pagmamahal sa bayan, at mga nakababatang naging kasama na naimpluwensiyahan kahit papaano sa iba’t-ibang kapasidad at paraan, gaano man kamunti – may assurance na may magpapatuloy ng laban. The kids are alright, ika nga. Maligaya sa pagtanda, still.

Never Again. Never Forget.

No to Another Marcos in Malacanang!

= = = =

Ang may akda ay nagdiwang ng kanyang kaarawan sa EDSA People Power Monument kahapon, Pebrero 25. Hindi alam ng Kodao kung ilang taon na siya.

If BBM wins, ‘the right of the Filipino people to recover P203 billion in estate tax will be gone forever’

In an online media forum last January 13 by 1Sambayan about the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family, former Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that if Bongbong Marcos (BBM) wins the presidential elections 2022, the recovery of more than P328 billion worth of the ill-gotten wealth and unpaid taxes of his family may go in vain.

The ill-gotten wealth also includes more than P125 billion worth of assets of the Marcoses.

“That’s really the problem because if Bongbong Marcos becomes president, I do not expect the P125 billion to be recovered, anymore. The first thing he’ll do, he’ll probably abolish the [Presidential Commission on Good Government] PCGG,” Carpio stated.

The PCGG was created by the Executive Order No. 1, which primary task is to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.

Carpio also added a “bigger problem” if BBM wins the elections, concerning his unsettled estate tax of P203 billion.

“He’s the administrator of the estate; he has been ordered by the court to pay; he refuses to pay up to now, and nobody seems to hold him to account for that,” Carpio explained.

Carpio concluded his speech by saying that the issue of the ill-gotten wealth and unpaid taxes of BBM and his family is just one of many reasons why BBM should not be elected as president of the country.

“There’s a bigger problem: he (Bongbong Marcos) owes the government P203 billion for the estate tax. If he becomes president, goodbye na ‘yan. If you do not collect that within five years—you do not send even a demand letter that prescribes—hindi mo na makolekta ‘yan. So he has six years. Hindi s’ya magpapadala ng collection letter against himself. So [the] right of the Filipino people to recover P203 billion in estate tax will be gone forever.”Hon. Antonio Carpio, Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice

Comelec’s Guanzon calls on all fellow commissioners to resign

Commissioner Rowena Guanzon challenged all collegues in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to resign following her allegations that another commissioner is being influenced by a high government official to delay the release of the resolution on the petition to disqualify former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from the presidential race.

In a gathering at the Manila Cathedral on Monday morning, the commissioner said, “Sirang-sira na kayo riyan. Sabay-sabay tayong mag-resign ngayon!” (You are all comprised. Let us all resign now!)

Guanzon added that her duty is to protect the public from disqualified candidates .

The gathering coincided with Guanzon’s deadline to fellow Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino to submit her draft of the First Division’s decision on the petition to disqualify Marcos Jr. as presidential candidate.

Guanzon is First Division chief and the supervising commissioner of the hearings on the petition.

The feisty commissioner earlier revealed that Fedelino is unduly delaying the division’s decision, alleging further that a nationally-elected official is exerting influence on her colleague.

Guanzon explained that if the decision is released after she has retired on Wednesday, February 2, her vote to disqualify Marcos would be nullified.

She revealed last Friday that her vote was to disqualify Marcos Jr. on the grounds of moral turpitude, having been convicted twice of tax evasion.

Guanzon added that Marcos Jr. has not paid the penalty for his crimes with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, paying other kinds of arrears instead with the Bureau of Internal Revenue through the Landbank.

Fedelino on the other hand wrote last Friday to Comelec chairperson Sheriff Abbas, asserting there was no delay in the release of the resolution.

Fedelino explained that the lawyer assigned to write the resolution had been sick with the corona virus.

She also denied Guanzon’s claim that the original deadline for the resolution was January 17.

Popular sentiment among cause-oriented groups favor Guanzon, however.

‘Stand with Guanzon’

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said it stands with Guanzon in disqualifying Marcos as well as her decision to reveal the delay in the release of the poll body’s decision on the said petition.

“Commissioner Guanzon is right to disqualify Marcos from the presidential race. She is also right to assert her vote amid the obvious efforts to delay the release of the resolution until she retires and her vote is excluded. We stand with Commissioner Guanzon in her fight to ensure the integrity of the Comelec,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said.

In a statement, Bayan said it supports calls for an investigation the on the high government official alleged to be influencing the poll body.

“Why is there no outrage nor alarm in the Comelec? Why is there no probe up to now? If the Comelec can be influenced this way in favor of Marcos, what does that say of its impartiality in presiding over the elections?” Reyes asked.

Bayan said not since the “Hello Garci” incident involving former President Gloria Arroyo has the Comelec faced such a serious crisis, now that one of its own has cried foul over maneuverings that seemingly favor a candidate.

“We call on the Comelec First Division to issue the resolution. We call on the Comelec to investigate the politician allegedly trying to influence the Comelec. We call in the public to stand with Commissioner Guanzon,” Bayan pressed. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Tungkong Mangga: From farmers’ paradise to stove of violence

By Raymund B. Villanueva

A fact-finding mission on the demolition of four farmers’ houses last Wednesday in Barangay Tungkong Mangga, San Jose del Monte City (SJDM), Bulacan was underway at 11 AM yesterday when guards armed with high-powered guns arrived and fired indiscriminately. The firing lasted for 10 minutes and forced the victims and members of the mission to run for their lives. When it finally stopped after what seemed an eternity to the mission participants, two were injured. Several had their bags, wallets, mobile phones and other equipment seized by the guards. The armed men are under the employ of Gregorio Maria “Greggy” Araneta III, husband of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s daughter Irene and brother-in-law to presidential aspirant Marcos Jr.

Friday’s shooting had been the third of a series of harassment against farmers of the community in a year, mission co-organizer Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) reported. Last year, more cases of harassment were also reported, causing the residents to fear for their lives and livelihood.

READ: Araneta guards fire guns at farmers in SJDM

Where and what is Tungkong Mangga? Why are its farmers being harassed and evicted? Who is Greggy and what is his company Araneta Properties, Inc. (API) doing there? Who rightfully owns the land disputed by poor farmers and a powerful interest that tries to impose its will with guns and threats of death?

Land of sweet bananas

Tungkong Mangga is not a remote and wild place that yesterday’s incident may suggest. It is a community located just north of Quezon and Caloocan cities where Metro Manila’s sprawl is seen atop its rolling hills. It boasts of a huge shopping mall, many restaurants and other establishments, even high-end residential subdivisions developed by the Ayala, Villar, Sta. Lucia and Araneta business groups. Its undulating roads are favorites to weekend bikers who catch their breaths in the area’s many summits, drinking coffee and other refreshments from guerilla cafes put up by enterprising residents. The barangay is called such because of the many mango trees dotting the stove-shaped area.

The view from one of the bikers’ stops near where Friday’s shooting happened. On the background are farms that produce many produce supplied to Metro Manila residents. (R. Villanueva/Kodao)

A large portion of Tungkong Mangga remains agricultural however. From many vantage points, one sees many hectares of farms planted with bananas and other fruit and vegetable crops. It is a major supplier of food to several major markets of Quezon City such as those located in Novaliches and along Commonwealth Avenue. Of particular pride to its farmers is a variety of saba banana that are smaller yet much sweeter than the more common ones we have as turon and banana Qs.

Increasing violence and terror are happening where these farms and the houses of the farmers who till them are located however. The once idyllic place is increasingly ringed by barbed wire fences and guarded by armed personnel of SECURICOR Security and Investigation Services, Inc. While residents freely moved about in the past, they now have to seek permission from the guards for ingress and egress to their communities and farms. They often could not take and sell their produce to the markets anymore.

Terror against food producers

News of Friday’s shooting first reached Kodao through a Facebook Live video of farmer and Alyansa ng Magbubukid ng Bulacan (AMB) member Lea Jordan. She was screaming for help as she was running away from the API guards who shot at them at a clearing where the mission gathered.

LISTEN: Will the UN Decade of Family Farming solve lack of land among poor Filipino farmers?

Lea’s family was from Samar who migrated to SJDM more than three decades back when she was but a child in the early 1990s. In an interview with Kodao last November, Lea said Tungkong Mangga was still forested and known as public land when they arrived. Many families have already settled in the area before them and, like her family, poor and landless from other parts of the country. Over time, more than a hundred families developed about the same number of hectares in the area into productive farms.

Lea was actually on her way to an AMB meeting to have themselves registered with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to be officially recognized by the government as farmers when interviewed by Kodao. She said that, if successful, they will be qualified for support and grants from the DA and it will be helpful for their struggle against the exemption of their land from the government’s agrarian reform program.

On the first month of this year, however, a crying, fleeing and terrorized Lea is what we hear of her first.

WATCH LEA’S FB LIVE VIDEO HERE: https://www.facebook.com/lea.jordan.9/videos/284527883591106/

Farmlands to financial center

Lea and her neighbors’ troubles began when the DAR has exempted their farms from the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1997. Government said parts of the area have over 18-degree slopes that supposedly render these “non-viable for agricultural use.” The land’s regular yield of produce, however, proves the reasoning faulty. The farmers of Tungkong Mangga have in fact regularly participated in agricultural fairs in Metro Manila over the years that showcase their organically-raised fruit and vegetables.

Since CARP’s exemption of the productive farms, Greggy had started claiming ownership of the area. There is no online source proving the Araneta clan’s previous ownership of the land it says it owns. They clan were descendants of a Basque family who participated and obviously benefited from Spanish conquest of the archipelago.

The earliest citation available of the family’s presence in the area was the establishment of the Araneta Institute of Agriculture in 1946 that has since transferred to Malabon City and is now known as the De La Salle Araneta University (also formerly known as the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation before its integration into the De La Salle system in 1987). In 2017 newspaper interviews, Greggy claimed that about 2,000 hectares in the area were owned by his grandfather and Malolos Convention participant Gregorio. “Most of the land is owned by my family,” Greggy told the Inquirer, adding that this was where his grandfather used to enjoy horseback riding.

There were stories of a certain Hacienda Araneta near the area but was known to be mainly located in adjacent Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal. Incidentally, long-time residents of Barangay Mascap in Rodriguez also complain of similar violent eviction tactics by the Aranetas.

With the government approval of the MRT-7 project in 2012 (when Greggy’s cousin Manuel “Mar” Araneta Roxas was transportation and communications and, immediately after, interior and local government secretary) Greggy was reported to have intensified his claims over 140 hectares in the area. The place happens to be where the ongoing MRT-7 rail project shall have its first station and train depot. This is where Greggy said he will build “the best township” beside the La Mesa Dam Reservoir, much bigger and potentially much more lucrative for his clan than their famed Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City.

But the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) pointed out that Greggy’s API was only incorporated as a legal entity, long after many of the farmers have settled and developed the area. The peasant group also accused the DAR of exempting Tungkong Mangga from CARP coverage to accommodate Greggy’s takeover.

“The peasant families of San Jose Del Monte had been tilling the farmlands of Tungkong Mangga even before [API] would be incorporated in 1988,” explained UMA chairperson Antonio Flores. “DAR’s facilitation of Araneta’s landgrab is unconscionable, and nothing short of criminal,” he added.

UMA said that since August last year, Greggy and API have been sending personnel from SECURICOR to threaten and intimidate the residents. Security personnel had even set up control gates along farm-to-market roads in the area to make the passage of agricultural produce difficult. In 2020, a unit of the Philippine Army has even encamped right in the midst of a residential area to intimidate the farmers. A month prior to the latest onset of the latest round of harassment, UMA reported than an API legal representative told residents of Tungkong Mangga’s Sitio Dalandanan to vacate their farms and let Greggy take over the disputed land.

Who should own the land?

UMA said yesterday’s incident was to prevent the fact-finding mission from looking into the ongoing demolition of houses in the area to make way for another private subdivision that would be part of Greggy’s future township. The group opposes the conversion of productive farm lands into more commercial projects.

“It is one thing for a company to grab land from the farmers who have been making it productive for decades,” said Flores. “But to steal land with the intention of converting its use to non-agricultural purposes? This is the height of criminality. On top of displacing peasants, this landgrab curtails the country ability to produce food,” Flores added.

Some of the armed security guards employed by Greggy Araneta who fired their guns and terrorized the participants of yesterday’s fact-finding mission. (UMA photo)

In Kodao’s November interview with Lea, she made clear that they settled and tilled the land in the full belief it was public. She also said that they are willing to pay for the land they now occupy at just prices and friendly schemes. “Dito na kami lumaki. Dito na ako nagka-asawa at nagka-anak. Ito ang aming buhay. Ito ang pinili naming buhay,” she added. (This is where we grew up, married and had children. This is our life. This is the life we choose.)

UMA urges electoral candidates to look into the ongoing violence in Tungkong Mangga and consider it a symptom of the larger problem of peasant landlessness. “Until a program for genuine agrarian reform could be put in place, companies like API would continue to grab land, seize sovereignty over food production away from peasants, and endanger not only peasant lives but the entire country’s food security,” the group said. #

‘Who is this politician trying to influence the Comelec?’

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) welcomed Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon’s stand to disqualify Bongbong Marcos from running as president.

“We welcome the position taken by Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon in the matter of disqualification of Bongbong Marcos on the grounds of moral turpitude,” BAYAN said.

The group also raised concerns over the claim of Guanzon about a politician trying to delay the issuance of Comelec’s decision after knowing her stand on the issue.

“Who is this politician trying to influence the Comelec? Shouldn’t there be an investigation by the en banc and shouldn’t this politician be cited for contempt?” BAYAN asked.

“She is correct in citing Marcos Jr’s repeated failure to pay taxes and the corresponding fines as her basis to disqualify him from the presidential race. We raise concern over Guanzon’s claim that a certain politician was trying to delay the issuance of a decision by the Comelec First Division after learning of her vote to disqualify Marcos. Who is this politician trying to influence the Comelec?”Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)

CBCP leader urges honesty in the coming polls

Bishop Ambo cites falsehood of ‘PH golden years’ under Marcos

THE leader of the country’s Roman Catholics expressed support to a campaign for clean and honest elections, urging Filipinos to fight the current “age of disinformation” with “the moral imperative of truth and honesty.”

In an address to a group of businesspersons and professionals, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said Filipinos cannot afford to remain quiet when falsehoods gain the upper hand as the May 2022 elections approach.

The country’s leading Catholic prelate criticized claims that the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s rule was the so-called golden years of the Philippines, assertions made in support of the candidacy of his son and namesake Ferdinand Jr.

“When some candidates claim that the best government we ever had was the Marcos dictatorship, good heavens! When they claimed that martial law was meant only to discipline the Filipinos, good heavens! That it actually improved our economy and it provided jobs to the people, good heavens!” he exclaimed.

David also warned against the Filipinos’ inclination to vote for poll survey front runners, instead of candidates they think are morally upright. 

“It could only mean we have failed big time with regard to the formation of a moral conscience among Catholics,” he said.

Ferdinand Jr. leads in several surveys among presidential aspirants.

David added well-funded armies of trolls whose main task is to create and maintain thousands of fake accounts that regularly post fake news, false narratives, hate comments and messages must be opposed.

Old campaign

David spoke at an online re-launching of an honesty campaign by the group Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP) on Saturday. 

BCBP coordinator for programs and services Noel delos Reyes said their group is part of over 20 faith-based organizations pushing for “clean, accurate, responsible and transparent 2022 elections.”

The “Halalang Marangal 2022” (noble elections) campaign will not issue a list of candidates it will support but is focused on asking candidates to agree to disclose their statements of assets and liabilities by signing an honesty pledge, Reyes said.

The business leader said BCBP has also written earlier to the Commission on Elections on apparent violations to the Election Code, including illegal early campaigning by many candidates.

The group refused to identify any erring candidate, however.

“The campaign shall focus on asking national candidates to sign the honesty pledge,” Reyes said.

Founded in 2000, BCBP claims a membership of 18,000 members across the country and abroad.

It launched its first Be Honest campaign in 2004 it replicated through various slogans in every succeeding election thereafter.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)