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Sampung pinakamatinding kampanya para sa kalikasan (Part 2)

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February 6, 2019

Sampung pinakamatinding kampanya para sa kalikasan (Part 2)

(Panghuli sa 2-bahaging Serye)

Ni CLEMENTE BAUTISTA
Kalibutan

MANILA — Inihahandog ng Kalikasan ang sampu sa pinakamahuhusay at matagumpay na pagkilos at pangkalikasang kampanyang isinagawa sa taong 2018. Ang listahan ay nagpapakita ng lakas ng kolektibong pagkilos upang ipagtanggol ang ating kalikasan at itaguyod ang ating karapatan para sa isang malinis, malusog, at mapangalagang kapaligiran.

Bibilib ka talaga sa mga Pinoy environmental defenders sa walang pagod at walang sawa nilang pagkilos. Ito ay sa kabila ng matinding kahirapan, lumalalang panganib para sa aktibismo, paglipana ng sandamakmak na buwitre at buwaya (pasingtabi sa mga tunay hayop) sa gobyerno ni Duterte, at tumitinding pakikialam ng mga dayuhan sa ating bansa.

Ito na ang huling lima sa sampu! [Pakibasa rin ang unang lima.]

6) Paglaban sa Oceanagold

Matampok ang paglaban sa Oceanagold sa pandaigdigang antas, isang kumpanya na may rekord ng pagsira sa kalikasan at paglabag sa karapatan ng mamamayan. Noong 2018, naghain ng kaso laban sa Oceanagold ang mga makakalikasan sa United Nations Special Procedures mechanism. Hinggil ito kanilang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao na may kinalaman kanilang operasyon ng pagmimina.

Sa kasalukuyan nasa ilalim ng isang suspension order mula sa DENR ang kumpanya at kanila itong inaapela.

Lumaya na rin ang natitirang nasa piitan na kabilang sa Kasibu 5 na si Vicente Ollagon matapos ang isang taon ng pagkakakulong. Siya kabilang ang iba pa ay mga aktibong lumalaban sa operasyon ng pagmimina sa Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya na inaresto at sinampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso.

Inaasahan na mas titindi pa ang panawagan na ipasara ang Oceanagold ngayon 2019 dahil ito ang taon kung kailan magtatapos ang kontrata ng kumpanya at hihiling ng pagpapahaba pa.

Kailangang mas matibay ang pagkakaisa ng mga mamamayang katutubo, magsasaka, manggagawang minero at propesyunal upang mapalayas na ang OceanaGold sa Nueva Vizcaya.

7) Kampanya laban sa New Centennial Dam

Kasabay ng pagbuhay ni Duterte ng mapanirang proyektong New Centennial Water Source o kilala ring Kaliwa-Kanan dam, ang pagbuhay ng kampanya ng mamayan laban dito. Sisira sa kagubatan ng Sierra Madre, magpapalayas sa mga mamamayan at magbabaha sa mga komunidad kapag natuloy ang proyektong ito.

Binuo ang isang koalisyon laban Kaliwa-kanan dam na tinawag na Network Opposed to Laiban Dam. Kasama rito ang mga katutubo, propesyunal, taong-simbahan, komunidad na tatamaan ng proyekto, at iba pang mga organisasyon.

Network Opposed to NCWSP — At the launch of Network Opposed to New Centennial Water Source Project, women and other supporters mark their vow to oppose the new dam projects. (Photo by M. Salamat / Bulatlat)

Nagsagawa ng pagkilos ang Network Opposed to Laiban Dam noong bumisita si Chinese President Xi Jin Ping sa bansa. Ipinanawagan ng alyansa ang pagtutol sa proyektong ito na popondohan ng utang mula sa Tsina na nagkakahalaga ng 18.724 bilyong piso.

8) Defend Daguma Range

Naglabas ng desisyon ang Commission on Human Rights (CHR) na nagdidiin sa dalawang opisyal ng Philippine Army na sina Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, kumander ng 33rd Infantry Battalion (IB) sa probinsya ng Sultan Kudarat at Lt. Col. Benjamin Leander, dating kumander ng 7th sa South Cotabato sa pagmasaker sa walong (8) katutubong T’boli Manobo noong 2017.

Ang mga katutubong ito ay matagumpay na nakapag-okupa sa lupain na nasasakupan ng plantasyon at minahan ng DMCI. Ang konsensiyon ng minahan at plantasyong ito ng DMCI ay nasa Daguma range, isa sa mga bulubundukin sa Mindanao na nananatiling may mataas na biodiversity.

9) Save Taliptip

Pinatunayan ng mga Bulakenyo ang kanilang tapang at pagmamahal sa kalikasan sa papamagitan ng pagprotekta sa Bgy. Taliptip Bulakan, Bulacan. Ito ay bahagi ng lugar kung saan binabalak na itayo ang proyektong Aerotropolis ng San Miguel Corporation. Ang Aerotropolis ay isang proyektong reklamasyon na tatabon sa 2,500 na ektarya ng mangrove at magpapalayas sa libong pamilyang sa Manila Bay upang magtayo ng isang paliparan.

No to Bulacan Aerotropolis

Dahil dito nagkaisa at itinayo nila Alyansa para sa Pagtatanggol ng Kabuhayan, Paninirahan at Kalikasan sa Manila Bay o AKAP KA-Manila Bay. Naglunsad sila ng serye ng mga pagkilos at isa na rito ang 1 Million signature for the future campaign: No to Manila Bay Reclamation, No to Bulacan Aerotropolis.

Para lumahok sa kampanyang petisyon, i-click ito.

10) Pagtutol sa Okada Balloon Drop

Bago matapos ang 2018, tumampok online na kampanyang tumututol sa Balloon Drop event ng Okada Manila. Binatikos ng mga netizens ang tangkang ng Guiness World Record sa pinakamaraming papakawalang lobo (130,000 piraso) sa isang balloon drop event bilang pagsalubong sa 2019. Matindi ang batikos na inabot ng Okada dahil sa paggigiit nito noong una na ituloy ang nasabing aktibidad. Ngunit dahil na rin sa pressure ng netizens, naglabas ang DENR ng pahayag na naghihikayat sa Okada na ikansela ang event. Kalaunay, umatras ang Okada at kinansela nila ang nasabing aktibidad.

2019, mas maraming tagumpay!

Ngayong taon inaasahan ang matinding laban na kakaharapin ng maka-kalikasan at mamamayan dahil sa agresibong pagtutulak ng gobyerno ng mga mapanirang proyekto. Malaki ang maiaambag ng publiko upang depensahan ang ating likas na yaman laban sa pandarambong at pagkasira. Umaasa tayo ng mas mahabang mga listahan ng tagumpay ngayong 2019.

Clemente Bautista is the national coordinator of the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment in the Philippines, as well as International Network Coordinator for Kalikasan. For comments, email him at secretariat@kalikasan.net.

The post Sampung pinakamatinding kampanya para sa kalikasan (Part 2) appeared first on Bulatlat.

DDoS by DDS? Hands off alternative media, uphold people’s right to know

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February 6, 2019

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The AlterMidya Network, a national network of over 30 independent and alternative news organizations in the Philippines, strongly condemns the continuing series of cyberattacks against two of its members, online news outfits Bulatlat.com and Kodao Productions.

On December 2018, the websites of Bulatlat.com, Kodao Productions, and Pinoy Weekly came under intense DDOS (denial of service) attacks, which were able to render their websites inaccessible for several days. On January 25, Bulatlat.com and Kodao Productions again came under attack, and the website of Kodao remains inaccessible as of this writing.

Qurium, a Swedish non-profit organization that has taken over the secure hosting Bulatlat.com, said that in one attack, the attackers used nearly 2,000 computers to saturate the website and make it unreachable. In another attack, they sent 3 million packets per second of bogus traffic. They also said that the same technique used against Bulatlat.com was also used against Kodao.org. Qurium, which provides rapid response services for civil society and media groups, believes that an extraordinary amount of resources were poured into these cyberattacks.

These persistent cyberattacks against the alternative media have the markings of a well-oiled and well-funded machinery. Clearly, this is not just the handiwork of a hacker acting alone. Several international studies, including one from the University of Oxford, revealed how government is funding cyber-attackers to manipulate public opinion over the internet. We believe that there is no one else that could possibly be behind these attacks than the Duterte administration itself, which has taken increasingly bold steps to curtail press freedom and the people’s right to know.

Bulatlat.com and Kodao Productions are among the oldest and most established alternative media outfits in the Philippines. They have previously published award-winning journalistic pieces on human rights, corruption, people’s issues, and social justice. Under the Duterte administration, they have reported critically on militarization in the countryside and the drug war, and have highlighted various local struggles of the urban poor, indigenous peoples, farmers, and workers.

Like the people and organizations that they cover, the alternative media has been red-tagged by the government simply for coming out with information that the economic and political elite want hidden. Attacking us is a disservice to the people’s right to know the truth about social realities not reported by the mainstream media.

AlterMidya members have consistently been threatened and attacked under the current administration. Last December, our correspondents from alternative media outfits in Panay were included in a wanted poster of so-called “communist terrorists.” Last year, three of our journalists were arrested while covering the dispersal of the picket line by NutriAsia factory workers. Reporters from Mindanao-based alternative media outfits were also barred from coverage in Marawi and other conflict hotspots under martial law.

We reiterate our commitment to report on the truths that need urgent telling. We will not cow in the face of these attacks. Rather, it is our attackers who have much to fear, for our dedicated audience and the media community will not take this sitting down.

AlterMidya also expresses support for whatever legal recourse Bulatlat.com will take to seek redress, and hopes that the cyber-attackers will eventually be exposed and punished.

The post DDoS by DDS? Hands off alternative media, uphold people’s right to know appeared first on Altermidya.

Resist de facto Martial Law, strive for just peace instead

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February 6, 2019

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Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. Maraming maraming salamat sa pagdalo sa pagtitipong ito. You have all generously chosen to share much of your time, a large chunk of it lost in gruelling Saturday traffic, to be in this gathering. I wish I could pay you back in kind for the time spent and the stress you have had to endure. Ironically, now that my freedom of movement has been curtailed drastically, I have an “unli”supply of free time in exchange. Additionally, I am rendered “stress-free” from commuting and driving through Metro Manila traffic. Unfortunately my free time and stress-free accommodations are non-transferable. And even if they were, I doubt there would be any takers.

Presumably, there is no need to argue my innocence of the crimes the state has charged me with to throw me behind bars and detain me indefinitely. We should rather dwell on why I have been targetted particularly as a “terrorist” and “enemy of the state”. Not so much to focus and elaborate on my plight as a victim of injustice and persecution, as to illustrate and dissect the mindset that builds on blatant lies, twists and misuses the law, and tramples on the norms of decency and justice.

For some reason I have yet to completely fathom, the national security establishment has deliberately portrayed me in their official documents (e.g. court petitions) and on national media these past few months as a ranking “communist terrorist.” They allege me to be the head of the CPP National Education Department, a member of the CPP International Department, member of the NDFP Peace Negotiating Panel, and most recently a Red fighter in an NPA unit operating in Davao Oriental. All at the same time!

The plain and simple truth is that I am not, and never have been, any of the above.

Moreover, you need only have the vaguest idea of what each of those functions might entail to conclude definitely that it is impossible for any mortal human to be all these concurrently.

One may be tempted to say such absurdities are not uncommon in the realm of military intelligence. Or rather the failure, if not the dearth of it. But no, this most recent attack leading to my arrest erases all doubt that these so called guardians of the Republic and the Constitution will sink to any depth to serve their real masters.

My miscalculation was that they could not sink much deeper after the AFP top command singled me out along with Satur Ocampo as orchestrating a fictitious ”Red October” oust-Duterte plot. They peddled this atrocious lie on national TV and social media in an interview by no less than Tina Monzon Palma. It was easy enough to debunk since in the first place I was not even a member of any of the broad array of organizations and alliances supposedly involved in the plot. Nor had I been in, much less presided over any of the meetings leading to the big September 21 protest rally which the AFP command claimed would spark the ouster campaign.

What boggles the mind and strain one’s credulity is this: On September 17, at the crucial homestretch less than a week before the big rally I was allegedly coordinating, an army private swore before a Lupon, Davao Oriental fiscal/prosecutor that he saw and recognized me as one of the NPA fighters shooting and wounding him in a remote Lupon sitio. How remote? Lupon is 1,493.1 kms from Manila as the crow flies. The NPA ambush occurred less than 18 hours after I left the Batasan where I addressed the HOR Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity in the presence of OPAPP Sec Dureza, GRP Negotiating Panel Chair Sec Bello and their staffs, and 8 hours after I attended a 7 pm-11 pm dinner-meeting with some lawyers and a politician in Quezon City.

My alleged but improbable participation in that ambush is the basis for the arrest warrants for murder and attempted murder.

This betrays a high-level sinister though crude design to put me behind bars by twisting the law and perjuring the judicial process. In anticipation of the flimsy charges being dismissed eventually, the usual fabrication of illegal possession of firearms and explosives was set up and resorted to. Again I underestimated the cruelty and vileness of these so-called protectors of the people.I had not figured they would plan and affect my arrest such that not only I but my wife Cora, too, would be incarcerated indefinitely.

This mindset of the security establishment is nothing new. “National security” is equated to maintaining the status quo. The vested interests of the powerful few, both domestic and foreign, are misrepresented as “national interest”. This mindset has been around and prevalent even before the Marcos martial law years. What is apparently new is that the civilian agencies and institutions, including the courts, are increasingly, if crudely, weaponized and employed in even more vicious counter-insurgency campaigns invoking “national securityy” and “national interest”. The military retains its primacy even as it dons a civilian mask.

It is de facto martial law sans a formal declaration. The victims of this mindset are countless. Mostly nameless and faceless they suffer fates more horrendous than many of us have seen or heard of.

Certainly much more than what Cora and I experienced. Allow me to add, at this point, what I have personally learned only now from my month in detention. This is the first time for me to share a crowded jail with 21 others, only three (3) of whom are political prisoners. The rest are suspected drug pushers, addicts, thieves, swindlers, wife beaters, etc. Criminal or not, each of the 22 cramped into a 3mx4mx7m space equally has the right to be presumed innocent before the bar of justice. Yet nearly all of us had been set up by overzealous “law enforcers” and charged with illegal possession of firearms on top of the original criminal charges. Aside from other less-than-noble motives, the aim is to ensure or threaten prolonged detention.Those who can would usually post bail to obtain temporary release, if not eventual freedom. Those who cannot are urged, if not compelled, to admit to the fabricated charge to get a lighter sentence. Political prisoners, thus, consist of only a small fraction of the tip of the iceberg of the mass of unjustly charged and incarcerated.

I would like to think that the real reason I am being detained – indefinitely if the kingpins of national security have their way – is that somehow I am contributing my share to the people’s struggle to overhaul this unjust and undemocratic social system. Only diehard reactionaries would condemn this as a criminal act.

A great thinker and teacher once said, it is good to be attacked by your enemy because it shows there is a clear line of demarcation between what you and they are fighting for…and it shows that you are effective and doing your work well.

My fervent wish is that this gathering will somehow, in various ways, in the short, middle and long run, contribute to frustrating the designs of those who wish to perpetuate the status quo, and to the building of a truly free, democratic and just Philippine society.

The post Resist de facto Martial Law, strive for just peace instead appeared first on Manila Today.

Harassment at tangkang demolisyon sa CMF Upper Catmon, tinuligsa ng mga residente

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February 6, 2019

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Harassment at tangkang demolisyon sa CMF Upper Catmon, tinuligsa ng mga residente

Sa unang tingin, halos matabunan na ng lupa ang komunidad ng CMF Upper Catmon sa Malabon, bunga ng tuloy-tuloy ang pagratsada ng traktora at backhoe sa pagtatambak ng lupa sa iilang kabahayan sa komunidad.

Ilang metro na ang taas ng tambak na lupa, sa kabila ng paggigiit ng mga residente na walang permit para gawin ito.

Demolisyon sa Catmon, Malabon. Kuha ni Agatha Rabino

Nadagdagan pa ng tensyon ang kasalukuyang sitwasyon nang makarinig ang mga residente ng pagputok ng baril mula sa kabilang kampo pasado alas-kuwatro ng hapon ng Martes, Enero 15, ilang metro lamang mula sa tirahan ni Aling Eunice Mariano, isang kilalang lider ng komunidad.

Ayon sa mga residente, sa kampo ng mga guwardiya ni Joselito Lopez at Atiko Hagad—ang nagmamay-ari ng All Asia Structures, isang pabrika ng bakal sa Malabon—nagmula ang putok.

“Last year pa nagsimula [ang harassment]. Nagsimula noong inalisan kami ng power supply. ‘Yung mga kuntador namin ay nandun sa compound nila. Nagrereklamo kami sa Meralco pero hindi naman sila makapasok sa compound nila [dahil pribado]. Sunod-sunod na, inirereklamo kami sa barangay, kung ano-anong kaso ang sinasampa sa amin. Ngayon, harassment at demolition na walang court order. Sobrang panggigipit na ang ginagawa sa amin,” kuwento ni Mariano.

Sa salaysay ng mga residente, ang operasyon na isinasagawa ng All Asia Structures ay bahagi ng kanilang tangkang pagpapalawak pa ng lupang nasasakupan para magbigay daan para sa mas maluwag na transportasyon sa kanilang pabrika. Ang CMF Upper Catmon na lang ang lupang nasa pagitan ng dalawang lupaing pagmamay-ari daw ng mga Lopez.

Demolisyon sa Catmon, Malabon. Kuha ni Agatha Rabino

Dagdag pa niya, pinipilit ng mga Lopez na sa kanila ang lupang kinatitirikan ng bahay ng mga residente ng Upper Catmon. Ngunit magda-dalawang dekada nang naninirahan ang mga residente sa Upper Catmon at sila mismo ang nag-develop ng lupa, na dati ay nagsisilbing dumpsite. Kung kaya’y tahasang tinutulan ng mga residente ang relokasyon sa kanila sa isang barangay sa Maysilo, Malabon. Ayon sa kanila, danger zone ang lugar na paglilipatan.

Pansamantalang naantala ang panayam nang lapitan ng isang residente si Mariano upang sabihin na gagamitan na ng backhoe ang kalapit niyang bahay at isinasara na ng kabilang kampo ang gate na nagsisilbing daanan ng mga bisita.

Sa bungad, unti-unting sinisikap ng traktora na wasakin, sa pamamagitan ng lupang tinatambak, ang barikadang inilagay ng mga residente. Nagpupuyos sa galit ang mga mamamayan ng Upper Catmon habang umaalma sa nangyayaring ilegal na demolisyon. Anila, ang ilang metrong tambak na lupa na nakabungad sa kanilang komunidad ay produkto ng walang humpay na operasyon ng mga trabahador ni Lopez sa kanilang lugar.

Biglaang napatigil ang operasyon ng kabilang grupo nang dumating ang kapulisan sa lugar.

Sa presinto, nagkaharap ang dalawang kampo. Tinanggi ng mga guwardiya ang pagpapaputok nila ng baril. Ayon pa sa kanila, sa kampo nila Mariano nagsimula ang pagpapaputok, bagay na tahasan namang tinanggi ng lider.

Sa kasalukuyan, nakabinbin ang paghaharap muli ng dalawang kampo sa barangay para klaruhin ang mga sinampang alegasyon sa isa’t isa. Umugnay din ang Manila Today sa kampo ng mga Lopez, subalit hindi ito napaunlakan ng panayam.

Samantala, nang tanungin si Mariano kung ano ang kanyang panawagan, naluluha niyang banggit na sa Malacanang na sila dudulog.

“Hindi naman kami masasamang tao. Sana maayos lang yung pagtrato sa amin,” dagdag ni Mariano.

Para sa kanya at sa kanyang mga kasamahan, patuloy ang kanilang panawagan na idepensa at labanan ang banta sa kanilang paninirahan.

The post Harassment at tangkang demolisyon sa CMF Upper Catmon, tinuligsa ng mga residente appeared first on Manila Today.

Aksyon Health Workers Party-list submits petition of supporters and members to Supreme Court

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February 6, 2019

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Aksyon Health Workers Party-list submits petition of supporters and members to Supreme Court

Aksyon Health Workers Party-list members and supporters trooped to the Supreme Court to submit their petition to be able to run in the May 2019 elections.

Dr. Joseph Carabeo, president and first nominee of Aksyon Health Workers Party-list, said they wanted the Supreme Court to consider the voice of health workers, professionals and advocates and the patients.

More than a thousand signatures were gathered from cities in the National Capital Region, from Cebu City and Iloilo City. They also launched an online petition that gathered 600 signatures of supporters in four days.

Aksyon Health Workers Party-list’s accreditation to run for the elections this May was denied by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on January 17. The poll body said that Aksyon Health Workers Party-list failed to prove that it represents the marginalized and underrepresented sectors.

Aksyon Health Workers Party-list members and supporters appeal their case to the Supreme Court. Photo by Habagat Farrales

“This comes as a mockery to the genuine party-lists that represent the people’s interests. The COMELEC readily approves party-lists whose nominees come from political clans and dynasties and who are most unlikely to represent a marginalized sector. Meanwhile, party-lists who are from and by the underrepresented sectors are brazenly shunned and denied based on petty technicalities,” added Dr. Carabeo.

Administration-backed groups or those whose nominees were prominent figures of the administration were thought to have hurdled COMELEC scrutiny without much of a hassle.

The Duterte Youth Sectoral Organization, who was seen in the last two years as a handful of pro-Duterte contingent in the big anti-Martial Law rallies, those during the burial of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) and the September 21 Martial Law rallies. AA-Kasosyo Party’s first nominee is former Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Esther Marguax “Mocha” Uson.

Another party-list surprised not just the country but also the world with its wealth. WOW Pilipinas Movement Partylist secured a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal in the January 19 boxing fight between Philippine Senator Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner. Their logo figured prominently on the mat and four ring posts of the boxing ring in what could be a contract worth more than $ 5 million. (As reported by Business Insider, long-time boxing sponsor Tecate was outshoned by the party-list in terms of placement and paid $5.3 million in sponsorship.)

The post Aksyon Health Workers Party-list submits petition of supporters and members to Supreme Court appeared first on Manila Today.

Tributes pouring in despite PNP vilification vs Malayao

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February 6, 2019

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Tributes pouring in despite PNP vilification vs Malayao

OFWs in Belgium held a candle-lighting ceremony in front of the Philippine Embassy to protest the killing of Randy Malayao.

By RAYMUND B. VILLANUEVA
Kodao Productions

Tributes to Randy Malayao are still pouring in on the eve of the slain National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant’s burial in the old town of San Pablo, Isabela, his hometown.

Despite apparent efforts by the Cagayan Valley Philippine National Police to malign him, local and international progressive organizations continue to hail Malayao as a genuine peace worker.

“We got to know Randy during the peace dialogues that took place in Europe and we saw his commitment to the struggle for peace and the rights of the Filipino people,” the Rome-based Italian Migrants Committee said in a statement.

The Italian-Filipino Friendship Committee—likewise based in Rome—also expressed its solidarity with Malayao’s relatives and the NDFP.

“The Committee asks the movements and the anti-imperialist and pacifist Italian parties to support the cause of the NDFP and asks the Italian State to commit itself to a just peace in the Philippines in all the international fora, starting with the European Parliament,” it said in a statement.

In the Philippines, College Editors Guild of the Philippines alumni said they are proud of Randy who “use(d) his intelligence, political acumen, good character, kindness, humility, wit, and good disposition wherever his commitment brought him.”

“We absolutely admire him as an outstanding propagandist, tireless organizer, and an exceptional builder of consensus. He had this awesome ability to bring people from different background (and even in difficult circumstances) together and forge unity towards a common cause,” the group said.

Makabayan chairperson and senate aspirant Neri Colmenares also heaped praise on Malayao when he visited the fallen Bayan Muna regional coordinator’s wake.

“Randy is a hero of the people who spent his life always working for genuine peace and betterment of the Filipino people,” Colmenares said as he urged the PNP to “stop spreading intrigues against him because they are just exposing their true colors.”

In seeming response to ongoing vilification campaigns by the regional PNP and the other anti-Leftist groups against Malayao, NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison and NDFP Negotiating Panel member Julieta de Lima said they only have fond memories of the victim.

“What immediately struck us as soon as he introduced himself to us was his amiability, cheerful mien, quick sense of humor and deep sense of optimism,” the couple said from their asylum base in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Photo by Raymund Villanueva/Kodao Productions

“In the course of working with him we came to respect him for his revolutionary integrity, intellect and diligence in the discussion of issues and drafting of documents and his desire for a just and lasting peace,” they added.

Sison and de Lima pointed out that in slandering Malayao, those who murdered him are unwittingly rendering him the highest honor even if in the vilest form of slander.

“It is a good thing to be attacked by the enemies of the Filipino people’s revolutionary cause of national and social liberation. The attacks unwittingly verify who are the heroes of the Filipino people,” they said.

Sison and de Lima said Malayao is “contributed his best to the struggle for national freedom, democracy, genuine development, social justice, cultural progress and just peace.”

“He will live forever in the hearts and minds of the people, while his contributions are indestructible energy within the growing and advancing revolutionary movement,” they said. Reposted by

The post Tributes pouring in despite PNP vilification vs Malayao appeared first on Bulatlat.

Alternative news site Bulatlat under ‘denial of service’ attack

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February 6, 2019

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During the past weeks, the alternative online news agency Bulatlat.com received series of “denial of service” attacks. The attacks started on January 19 and intensified on January 25 bringing the website down for several days.

The website went down for several days and forced the media organization to move the website to a more secure host.

Qurium Media Foundation (Qurium), a Sweden-based group of digital forensic investigation experts, was tapped by Bulatlat.com for assistance and moved the website to Virtualroad.org for secure hosting.

According to Qurium, “the DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack, that has been active for several days, increased around 2 AM UTC on Saturday 26th (10 AM in the morning in Philippines). The attackers are using 1,100 compromised computers to flood the website with requests.”

Qurium was still detecting attacks to the site as of January 31 as early as 3:20 a.m. and noted that “‘flooders’ were taking turns and disengaging” after 30 minutes to one hour of activity.

Bulatlat.com managing editor Ronalyn Olea reported that the attacks abated for two days but has again started on February 4.

Olea noted that the attack coincided with the publishing of their article on the cover up of the murder of National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Randy Malayao.

The group believes that the persistent, continuing and intensifying cyber-attacks on independent and alternative media groups was aimed to shut down online news media that are critical of the Duterte administration.

They will hold a press conference tomorrow, February 7, 10am at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City.

The post Alternative news site Bulatlat under ‘denial of service’ attack appeared first on Manila Today.

Rights groups picket at detained unionist’s hearing

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February 6, 2019

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Rights groups picket at detained unionist’s hearing

The Free Bob Reyes Movement, a network consisting of progressive groups Karapatan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Quezon City and Sandigan ng Manggagawa sa Quezon City, held a protest action demanding the release of detained union organizer, Juan Alexander ‘Bob’ Reyes in front of the Quezon City hall of Justice today.

Reyes, 48, coordinator of Sandigan ng Manggagawa sa Quezon City and a former organizer of government employees was illegally arrested June 2 last year while on his way home from a meeting with workers from Quezon City. He and his companion was forcibly taken in a vehicle by four men, blindfolded, with a gun and a detonation cord was allegedly planted on his small pouch. His companion was left off on the way with the abductors saying he was not the target. Reyes’ companion was the one who alerted rights group of the arrest. Reyes’ whereabouts were unknown for almost 12 hours until he was surfaced in the CIDG Detention in Camp Crame.

The network said in a statement that “every sinister attack – legal and illegal – is being employed by the government to pacify dissent, spread fear, vilify and kill activists and their sympathizers.”

Rights groups demand the release of unionist Bob Reyes. Photo by Max Santiago

The group noted that, like other political prisoners arrested within the last year, the cases filed against Reyes such as “illegal possession of firearms” was made through planting of evidence.

On January 15, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Rafael Baylosis, 69, and consultant Roque Guillermo, Jr. walked free after of charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against him were dismissed. He was arrested in Quezon City in January last year.

The defense lawyers of Baylosis and Guillermo from the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) had found the police story “incredible, unbelievable and bore hallmarks of perjury.” The police insisted that the accused were roaming through Manila and Quezon City with guns tucked in their waists and toted around a bag of red rice with a grenade inside.

PILC added that the dismissal of Baylosis and Guillermo’s case proved not only his innocence, but also exposed the police’s conduct of illegal arrests, planting of evidences and filing of trumped up charges against peace consultants and political activists.

Other offenses such as murder, frustrated murder and arson are charged against consultants and activists arrested by joint operations of the police and military—charges without bail that ultimately aimed to disrupt the lives, work and organization of those arrested, but would later also be revealed untrue.

NDFP consultant Eduardo Serrano was acquitted in a multiple murder case in November 2015 for the failure of prosecution to identify him as “Rogelio Villanueva”. Serrano, who languished in jail for 11 years, died in detention in January 2016 due to cardiac arrest.

The Free Bob Reyes Movement also condemned the increased attacks of the government against progressive groups and activists. The group cited that the murder of NDFP consultant Randy Malayao, 49, is “the use of death squads is the most brutal and chilling method used by the government, instigated by Duterte himself.”

Members of the Free Bob Reyes Movement picket outside the Quezon City Hall of Justice at the schedule of his hearing. Photo by Jade Dela Cuadra

In November last year, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that death squads will be formed as a response to “sparrow units” of the New People’s Army (NPA). The urban-based “sparrow units”, however, have been defunct since the early 1990s according to the rectification documents of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Also that same time last year, Duterte formed a task force for the purpose of ending the communist insurgency of the CPP, NPA and NDFP through Executive Order 70.

The group assailed that “this order that employed the US-patterned ‘whole-of-nation’ approach tagged activists as terrorists and led to more human rights violations, like illegal arrests and worse, extrajudicial killings.”

The group called for intensified resistance to the increased attacks of the Duterte administration against the people since “they have no option left” but to oppose these repressive policies and actions of the government.

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