A new General Education (GE) subject that will tackle the dark years of military rule in the Philippines during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship will be taught at the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines (UP), the country’s premier state university.
The post University of the Philippines unveils new subject on the Marcos dictatorship to counter historical revisionism appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Human rights alliance Karapatan said, after President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent joint command conference with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), that the “NTF’s militarist whole-of-nation approach to the armed confli
Human rights alliance Karapatan today commented that “even as Pres.
Political prisoners rapped the “sinister and inhumane scheme” now being rolled out through court motions to move them out of Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City to “harsher and less secure conditions” in local jails mostly outside Metro Manila.
IBON has been promoting a popular understanding of socioeconomic issues since 1978. We’ve already reached hundreds of thousands of people but always want to reach out to as many as we can. We still do the exact same things we did over 40 years ago – print publications, give talks, visit schools, and go to communities. Social media today gives us the chance to reach so much more though.
#AskIBON. We want to share what we know and also learn from the questions you ask.
Please ask us about our research or the issues of the day – we’ll share what we can! Ask us about our People Economics campaign – together we can work for a better life and brighter future for Filipinos! Or even just ask us about IBON – we’re happy to tell you all about ourselves.
The post Editorial cartoon: Kalderong ginto appeared first on Manila Today.
Melvin Cabe, a 35-year-old farmer from San Miguel,
Las Navas in Northern Samar, was hunting fowl in the woods for dinner. He was
with his stepsons aged 16 and 19 years old. It was nearing eight o’clock in the
evening, and they have not eaten yet. Melvin’s wife and their other children were
waiting for them at home.
As the three walked deeper into the woods, the teens
heard gunshots and immediately ducked for cover. After a few seconds, they saw
their stepfather lying on the ground riddled with gunshots.
A military helicopter came a few moments later to
fetch Melvin’s body. His stepsons immediately ran home, crying. One was wounded
with a shot in the leg.
Her voice breaking, Melvin’s mother Bienvenida shared
that after his son was shot in the woods, the family sought the help of village
leaders. “Ang ginawa ng mga sundalo,
pinatay yung anak ko at pinost sa Facebook at sinabing terorista daw,” she
said in her local language.
They found Melvin under the authority of Philippine
Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion (IB) and requested to retrieve the body. But the
military only turned over Melvin’s body to the family four days after his
death.
Upon seeing her son, Bienvenida wept in anguish as Melvin
was dressed differently from the night they last saw him. He now wore a kamisa de chino, and beside his body was
a gun. According to Bienvenida, he was made to look like what the military
accused him of — a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Melvin’s case is not isolated. In the remote areas of
Samar and Leyte, the killing of farmers is becoming more frequent, according to
human rights groups. They point to the increased deployment of military
battalions in rural communities since the enactment of Malacañang’s notorious
Memorandum Order (MO) 32 in 2018.
A year into its implementation, hundreds of rural families continue to face the violence that MO 32 inflicts. According to Baby Senobia, spokesperson of Stand with Samar and Leyte Alliance, “Dahil sa MO 32, 167 na komunidad ang kinakampuhan ng mga sundalo sa ngayon, at 33 na indibidwal na ang pinatay. Sampu dito ay mga barangay councilor.”
The human rights situation has become so severe that
a village leader in Samar was shot dead moments after he condemned the rising
violations in Las Navas, Northern Samar. Apolinario ‘Pining’ Lebico was about
to file a resolution seeking the pullout of 20th Infantry Battalion soldiers from
their communities when he was killed, said his wife Precila.
“Gumawa siya ng
isang resolution at pinapirma ang mga miyembro ng barangay tungkol sana sa
pang-aabuso ng mga militar at i-petisyon na sana hindi na maulit,” Precila shared.
According to her, before the incident, her husband was intimidated and harassed for his active involvement in human rights cases in their community. In his many years in public service, Precila said Pining was an honest man who always showed concern for his constituents.
After the incident, 20th IB soldiers brought Lebico
to the military camp together with his son-in-law, Jeremy Capoquian. According
to Precila, soldiers threatened Jeremy not to speak about what really happened.
Food blockade
Senobia shared that while MO 32 sow terror in Samar
and Leyte, the livelihood of peasant families continues to suffer.
Thousands of coconut farmers, for instance, are reeling over the abrupt fall in copra prices — the worst drop in prices that people in Las Navas have experienced. Right now, copra is being sold for only Php5 per kilo.
With their community still reeling from the damages wrought by Typhoon Yolanda from several years ago, farmers now face mounting difficulties, Bienvenida said. “Di kami makapagtanim ng palay dahil sa El Niño tapos mas mahal na ang bigas, umaabot na sa Php100 kada gatang,” she said. In fact, even though Eastern Visayas is known for producing coconut, abaca, and rice, farmers suffer from low farmgate prices.
Increasing the presence of the military and police
in these communities does not address the real crisis that communities are
facing, said Senobia. “Lahat ng bahagi ng
Eastern Visayas, may presensya ng military…mga biktima kami ng Bagyong Yolanda,
hindi pa kami nakakabangon tapos itong MO 32, yun ang pinakanagpalugmok sa
kahirapan ng ating mga kababayan.”
According to Bienvenida, soldiers block farmers and
farmworkers in Las Navas from working in their farms after 4 p.m. The military
does this regularly, she shared. When farmers object, the army threatens them. “Sabi nila, kung hindi kami susunod mayroong
mangyayari sa amin na masama,” Bienvenida quipped in her native language. Everyone
must also be out of the streets by 10:00 in the evening.
Senobia added that the increased military presence
in their communities does not only slow down their work but also bars them from
buying goods in bulk from the town center.
She said, “Hanggang sa sampung kilo lang ng bigas ang puwedeng bilhin dahil ang iba daw, ibibigay namin sa NPA.” When farmers and families buy their goods, including rice and other root crops from the town center, they need to spend at least a couple of hundred pesos just for transportation. To save, buying in bulk is the most convenient way.
This food blockade, as justified by the military, is
to supposedly stop the community members in providing food and supporting the
members of the NPA. Soldiers also reportedly surround entire communities
in “hamlet” operations and guard the main entrances to
barangays.
All these sow terror in the villages while
inflicting worse consequences on their livelihood, said Senobia.
Call for Justice
Bienvenida and Precila both lost their family
members through what they dub as a deadly memorandum.
A year after President Rodrigo Duterte issued MO 32,
Samar and Leyte continue to witness bloody streets and hear stories of good men
dying.
“Itigil na sana
nila ang kanilang mga operasyon para makapaghanapbuhay naman kaming mga
magsasaka… hindi nila dapat pagdudahan kaming mga ordinaryong magsasaka na mga
NPA,” Bienvenida
hopes.
As the police and military continue to inflict terror in the communities, Bienvendia and Precila join the call of thousands of residents of Eastern Visayas — instead of the killings and violence brought about by MO 32, what they urgently need is genuine and urgent support for their livelihood and welfare.
Report by Romae Chanice Marquez
The post A year into Memorandum Order 32: Violence in Samar and Leyte intensifies appeared first on AlterMidya.
Regent Foods Corporation (RFC) management is set to implement a “run-away shop” tactic with its threat to transfer out of Pasig City, the snack manufacturer’s striking workers said. “The Regent management just proved what we have been pointing out since we started our strike and mounted our picketlines last October 16 — that the RFC […]
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