The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s Bureau of Workers Concerns (BWSC) has so far given P1,000 cash subsidy for 49,267 sugar workers, or only seven percent of the 700,000 sugar workers in the country.

BY AARON MACARAEG
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — An international organization called for just labor practices for farmers and agricultural workers and provision of immediate relief for them due the onslaught of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Despite having already globally accepted labor rights practices, Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP) p noted that that agricultural workers are “among the most oppressed and exploited sectors who suffer one of the lowest wages and severest poverty.” Data show that 25 percent of them belong to “extremely poor.”

Worse, agricultural workers are exposed to some of the worst occupational and safety hazards, including agrochemical and killer diseases, according to Arnold Padilla, PANAP Food Sovereignty Programme coordinator.

“Workers’ conditions at these factory farms – cramped housing and transportation; unsanitary workplaces; lack of protective equipment, etc. – provide a conducive environment for pandemics to break out,” Padilla said.

Padilla added that working in big chicken and pig industrial farms and monocrop plantations exposes the workers vulnerabilities such as deadly infections from pathogens.

“Unfortunately, many governments, rich and poor alike, are failing even in this minimum obligation. Worse, some are using the pandemic to further oppress and exploit the agricultural workers,” Padilla said.

PANAP added that more than securing a healthy environment for agricultural workers and placing safeguards in their welfare and rights, governments should provide immediate economic relief to them.

Filipino agricultural workers severely affected

In the Philippines, Unyong ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) said that many agricultural workers are not able to go to work due to the shutdown of sugar mills or distilleries and bio-ethanol plants such as the Bukidnon Sugar Milling company and Emperador Distillery in Batangas. In Cebu, its lone sugar mill has already closed.

Sugarcane cutters in Batangas, meanwhile, are also not able to work because they were refused from entering other barangays.

Banana workers in CARAGA’s Lapanday and A. Soriano plantations, meanwhile, are only given work three times a week.

UMA noted that tiempo muerto (dead season) has already started, and will last until October. The season also spells hunger for sugar workers and their families.

UMA Chairperson Antonio Flores lamented that the government has not provided substantial economic relief for agricultural workers.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s Bureau of Workers Concerns (BWSC) has so far given P1,000 cash subsidy for 49,267 sugar workers, or only seven percent of the 700,000 sugar workers in the country.

Flores said that sugar workers are not included in the DOLE’s Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) but only in DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD). Still, only 15,627 slots were available for agricultural workers as of April 27.

UMA called on President Rodrigo Duterte to “not underestimate the simmering resentment among the people including agricultural workers in the country.”

The post Groups bat for aid for agricultural workers appeared first on Bulatlat.

We articulate not only what concerns us but more essentially what concerns those whose rights are trampled upon. In so doing, we empower them to likewise articulate their sentiments and aspirations.

By ROMA ESTRADA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — In his come-back press conference on April 16 as presidential spokesperson, Harry Roque bragged the limitations of free expression in an international emergency. Reading Section 6 of Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Roque mentioned and threatened singer Mystica for emotionally expressing her frustrations over the government’s slow actions in distributing relief goods through Facebook live.

Such pronouncement of the former human rights lawyer turned mouthpiece of the tyrant in Malacañang is just a part of the continuing efforts of the government to curtail dissent.

On Labor Day, four labor leaders and two members of Liga ng Manggagawa sa Valenzuela were arrested for conducting an online protest at home in lieu of the celebration of Labor Day.

Five days before this, an overseas Filipino worker in Taiwan, Elanel Ordidor, was threatened of deportation by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). She was accused of cyberlibel “for willful posting of nasty and malevolent materials against President Duterte on Facebook.”

The two incidents are just the latest in a series of attacks on free expression perpetrated by the powers-that-be.

On March 24, Brandon Perang, a rapper in Cebu City, was made to swear before Governor Gwendolyn Garcia not to comment against government efforts on COVID-19 again.

On March 27, Juliet Espinosa, a public school teacher in General Santos City, was arrested without a warrant because of a Facebook post about the incompetence of their LGU in distributing relief goods. She was charged with inciting to sedition.

On April 5, Joshua Molo, a student journalist, was made to issue a public apology following a heated argument with his high school teachers regarding the latter’s alleged anti-poor sentiments amid the lockdown.

On April 6, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued a memorandum to their employees “not to post negative comments against the government”.

On April 15, students who commented against the decision of the University of Santo Tomas to continue the semester despite the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) were reported to have been issued a notice of disciplinary action.

On April 19, artist Maria Victoria Beltran was arrested in Cebu City over a satirical Facebook post. On the same date, seven volunteers of Sagip Kanayunan and Tulong Anakpawis relief mission including former Rep. Ariel Casilao were illegally arrested for allegedly carrying “anti-government propaganda”.

All these do not yet include the dozens of subpoenas issued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to individuals who just aired out grievances against the government online.

We can demand government accountability only for as long as there is free expression.

Closely keeping track of these cases of silencing, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) analyzed the framework of the current crackdown and underscored the necessity of free expression especially in the time of crisis in a webinar dubbed as Paki/Alam on April 23.

Speakers sociology Prof. Sarah Raymundo of UP Diliman, Atty. Josa Deinla of National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Manila Bulletin columnist/blogger Tonyo Cruz, and indigenous peoples advocate Pia Montalban of Ecohumans explored the essential dimensions of free expression.

The crackdown’s framework

Silencing dissenting voices is not carried out only through actual arrests. Cruz maintained that the Duterte administration is waging a war of information through the government’s multiple press briefings throughout each day—the Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) in the morning to the Department of Health’s (DOH) in the afternoon to the President’s extemporaneous public addresses late in the evening. By airing these briefings one after the other, Cruz said the government gets to suck the oxygen in the public sphere, making people too bombarded and confused to keep their eyes on the ball.

Meanwhile, critics are met with punitive measures by crafting new bills against dissent like the recently-passed Bayanihan to Heal As One Act. By weaponizing the law, the government is able to legitimize its crackdown against dissidents. This move itself is unconstitutional, argued NUPL’s Deinla, citing Article 3 Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution which states, “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech and of expression.”

Tracing roots

That it can be exercised without fear is the true measure of free expression, emphasized Deinla.

But free expression has never taken place outside the context of threat. Tracing the exercise of free expression and its impacts throughout history, Raymundo discussed how radical publications, the ones that really challenged oppressive authority, have always operated underground.

Writers have never used free expression for its own sake. From La Solidaridad during the Spanish colonization to the mosquito press during the Martial Law–free expression reveals its anti-colonial roots. Naturally a form of assertion, it was born out of the need for equality and genuine independence.

Which is why contrary to the recent statement of spokesperson Roque, the song called “Iisang Dagat” (One Sea) released by the Chinese Embassy can never be an exercise of  free expression because instead of seeking independence and defending Philippine waters, it shamelessly uses music to promote neocolonialism.

Overcoming fear

Yet inequality exists even in the very act of expression. Antares Gomez Bartolome of CAP discussed accessibility and articulation as indispensable elements of expression. That some people are more articulate and some expressions are more accessible than others proves the way with which to fight oppression has contradictions of its own.

In marginalized areas in the countryside such as the Aeta communities in Tarlac, Pampanga, and Zambales, IP advocate Montalban discussed how she and her team’s immersion program called Project Pisapungan has inspired volunteers to speak in solidarity with the indigenous peoples. The Aeta’s fight against development aggression has always fallen on deaf ears until more people have taken on their struggle for ancestral land and right to self-determination.

In these communities, the act of articulation is itself a struggle, more so while being surrounded with heightened military presence. Accessibility also proves to be challenging–the Aeta’s difficulty of reaching out to us and us to them and their stories. The same goes for the Dumagats of Quezon province, according to Roselle Pineda.

Free expression being done never for its own sake is free expression being done never for oneself. We articulate not only what concerns us but more essentially what concerns those whose rights are trampled upon. In so doing, we empower them to likewise articulate their sentiments and aspirations.

This pandemic is fertile soil for informed, radical, and brave expression. We do not merely uphold it, we use it to challenge the lies of those in power.

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Human rights group Karapatan documented 250 victims of extrajudicial killings and 10 victims of enforced disappearances from July 2016 until March this year. Moreover, nearly 370,000 civilians were affected by military bombings and 450,000 have evacuated due to military operations, Karapatan data showed.

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Precilla Libico could not hold her tears as she narrated how her husband was killed on April 25 in Las Navas town in Northern Samar.

In between sobs, Precilla said her husband Apolinario, village captain of San Miguel, was on his way home riding a scooter when he was shot at around 4 p.m. near San Jorge village. Apolinario just went to Las Navas to process the papers needed for their project in San Miguel village. The mayor was not in the office so he went home.

Libico was a member of Northern Samar Small Farmers Association.

Precilla and other family members are currently here in the capital to share their stories and to demand justice. Apolinario was just one of the civilians killed in the implementation of President Duterte’s counterinsurgency programs — Oplan Kapayapaan, martial law in Mindanao, Oplan Sauron, Memorandum Order No. 32, and the latest, Oplan Kapanatagan, jointly led by the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Human rights group Karapatan documented 250 victims of extrajudicial killings and 10 victims of enforced disappearances from July 2016 until March this year.  Moreover, nearly 370,000 civilians were affected by military bombings and 450,000 have evacuated due to military operations, Karapatan data showed.

The group also said there were more than 42, 000 civilians affected by the use of schools, medical, religious and other public places for military purposes, a violation of the international humanitarian law.

According to Amihan (National Federation of Peasant Women), 214 farmers were already killed in implementing these orders. They include 30 peasant women, nine minors, eight farmer couples and 28 elderly.

Memo order no. 32 

Human rights and peasant groups have blamed the memorandum order no. 32 for the spike of human rights abuses particularly in Samar, Negros island and Bicol.

Issued on Nov. 22, 2018, the MO 32 orders the deployment of more troops in Bicol region, Samar, Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental. The order was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Midialdea upon the orders of President Duterte.

According to the memo, there are “number of sporadic acts of violence occurred recently in particular areas of the country, particularly in the provinces of Samar, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental and the Bicol region” allegedly committed by what it called as lawless groups.

The memo added, “there is a need to reinforce the directive of the President in order to prevent further loss of innocent lives and destruction of property and bring the whole country back to a state of complete normalcy as quick as possible.”

In November 2018, the Philippine National Police immediately deployed Special Action Force in the four areas. The AFP also deployed two battalions in Samar. In January this year, 220 more troops were deployed in Negros island.

A report by the Philippine New Agency said Co. Benedict Arevalo, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander said the troops will “boost their campaign against the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).”

But the campaign against the CPP-NPA was directed against civilians especially those who are members of the organizations the government tagged as front organizations of the CPP-NPA.

The implementation of MO 32 has only resulted in mass arrests, killings and forced surrender of civilians presented as NPA guerrillas.

Oplan Sauron 1 and 2

After the issuance of MO 32, synchronized enhanced managing of police operations (SEMPO) was launched by the military and the police dubbed as “Oplan Sauron” – an internal security operation plan against “personalities connected to the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.”

SEMPO is publicized as part of government’s efforts against illegal drugs and loose firearms in the Central Visayas Region. On the ground, though, it is being used against members of peasant groups fighting for their right to land.

On Dec. 27, 2018, when the combined forces of the police and the military launched Oplan Sauron 1, at least six individuals from Guihulngan, Negros Oriental were killed simultaneously and 50 civilians from eight villages were also arrested.

According to the documentation of Karapatan-Negros, the killings occurred at 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. at different villages in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental. Allegedly, evidence were also planted, similar to those who were killed in police operations against illegal drugs. The circumstances of the killings were also the same where combined forces of the police and the soldiers from the Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion forced entry into their houses and shot them in front of their family members. The victims were as follows:

• Jimmy Fat, 57 from sitio Panagtugas, Trinidad village, Guihulngan City. He was reportedly dragged outside of the front yard where his children were assembled. The police and the military allegedly “planted” a .38 revolver and some bullets beside his body.
• Jun Cobol from sitio Punong also in Trinidad village. Upon the entry of the armed men, Cobol reportedly raised both of his hands and knelt. However, the armed men still shot him in front of his wife.
• Jaime Revilla, a community organizer from sitio Kaingan. A .38 revolver and some bullets were also allegedly placed beside his body.
• Reneboy Fat, a habal-habal (motorcycle) driver from sitio Ilaya, Hilaitan village
• Jesus Isugan,26 also a habal habal driver was also killed by the police and soldiers from the 94th IB. It was around 7:00 a.m. when the troops raided their house in sitio Malabyokon, Buenavista village. He was asked about the whereabouts of a certain Tomas Isugan. The armed men dragged him towards the back of the house and shot him in front of his wife, his child, his siblings and his father. His body was placed inside a sack and tossed in the middle of the road.
• Gabby Alboro, a media practitioner for the DYJL FM radio station was also gunned down by armed men riding-in-tandem.

This year, Oplan Sauron 2.0 was launched. This time, the operation was supposedly related to the elections. However, those who fell victims did not violate any of the election code.

On March 30, fourteen peasants were killed in Canlaon City, Manjuyod and Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental. There are also 12 others who were arrested. Among them are members of the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Negros chapter and village officials.

The government asserted that the operation is legitimate. In an article published by the Philippine News Agency, authorities said that the operation was against the NPA and that those who were killed “fought back.”

But the circumstances of their killings were also the same as the conduct of Oplan Sauron 1 in December of 2018; the police and soldiers belonging to the 94th IB raided the houses of the victims in the wee hours of the night. They were killed in front of their families and the state security forces planted evidence to justify the killings. According to the report of the national fact-finding mission (NFFM), many witnesses attested that the victims were summarily executed. Irregularities were also found in the search warrant used against the 12 arrested individuals.

#JusticeForNegros14 | Probe reveals state security forces committed ‘murder, theft, other abuses’

The killings have not stopped even after Oplan Sauron 1 and 2.0. Last July 7, a lay member of Iglesias Filipina Independiente, Salvador Romano, was shot by unknown assailants in Poblacion village, Manjuyod town. He died instantly and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. He was on his way home when the assailants fired at him.

More military deployment

According to Amihan, more and more soldiers are deployed in the regions covered by the MO 32 resulting in intensifying militarization.

In Eastern Visayas, 545 villages are affected by militarization. The deployment of nine army battalions in the region has resulted in forced evacuations in San Jorge, Calbiga, Las Navas, San Jose De Buan and Pinabacdao, and aerial bombings in Matuginao and Las Navas. There are recorded 11 individuals killed after the execution of the memo and 11 were illegally arrested and detained.

In Negros island, there are 11 regular and special battalions of AFP, PNP, CAFGU, and RPA-ABB operating.

At least 68 were killed including the victims of Sagay Massacre on October 2018, Guihulngan Massacre on December 2018, and the mass killings in Canlaon, Manjuyod, and Sta. Catalina on March 30, 2019, while more than 70 were illegally arrested and detained.

In Bicol, 62 individuals have been killed, including the consecutive killings last month of Masbate farmers, human rights workers and former Bayan Muna leader in Sorsogon. At least six army battalions are currently deployed in the region.

There are also three army battalions deployed in Nueva Ecija. Soldiers reportedly use barangay halls and day care centers as camps, threatening and red-tagging farmers and members of farmers’ organizations.

With only days away before Duterte’s fourth state of the nation address, Amihan along with the families of victims of extrajudicial killings and militarization in Nueva Ecija, Masbate, Northern Samar and Negros Oriental appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the state-sponsored violence against farmers,  and their communities, and hold the Duterte government accountable for these abuses.

Amihan Chairperson Zenaida Soriano said Duterte’s crimes against humanity should end.

“He and his mercenary forces should be held accountable for the perpetration of attacks against farming communities. We urge all the poor and the marginalized sectors, farmers, workers, urban poor, fisher folk, indigenous people, women, youth and those in the informal sector to unite and oust Duterte,” Soriano said.

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By JUSTIN UMALI
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Human rights organization Defend-Southern Tagalog (Defend-ST) revealed the human rights abuses in the region’s rural communities in a forum held July 20 at the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP).

The organization cited Duterte’s track record on human rights violations in Southern Tagalog. As of December 2018, there have been at least 55 documented cases of illegal arrest, 98 political prisoners with 37 coming from the Southern Tagalog region and 22 arrested under the Duterte administration. At least 350 cases of aerial bombing and strafing operations conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines were also documented.

Shirley Songalia, Defend-ST spokesperson, said that the current culture of impunity is tied with the economic interests of the ruling elite.

“The systematic series of human rights violations in Oriental Mindoro, Quezon, and the rest of Southern Tagalog all have the same pattern – they are all caused by development aggression carried out by large companies and backed by the Duterte regime,” Songalia said.

Victims shared their testimonies during the forum.

‘Tinatakot po sila’

Toyang Lavado was one of the members of Karapatan-ST’s fact-finding mission that responded to reports of bombing and other abuses allegedly conducted by elements of the Army’s 4th Infantry Brigade in the towns of Victoria and Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro last June.

Lavado said that when they arrived in Calapan, Mindoro, the delegation had to pass through three checkpoints. In each checkpoint, soldiers in full battle gear pointed their rifles at them and interrogated them.

Lavado added that the tires of their vehicle were punctured by spikes on the road. “It seems to us the spikes were placed there deliberately,” she said in Filipino.

The troubles continued upon reaching the towns of Mansalay and Victoria.

“We were harassed continuously, even the families of three farmers allegedly killed in an encounter,” Lavado said. She said the policemen went inside the Church where they were staying and intimidate the pastor who accommodated them.

For one week, the military and the local government had in their custody three bodies of suspected New People’s Army guerrillas. “They refused to surrender the bodies to the families,” Lavado said.

Lavado said that the authorities agreed to have the families claim the bodies on the condition that they would sign an affidavit which states that the person killed was a commander of the NPA. “The families do not know the names in the affidavits,” Lavado said.

The June incident was only one example of many rights violations, Lavado said. According to the group, over 600 indigenous Mangyan have been forced to evacuate from Mansalay and Victoria towns due to military operations.

Lavado said Mangyan people, in particular, are frequent targets of harassment and state violence.

“Mangyan are naturally shy. They don’t like talking to strangers. Because of this, they are often mistaken as NPA and arrested or killed,” Lavado said.

Lavado stressed that this combination of abuses and red-tagging prevents the indigenous Mangyan from integrating into Philippine society.

“They are being threatened and are forced to leave their ancestral land. After this, mining companies and other commercial interests take over their resources,” she said.

One of the largest power companies in Oriental Mondoro is the Santa Clara Power Corporation, which has initiated its geothermal plant in Mount Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Another mining company is Intex Mining, operating along the boundaries of Victoria, Oriental Mindoro and Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro. Energy Secretary Alfredo Cusi reportedly has shared in Intex.

Lavado said Mangyan residents living in the said areas are not only threatened by environmental destruction but also by military intervention forcing them to flee their communities.

“Although the current operations in Mindoro are under the scope of Oplan Kapanatagan supposedly to address the communist insurgency, it becomes clear that these operations have economic interests as well,” Lavado said.

Forced surrender

Eliceo Batardo, a farmer from Macalelon, Quezon, revealed their current situation and the human rights abuses in the province.

Batardo said elements of Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion came to their community last year. “At first, they were kind, even helping us in our work. Their behavior suddenly changed in March. More soldiers arrived and stayed in the barangay hall, questioning the residents.”

One day, while Batardo and nine other colleagues came home from the town, the soldiers interrogated them. “They asked us who we are, what are we doing, are we NPA, where are we going and so on. We became afraid,” Batardo narrated.

Two of their companions were arrested. “They were asked if they would surrender or would they rather be killed. Who would want to get killed? So they said they would just surrender. They were made to sign a document stating they were NPA; their photos were taken, and then they were freed.”

Batardo said that they tried everything within their means to seek justice but to no avail.

“That’s why we join here so that the others would know about our situation in Quezon,” he said.

Defend-ST is one of the groups spearheading the Daluyong 2019 protest caravan, along with the Southern Tagalog Ouster Movement (STORM DUTERTE) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Southern Tagalog (BAYAN-ST). They will be joining the United People’s SONA on July 22.

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