Muslims gather for the Eid prayer at a mosque in Quezon Boulevard Ave., in Davao City to mark the end of a month-long fast, Friday, June 15, 2018. (Mara S. Genotiva/davaotoday.com)
Agrarian reform in Boracay must begin with free land distribution – NDFP
The implementation of agrarian reform program in Boracay Island must begin with free land distribution in order for it to effectively succeed and bear genuine impacts to the lives of the farmers and indigenous people in the area.
Duterte’s shoot-to-kill order vs Kadamay members, violent dispersal of workers’ strike show how Duterte abhors the poor
“Poor Filipinos have always been at the losing end, with governments upholding the interests of the rich and big business. Duterte’s rule is no different; in fact, it is more ruthless and more brutal on the poor. This is evident from killings as a defective solution to the problems regarding illegal drugs and criminality, the imposition of new regressive tax burdens, continuation of contractualization schemes and non-increase of minimum wage, and, recently, a violent dispersal of a picket line of workers and a shoot-to-kill order on Kadamay members claiming their right to decent housing,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
GRP cancels peace talks despite successful informal talks
The backchannel talks were held from June 5 to 10 appeared to be successful with only the joint agreement signed by both parties needed to be released to the public.
The agreements on the scheduled peace negotiations this month was signed by the respective chairpersons of the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III and Fidel V. Agcaoili, on June 9. It was witnessed by the Royal Norwegian special envoy Ambassador Idun Tevdt, as part of the third party facilitator of the GRP-NDFP peace talks.
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison said briefly of the informal talks that the stand-down agreement would have to be moved to June 21 and the formal talks would proceed from June 28 to 30 in Oslo, Norway. He deferred to his counterparts on the peace table to release other details.
However, Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza in the afternoon of June 14 said, “The decision for the moment, huwag na muna ituloy ang talks (do not go ahead with the talks).”
His statement read in part said, “In our common effort to make sure that we achieve a conducive and enabling environment for peace, President Rodrigo Duterte instructed us last night to engage our bigger ‘peace table’ — the general public as well as other sectors in government as we work to negotiate peace with the communist rebels.”
Dureza commented it was only Sison who had prematurely announced the resumption of the talks by end of the month.
“In our common effort to make sure that we achieve a conducive and enabling environment for peace, President Duterte instructed us last night to engage our bigger ‘peace table’ – the general public, as well as other sectors in government as we work to negotiate peace with the communist rebels,” Dureza said.
“Consequently, the initial timeline that our backchannel team had worked on with their counterparts (CPP/NPA/NDF) ‘across the table’ had to be necessarily re-adjusted,” he said.
Dureza did not say when the talks would resume.
Duterte, however, said at the oath-taking of barangay officials in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on June 13 that the talks may have to be deferred until July as he needed more time.
Following the backchannel talks in The Netherlands, the NDFP was informed that the Government of the Philippines (GRP) panel was scheduled to meet their principal, Duterte, on June 13 to report on the progress of the informal talks.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said Duterte’s joint command conference on Wednesday night with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) dealt with the peace talks. Roque said the AFP and the PNP had made a commitment to the president to support the peace talks.
The next day saw the announcement to cancel the fifth round of peace talks for the third time.
An interim peace agreement was expected to be signed consisting of a coordinated unilateral ceasefire. The coordinated unilateral ceasefire was supposed to replace the stand down agreement. The deal was predicated on signing agreements on agrarian reform and rural development and amnesty proclamation for political prisoners.
The cancelled talks halted yet again the progress on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER). The CASER is said to be the heart of the three-decades long peace negotiations as it tackles the roots of the armed conflict.
The stand down agreement was initially scheduled to take effect on June 14. The GRP sought to move its commencement on June 21 to give the government time to effect the participation of six NDFP consultants in the peace talks. The agreement was meant to provide a conducive atmosphere for the resumption of formal talks. The stand down agreement meant for forces of both sides to “stay where they are” and “take an active defense mode.”
In response to the talks cancellation announcement, Sison said in a statement the Duterte administration is “not interested in serious peace negotiations with the NDFP. ”
“It is interested vainly in obtaining the NDFP capitulation under the guise of an indefinite ceasefire agreements and breaking the provision in the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on the Secuirty and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) which requires formal negotiations in a foreign neutral venue and therefore putting the negotiations under the control and under duress of an emerging fascist dictatorship and its armed minions,” he explained.
“I urge the two negotiating panels to release to the public and to the press the written and signed agreements of June 9 and 10 signed by the chairmen of the GRP (government) and NDFP negotiating panel and by the members of their respective special teams,” Sison said.
On April 8, Duterte gave the GRP and NDFP panels to start come up with an agreement within 60 days or there will be no more talks. He also asked Sison to come home to for the peace talks.
The post GRP cancels peace talks despite successful informal talks appeared first on Manila Today.
Only spoilers are happy with peace talks postponement—Bayan Muna
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate expressed dismay in the delay of the resumption of formal talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Reacting to Presidential Peace Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza’s announcement Thursday that the scheduled formal talks on June 28 is postponed by President Rodrigo […]
Could the country achieve rice self-sufficiency?
President Rodrigo Duterte has conceded that the country would continue to import rice as long as the problems of overpopulation and lack of arable land hound the country.
CTTMO to enforce 20-second parking rule for PUVs
The City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) will soon implement a 20-second parking period for public vehicles to embark and disembark their passengers along the streets of Davao City.
Araw mo ‘to ng paglaban
“Ang tanging hiling namin ay maibalik kami at mabigyan ng trabaho.”
Iyan ang hinaing ni Jembert Navarro, isang kontraktwal na manggagawa mula sa planta ng Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc. (PCPPI) sa Tunasan, Muntinlupa.
Maraming nahihiya at tumangging magpa-interview sa aming pagpunta sa Pepsi. Tila ba nahihiya o natatakot silang magsalita, gayong naroon na rin naman sila nagpoprotesta. Marahil epekto ng ilang taong pagiging kontraktwal–walang kaseguruhan sa trabaho, walang benepisyo, kaya ang labas nagiging maamo para lang hindi matanggal sa trabaho.
Pero lahat ng taong pagtitimpi nawawalang-silbi sa panahong gaya nito.
Si Jembert ang isa sa mga nagpaunlak ng panayam.
Limang taon nang nagtatrabaho sa Pepsi bilang isang forklift operator si Jembert. Ang katulad niya ang pangunahing nagkakarga sa truck ng mga produktong softdrinks para sa delivery. Aniya, tinanggal siya sa trabaho noong Hunyo 11.
Nagpiket sa labas ng planta sina Jembert sa hapon ng Hunyo 14. Apat na araw na silang hindi pinapapasok ng kumpanya kaya minabuti na nilang sa araw na ito ay magrehistro ng kanilang pagtutol sa ginawang pagtanggal sa kanila sa trabaho.
Sa limang taong pagtatrabaho ni Jembert sa Pepsi ay ni hindi man lamang niya naranasan ang maging regular at ngayo’y nawalan pa ng trabaho.
Kada kinsenas ay umaabot lang ng walong libo ang sinasahod ni Jembert. Hindi-hindi nakasasapat para sa kanyang pamilya.
Napakaliit na nga sahod na lalong lumiit dahil na pagsirit ng mga presyo bunsod TRAIN Law. Mas malaking pasakit ang biglang mawalan ng trabaho.
Ang pagtatanggal sa manggagawa ay nagsimula matapos ipasara ang nasabing deep-well ng pabrika na pangunahing pinagkukunan ng tubig upang makagawa ng kanilang softdrinks. Matagal na umanong inutos ito ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources at kamakailan lang inaksyunan ng management ng planta. Nagresulta naman ito ng pagkawala ng hanapbuhay ng higit 1,000 kontraktwal na manggagawa sa loob ng pabrika.
Dagdag pa ni Jembert, “Simula ng maputol ang deepwell, ganito ang aming kalagayan, lahat ng casual (kontraktwal) ay tanggal, all-out ang sabi ng Pepsi. Regular lang daw ang ititira, naapektuhan pati mga pamilya namin.”
Inaalala ni Jembert na mahihirapan ng kumuha ng trabaho ang marami sa kanila, lalo pa iyong mga matagal nang nagbigay ng kanilang serbisyo sa kumpanya.
Aniya, “’Yung iba nga diyan na tumanda kasi ‘yan na ang pangunahing hanapbuhay nila. Kung tatanggalin, saan sila magtatrabaho sa edad nilang ‘yan? Bata nga eh mahirap nang makahanap ng trabaho, sila pa kaya?”
Taong 2011 pa diumano ang isyu ng deep-well sa kanilang pabrika na dapat ay matagal nang napaghandaang ayusin. Ipinasasara ang deep-well dahil kailangang sa mga contractor ng tubig kumuha ng tubig, gaya ng Maynilad. Kinakailangan ng planta ng libu-libong litro ng tubig sa paghuhugas ng bote at iba pang gawain.
“Nagugutom na kami kaya nagkakaisa kami na ipaglaban ang aming karapatan,” ani Jembert.
The post Araw mo ‘to ng paglaban appeared first on Manila Today.