Si Ate Melody “Melod” Gumanoy, 43 taong gulang, ay isa sa mahigit 300 manggagawa ng Sumifru, isang Japanese company sa Mindanao na nag-eexport ng mga prutas. Nagtungo sa Maynila ang mga nagwewelgang manggagawa ng Sumifru upang ipanawagan ang pagpapatigil ng kontraktwalisasyon ng kumpanya.
Mahigit 23 taon nang manggagawa si Melod sa Sumifru. Siya rin ang secretary ng Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (NAMASUFA-NAFLU-KMU). Nagsimulang magwelga ang mga manggagawa sa iba’t ibang planta ng Sumifru noong Oktubre 1, 2018, dahil ito sa pagmamatigas ng management ng kanilang kumpanya na gawin silang regular.
Sa kawalang suporta ng LGU sa kanilang lugar sa Compostela, Compostela Valley at patuloy na pandarahas sa kanila sa ilalim ng batas militar sa Mindanao, sa Maynila na nila ipinagpapatuloy ang kanilang laban. Isa lamang si Ate Melod sa marami pang kababaihang manggagawa na biktima ng hindi patas ang pagtrato, walang sapat na sahod at hanggang ngayon ay kontrakwal pa rin.
Patuloy na ipinaglalaban ng mga manggagawa ng Sumifru ang kanilang karapatan sa sapat na sahod, regularisasyon at pagkakaroon ng sapat at tamang benipisyo para sa mga kababaihan at matatanda. (Bidyo ni: Jo Maline D. Mamangun/ Kodao)
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The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) in Mindanao published an open letter to President Rodrigo Duterte asking him to stop ongoing harassment against their clergy in the island.
Gathering
in Cagayan de Oro City last March 25 and 26 for a conferential meeting with the
Church’s Supreme Bishop, the Most Reverend
Rhee M. Timbang, the 14 IFI bishops they have been attacked through red tagging, vilification, surveillance,
harassment and intimidation and worse, killings they suspect are the handiwork
of government security forces.
“We saw at the highways and even walls of our churches desecrated with graffiti maligning the IFI and its leaders, Bishop Antonio Ablon of Pagadian and Bishop Felixberto Calang of Cagayan de Oro,” their letter said.
The
bishops said the most recent attack against their Church happened last February
22 where leaflets or hit list bearing names of the bishops including that of
Fr. Chris Ablon, Fr. Rolando Abejo, Fr. Khen Apus and their friends openly
identified these people as members of underground revolutionary groups.
“This
baseless and malicious accusation strongly believed to be orchestrated by state
forces has openly identified these people as members of the CPP-NPA-NDFP
(Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front
of the Philippines).
“We
as episcopal leaders of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in Mindanao are very
much alarmed that wanton extra judicial killings may fall on our church
leaders. God forbid!” they said.
The bishops blame Duterte’s martial law in Mindanao
for causing the “evil acts” as well as the refusal of the police to investigate
their complaints.
“Worse,
illegal arrest and detention, trump up charges and forced NPA surrenderees of
peasants and lumad who are partners of our church in our community work and
mission are conveniently presented to the public as prima facie evidence of the
IFI’s and bishops’ affiliation to the rebel group,” they said.
The church leaders also complained that several active church lay leaders now fear for their lives and
security as they are constantly under surveillance and are possible subject to
warrantless arrest.
The
bishops asked Duterte to end the attacks against peasant and labor leaders,
against lumad and their communities, against defenders of lumad schools,
lawyers, media and the Church.
The
letter was signed by Timbang, Ablon, Calang, Cabadbaran Bishop Delfin Callao
Jr., Davao Bishop Denny Dapitan, Libertad Bishop Rudy Juliada, Surigao Bishop
Noel Lorente, Dinagat Bishop Mervin Jose Elimanco, Siargao Bishop Romeo Tagud,
Koronadal Bishop Redeemer Yañez, Tubod Bishop Raul Amorcillo, Cortez Bishop
Julius Dacera, Ozamiz Bishop Carlo Morales, Oroquieta Bishop Victor Batoy, and
Malaybalay Bishop Gil Dinapo. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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President Rodrigo Duterte’s martial law
in Mindanao, extended for the second straight year this 2019, continues to
wreak havoc in the lives of Lumad children, the National Democratic Front of
the Philippines (NDFP) in Southern Mindanao Region said.
In a statement posted on its website
today, the NDFP reported that a platoon of the
88th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army accosted and seized 17-year old
Loujean Antian Lumbatan, a Grade 7 student of Sinuda High School, and 10-year
old Ara Mystica Antian Pangcat, a Grade 5 student of Cabalansihan Elementary
School at Sitio Sanggiapo, Brgy Sinuda, Kitaotao in Bukidnon province at around
11:00 in the morning last February 18.
“For no apparent reason, the two unarmed Lumad
minors were arrested and held incommunicado at the unit’s camp in Sitio
Sanggiapo between 11:00 in the morning and 11:00 in the evening,” the NDFP
said.
Early in
the afternoon, the parents and some relatives searched frantically for the
missing children and proceeded to confront the soldiers but were turned away by
the soldiers who insisted they knew nothing of the children’s whereabouts, the
group added.
The girls
were released in the afternoon of the next day, February 19, but not after being
subjected to harrowing interrogation and were brought to the 88th Infantry
Battalion headquarters in Maramag, the NDFP said.
The girls reported
that they could hear their parent’s voices outside the camp in Sitio Sanggiapo but
were warned by the soldiers not to make any sound.
When
confronted why they arrested and detained the two girls, the soldiers reportedly
claimed they were only after “the[ir] safety,” the NDFP said.
The
Bukidnon incident followed the January 30 seizure of two toddlers, a one-year
old and a two-year old, and their subsequent forced separation from their
parents and guardians by AFP and PNP troops following a raid on the office of the
Misamis Oriental Peasants Association (MOFA) in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental,
the group said.
“In Lumad
areas in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte and elsewhere in the Southern
Mindanao, bombings, shelling and indiscriminate firing within populated
communities by AFP troops and their paramilitaries Bagani and Alamara have terrorized
hundreds of children,” the NDFP said in its statement.
The NDFP
also scored the arrest of three civilians of the 71st IB last February 20 at
Sitio Binogsayan, Brgy. Napnapan in Pantukan town.
Eddie
Avila, Graciano Embalsado and Pulpy Lariwan were later forced to “surrender” as
members of the New People’s Army (NPA), even as local government officials
insisted that the three were in fact civilians, Rubi del Mundo, NDFP-SMR
spokesperson said.
‘Localized peace talks’
But Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Eduardo Año said the so-called surrenders are real that stem from the continuing success of localized peace talks between local government officials and the revolutionary groups.
“Dahil sa sipag at pagpupursigi ng ating mga local officials, natanggal na ang kaliskis sa mga mata ng mga dating rebelde at naliwanagan na sila,” Año said in a statement posted on the DILG website today, citing the reported surrender of more than 200 alleged Communist supporters in Negros Island last month.
The DILG secretary
claimed the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed
Conflict by Duterte will also lead to more rebel surrenders because of its
focus on localized peace engagements.
Año also said DILG’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) has
disbursed around P488 million in 2018to aid former rebels and their immediate
family members
‘PR stunts’
The NPA’s Southern
Mindanao Regional Operations Command, however, dismissed government’s claims,
saying so-called peace and development outreach programs by the Duterte administration
are mere public relations stunts that are part of its psychological war
tactics.
“They are
in fact mere PR stunts which hold neither a grain of truth nor reflect the
sentiments of thousands of Lumad who continue to be victimized by the US-Duterte
regime’s hated martial law,” Rigoberto Sanchez, NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Operations
Command spokesperson, said.
Sanchez
added it eludes common sense that the Lumad and the peasants should support government
troops when it is they who seek to destroy their way of living, sell ancestral
land to greedy and exploitative capitalists threaten or kill those who opposes
them. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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Nitong Pebrero 10 ng umaga, sa pangunguna ng
Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA), inilunsad ang Luto! Laban! Sunday Cookout para sa NAMASUFA
sa Liwasang Bonifacio, Maynila.
Tumungo ang mga artistang alyado ng SAKA at mga
boluntaryo mula sa industriya ng sining, kultura, at kaalaman sa protest camp
ng Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (NAMASUFA), ang union ng mga
manggagawang agrikultural na higit apat na buwan nang nakawelga sa plantasyon
ng saging dahil ayaw iregularisa ng kumpanyang Hapones na Sumitomo Fruit
Corporation o Sumifru.
Naglakbay pa mula sa Compostela Valley ang 350
sa mga unyonista upang kalampagin ang nagtutulog-tulugang Department of Labor
and Employment pati ang Malacañang.
Ginanap ang salo-salo isang araw bago ang
takdang police dispersal at ng Manila city government sa kampuhan.
Katambal ang mga iba pang organisasyon tulad ng
Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa
Agrikultura (UMA), Amihan Federation of Peasant Women, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas,
Anakpawis Partylist atbp., layunin ng Luto!
Laban! na hikayatin ang mamamayan na palakasin ang panawagan sa
regularisasyon ng Sumifru workers, ipagtanggol ang kanilang kampuhan mula sa banta
ng clearing operations sa utos ng Manila City Hall, at itigil ng pangulo ang
pagratsada sa land-use conversion na matapos magkait ng lupa sa magsasaka ay
humahantong sa pang-aabuso sa mga manggagawa ng plantasyon.
Sa katunayan, tungo sa pagtatapos ng aktibidad
ay dumami ang pulis na nagdulot ng pangamba sa mga welgista.
Nakaugat ang kanilang pangamba sa ilang beses
na nilang naranasang dahas ng estado mula pa sa pagpapatupad ng batas militar ni
Duterte sa Mindanao.
Ugnayan ng sining at
produktong agrikultural
Liban sa pag-aalay ng tanghaliang crispy
tawilis, minced pork with basil, at talbos ng kamote salad ng ihinanda ng mga
boluntaryo kasama ng mismong mga unyonista, dalawang palihan ang isinagawa sa
protest camp.
Habang abala ang ilan sa pagluluto habang
nagtatalakayan, ang mga anak ng Sumifru workers at volunteers (edad 5-8) ay nagsanay
sa pagguhit samantalang ang mga manggagawa (edad 20-35) naman ay lumahok sa
isang writing workshop.
Nagkaroon din ng mabilisang live sketch session
ang ilang visual artist sa gitna ng kampuhan tampok ang kalihim ng unyon habang
siya’y nagbabahagi ng mga karanasan.
Ang Liwasang Bonifacio ay naging lunsaran sa
pagbabahaginan ng kaalaman at karanasan.
Ang drawing workshop ng mga bata ay uminog sa prompt
na “pangungulila sa tahanan”, kung saan sa proseso ng pagtuturo sa mga musmos
sa pagguhit ng basic shapes at pagkukulay ay ipinatimo sa kanila ang halaga ng
pagbabalik-tanaw sa nakagisnan nilang buhay sa kanayunan na ibang-iba sa
lungsod kung saan sila nagkakampuhan.
Mainam itong paraan upang sa maagang kamulatan
ay di lamang maipakilala sa kanila ang sining ng pagguhit kundi maipaunawa rin
ang ipinaglalaban ng kanilang mga magulang at mabigyan din ng oras ang kanilang
mga magulang na makibahagi sa mga aktibidad nang hindi pinuproblema ang mga
bata.
Karamihan sa mga iginuhit ng mga bata ay mga
eksena ng kanilang pamumuhay sa bukid.
Samantala, nagbukas ang writing workshop sa
pakikipagtalakayan ng mga volunteer sa Sumifru workers hinggil sa kung ano ang
espesyal na ulam na kanilang hinahanda kapag dumating ang suweldo.
Nailahad ang simpleng pamumuhay ng mga
manggagawa sa pagsasabing adobong manok/baboy, sinigang, at sinabawang gulay
ang madalas nilang ihanda kapag may pera.
Kasama rin sa talakayan ang halaga ng kanilang
produktong agrikultural na isang esensiyal na sangkap sa merkado at ekonomiya
ng mundo (e.g., banana chips, halo-halo, ketchup, harina, cereals, feeds, at
marami pang iba.)
Sumunod na ibinahagi ng mga manggagawa ang buong
proseso at panahon ng paglikha ng produktong saging.
Sa diskusyon, lumitaw na may dalawang pangunahing
pagkakahati ang proseso ng kanilang paglikha: sa “erya” o lupang sakahan, at sa
planta.
Umaabot sa halos labing-isang buwan mula sa
pagbubungkal, pagtatanim, pagpapalago, pag-ani tungong packaging at quality
control upang makapagluwal ng export-grade na Cavendish na saging sa mga
bansang Japan, Korea, China, New Zealand, Singapore, at Middle East.
Metikuluso ang proseso ng kanilang paggawa
sapagkat kakailanganin pa ng tamang “calibration” ng sukat at kalidad ng mga
saging (na kinaklasipika nila sa “small hands” at “big hands”). Sa kalkulasyon
ng UMA, binabarat ng Sumifru ang mga manggagawa nito sa pagbibigay lamang ng
P365 na arawang sahod.
Samantala, sa barat na halagang P15.75 lamang
binibili ang kanilang produkto kada kilo mula sa kinontratang grower. Pero
ibinebenta ito sa labas ng bansa sa halagang P212.63 kada kilo ng saging. Sa
bawat ektarya ng plantasyon ng saging, tinatayang kumikita ang kumpanyang Hapones
ng dagdag P18 milyon kada taon.
Isinalaysay din ng mga manggagawa ang kanilang
mga saloobin hinggil sa nangyaring marahas na dispersal sa pitong strike camps
sa Compostela Valley noong Oktubre 11 at ang pagpaslang ng mga militar at pulis
ng kumpanya kay Danny Boy Bautista noong Oktubre 31.
Si Bautista ay isa sa mga pangunahing
nagtaguyod mula noong pumutok ang welga noong Oktubre 1. Sinundan pa ito ng
panununog sa kanilang union office noong Nobyembre 30 at ang intensipikasyon ng
surveillance at harassment mula sa mga militar.
Hindi nakapagtataka kung gayon na natutulak ang
mga manggagawa na tahasang lumaban at manindigan sapagkat maging ang payapang
pamumuhay na kanilang hinahangad sa Compostela Valley ay ipinagkakait sa kanila
ng estado.
Sa alab ng pakikiisa
ng iba’t ibang sektor
Matapos ang masayang salo-salo sa pananghalian
at kuwentuhan, nagtipon ang lahat upang maglunsad ng pangkulturang programa.
Nakiisa ang mga estudyante at guro ng
Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo College, at UP Los
Baños. Tumugtog ang mga musikerong sina Alyana Cabral, Mara Marasigan, at The
General Strike. Sa saliw ng makabayang himig at mga mensahe ng pakikiisa mula
sa mga kinatawan ng iba’t ibang sektor, naging solido ang hanay at diwa ng
sama-samang tanggulan para sa Sumifru workers.
Naging tampok din ang pagtatanghal ng Sining Obrero, ang grupong pangkultura ng
NAMASUFA, na inawit ang kanilang orihinal na komposisyon (Padayon, gihapon ang
welga sa ComVal!) na punumpuno ng dagundong ng tapang na ipanalo ang welga sa
kabila ng pangil ng pasismo.
Naging marubdob din ang pagbasa ng mga manggagawa
sa kanilang obra, mga monologue, sa writing workshop.
Saad ni Justy, 25, limang taon nang packer sa
plant 220 ng Sumifru, “Hindi po madali ang kalagayan ko doon sa Mindanao dahil
sa martial law. Bilang isang manggagawa ay natapakan po ang aking karapatan na
ibigay ang dapat sa akin. Hindi rin madali na gumising nang madaling araw upang
magtrabaho tapos hindi ka pala makapasok dahil sobra na daw o over-manning.
Hindi madali kapag walang katiyakan ang ganitong sistema o porma ng tinatawag
na kontraktwal.”
Tagumpay ng
sama-samang pagkilos
Sa pagsasara ng programa, ipinaalala ni Lisa
Ito, secretary general ng CAP, na ang sitwasyon ng Sumifru workers ay
nangyayari sa buong bansa. Sunod-sunod ang mga trahedyang ipinapataw ng
gobyerno kamakailan sa mga maralitang manggagawa at magbubukid. Aniya, lalo
pa’t hindi nakikita sa mass media ang buong kuwento ng pakikibaka ng Sumifru
workers, napapanahon at nararapat ang mga pagtitipon tulad ng Luto! Laban! upang magkaroon ng boses
ang mga api.
Kinabukasan ng Luto! Laban!, dalawang linggong palugit ang naipanalo ng
kolektibong pagtatanggol ng NAMASUFA’t mga tagasuporta nito para manatili ang
protest camp sa Liwasang Bonifacio.
Sa pahayag ng UMA, ang extension nakuha ng
unyon mula sa city hall ay “bunga ng pinagsamang lakas ng manggagawa at iba’t
ibang sektor na sumusuporta at naninindigan para sa kanila.”
Lalong umiigting kung gayon ang pangangailangan na makipamuhay ang mga estudyante, guro, empleyado, lalo na ang mga manggagawang pangkultura, at sa sama-samang tanggulan para sa Sumifru workers, maisulong ang makatarungang panawagan para sa sahod, benepisyo, at regular na trabaho. #
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Efforts by the Philippine National
Police (PNP) to extract a list Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) members are
part of the Rodrigo Duterte government’s fascist schemes, the teachers’ group
said.
Reacting to visits by police
operatives in schools and Department of Education (DepEd) offices last week to
ask for a list of ACT members, the group accused both the PNP and the President
of creating another “tokhang” list.
“This is part and parcel of the
Duterte regime’s grand fascist scheme to suppress all forms of opposition to
its tyrannical rule, further legitimized and strengthened by Duterte’s
Executive Order 70 which converted the civilian bureaucracy into a fascist
machinery,” ACT said in a strongly worded statement.
“This involves profiling, surveillance, identification, and neutralization of organizations critical to the current regime’s anti-people acts and policies,” one of the largest teachers’ organization in the country added.
ACT Teachers Party Representative
France Castro revealed through a series of social media posts over the weekend that
police operatives went around schools and DepEd offices to demand lists of ACT
members citing a PNP memorandum as basis.
The operations appear to be nationwide
in scale and points to the top PNP leadership as the main source of the order,
the group alleged.
ACT said the PNP memorandum on the
inventory and profiling of ACT members is very similar to the police’s list of
drug users and peddlers, tens of thousands of whom ended up dead in nightly
police raids all over the country.
“The PNP will have blood on their hands,
and the fascist State shall be held responsible if anything untoward happens to
any ACT member. We are not afraid. We have been through this time and again,”
ACT national president Joselyn Martinez said.
Militant mentors
Founded in 1982, ACT is a nationalist
and militant alliance of teachers and education workers that has attracted members
due to its consistent struggle for higher salaries and benefits.
Its successes in the last decades
enabled the group to create an allied political organization. ACT Teachers’
Party has two sitting legislators at the House of Representatives.
Its teachers’ union, the ACT Union has
chapters nationwide and is recognized as a sole bargaining unit of teachers and
education workers in several regions, including the National Capital Region.
“ACT is a legitimate teachers’ organization with a long history of service to professional teachers, education support personnel, and the Filipino people in general,” Martinez said.
As a militant organization, ACT,
however, has been the subject of attacks by police and military agents for
being a “communist front.” Several of its members and organizers have been
killed and jailed throughout the years.
‘Dastardly, illegal’
Profiling operations against ACT
members is a Gestapo-style operation, ACT said of the latest PNP scheme against
the group.
“The PNP has no business meddling in
the affairs of teachers’ organization…Their dastardly act of profiling ACT
members is maliciously casting unnecessary doubt on the legitimacy of ACT as an
organization,” the group said.
The group also denounced DepEd
officials who acceded to the PNP memorandum, “thereby inviting harm to their
own employees and even their students.”
It urged DepEd officials to oppose the
“unconstitutional” police operations that may violate teachers’ rights.
“DepEd must order the withholding of
any information about ACT members which may be used by the PNP to intimidate
and harass teacher-unionists who fight for decent salaries and benefits, for
the people’s right to education and other basic services, and for the rights
and well-being of the people,” it said.
As of this writing, the DepEd has
reportedly ordered its officer in charge in the Manila Division of City Schools
to rescind her order supporting the PNP memorandum.
CNN Philippines also reported Monday that
PNP chief Oscar Albayalde has ordered the relief
of intelligence officers over the “leak” on the profiling of ACT members in
Manila, Quezon City and Zambales Province.
The Commission on
Human Rights (CHR) expressed alarm over the PNP’s operations against ACT and
called on the police to adhere to the rule of law.
“Reports of alleged profiling of members of ACT are alarming as it
violates rights to privacy and association, which are guaranteed freedoms in
the Constitution among others,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia in a
statement said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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The Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) condemns the illegal detention of Former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and other delegates of the National Solidarity Mission (NSM) in Davao del Norte since 9:30 pm last night November 28 by the combined elements of the 56th IB, Philippine National Police and Municipal Social Work and Development Officers.
CRC also denounces threats of Anti-Trafficking and violation of RA 7610 charges against the NSM delegation, after rescuing the Lumad people from further harassment of the army and ALAMARA in their community following the closure of the main school of Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkakanon Learning Center Inc (STTILCI) in Dulyan, Davao del Norte yesterday November 28, 2018.
The escalation of military attacks on schools spread fear and paranoia among children in the schools of STTILCI and the Lumad communities in Mindanao.
CRC calls for the release of Rep. Satur Ocampo, Rep France Castro and the rest of the NSM. End Martial Law in Mindanao. Let the children study in their schools, pull out military troops from the Lumad communities. #
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The Duterte regime has reached a new low with the filing of preposterous human trafficking and kidnapping charges against veteran journalist, activist and human rights advocate Satur Ocampo, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro as they were on a fact-finding to aid beleaguered indigenous people in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
The arts and media alliance, Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity demands the immediate release of Ocampo and Castro and their 17 companions.
The charges are baseless, meant to cover up the truth: That it is the paramilitary groups Alamara and Magahat Bagani, commanded by the Philippine Army, that lay waste to Lumad communities. They should be the ones facing charges as they have killed Lumad leaders, shut down schools, and driven off communities from ancestral lands that President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to business and foreign patrons.
Ocampo is a a columnist with The Philippine Star and chairperson of the Board of Directors of Bulatlat.com. He joined the 19-member National Humanitarian Mission that went to Talaingod Wednesday night to bring aid to the Lumad.
Ocampo and the rest of the mission accompanied the Lumad evacuees at the Talaingod police station to lodge complaints against the paramilitary group Alamara. To preempt the human rights case, cops concocted their lies.
The charge has no basis. The parents of 29 Lumad students provided written statements of recognition for the mission’s presence and purpose.
This afternoon, Ocampo and the others were taken to Kapalong District Hospital and eventually to the Tagum City Prosecutors Office for inquest proceedings.
We repeat: accusing Ocampo, who is all of 79 years old, of trumped-up charges of kidnapping and human trafficking is preposterous. We demand that the Talaingod PNP withdraw its charges against Satur Ocampo and he is set free immediately.
We warn the Duterte government that detaining an elderly journalist who is only acting on his convictions that are well within his rights would earn the greater condemnation of the journalistic community in the Philippines and the world. #
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Martial law victims and activists held a picket protest outside Sandiganbayan office in Quezon City to demand for the arrest warrant for Imelda Marcos following its guilty verdict against the former First Lady.
Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) welcomed the conviction and asked the court to immediately put Marcos behind bars.
The group also reacted to the statement of PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde that Imelda might not be arrested because of her age and health conditions.
Albayalde’s statement did not surprise the martial law human rights victims since the Rodrigo Duterte government has been giving the Marcos family special treatment, SELDA said.
SELDA added that Sandiganbayan’s guilty verdict is a landmark decision that should be upheld.
SELDA called on the Sandiganbayan to stand by tits decision and not be cowed by the Marcoses’ alliance with Duterte. # (Report by Joseph Cuevas / Video by Carlo Francisco / Featured Image by Jinky Mendoza-Aguilar)
Setyembre 21, 2018 – Panoorin ang panayam kay Dan Balusio, Secretary-General ng BAYAN Bikol hinggil sa kalagayan at panawagan ng mamamayan ng rehiyong Bikol tungkol sa Martial Law mula noon hanggang ngayon.
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/3-1.jpg28484272Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2018-09-26 08:35:322018-09-26 08:35:32Panayam kay Dan Balusio ng BAYAN Bikol sa ika 46th na Komemorasyon ng Martial Law
Umulan ma’y hindi nagpatinag ang sambayanan, at kanilang isinigaw ang patuloy na panawagan, “Never again!”
Sa hiyaw ng madla’y nangibabaw ang isang sektor ng lipunan na walang-sawang kumikilos at nagmumulat para sa kalayaan ng bansa. Halos limang dekada na ang nakalipas mula sa pinakamadilim na bahagi ng ating kasaysayan, ngunit hanggang ngayo’y kasama pa rin ito sa laban. Patuloy sitong nagpapaalala sa mga kasalanan ng lipunan at kumukontra sa pagbubulag-bulagan sa panahong inaapakan ang mga karapatan ng mamamayan.
Ika nga ni Lean Alejandro, patuloy na babalik ang kabataan.
Muling gumawa ng kasaysayan ang sambayanang Pilipino noong nakaraang Biyernes, kung saan kasama ng kabataan ang iba’t ibang sektor ng lipunan upang gunitain ang ika-46 anibersaryo ng batas militar sa Pilipinas sa ilalim ng diktador na si Ferdinand E. Marcos. Taas-kamaong pinagpugayan ng sambayanan ang mga taong naglaan ng kanilang mga buhay upang labanan ang diktadurya at tiraniya noong panahong iyon.
Isa si Andrew Mencias, 20, sa naitalang labinlimang-libong nagprotesta sa Luneta. Kasama ang kanyang mga kaibigan mula UP Diliman ay tumungo siya sa Luneta upang sumama sa mas malawak na hanay ng mamamayan. Kasabay ng pag-alala sa kamatayan ng demokrasya ay ang pagkundena sa nagbabadyang pagbabalik ng pamilyang Marcos sa mas mataas na kapangyarihang politikal at ang patuloy na pagtapak sa karapatang pantao ng kasalukuyang administrasyongRodrigo Duterte.
“Pumunta ako ng Luneta dahil naniniwala ako sa kahalagahan ng sama-samang pagkilos,” ani Mencias. “Para sa akin, maraming bagay tayong dapat nating natatamasa pero hindi natin nakukuha.”
Nagkataong itinakda din noong nakaraang Biyernes ang Pandaigdigang Araw ng Kapayapaan, ngunit isa itong malaking kabalintunaan sa ating bansa. Sa araw na ito’y binabalikan ng sambayanan ang taong 1972, kung kailan tinanggal ang kalayaan ng mamamayan. Kung iisipi’y ilang dekada nang lumipas, subalit muli itong nagiging tampok ngayon kaugnay ng pamamalakad ng administrasyong Duterte, na inihahalintulad ng mga grupong sektoral kay Marcos.
Patuloy ang pagnupuna at pagkukundena ng iba’t ibang mga grupo sa kasalukuyang administrasyon dahil sa kawalang-respeto nito sa karapatang pantao at ang patuloy na pagsasabatas ng mga anti-mamamayang polisiya. Aktibong lumalahok sa mga pagkilos ang kabataan—kasabay ng pagsama sa iba’t ibang mobilisasyon ay ang pagsulong ng kanilang mga adbokasiya bilang tugon sa iba’t ibang isyung panlipunan.
Katulad na lamang ni Mencias na nakikiisa sa laban ng kabataan para sa libreng edukasyon, na itinuturing niyang pundasyon ng isang progresibong lipunan. Habang malayo na ang narating ng kampanya, patuloy pa rin ang mga dagok na humahadlang upang makamit ang edukasyon para sa lahat.
“Nakakalungkot na pangit yung quality ng maraming public schools dito sa atin,” ani Mencias. “Nakakulong pa rin tayo sa isang sistemang wala tayong napapala.”
Kamakailan lamang ay napagtagumpayan ng kabataan na tanggalin ang Return Service Agreement mula sa Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) ng RA 10931 o ang Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017. Matagal nang pinupuna ng mga estudyante ang probisyong ito—ayon sa National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), ang edukasyon ay karapatan at dapat walang kapalit.
Gayunpaman, sa maliliit na hakbang ay patuloy pa rin ang mga banta sa karapatang ito, katulad ng nagbabadyang budget cut sa edukasyon at ang pasuweldo sa mga guro na hindi pa rin sapat.
Isa pa sa isinusulong ni Mencias ay ang karapatan ng pambansang minorya, na patuloy na binubusabos ng kasalukuyang rehimen. “Higit sa lahat, sila yung pinaka-apektado ng mga batas, at hindi rin naman sila pinoprotektahan ng military,” ani Mencias.
Ayon sa Save our Schools (SOS) Network, kamakailan lamang ay pitong kabataang Moro ang pinatay ng mga militar sa Patikul, Sulu sa ilalim ng batas militar sa Mindanao—bukod pa dito ay ang serye ng mga pagbomba sa mga katutubong komunidad at mga kaso ng puwersahang pagsuko sa kamay ng mga puwersang gobyerno, isang manipestasyon na patuloy pa rin ang paglabag ng estado sa karapatang pantao.
Isang patunay si Mencias sa libo-libong kabataang patuloy na nakikibaka para sa tunay na pagbabagong panlipunan at tumatangging kalimutan ang ating masalimuot na nakaraan. Patuloy nilang ginagampanan ang kanilang papel bilang mga pag-asa ng bayan. Ang sabi ng iilan, huwag nang mangialam ang kabataan, hindi naman kayo buhay noong mga panahong iyon.
Ngunit sila’y hindi magpapatinag.
“Hanggang ngayon naman, nararamdaman pa rin natin ang mga ginawa ni Marcos, ngayon pang gusto nilang bumalik sa mataas na kapangyarihan,” ani Mencias. “Dapat naman talaga nating binabalikan at pinag-uusapan ang kasaysayan, para maisakonteksto natin yung sitwasyon na meron tayo ngayon.”
Kung babalikan ang 1970, ang kabataan ang nanguna sa panawagang baguhin ang sistemang pulitikal at pang-ekonomiko ng bansa. Sa Sigwa ng Unang Kwarto, kabataan ang nanguna sa paghingi ng pagbabagong panlipunan sa ilalim ng administrasyong Marcos, na nagpapakita na ng mga tendensiyang diktaduriyal. Maraming kabataan ang nagbuwis ng buhay upang ipaglaban ang kinabukasan ng inang bayan.
Halos limang dekada na ang lumipas, ngunit muli nilang pinatunayang patuloy silang lumalaban kasama ang sambayanan.
Hindi pa rin nagbabago ang lipunang ginagalawan—sa ilalim ng administrasyong Duterte, kinikitil ang mga pag-asa ng bayan at pilit pinipinturahan ito ng estado bilang “collateral damage”. Nariyan si Kian delos Santos, si Carl Arnaiz, at daan-daang kabataang biktima ng pambubusabos at paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng kasalukuyang liderato.
Ganoon pa rin ang sistemang pulitikal at pang-ekonomiko na patuloy na pinoprotektahan lamang ang interes ng makapangyarihang iilan. Patuloy ang pagtatangkang baguhin ang kasaysayan at ilagay sa pedestal ang diktador na kumitil ng maraming buhay at binaon ang bansa sa utang na hanggang ngayo’y pasanin ng mamamayan.
Patuloy pa rin ang laban.
Madalas na tinuturo sa mga paaralan na nakamtam muli ng sambayanan ang kalayaan matapos nilang pabagsakin ang diktadurya noong 1986. Ngunit alam ng kabataang hindi pa tunay na malaya ang bansa—mahaba lang ang tanikala. Sila ang patunay na hindi maaaring magbulag-bulagan ang mamamayan, lalo’t harap-harapan ang paglabag at ang pagsasawalang-bahala.
Ilang buhay man ang kunin, patuloy silang babalik at lalaban. #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1.jpg28484272Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2018-09-26 08:14:332018-09-26 08:14:33Para sa kabataan, ang pumikit ay kasalanan