Karapatan strongly denounces the killing of Atty. Benjamin Ramos, a people’s lawyer who inflinchingly stood alongside the poor and oppressed in Negros and a feisty human rights defender who dedicated his life to selfless service for the downtrodden. While we grieve with the family of Atty. Ben, his friends and colleagues, and the communities he served, we are enraged with this dastardly and unspeakable act of cowards who hide behind the cloak of anonymity through their usual modus operandi, the riding-in-tandem groups.
Be bold enough to implement a meaningful wage hike, gov’t told
The new National Capital Region (NCR) minimum wage is still way below the amount that a family needs to cope with continuously rising prices, research group IBON said. The paltry increase reflects government’s refusal to institute a meaningful wage hike despite its urgency and doability. Government should instead have ordered employers to give a substantial wage increase, said the group.
The NCR wage board recently approved a Php25 increase from the current Php502 plus Php10 cost of living allowance. The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) said that the amount was approved based on the capacity of employers and the economy to absorb a wage hike, as well as its effect on inflation.
IBON however said that the Php537 minimum wage is Php488 or 47.6% short of the Php1,025 family living wage (FLW) or the amount that a family of five needs for decent living as of October 2018. The minimum wage varies and is usually lower outside NCR.
The group underscored that a substantial minimum wage genuinely helping millions of low-income Filipino families to cope with high inflation is possible.
NCR firms have more than enough profits to support a meaningful wage hike, IBON said. Figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI), for instance, show that NCR firms with 20 or more employees had combined profits of Php903 billion in 2015 and gave an average daily basic pay (ADBP) of Php530. Using the ADBP as a proxy wage indicator, ensuring that workers will get a substantial minimum wage of, say, Php750 will cost just Php132 billion or 14.6% of employers’ profits.
The wage hike need not accelerate inflation if employers accept this small cut in their profits instead of passing the increase on to consumers as higher prices, IBON stressed. Large companies are more capable of giving this meaningful wage increase. Meanwhile, the group said, government should make sure that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can afford this with sufficient assistance such as tax breaks and incentives, cheap credit, subsidized utilities, and technology and marketing support.
Growing workers’ productivity also justifies a meaningful wage hike, said IBON. NCR labor productivity grew from Php456,059 per worker to Php614,297, or by 35%, from 2009 to 2017. In the same period however, the real value of the mandated minimum wage only increased by 11%, while the ADBP increased by only 16%. This shows that workers’ productivity is not going to increasing wages, the group noted.
A substantial wage hike is an immediate measure that government can take to help Filipino workers’ families facing growing difficulty meeting their most basic needs, IBON said. The government is duty-bound to look after the rights and welfare of workers, such as by ensuring meaningful wages and equitably distributing wealth. The government has the responsibility to ensure that workers are able to attain a decent standard of living and that they get a just share of the fruits of their labor, said IBON. ###
Rights lawyer gunned down in Negros
“It is a painful price we have to pay sometimes in the service of the people and as a pledge to the next generations we will leave behind.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A human rights lawyer who assisted the farmers during the aftermath of the infamous Sagay massacre was gunned down last night, Nov. 6, at around 10:30 p.m. in Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental.
Benjamin Ramos sustained three gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Holy Mother of Mercy Kabankalan City Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Ramos was 56.
In a statement, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers described him as a “passionate, dedicated and articulate yet amiable and jolly” person who was, for the longest time, “the run-to pro-bono lawyer of peasants, environmentalists, activists, political prisoners and mass organizations in Negros.”
Prior to the shooting incident, Ramos, a founding member of the NUPL and secretary general of its chapter in Negros Occidental, was a victim of red-tagging, with public posters tagging him as a member of the New People’s Army.
“These beastly attacks by treacherous cowards cannot go on. Not a few of our members have been attacked and killed before while literally practicing their profession and advocacies in the courts, in rallies, in picket lines, in urban poor communities, and in fact-finding missions,” the NUPL said.
Last week, a kidnapping case was filed against human rights lawyer Kathy Panguban, who, too, assisted farmers and rights advocates in the aftermath of the Sagay massacre. The police alleged that Panguban kidnapped a 14-year-old survivor of the massacre but the lawyers group has maintained that the survivor is in the rightful custody of her mother.
“It is a painful price we have to pay sometimes in the service of the people and as a pledge to the next generations we will leave behind,” the group said.
The NUPL said, “But who will defend the defenders? Our clients will.”
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Kontra Daya: Why allow political dynasties, rich and powerful to dominate party-list race?
The vehicle for some semblance of democratization has become a family affair to political dynasties and their partylists, and a way for big businesses to protect and promote their special interests.
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Even the crumbs allotted to marginalized groups are being grabbed by trapos (traditional politicians). This is one of the conclusions s of the election watchdog Kontra Daya’s research into current partylist groups. Based on their research, the partylist system that is supposed to ensure a small percentage of lawmakers come from the country’s poor and marginalized sectors is now a small pond being lorded over by political dynasties and vested groups.
“The party-list system has been bastardized and corrupted, becoming an extension of the political dynasties in many provinces and undermining its original goal of providing representation to marginalized sectors such as workers, farmers, women, youth and indigenous people’s among others,” Kontra Daya said in a statement released last weekend.
Many of the 182 party-list groups allowed to participate in the 2019 elections are led by (1) those with links to political dynasties or officials already elected in other positions; (2) those representing special business interests; and (3) those with questionable advocacy and nominees, the initial findings of Kontra Daya research show.
Partylists of political dynasties
The following partylists have nominees from families of long-entrenched politicians, KontraDaya said. For example, “Probinsyano Ako” is led by nominees related to Ilocos congressman and former Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas. Rudy Ceasar, its first nominee, is Fariñas’ son. Lira Fariñas, its second nominee, is also related to the congressman through Laoag City administrator Jami Fariñas.
Yedda Romualdez, an incumbent Leyte first district representative and part of the Romualdez dynasty in Tacloban, is the first nominee of “Tingog Sirangan” partylist. The “Abono” party-list, meanwhile, remains as the vehicle of the Estrellas and Ortegas of Pangasinan and La Union. Its first nominee is Conrado Estrella III and its second nominee is Vini Nola A. Ortega who is also the wife of La Union governor Pacoy Ortega.
Tricia Nicole Velasco, first nominee of partylist “Ang Mata’y Alagaan”, is the daughter of former Supreme Court Justice Presbiterio Velasco and a member of the Velasco political clan in Marinduque. Her brother is Lord Allan Jay Velasco, a Marinduque congressman. Her mother Lorna Velasco was also a past nominee and representative of the same party-list.
The political clans of Uy and Tuazon in Samar and the Velosos of Leyte are linked to “Ako An Bisaya”. Its first nominee is Ramp Nielsen S. Uy, a former vice-governor of Northern Samar. He ran and lost a congressional seat in 2013. The second nominee is Rodolfo T. Tuazon, Jr. The third nominee is former Leyte Congressman Eduardo Veloso, who was indicted by the Ombudsman for graft in relation to the PDAF (pork barrel) scam.
The Garin and Biron political dynasties of Iloilo are linked to “AAMBIS-OWA”, KontraDaya said. Sharon Garin is its first nominee, and the second nominee is former Iloilo congressman Hernan Biron, Jr. In Northern Samar, the Abayon political clan is fielding Harlin Neil J. Abayon III as the first nominee of “Aangat Tayo”.
The “1 Alliance Advocating Autonomy Party” has the daughter of former speaker Bebot Alvarez, Ana Emelita, as its first nominee. “Adhikain Tinaguyod ng Kooperatiba” has Marjorie Ann Teodoro, wife of Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro, as its first nominee.
“Serbisyo sa Bayan” party-list, linked to Quezon City congressman Sonny Belmonte, has end-termer Quezon City councilors Ranulfo Zabala Ludovica and Vicente Eric De Guzman Belmonte Jr. as nominees. “PBA Partylist” is represented by Jericho Nograles of the Nograles dynasty in Davao. Angeles Mayor Ed Pamintuan leads “Abe Kapampangan” nominees.
All in the family
KontraDaya noted with alarm that the vehicle for some semblance of democratization has become a family affair to political dynasties and their partylists. Some of the nominees in the partylist allowed by the Comelec are either spouses or children replacing current nominees, Kontra Daya said.
For example, Michaelina Antonio, a nominee of “Agbiag Partylist,” is the wife of former Agbiag representative Patricio Antonio. Mary Grace Rodriguez, nominee of “Abante Mindanao,” is the wife of its former representative Maximo Rodriguez. Ako Bicol’s second nominee is Justin Caesar Anthony D. Batocabe, son of the incumbent “Ako Bicol” representative Rodel Batocabe.
Some nominees have already had a stint as district representatives. Tingog Sirangan’s Yedda Romualdez of Leyte, Inang Mahal’s first nominee; former congresswoman Gina de Venecia, wife of former Speaker Jose de Venecia of Pangasinan, and former Cagayan representative Rodolfo B. Albano of LPGMA, are among these types of “partylist” nominees.
Special interests
Some party-lists directly come from big businesses, Kontra Daya noted. The “Construction Worker’s Solidarity One” is one of the curious groups it cited. Its nominees are led by former DPWH Undersecretary Romeo S. Momo, Sr. who is facing an investigation for alleged anomalous road projects. Other nominees of his group belong to the Gardiola family who owns several construction firms that have been previously implicated in questionable projects according to reports by PCIJ.
“The partylist that claims to represent construction workers is actually a group representing construction firms,” KontraDaya exclaimed.
A similar group, “Sandigan ng mga Manggagawa sa Konstruksyon”, has real estate developer and contractor Enrique Olonan for its first nominee.
ACTS-OFW has two sets of nominees, with one set led by controversial congressman John Bertiz who heads a manpower recruitment agency. Its third nominee, Francisco Aguilar, is the president of another recruitment agency.
“Anakalusugan” has for its second nominee former congressman and DENR secretary Mike Defensor. “Ako Padayon Filipino” has for nominees Adriano Ebcas, Reynaldo Sindo, and Juancho Chong, all high-ranking officials of electric cooperatives in Camiguin, Surigao del Sur and Bukidnon.
“A glaring example of how the party-list system has been used by the rich and powerful is the One Patriotic Coalition of Marginalized Nationals, Inc. or 1 PACMAN,” Kontra Daya wrote. The group’s first nominee, Michael Romero, is the richest member of the House of Representatives with a reported net worth of P7 billion.
Romero is understandably wealthy. He is known as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chair of, among others, the Harbor Centre Port Terminal, Mikro-tech Capital, Manila North Harbor Port, Pacific Inc., and 168 Ferrum Mining.
KontraDaya said that having multi-billionaires as party-list representatives is obviously not the original intent of the party-list law since these billionaires can easily seek congressional seats through regular district representation.
These are just the initial and most obvious conclusions to be drawn from data on the partylist contenders in the coming elections. Kontra Daya plans to release its initial comments on advocacies and nominees of at least 182 party-list groups. But for starters, they are calling on the Comelec to do all it can “to ensure whatever integrity is left in the party-list system will not be further eroded by the entry of more party-list groups and nominees that do not belong to nor truly represent the interests of the marginalized and underrepresented.”
The election watchdog traces the “bastardization of the partylist system” to the Supreme Court decision issued five years ago that allowed partylist nominees who need not belong to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors they claim to represent. KontraDaya said the SC ruling in Paglaum vs Comelec has paved the way for the corruption of the party-list system.
Since then, Kontra Daya noted, more and more political dynasties and vested interests have joined the elections through their own dubious party-lists. They outweigh the real marginalized in their own weight division in the elections. As a result, they have made it harder for party-list groups genuinely representing marginalized sectors to gain seats in Congress, Kontra Daya concluded.
The partylist groups genuinely serving the marginalized are being edged out, and on top of that they are also being red tagged, their supporters and leaders harassed, and their rights violated. Kontra Daya urged the public to be “extra-vigilant with groups claiming to represent the voiceless but in fact are representing dynastic interests.” They urged the public to support moves calling for the reversal of the SC ruling that they say negated the original intent of the party-list system.
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Kin of disappeared support Colmenares’ senate bid
“Neri Colmenares has always supported our call for justice…We want him in the senate.”
By BULATLAT
MANILA – Families of victims of enforced disappearance expressed support to former Bayan Muna partylist representative, Neri Colmenares, who is running for a senatorial seat in the 2019 elections.
“Neri Colmenares has always supported the call for justice and to surface the disappeared, whether inside Congress, in the streets and in the international community. He has always been there for us. We want him in the senate,” said the Families of the Disappeared for Justice (Desaparecidos).
The group issued a resolution supporting Colmenares during their fourth assembly held Nov. 2 to 4 in Antipolo City. The assembly was attended by some 50 families of desaparecidos and human rights advocates.
Colmenares is one of the authors of Republic Act 10353, the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012. The group also noted other laws co-authored by Colmenares and the Makabayan bloc, such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 and the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
The anti-disappearance law defines enforced disappearance as any form of deprivation of a person’s liberty by state agents or their representatives, and their refusal to acknowledge such detention, which puts the person outside the protection of the law. The group decried that the six-year-old law is not being implemented.
“Military officials simply denied that they have my husband,” said Conching Torres, one of the delegates, who recently went the rounds of military camps searching for her husband Joey Torres Sr who has been missing since Sept. 22.
Under the law, military or police officials of detention facilities are required to issue a certification in writing in response to any inquiry by groups searching for missing victims. Authorities are also required to issue an official, up-to-date register of all persons detained or confined.
The Torres couple are members of Bayan Muna partylist in Central Luzon. They were also political prisoners during the Corazon Aquino administration and were disappeared for a month until human rights groups found them detained in Camp Olivas in Pampanga.
Desaparecidos also issued a resolution to strengthen the campaign to hold President Duterte along with previous administrations accountable for continued disappearances and other human rights violations. The group also called for an end to martial law in Mindanao, which has resulted in the killings and disappearances of activists and civilians, such as during the siege of the Islamic City of Marawi.
“With Neri Colmenares in the senate, the struggle for justice will have a strong, reliable ally, and our voice will be amplified,” said the group.
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Rape as state violence
The recent incident of rape involving a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is enraging. But what is even more infuriating is the admission of PO1 Eduardo Valencia when he was presented to PNP Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde. To quote, “Sir, may pamilya po ako. Sir, hindi na po bago sa’ting mga operatiba ‘yung gano’n kapag may nahuhuli po tayong drug pusher, sir.” (I have a family, sir. It is not new with our operatives when we arrest a drug pusher, sir.”
The victim is the 15-year old daughter of the spouse who was arrested by the police for alleged drug pushing. Based on the reports, Valencia told the teenager that her parents would be cleared of charges if she agreed to be used.
Although higher ranks of the PNP vowed to give justice to the girl who tested positive for laceration, they also tried to downplay Valencia’s statement saying that accusations, such as rape, against the police are nothing new as it was only a “retaliation” by drug suspects who are arrested in the government’s anti-illegal drugs operation.
But a study of the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), a 36-year old research and training institution for women, revealed that there are 56 policemen who were involved in 33 cases of violence against women. This was since President Duterte was elected, from July 2016 up to October 2018.
According to CWR, 12 of these cases are drug related, meaning, victims were either drug suspects, relatives of drug suspects, or were assaulted during drug-related operations. There were 16 cases of rape, while seven cases were acts of lasciviousness. Thirteen cases also involved victims who are minors.
Instead of addressing this, Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr., PNP spokesperson resorted to discrediting the CWR, calling their data as fake news and riding on the rape incident even if the data was first released in July of this year – ahead of Valencia’s rape of the teenager.
No matter how the PNP tries to protect its name the fact still remains: that those who committed crimes were from within their ranks.
In the government’s so-called war on drugs, the PNP’s reputation dived to the lowest level. Thousands from the poor alleged of being drug pushers or users were killed without due process, their daughters raped, money being extorted in exchange for clearing their names. What could the powerless do if they are being threatened by the powerful?
Indeed, the war on drugs is not solving the problems plaguing our country. As Gabriela Women’s Party has said, the “incident confirms the institutionalized abuse of women and children within the PNP, with police officers using the fake war on drugs to prey on vulnerable targets.”
It only emboldens authorities to commit crimes against the people it should be protecting.
Ultimately, the culture of impunity under the Duterte administration reigns and intensifies. We heard many times over the news how he defended the police or any official from his wrongdoings and how he freed them from any accountability or even encouraged them to commit crimes.
Let us remember what he said:
“Pag naka-rape ka ng tatlo, aminin ko na akin ‘yun.” Duterte said addressing the 2nd Mechanized Infantry (Magbalantay) Brigade on May 26, 2017 after the implementation of martial law in Mindanao.
“Shoot them in the vagina,” Duterte said referring to the female revolutionaries of the New People’s Army. He said this in his speech in front of the reported rebel returnees at the Malacanang Palace.
Duterte also defended cops involved in the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parajinog, and the police arrest of tambays – all these without court due process.
Not only does the PNP take its cue from Duterte’s misogynistic remarks, what we are seeing is the use of rape as an instrument of the state against the poor.
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For kin of the disappeared, grief knows no end
With no cemetery or columbarium to visit, the relatives instead laid the photographs of their loved ones on the ground, lighting candles and offering white flowers.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — On Oct. 27, Ching Torres cooked her husband’s favorite dishes spaghetti and calderata. She and her children also had a cake with the dedication, “Miss na miss ka na namin, Papa. Hihintayin ka namin.” (We miss you, Papa. We will wait for you.)
Instead of laughter, Joey Torres Sr.’s home was filled with tears as his family commemorated his 54th birthday. Unlike before, Joey would give a call if he could not make it home. The family is used to Joey being far away. As regional organizer of Bayan Muna-Central Luzon, he was always busy.
But since the night of Sept. 22, the day he should have gone home, Joey has not been answering Ching’s calls. He sent a message to Ching at around 8 p.m., informing her that he was already at North Edsa. But no Joey came home. Ching called him many times but his phone just kept on ringing. It stopped ringing on Oct. 16, after Ching called on the military to surface her husband.
“Mainit ang mata ng gobyerno, partikular ng militar, sa mga nagsusulong ng karapatan ng mga magsasaka, mangingingisda, katutubo at iba pang maralita,” (The government, especially the military, is closely watching those who promote the rights of farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, and other sectors of the poor.) Ching, also an organizer of Bayan Muna, told Bulatlat in an interview. Ching said they already knew that Joey was under military surveillance.
Ching and a team of human rights workers went from one camp to another searching for Joey. From Oct. 19 to Oct. 25, they went to the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) headquarters, Camp Aguinaldo, Fort Bonifacio then to Camp Tecson in Tarlac, Camp Olivas in Pampanga, Northern Luzon Command headquarters, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Camp Camacho in Bataan, Philippine National Police Region 3 Office in Bataan, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, 91st Infantry Battalion (IB) camp in Aurora, 69th IB in Guimba, Nueva Ecija, 84th IB in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija. All of them denied having custody of Joey.
Knowing fully well what activists are going through in the hands of their captors, Ching could not give up hope, saying, “I hope they would still surface Joey.”
From Cory Aquino to Duterte
On Nov. 2, Ching joined the relatives of other desaparecidos in a gathering at Plaza Miranda.
Joey is one of the six victims of enforced disappearances under the Duterte administration, according to Desaparecidos, an organization of families of the missing.
Every year, relatives of the disappeared hold a reunion of sort. They cry together, exchange hugs and share hope. Most of them have been waiting for their loved ones for decades.
Ligaya Portjada, whose husband Armando Sr. was abducted during the Corazon Aquino administration, said in her speech, “We do not have tombs to light our candles. Our grieving is endless.”
Ligaya’s despair has been going on for the past 31 years since Armando, union president of Coca Cola workers, was forcibly disappeared on July 31, 1987.
READ: Lighting the Way Home for Desaparecidos
With no cemetery or columbarium to visit, the relatives instead laid the photographs of their loved ones on the ground, lighting candles and offering white flowers.
As she looked at the picture of her daughter Sherlyn, Erlinda Cadapan could hardly control her sobs. She wiped her tears with a small white towel while being comforted by Edita Burgos, the mother of missing activist Jonas.
“I could not stop thinking that Sherlyn is still being tortured,” Erlinda said. “Justice is not enough. I’m not happy that Palparan will rot in jail until they tell me where my daughter is.”
Retired General Jovito Palparan Jr., the poster boy of Gloria Arroyo’s counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya, was convicted of kidnapping and serious illegal detention over the enforced disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño. Palparan and his aides Colonel Felipe Anotado and Staff Sgt. Edgar Osorio are serving their sentences at the New Bilibid Prison.
“Just tell me where they buried my daughter and I would be the one to recover her shattered bones,” Erlinda said, referring to Palparan.
Impunity reigns
Desaparecido pointed out that impunity continues.
Former President Gloria Arroyo, whose Oplan Bantay Laya resulted in more than a thousand killings and over 300 enforced disappearances, is now House Speaker.
General Eduardo Año, former Army intelligence chief and believed to be the mastermind behind the abduction of Jonas Burgos, is now secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
?”Those who did the abductions, and made our loved ones disappear from the public’s sight still wear their uniforms and are out there terrorizing the people. We expect no justice from this government because Duterte keeps these monsters by his side, giving them more power than ever before,” Cadapan said.
At least 60 other former military officials currently hold ranking positions under Duterte’s administration.
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