A children’s rights organization here has asked the city government to establish the Special Office for Children’s Concerns (SOCC), which has long been stipulated in the children’s code but remained unimplemented.
#LupangRamos | Sina Jojo at Carlo, kababata at kasama sa pakikibaka
Masigla, malakas, bukas sa kaisipang pakikibaka. Ganiyan inilarawan ni Amado Guerrero ang mga kabataan. Sabi naman ni Dr. Jose Rizal, pag-asa ng bayan ang kabataan.
Sabay na lumaki sina Jojo Mercado at Carlo Montoya sa Brgy. Langkaan, Dasmariñas, Cavite. Pareho silang nag-eedad ng 19. Si Jojo ay nasa grade 10 samantalang si Carlo ay nasa ikalawang taon na sana sa kolehiyo. Sa Lupang Ramos mismo sila iniluwal, namulat, at nagpasyang makibaka.
Bilang mga anak ng magsasaka, nakararanas sila ng iba’t ibang pangmamata ng ibang kabataan dahil sa estado ng kanilang pamilya.
“Minsan naitatanong din namin syempre kung bakit nga ba ganito ang kalagayan namin, at bakit iba ang estado nila?” pagkukuwento ni Carlo.
Ngunit sa tulong ng matiyagang pagpapaliwanag ng kanilang magulang at sa direktang karanasan ay mas naintindihan na nila ang kanilang tunay na sitwasyon. Hindi na nila tinignan pang mababa kanilang kalagayan sa iba.
“Ang aming magulang ay unti-unting pinaliwanag sa’min na ganito ang sitwasyon namin, ito ang trabaho namin. At ano naman kung ang mga magulang namin ay magsasaka? Pinagmamalaki ko yun dahil sila ay naghihirap sa pagsasaka”, matapang na paglalahad ni Carlo.
Myembro ng Katipunan ng mga Lehitimong Magsasaka ng Lupang Ramos (KASAMA-LR) ang mga magulang nina Jojo at Carlo. Sumasama rin ang dalawa sa mga kilos-protesta, bungkalan, at iba pang aktibidad ng organisasyon. Sa sama-samang pagkilos natagpuan ng mga magsasaka sa Lupang Ramos ang dignidad upang igiit at ipaglaban ang pagmamay-ari sa lupa.
Hindi bagong phone, laptop, PS4 o bagong damit pang profile photo sa Facebook ang gustong makamit nina Jojo at Carlo. Tunay na reporma sa lupa, ‘yung maipamahagi sa mga magsasaka at mapakinabangan ang mga lupang agrikultural ang kanilang gusto.
“Sa ibang mga kabataan, tignan at pag-aralan nila ang paligid at maging pantay ang pagtingin nila sa amin dahil hindi naman kami iba sa kanila” Ani ni Jojo.
Sila ay tulad din ng ibang kabataang tumigil o hindi nag-aral dahil sa problema sa pinansya. Napagkakaitan sila ng pangunahin nilang karapatan sa libre at dekalidad na edukasyon. Sa ngayon ay tumutulong na sila sa pagsasaka ng Lupang Ramos kasama ang kanilang pamilya habang patuloy na pinaglalaban ang kanilang ligal na karapatan dito.
The post #LupangRamos | Sina Jojo at Carlo, kababata at kasama sa pakikibaka appeared first on Manila Today.
#LupangRamos | Sa paglaban para sa lupa, walang kinikilalang edad si Lola Gregoria
“Ako na lang ang tagain niyo, wag ang mga anak ko”, ani ni Lola Gregoria nung minsang sugurin sila ng mga gustong umangkin ng kanilang lupa.
Habang nakikipagkuwentuhan ako sa mga nagpapahingang magsasaka ng Lupang Ramos ay naagaw ni Lola Gregoria Tapawan ang aking atensyon nang pumasok siya sa kubol na pinagtutuluyan namin nang may hawak na karit.
Pinuntahan ko siya at nagsimulang makipagkwentuhan. Agad kong tinanong kung nagsasaka pa ba siya. Tumutulong daw siyang magtabas ng mga damo at nagbabantay daw ng kanilang mga tanim.
Kulubot na ang balat ni Lola halatang matagal na panahon ng naging kaibigan ang mga palay at araw. Walong taong gulang pa lang ay nagsimula nang magsaka si Lola Gregoria. Kasa-kasama na siya ng kaniyang tatay sa initan. Hindi na niya naranasang umupo sa silid-aralan at mag-aral.
“Imbis na papel at ballpen ang hawak ko, asarin, bareta, itak, yatab, karit ang mas gamay ko”, emosyonal na paglalahad ni lola. ” Kinalyo na nga ako sa pagsasaka”, dagdag pa niya.
Setenta’y kuwatrong taong gulang na si Lola Gregoria, isa sa pinakamatandang babae sa kanilang samahan. May siyam na anak si Lola at lahat ay kasama niya sa Lupang Ramos. Malalim ang ugnayan ng lupa at kay Lola Gregoria. Bukod sa pinupuno nito ang kaniyang mga kuko sa tuwing magbubungkal ay lupa rin ang kasama niya sa pagtaguyod ng kaniyang mga anak lalo n’ung pumanaw ang kaniyang asawa.
“Sa akin, habang-buhay kong ipaglalaban ang lupang ito dahil dito kami nabuhay”, ani Lola.
Mababaw ang luha ni Lola nang magsimula siyang magkuwento tungkol sa karanasan niya sa Lupang Ramos.
Dating pagmamay-ari ng mga Kastilang prayle ang Lupang Ramos at noong sinakop ng Amerikano ang Pilipinas ay ginawang pampublikong lupa. Kasama ang mga kamag-anak ni Lola Gregoria sa mga unang dumating at nanirahan sa Lupang Ramos. Taong 1965, sumulpot ang angkan ni Emerito Ramos at iginiit ang pagmamay-ari ng 372 ektaryang lupa. Iginiit rin ng angkan ang pagtatanim ng tubo sa erya kahit pa sa bisa ng repormang agraryo ay tatamnan dapat ito ng palay at mais. Noong naisabatas ang Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), pilit na pinaalis ng mga Ramos ang mga magsasakang matagal nang nagbubungkal sa lupa.
Bumuo ang mga magsasaka sa Lupang Ramos ng mga samahan upang tumindig sa lehitimong pagmamay-ari nila sa lupa. Sa ilalim ng bandila ng Katipunan ng mga Lehitimong Magsasaka ng Lupang Ramos (KASAMA-LR), sama-samang isinusulong nila Lola Gregoria ang tunay na reporma sa lupa.
“Nitong nakaraan, sinugod kami ng mga kaaway, minumura kami at tinatanong kung magkano ang bayad samin dahil dodoblehin daw nila ibigay lang ang lupa sa kanila. ‘Di namin pinatulan pero sobrang sakit talaga ng mga sinasabi nila sa amin. Nagtimpi lang kami dahil sayang ang (ilang) taon na naming pakikipaglaban”, pautal utal na pagkukuwento ni Lola dahil sa pag-iyak.
Hindi rin kayang makita ni Lola na nasasaktan ang kaniyang mga anak kung kaya’t sinasamahan niya daw talaga ang mga ito kapag magbubungkal at malapit sa mga kaaway dahil baka magkaroon daw ulit ng komosyon.
Si Lola Gregoria ay isang inang kayang gawin ang lahat para sa kaniyang mga anak at apo. Ang kaniyang paglaban sa Lupang Ramos ay hindi para sa kaniyang sariling interes. Nakatanaw siya sa magandang kinabukasan ng kaniyang mga anak at ng iba pang kasama sa kanilang pagtatagumpay.
Tagos sa puso ang kuwento ni Lola Gregoria na sumasalamin sa kalagayan ng marami pang magsasaka sa kasalukuyan na dumaranas ng pananamantala at pang aapi ng mga malalaking negosyante at taong tinitignan na isang espasyo lamang ang lupa upang pagtayuan ng mga gusaling pang-negosyo. Isang malayong pagtingin sa katulad ni Lola Gregoria at ng kanyang mga kasamahan na tinuturing na buhay ang lupa.
The post #LupangRamos | Sa paglaban para sa lupa, walang kinikilalang edad si Lola Gregoria appeared first on Manila Today.
The IBON 2018 Midyear Birdtalk
The Duterte administration has marked its second year in office. It was ushered into power amid a popular clamor for change but has earned international criticism for its controversial war on drugs and human rights record. It made many promises to the people but economic growth and more foreign investments have not resolved joblessness and poverty for the majority. It is timely to scrutinize what the government is doing to develop the economy and empower the people.
IBON will hold the 2018 IBON Midyear Birdtalk, which will tackle the country’s economic and political situation 1:00-5:00pm at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City on July 12 (with representatives from government offices, non-government and civil society organizations, religious groups, the academe, students, professionals, media, and people’s organizations) and at the Holy Family School of Quezon City on July 13 (with educators and students).
In this light, we cordially invite you and your colleagues to both events. Your attention and participation in and coverage of the discussion will make the event fruitful and more meaningful. We also hope that the discussion contributes to all our various fields of work as nation builders.
We will be able to make better arrangements for you with your RSVP. Please also feel free to contact us for any questions or clarifications. You may email us back or contact us at 9277060-61 loc 301, 927-6986, (0945) 122-4153, and (0916) 531-4607.
Duterte aggravates the Filipino people’s woes
IBON Feature – The Duterte administration’s second full year in office sees the people’s condition worsening and the need for genuine reforms even more urgent. The government is however digging in its heels and pushing more harmful neoliberal measures that aggravate the people’s plight instead of implementing policies that overcome economic backwardness.
Filipinos struggle to cope with fast increasing prices and workers’ wages continue to erode. The National Capital Region has the country’s highest minimum wage but even this has eroded by about Php17 since Duterte took office.
The agriculture sector has been shedding jobs for the last five years including a huge 723,000 lost in April 2018 from the same period the year before, drastically bringing agricultural employment down to just 9.8 million. Underemployment meanwhile swelled by 466,000 to 3.2 million people over the same period, showing wage insufficiency. Meanwhile, there remains over 50% of total underemployed who are part-time workers or working 40 hours or less.
IBON estimates over 60 million poor Filipinos from living off Php125 or less per day. The 21 million Filipinos the government considers poor according to its absurdly low poverty threshold of Php60 are better understood as those living in extreme poverty. The highest poverty incidence, by this standard, is among farmers and fisherfolk.
Unsympathetic to the people
The neoliberal market-oriented policies of the Duterte administration in its Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 are designed to support the profits of local and foreign big business. On the other hand, they worsen the people’s situation and aggravate the country’s agricultural and pre-industrial backwardness and neocolonial character.
The administration’s centerpiece Build, Build, Build program uses public funds and resources for infrastructure projects that big foreign companies and local oligarchs can profit from. While the government claims that the program benefits the poor, infrastructure spending is perversely concentrated in regions with the lowest poverty. For instance, over Php343 billion worth of flagship projects are concentrated in the National Capital Region (NCR) where poverty incidence is the lowest but the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which has the highest poverty incidence, accounts for just Php5.4 billion worth of projects. Thousands of communities also stand to be displaced by the grand infrastructure program.
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Package 1 meanwhile lowers taxes paid by the few rich and makes up for this by increasing consumption taxes paid by the majority including millions of the country’s poorest households. TRAIN-aggravated inflation has already eroded the incomes of the poorest Filipino families who are pushed deeper into poverty. The unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) supposedly meant to help the poorest 50% of families cope with the higher taxes are very delayed and over two million households even remain unidentified to date.
The government also continues to recklessly open up the economy to foreign capital which jeopardizes long-term national economic development. It seeks to amend the Public Services Act to open up vital utilities like communication and transportation. The Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL) will be shortened even more. It is also out to change the 1987 Constitution itself and remove important controls on foreign investment in natural resources, public utilities, education, mass media and advertising. These will not just continue but complete the neoliberal overhaul of the country’s economic policy regime. Yet, as it is, the economy has received scant benefits from foreign investment which needs to be regulated according to a strategic plan for national industrial development.
Steps not taken
Two years is long enough for the Duterte administration to start taking steps towards real change to develop the economy and improve the conditions of the people. Instead, it has solidly established its pro-business and pro-foreign capital credentials under the guise of free market orientation. It has also been unabashed in heavy-handedly using force and intimidation to advance a neoliberal economic agenda. This will keep the economy underdeveloped and the people in a raging crisis of joblessness and chronic poverty.
Yet reforms have long been proposed by social movements, taken up in peace talks with armed revolutionary groups, and even articulated by government anti-poverty agencies. This includes free land distribution, support for farmers, and broad-based rural development. This improves equity in the countryside, raises rural incomes, spurs demand, and stimulates economic activity. Developed agricultural and rural areas in turn are a solid base for expanding Filipino-owned industries. National industrialization is the key strategy for ensuring stable employment, decent and rising wages for the working people, and continuing productivity gains over the long-term. – IBON Feature
AFP to ask Duterte to end peace talks with Reds
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is poised to recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte the termination of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), AFP spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said on Tuesday.
Duterte regime’s road to “peace” is all-out war and terror vs the people
In the past days, officials of the Duterte administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines took turns in justifying the regime’s full-scale war against the Filipino people and suppression of political dissent, as if the current human rights situation isn’t precarious as it is with the all-out assault on civil liberties and people’s rights.
Pahaging sa bagong hari
Ni Rogelio G. Mangahas Aba, bagong hari’y tila isang multo sa gabi at araw, dulot ay kilabot ng anino’t tinig, ng banta’t tungayaw; Ang idolo pala’y ang naging diktador nitong sawing bayan— malaon nang abo’y minumulto pa rin pati kasaysayan. Hari, bakit nga ba lugod mong nalibing sa may puring pook— labí ng idolong isang […]