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“Her untimely death underscores the failure of the prison system to provide even the most basic health care for treatable illnesses that justifies the petition we filed at the Supreme Court seeking the humanitarian release of the elderly and the sick who are most vulnerable to succumbing to the pandemic.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – A political prisoner died on May 4 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.

Adelaida “Nanay Ede” Macusang, 61, was rushed to the hospital after complaining of severe stomach pain and nausea. However, she was declared dead on arrival.

According to human rights group Karapatan, doctors initial findings stated that Macusang succumbed to kidney failure and cardiac arrest. Prior to her arrest, Macusang had already been diagnosed with severe hypertension and cardiomegaly, or a medical condition in which the heart is enlarged. She died without being tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19.)

Macusang, a member of the Montevista Farmers Association, was arrested on March 28, 2018. She was slapped with with trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. She was detained at Davao del Norte Provincial Rehabilitation Center.

Kapatid, and organization of families and friends of political prisoners, meanwhile, asserted that COVID-29 test should still be conducted “as a protective priority to mitigate the spread of the contagion inside the provincial prison center.”

“Her untimely death underscores the failure of the prison system to provide even the most basic health care for treatable illnesses that justifies the petition we filed at the Supreme Court seeking the humanitarian release of the elderly and the sick who are most vulnerable to succumbing to the pandemic,” Kapatid said in a statement.

The groups expressed alarm over Macusang’s death especially with the onslaught of the pandemic in detention facilities in the country. They reiterated their plea to the Supreme Court to heed their call to free prisoners on humanitarian grounds before it’s too late.

“Even the death of one detainee is already alarming enough, especially when high congestion rates, the lack of adequate medical and sanitation facilities, and the subhuman conditions in our prisons mean that the disease can easily spread, infect, and kill more prisoners, especially the most vulnerable,” Karapatan Deputy Secretary General Roneo Clamor said.

He added that the government should act to curb the transmission of the virus in jails as there are reports of increasing cases of COVID-19 positive inmates as well as staff of detention centers.

On May 5, the SC deliberated on the petition to release prisoners on humanitarian grounds to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in jails.

Based on reports, there are now 333 detainees who are COVID-19 positive in Cebu City Jail, Quezon City Jail has nine PDLs and nine staff, Correction Institute for Women has 47 detainees and two died of the virus.

“The warped basis of her political imprisonment should have long been trounced had the most basic rights to due process, equal protection of the law, and the right against unreasonable searches and seizures been diligently upheld. Her age and underlying illnesses could have qualified her for humanitarian release had the wheels of justice on our petition moved faster and immediately yielded positive results,” Kapatid said.

The post Political prisoner in Tagum dies due to illness appeared first on Bulatlat.

[Statement] Justice for Rex Cornelio, 16th journalist slain under Duterte pic.twitter.com/AUO1Bi6dqt

— NUJP (@nujp) May 6, 2020

“His ultimate passion was for good governance and his advocacy was to help save the environment. He was a highly principled man who sought refuge in his faith.”

By RITCHE T. SALGADO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Just two days after the world commemorated the World Press Freedom Day and on the same day that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) silenced one of the country’s biggest media network, ABS-CBN, the City of Gentle people was shaken by the killing of one of the Dumagueteños’ favorite voices on FM radio, Cornelio Pepino, or Rex Cornelio as he was widely known.

Cornelio, 48, was shot by a riding-in-tandem near his residence in Villa Amada, Daro, Dumaguete City at around 8:30 pm of May 5. He was on his way home with his wife after airing his program. Cornelio is survived by his wife Colleen and two children.

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) believes that Cornelio’s death may be related to his work and as such he would be the 16th journalist killed under the Duterte presidency, and 186th since 1986.

In Negros Island and in Dumaguete, he is the third media practitioner killed since 2018. NUJP-Dumaguete Chapter Chairman Edmond Sestoso was killed on April 30, 2018, and late last year, broadcaster Dindo Generoso was shot dead on his way to work. Sestoso’s case is yet to be resolved, while three suspects, including two police officers. were arrested for the killing of Generoso.

dyMD Energy FM station manager Florence Baesa said that Cornelio “spent many years covering the issues that many reporters were fearful to do.”

“His ultimate passion was for good governance and his advocacy was to help save the environment. He was a highly principled man who sought refuge in his faith,” Baesa said.

Negros Oriental First District Representative, Jocelyn Sy-Limkaichong, raised her concern on the spate of killings in the province.

“We should be alarmed, we should be enraged, we should not allow this to happen and demand that the sacrifice of our vanguards would not be wasted, that they would find justice,” she said in a statement.

Cornelio is one of the pioneer staffs of the city’s youngest FM station, dyMD Energy FM and hosts a show entitled, “Pukpukin Mo Baby,” which brings to the fore major issues affecting the city, province, and the country, giving listeners an avenue to voice out their opinion on these issues.

He is a known critic of the governor and other local leaders. In fact in 2017, Judge Arlene Catherine Dato of the Regional Trial Court Branch 39 acquitted Cornelio from libel cases filed by Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo. The accusation stemmed from Cornelio’s claim, which he aired in his November 2014 programs, that the governor failed to act on the request of residents of Sta. Catalina to stop the illegal gold mining in the area, that the governor is involved in the overpricing of government projects and in the misuse of the intelligence fund of the province, among others. The judge however ruled in favor of Cornelio, saying that he was being truthful as he was able to present documents that would prove his statements against the governor.

“In the service of the people of Negros Oriental, he risked his life, his dignity, his credibility as he had to survive malicious attacks from powerful people. He survived that and came out stronger and more determined to use his craft to help bring sanity in our province,” said Limkaichong.

Marchel Espina, NUJP-Bacolod chairperson, called on the authorities to swiftly investigate the killing.

“We also call on our colleagues to remain resolute, especially at this time. The citizens now need a strong, independent media,” Espina told Bulatlat.

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“This is a clear attack on the democratic rights of unionists and workers who are fighting for legitimate rights.”

By JUSTIN UMALI
Bulatlat.com

SANTA ROSA, Laguna – The 202nd Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police – Police Regional Office 4-A are preparing to deploy their forces to barangay Pulo, Cabuyao, Laguna, according to information received by labor group Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (Pamantik-KMU).

This group believes that the police and military are preparing to target union offices in Cabuyao, including the offices of Pamantik-KMU and Organized Labor Association in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA-KMU), keeping with the AFP and PNP’s allegations of these groups being “front organizations” of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“This is in clear relation to statements made by Raffy Baylosis and his accusations that OLALIA and PAMANTIK were affiliated with the CPP-NPA,” said Dandy Miguel, Vice Chairperson of Pamantik-KMU. “This is a clear attack on the democratic rights of unionists and workers who are fighting for legitimate rights.”

On May 1, Labor Day, the AFP and PNP conducted a press conference in Camp Vicente Lim, Calamba, where 16 workers were presented as “former members” of the New People’s Army who “surrendered” to authorities. Pamantik-KMU exposed the farce, asserting that they were workers of Coca-Cola Sta. Rosa who were shuttled into the camp.

One of the “surrenderees” was Rafael Baylosis, a former labor-leader in Coca-Cola. In 2018, Baylosis was one of the leaders of a strike by Coca-Cola workers who clamored for regularization.
Baylosis also accused leaders like Hermie Marasigan, National President of OLALIA-KMU, of being “recruiters” of the CPP-NPA.

Baylosis and other former Coca-Cola labor leader Rey Medellin were condemned by PAMANTIK-KMU and Defend Coca-Cola Workers PH as “traitors to their fellow workers and the entire working class.”

“The Duterte regime is becoming desperate in its attempts to silence workers who are struggling for better wages, benefits, and regularization,” Miguel said, pointing out that harassment against workers and labor leaders has intensified since the start of the government-imposed lockdown.

Contractual Coca-Cola workers and members of Liga ng Manggagawa para sa Regular na Hanapbuhay (LIGA) have been victims of harassment and false allegations of being members of the revolutionary NPA as early as April 1.

On April 23, nine Coca-Cola workers were taken to Camp Macario Sakay in Los Baños, Laguna for interrogation amid accusations of being members of the NPA.

Aside from Coca-Cola workers, leaders in other unions are also targets of harassment. Nedo Lagunias, an officer of Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN) was visited by police officers, April 18, and accused of being an NPA member.

The latest in these series of attacks, said Miguel, was the May 4 ABS-CBN shutdown, which displaced “almost 11,000 workers in the name of a personal vendetta.”

The incidents, Miguel said, were characteristic of Duterte “taking advantage of the pandemic to assail human rights.”

“Instead of giving proper aid to workers in this time of crisis, Duterte and his capitalist masters are busy attacking workers’ rights and putting people out of a job,” he added.

According to an earlier statement by Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite, the Duterte administration’s efforts to provide assistance to displaced workers have only reached 721,023 workers out of a target two million displaced workers, and out of an estimated 23 million unemployed Filipinos nationwide.

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