The human rights situation in the country has since spiraled into a crisis a decade since the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) conducted a review on the Philippines in 2012, human rights organizations revealed.
In a joint report to the international treaty body, Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said they documented and witnessed gross violations on the right to life and civil liberties of Filipinos as well as deeper and pervasive climate of impunity in the country.
They also told the UNHRC about the lack of effective domestic mechanisms for redress and accountability as well as the ongoing constriction of civic and democratic spaces.
The groups submitted an alternative report to the UNHRC weeks before the Philippines undergoes a fifth periodic review on its compliance to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Geneva, Switzerland in October.
Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said the Philippine government failed to meet its obligations to core international human rights instruments such as the ICCPR under the Benigno Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte administrations.
The groups cited that the Philippine government failed to make soldiers and police accused of killing activists accountable as it failed to stop enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations against citizens.
The alternative report also included complaints of how the Philippine government refused to protect human rights defenders but has persecuted them instead.
Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said that UNHRC’s many recommendations to the Philippine government in its past four periodic reviews on the country have gone unheeded.
In their 29-page report, the groups also expressed fears that impunity seems likely to continue under the new Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government because of his family’s refusal to acknowledge “acts of gross human rights violations and massive corruption” under the Marcos Sr. regime.
The failure of succeeding governments to make the Marcoses fully accountable impedes efforts towards truth and justice, Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said.
“Marcos Jr.’s recent defense of his dictator-father’s martial law glosses over their family’s rapacious intent to monopolize political power and prolong their rule by suppressing political dissent and pocketing billions from the nation’s coffers. Clearly, Marcos Jr.’s presidency seeks to erase all the crimes of the Marcoses against the Filipino people, to enable them to keep their massive loot from public funds, and to further their political ambitions,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay, reacting to Marcos Jr.’s recent interview defending his father’s imposition of martial law.
“Marcos Jr. continues the draconian and repressive policies of the Duterte administration, wielding and foisting the anti-terror law and other repressive policies against those who uphold and defend human and people’s rights,” Palabay added.
Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi announced their participation to the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Universal Periodic Review in the next two months that will scrutinize the Philippine government’s human rights record. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UN-scaled.jpg19202560Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-09-15 10:35:402022-09-15 10:35:42Groups tell UN: PH human rights situation in crisis
CPP congratulates Red Fighters on 53rd anniversary
The Rodrigo Duterte government has failed to crush the New People’s Army (NPA) despite vowing to do so before its term ends, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said.
In its message on the NPA’s 53rd anniversary today, the CPP said the revolutionary army has successfully frustrated Duterte and his military generals in their repeated declaration of crushing the people’s armed resistance.
While admitting losses due to the government’s new arsenal of weapons and strategies, the CPP said the NPA has preserved itself and has achieved victories in most guerilla fronts.
“The Red fighters and commanders of the NPA, and the Party cadres leading the NPA, have displayed great tenacity and determination to bear heavy sacrifices, surmount all adversity and limitations, and exert all efforts to defend the people against fascism and state terrorism,” the CPP said.
The underground party also said NPA fighters are willing to shun all desires for comfort and convenience as they shoulder the difficult tasks in waging the people’s war.
“They draw joy, strength and inspiration from the peasant masses who the NPA serves selflessly, and who, in turn, provides for the needs of the NPA,” it added.
The NPA is operating and has preserved its strength in all of the country’s 13 regions, the CPP said.
Bicol NPA twits Duterte
The NPA in Bicol said the Duterte government has failed to crush their armed revolution in the region.
Red fighters of the NPA’s Romulo Jallores Command prepare for a cultural presentation as part of their celebration of the 50th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines. (Raymund B. Villanueva/Kodao)
“The advancement of the people’s war in Bikol, despite its being one of the focus of US(United States)-Duterte regime’s anti-people war, is one of the most undeniable proofs of Duterte’s failure to curb the people’s democratic revolution. The insistent mass surrender campaigns, militarization and civilian killings only pushed the Bikolanos towards revolutionary struggle,” Raymundo Buenfuerza, spokesperson of the NPA’s Romulo Jallores Command said in a statement.
“Where are Duterte’s boasts and strong promises that he can pulverize the revolutionary movement during his term? With barely over two months remaining and despite ceaseless empty declarations of surrenderees after surrenderees, encounters and whatnots, the truth that they failed came straight from none other than the tyrant himself,” Buenfuerza added.
The Bicol NPA further said is reduced to pleading and coercing NPA members into pacification as the President’s “last bid to show some success for his bragging and unrealistic declarations six years ago.”
Buenfuerza said the NPA’s continuing advance in Bicol is one of the most undeniable proofs of Duterte’s failure to curb the “people’s democratic revolution.”
More gov’t troops
The CPP revealed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has created new combat units to try to crush the NPA, to no avail.
The group claimed that almost 60% of the AFP’s combat troops are concentrated in five of the 13 regions, namely, Southern Tagalog, Eastern Visayas, Southern Mindanao, Bicol and North Central Mindanao.
“There is a marked increase in the deployment of troops in Far South Mindanao, Negros, Southern Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Cagayan Valley and Southern Tagalog. The AFP aims to conduct large-scale and focused military operations, coordinate its various branches and make full use of the whole range of its arsenal against the guerrilla forces of the NPA,” the CPP said.
Despite repeatedly declaring that the NPA has been weakened and is set to be crushed before the end of Duterte’s term on June 30, the AFP and PNP continues to increase its counter-guerrilla combat forces, the CPP said.
It added that there are presently 166 combat battalions of Army, Air Force, Marines, Scout Rangers, Special Action Forces and other military and police units deployed against the NPA, 21 more than the previous year.
The NPA’s First Pulang Bagani Battalion in formation in Davao City in 2017. (R. Villanueva/Kodao)
“With this number, the AFP can deploy 5 to 6 battalions against their priority or focused guerrilla sub-regional or front areas of the NPA, and deploy two to three in non-priority areas. The AFP and PNP have established joint commands and operations,” the CPP said.
“The push to achieve overwhelming military superiority, however, has the opposite effect of deepening its political inferiority,” it said.
Increased budget for the military
The CPP said the Duterte government has increasingly overspent on the military and police yet failing in its objective in crushing one of the world’s oldest Communist guerilla war.
It said Duterte’s budget for the military further increased to ₱221 billion this year from ₱217 billion last year, in addition to creating and unleashing another brutal anti-insurgency program led by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The NTF-ELCAC had an increased of ₱17.5 billion in 2021 from ₱4.2 billion in the previous year, ₱10 billion of which was categorized as unallocated.
The AFP has also received a total of $1.14 billion worth of military assistance in the form of Foreign Military Financing, military training programs and others mainly from the United States of America and other foreign countries in the past six years.
The CPP said the Duterte government purchased attack and combat utility helicopters, jet fighters and attack aircraft, cannons and artillery systems, 500-lb and 250-lb bombs, rockets and missiles, drone systems, tanks, armored personnel carrier, electronic surveillance and communication equipment, rifles, bullets and many other new equipment to fight the NPA.
It has deployed GPS tracking systems, button-sized cameras to track guerrilla movement in forested areas, equipment for mobile phone surveillance in a bid to utilize new technology in fighting the guerilla NPA.
The government has also enacted a new anti-terrorism law and let the NTF-ELCAC control civilian government agencies in a “civil-military junta.”
It has also designated the CPP, the NPA as well as the National Democratic Front of the Philippines as so-called terrorist organizations.
Rampant human rights abuses
The CPP said that all the AFP and the PNP succeeded to do however are rampant human rights abuses, both in the cities and rural areas.
“In the cities, military and police agents subject unionists, community organizers, youth and women activists, as well as human rights advocates, progressive religious leaders, teachers and health workers to surveillance, harassments, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings,” it said.
“The situation is even worse in the countryside, although there is gross under-reporting of incidents of military abuses and violations of human rights,” it added.
The CPP said the government enemy has erased all distinction between combatants and civilians in its “arbitrary accusation” of civilians as being communists or communist-supporters using the new anti-terror law to justify gross violations of people’s rights and freedoms.
“It lays siege on communities mobilizing large numbers of troops in night-time or early-morning raids on peasant homes such as in the Oplan Sauron in Negros, the massacre of Tumandok minorities in Capiz and the Bloody Sunday mass killing of activists in Southern Tagalog,” it said.
‘Serious setbacks’
The CPP admitted that the NPA suffered “serious setbacks,” including the loss of NPA national commander Menandro Villanueva and NPA national spokesperson Jorge Madlos in the past year.
It also admitted that some NPA units committed errors, showed internal weaknesses and committed shortcomings that “incapacitated [them] from effectively using guerrilla tactics of concentration, dispersal and shifting.”
“A few of these units have been saddled with various problems including over-concentration and self-constriction, weakness in striking the correct balance in military and political work, leading to their inability to strengthen and expand the mass base and area of operation,” the CPP said.
“Some units have been afflicted with conservatism and passivity or a mountain-stronghold mentality. In some guerrilla fronts, the enemy was able to concentrate its forces on a limited area and apply brutal tactics of suppression against the masses to build blockhouses, compel NPA units to retreat to rough terrain where supply and flow of information is difficult, and force them into a purely military situation,” it revealed.
The CPP urged all NPA units to “self-critically assess their situation, identify and overcome their weaknesses and shortcomings and surmount their limitations, in order to steadily advance from one level to another.”
The NPA in Negros Island. (File photo/Nonoy Espina+)
7 tasks
While showing great resilience and frustrating six years of Duterte’s offensives, the CPP said the NPA must quickly adapt to the tactics and strategy of its and carry forward the “people’s war.”
“We must creatively enhance our tactics in guerrilla warfare in order to wage extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever widening and deepening mass base. As always, the key is to arouse the broad masses of the Filipino people in order for them to rise up in great numbers against the fascist tyranny,” it said.
It added that the NPA has the following tasks in the coming years:
Strengthen the Party’s leadership of the NPA.
Vigorously wage armed struggle and resist the enemy’s brutal war of suppression.
Strengthen the New People’s Army.
Broaden and deepen the NPA mass base in the guerrilla fronts.
Generate widespread support from the cities for the revolutionary armed struggle in the countryside.
We must systematically proselytize among the enemy’s ranks.
Aggressively generate international support for the New People’s Army and the Philippine revolution.
(Report by Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/npa-honors.jpg360640Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-03-29 14:11:212022-03-29 14:12:12‘Tenacious and determined’ NPA frustrates Duterte’s all-out war
The prolonged aftermath of Typhoon Rai (local name Odette) highlights the Rodrigo Duterte government’s sluggish response to the storm, which wreaked havoc across
the Visayan Islands and parts of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines on December 16, 2021.
Affected communities and local governments have been appealing for help after the typhoon-ravaged agricultural zones across Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, and Negros Islands and even overwhelmed Cebu City, a major commercial and cultural hub in the Visayas-Mindanao regions.
From @paghimutad: With 14confirmed deaths, Bais City has become an area most affected by Typhoon #OdettePH in Negros Oriental. Roads inaccessible due to the destruction the storm left in its wake have made relief efforts difficult. pic.twitter.com/2fN96XSKnO
Typhoon Rai destroyed thousands of homes while the damage to agriculture, infrastructure, and other properties displaced people’s livelihoods and left many more without electricity, internet connectivity, or access to water.
IN PHOTOS: Super Typhoon #OdettePH displaced an estimated 33,000 out of 35,000 residents of Trinidad, Bohol, LGU confirms. These are some of the houses of the members of the Trinidad-Talibon Integrated Farmers Association (TTIFA) in Brgy. San Vicente. (1/3)
Various civil society groups and private sector actors are leading relief and donation drives to provide immediate assistance to affected communities.
Nakarating na sa Surigao City ngayong araw ng Pasko ang paunang relief goods at iba pang tulong na nakalap ng Balsa Mindanao at Sisters' Association in Mindanao (SAMIN). Maraming salamat sa lahat ng volunteers at sa mga nag-ambagan para sa relief mission na ito. (1/n) https://t.co/gAKmfRmLrp
Initial relief goods and other assistance gathered by Balsa Mindanao and Sisters Association in Mindanao arrived in Surigao City on Christmas Day. Thank you to all volunteers and those who donated for this relief mission.
Yet Duterte and his officials have failed to respond to the crisis, using excuses such as depleted governmental funds, media underreporting, and impassable roads to deflect blame for the government’s delayed disaster response and garner public sympathy.
Depleted funds?
The impending arrival of Typhoon Rai did not merit any public statement from President Duterte.
When the president spoke in a televised government briefing a day after the typhoon amid calls for immediate government response, he claimed he was still looking for funds to assist typhoon survivors as the government’s money had been “depleted” because of the pandemic:
This COVID really emptied our coffers. So we’re trying to screen how much we can raise so that we can marshal it to the areas affected.
On December 22, Duterte announced that he would be directing USD 199 million (PHP 10 billion) for typhoon relief. Yet his budget department would not commit to expediting the funds to provide immediate assistance to affected areas.
Duterte’s claim of “depleted” funds was challenged by left-wing opposition legislators who pointed out that the Philippines was, in fact, the biggest borrower from the World Bank in 2021. Bayan Muna (People First Party) chairperson Neri Colmenares commented:
The country has a history of being ravaged by typhoons, and it should have the budget to mitigate and provide immediate relief even while responding to the pandemic.
Later that week, on December 27, Duterte would draw criticism for suggesting the government should use the relief funds to purchase “trapal” or tarpaulin sheets as temporary shelters for typhoon survivors.
Temporarily lang naman po kc nagkakaubusan ng house materials. It's not gonna be forever po. Wag po natin spliced and diced sinasabi ng mga gov't officials natin. They have been doing it to VP with all those memes, so let's not do it as well 🙂
He’s the president. Why can’t I demand for something better than tarpaulin sheets especially since more than a week has passed since Odette? This is an exact quote. It’s not taken out of context. The President literally said let’s buy trapal 2 weeks after Odette hit the Philippines.
Inadequate preparations
Indeed, for many Filipinos, Typhoon Rai’s aftermath once more highlighted the Duterte government’s lack of adequate disaster preparedness and delayed response that had been the subject of scathing public criticism in the past.
Kara Ahorro, a resident of world-renowned surfing paradise Siargao Island, shared that before the storm, she felt confident that Typhoon Rai would not be as strong as Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) in 2013, in an interview with SunStar news:
It was forecasted to be just 150 kph at its peak, We were here during Yolanda and that was 300 plus kph, though Yolanda did not made landfall in Siargao, we just thought ‘ah, kaya lang’ [we can handle it].
The economic impact has been especially dire on Siargao Island, where resort and business owners had been prepping to open for visitors again after coronavirus travel restrictions were eased during the Christmas holidays.
A worried mother brings her baby to Dapa District Hospital for treatment. MindaNews photo by ROEL N. CATOTO / 24 December 2021 pic.twitter.com/lXdtu10gPI
Speaking to the Guardian, marketing coordinator Elka Requinta shares how the strength of Typhoon Rai caught everyone by surprise in Siargao:
We didn’t expect it to be this bad. You have locals who were hit because I don’t think there was a call for any evacuation from the government.
Blaming Media
But a top Duterte official, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, blamed the national media for the slow disaster response, claiming they failed to adequately report about the typhoon beforehand.
Journalists pushed back on these accusations, noting the constant steam of coverage in the aftermath of the typhoon amidst great challenges, as Rappler’s Head of Regions Inday Espina-Varona underlines:
From Siargao and Dinagat in Mindanao, Silago, Sipalay, and Ubay in the Visayas, all the way to Palawan, officials and residents waded for hours through mud and water, inching their way through on motorcycles, bangkas, and on foot, just to get their first scratchy messages out into the world. Media reported that.
Ironically, government itself now controls the most extensive regional media network after it denied ABS-CBN, the country’s biggest broadcast network, the right to operate in 2020:
The newsrooms with better resources now are actually government media, especially in the communities. National Government and LGU PIOs have more people, better equipment, and better networks than private media, especially community and regional media. 1/https://t.co/t9VxkUAvzF
Ipinagdiwang ng mga progresibong grupo sa pangunguna ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan ang ika-123 anibersaryo ng deklarasyon ng kalayaan ng Pilipinas mula sa Espanya sa pamamagitan ng isang kilos protesta sa harapan ng konsulada ng Tsina sa Makati city noong Sabado, Hunyo12. Tinutulan nila ang anila’y kapabayaan ng gubyernong Rodrigo Duterte sa West Philippine Sea at pang-uupat ng Tsina sa mga mangingisdang Pilipino sa loob ng Exclusive Economic Zone ng bansa. (Bidyo nina Jek Alcaraz at Joseph Cuevas. Editing ni Jek Alcaraz)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/9-1.jpg7681024Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-06-16 07:20:512021-06-16 07:20:53Protesta sa Araw ng Kalayaan upang ipaglaban ang West Philippine Sea laban sa agresyon ng China
Ang may akda ay naging pasyente ng COVID sa isang pampublikong ospital sa bandang hilaga ng Kalakhang Maynila. Mahigit isang linggo rin siyang nanatili roon hanggang payagang makauwi para ituloy ang pagpapagaling.
Kung magka COVID ka at malala at sa public hospital magpapagamot, ito ang payo ko sa iyo base sa aking karanasan noong Abril:
1. Masks – magdala at everyday magpalit ka. Sa ward, iba-iba ang makakasama mo, iba iba rin ang level ng COVID. Bukod sa iyo at sa ibang pasyente, para rin ito sa kapakanan ng mga health worker na gagamot sa iyo.
2. Loperamide – kasi baka magka-diarrhea ka at hindi ka na mabalikan ng nurse, lalo kapag full capacity ang ospital. May oras lang ang pagbisita nila at sa dami ng pasyente may chance na makalimutan nila. Hind iyon sadya.
3. Vitamin C – para maka-double dose kahit nasa ospital. Tulungan mo rin sarili ang mo.
4. Biscuit/crackers – pero individually-wrapped. Huwag iyong maramihan, kasi isang bukas lang ay contaminated na lahat iyon. Sana iyong may palaman na rin. In case late ang rasyon ng pagkain. Pwede mo pa i-share sa ibang pasyente.
5. Table napkin o kitchen towel – huwag tissue kasi napakanipis nito. Madali masira ang tisyu. Pero kung kitchen towel or table napkin, sapo ang lahat ng ubo, dahak at more ubo. Maayos pang maitatapon. Mahihikayat din ang iba na hindi na dumahak at dumura sa basurahan kasi kawawa iyong maglilimas nito.
6. Disposable na pangkain – May pagkain sa ospital at maayos at masarap naman ito. May plastic na kubyertos na kasama. Pero kung may nagpadala ng pagkain, mainam ito para hindi masira ang pagkain. Itapon sa basurahan pagkatapos, lahat ng ginamit. Kahit generous ka, no sharing, para sa kapakanan ng lahat.
Rasyon na pagkain sa pampublikong ospital. (Larawang kuha ni M. Nieva)
7. Extra bottled water – may bottled water sa ospital pero minsan mauubos mo kaagad or late darating ang rasyon.
8. Toiletries – sabon para sa iyong hand washing at kung ano-ano pa. Posible naman ang maligo pero mabilisan kasi nakakahiya sa ibang pasyente.
9. Alcohol spray at alcohol pang refill – bring your own alcohol. Importante ito lalo’t marami kayo sa kwarto, iisa lang ng banyo at mixed ang ward. Maaari din itong hiramin ng mga med tech kapag i-xray ka.
10. Charger – because
11. Electric fan – kasi mainit. Kung may extra fan doon, huwag mahiyang manghiram. If magdadala ka, iyong maganda na. Iwan mo na rin doon para sa mga susunod na pasyente.
12. Kumot – walang kumot o unan sa public hospital.
13. Damit – yung presko at madaling isuot, kasi mainit sa ospital. Ang pamalit ay dapat pang-dalawang linggo, lalo ang underwear. Hindi kasi makakapaglaba dahil sa swero o IV. Wala ring pagsasampayan.
Do’s and don’ts
Magpahinga at magpalakas. Mahirap matulog sa ospital pero possible. Gawin iyong lung exercises para lumakas agad ang baga.
Huwag magpanic. Sa loob ng iyong ward, maaari kang makakita ng mga pasyenteng mai-intubate o mamamatay, lalo kung walang separator na tela ang mga hospital bed o mixed ang kaso sa ward. Meron ding tatalon sa bintana. Anuman ang dahilan nila, kalmahin mo ang sarili mo at isipin mong gagaling ka.
Selfie ng may-aksa sa loob ng ospital.
Makipag kapwa-tao. Makipagkumustahan. Hindi ka man sanay, makakabuti ito sa mental health mo at ng kapwa pasyente.
Unawain ang mga health worker. Kulang kulang pa rin mga PPE nila. Iyong iba, sisinghap-singhap na habang kinukuhaan ka ng BP. Yung iba naman, basang basa na ng pawis to a point na tutulo na parang bukas na gripo yung pawis nila kapag tumungo lang sila. Pero tuloy lang ang pag asikaso sa may sakit.
Huwag mong tiisin ang hindi dapat. Sakaling may mamatay sa iyong ward, paalalahanan ang mga health worker na takpan kung hindi agad makukuha ang labi ng isang pasyente. Kung lumipas na ang isang oras at wala pa rin takip o hindi pa rin kinukuha, ipaalala muli. Huwag mong sundin iyong kasabihan na “Pagtiisan mo na lang dahil naka public hospital ka.” Deserved ng buhay ang respeto, ganoon din ang mga patay.
Magpasalamat ka. Hind mo man nakikita yung doktor mo, ipaabot mo ang iyong pasasalamat. Pasalamatan mo rin ang lahat ng health worker na makakasalubong mo sa iyong paglabas.
Cheers to life! #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/1-4.jpg6671092Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-06-04 16:23:542021-06-04 16:24:56FIRST PERSON: Kung magka-COVID at sa pampublikong ospital nagpapagamot
Government claims of the employment situation improving in February 2021 compared to pre-pandemic January 2020 are unfounded, research group IBON said.
The so-called increase in employment is just Filipinos desperate to make a living in any way they can. This makes the need for substantial cash aid even more urgent, the group said.
The economic managers repeatedly claim that “we have surpassed our pre-pandemic employment level of 42.6 million in January 2020,” such as when the February 2021 labor force survey (LFS) results were released.
IBON said the LFS figures, however, clearly show that the jobs crisis existing even before the pandemic has only gotten worse upon the longest and harshest lockdowns in Southeast Asia.
Reported employment increased by 610,000, from 42.5 million in January 2020 to 43.2 million in February 2021. But this was far from enough for the labor force which grew by 2.4 million over that same period to 47.3 million, said the group, resulting in even greater unemployment.
IBON also noted that there are 12 million combined unemployed (4.2 million) and underemployed (7.9 million) Filipinos as of February 2021, which is much more than the 8.7 million in January 2020 (i.e. 2.4 million unemployed and 6.3 million underemployed).
The 1.8 million increase in unemployment in itself already indicates collapsing household incomes for millions of Filipino families, said the group.
Photo by R. Villanueva/Kodao
The marginal increase in employment should not be seen as a sign of any improvement because it masks a serious deterioration in the quality of work in the country, IBON said. Even less than before, so-called employment is not enough to give Filipino families the regular and secure incomes they need to survive.
By class of workers, the number of wage and salary workers fell by over 1 million and of employers in family farms and businesses by 72,000 from widespread lockdown-driven business closures and retrenchments. These are down to 26.7 million and 930,000, respectively.
IBON noted that jobless Filipinos were apparently driven to “self-employment” which bloated by 1.4 million and to being “unpaid family workers” which rose by 356,000. These increased to 12.5 million and 3 million, respectively.
By hours worked, the number of full-time workers fell by 2.9 million to 25.9 million. Those working only part-time however increased by 3.2 million to 16.6 million, and those “with a job, not at work” by 325,000 to 657,000.
IBON stressed that tens of millions of Filipinos are going hungry, most of all from not having the money to buy food especially from the lack of work.
The Php10,000 emergency cash assistance being demanded is all the more urgent to immediately alleviate hunger. The inflation-adjusted official food threshold as of March 2021 for a family of five is Php2,133 per week in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Php1,905 per week on average for the Philippines.
The latest Php1,000 token cash aid is glaringly not even enough for food expenses, considering even that official food thresholds are ridiculously low to begin with, IBON said.
At the same time, a large fiscal stimulus is critical to arrest economic scarring, jump-start the economy, and genuinely improve employment on a wider scale, said the group. #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/jobless1.jpg7501000Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-05-05 07:54:502021-05-05 07:54:52Ayuda urgent: Jobs crisis still worse than before pandemic — IBON
Despite having one of the longest and harshest lock downs in the world, the Philippines breached one million Covid cases on Monday, April 26. This means the most number of new cases per and the most number of new deaths per million people in South East Asia. The Philippines also has the second worst number of fully vaccinated people by share of the population in the region. #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/3-2.jpg11471811Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-04-27 08:01:522021-04-27 08:01:54A million Covid cases
“It is patriotic duty of every Filipino to fight for our territorial integrity, sovereignty and national patrimony. The Filipinos’ collective struggle should aim to wrest back sovereign control of the West Philippine Sea and the marine resources within the country’s exclusive economic zone.” — Pedro “Tata Pido” Gonzales,Vice Chairman Emeritus Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Tata-pido.png7251086Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-04-10 12:19:162021-04-10 12:19:18'It is patriotic duty of every Filipino to fight for our territorial integrity, sovereignty and national patrimony'
“Humantong po tayo sa ganitong kalagayan dahil sa kapabayaan ng mga nakaraang taon sa ating mga karapatan at hurisdiskyon sa Kanlurang Karagatang Pilipino. Naging sobrang mapagbigay ang pamahalaan sa Tsina dahil sa mga pangako nito na pera at imprastraktura na napako lamang at halos wala namang katotohanan, ngayon naman ay bakuna ang kapalit ng ating katahimikan.” — Atty. Jay Batongbacal, Director, UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/MARINE.png11521718Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-04-09 14:18:422021-04-09 14:18:44'Naging sobrang mapagbigay ang pamahalaan sa Tsina dahil sa mga pangako nito'
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/165496371_10224985252836624_5186030760707113746_o.jpg1255834Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-03-29 09:12:132021-03-29 09:15:57Habang sila ay nagsasalo-salo
