The people must frustrate Duterte’s “serious attempts at dictatorship through martial law, bogus revolutionary government or Charter Change” by voting for the opposition.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Senatorial candidates endorsed by Makabayan Coalition pointed out all that is wrong with the Duterte administration and vowed to push for reforms.

In his speech during the Makabayan Coalition miting de advance at Plaza Miranda, May 7, former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said he is confident that the electorate would junk the candidates of the administration and vote for the opposition.

The May 13 midterm elections is seen as a referendum on Duterte’s performance in the first three years.

Addressing the crowd, Colmenares asked, “Payag ba kayo sa TRAIN Law? Payag ba kayo sa Cha-Cha? Payag ba kayo sa EJK at paglabag ng karapatang pantao? Payag ba kayo sa China? Payag ba kayo sa diktadura?” (Are you in favor of the TRAIN Law? Are you in favor of Cha-Cha? Are you in favor of EJK [extrajudicial killings] and other human rights abuses? Are you in favor of [deals with] China? Are you in favor of dictatorship?)

To each question, the crowd replied with a resounding, “No!”

Colmenares said the people must frustrate Duterte’s “serious attempts at dictatorship through martial law, bogus revolutionary government or Charter Change” by voting for the opposition.

The 11 candidates endorsed by Makabayan have pledged to work together to suspend or repeal the excise tax provision of Duterte’s tax reform program; oppose Charter Change and “similar self-serving, draconian and anti-Filipino amendments to the Constitution;” uphold the country’s sovereignty and rights in the West Philippine Sea; respect women’s rights and uphold human rights and due process for all Filipinos.

The coalition, which is composed of five incumbent party list groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women’s Party, ACT Teachers, Anakpawis and Kabataan, has also endorsed independent candidates Grace Poe, Nancy Binay and Serge Osmeña; Otso Diretso candidates Bam Aquino, Chel Diokno, Samira Gutoc, Florin Hilbay and Erin Tañada; and LABOR WIN candidates Leody de Guzman and Sonny Matula.

Makabayan’s Senatorial bets. #LabanPinas #Elections2019 pic.twitter.com/vPhpcJYhQr

— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) May 7, 2019

The Makabayan 11 also vowed to ensure job security and increase the wages and incomes of the working people and resume the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

On the other hand, the candidates of Hugpong ng Pagbabago have supported Duterte’s policies. Colmenares said they are afraid of going into debates because they have supported policies which run counter to the interest of the people.

Issues

Colmenares said that if elected, he would also push for an end to contractualization, increase the social security pension of retired workers, increase in minimum wage, land for the tillers and free education.

In their speeches, both Diokno and Hilbay spoke of the need to fight for justice for victims of human rights abuses.

In his speech, Diokno said in Filipino, “They say I’m a woke lolo (grandfather). But what I hate the most is the grandfather who keeps on hurling invectives, and sowing violence.”

Gutoc, meanwhile, criticized Duterte’s misogyny and vowed to fight for women and children.

Tañada, who hails from Quezon province, promised to address the plight of farmers who are now suffering from very low prices of palay and copra.

De Guzman and Matula, both from the labor sector, said they hope to represent the workers in the Senate.

Aquino’s nephew, Simon, said his uncle would continue to support the youth and small entrepreneurs.

Poe, Binay and Osmeña sent their video messages supporting Colmenares’s bid for the Senate.

“The upcoming elections gives us the opportunity to elect to the Senate men and women of proven competence and integrity who can assert the Senate’s independence and push for laws that favor our people. Candidates who have a proven track record of public service and a fighting chance to win,” Makabayan said in a statement.

With thousands of supporters gathered at Plaza Miranda, Makabayan is positive that the people would revolt against Duterte on May 13 elections.

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By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Health workers marked the National Health Workers’ Day with a protest action, decrying their poor working conditions.

The group said that while existing Philippine laws recognize their vital role in providing health services to those in need, their present situation is quite the opposite.

“Day in and day out health workers are overworked and underpaid, exposed to all hazards and illnesses, and make do with inadequate supplies and facilities. And most health workers do not receive overtime pay,” said Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) President Robert Mendoza.

No to contractualization

The AHW pointed out the need to stop hiring health workers under a contractual labor scheme and instead hire them as regular workers that may be able to avail benefits.

Putting an end to contractualization was among President Rodrigo Duterte’s promises to the Filipino people when he was still vying for the country’s top position. This has yet to materialize as AHW said contractualization in the health sector even worsened under the present administration.

The group added that in some cases – such as in the Philippine General Hospital – a health worker currently employed there has been under a contractual labor scheme for the past 31 long years. The said employee, being a contractual worker, will not be able to get any retirement benefits.

At the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, on the other hand, contractual workers are already at 367 out of 918 plantilla (regular) positions or more than a third of its entire work force.

Poor pay

Meanwhile, health workers are still enduring very low pay.

Like in many workers’ group in the Philippines, AHW also called for the passage of a national minimum wage, a P750 daily wage, and a P30,000 entry salary for nurses.

Citing the study of independent thinktank Ibon Foundation, AHW said the present daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region, which is pegged at P537 is “way too below” the P1,000 living wage for a family of five.

Their low salaries are further aggravated by the increasing prices of basic goods and services due to the government’s tax reform program.

Witnesses to the poor health services

Health workers also deplored the dire conditions of many poor Filipinos in hospitals, many of whom cannot afford the increasing cost of health services and medicines even in government-run hospitals.

“While corrupt officials in government steal every cent from public coffers, live like kings and queens, get applauded and promotions from the government, ordinary health workers and Filipino people eat noodles and sometimes none,” the AHW’s statement read.

The group pointed out that low wages, contractualization, and budget cuts in the health sector are all but part of the neoliberal policies that are being imposed by both foreign and local businesses in exchange of “gargantuan profits” but at the expense of health workers and Filipinos in need of health services.

Whenever they assert the right of the people to health, the group added that the government attempts to suppress their freedom of expression by tagging them as leftists.

Mendoza added, “we encourage our fellow health workers to actively participate in numbers to pursue the struggle for health workers’ rights, salaries and benefits and free health services of the people.”

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“We are the people of the resurrection. There is a new breed of candidates whose hearts are aflame for genuine public service.”

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Following the open endorsement of a leader of a Catholic charismatic group of several administration-backed senatorial aspirants, church groups are once again calling on the faithful to vote for an independent senate.

“If Mike Velarde can brazenly come out with a list endorsing magnanakaw (thieves), mamamatay tao (murderers), and dishonest people, should not our lay leaders and lay groups do at least the same – endorsing names of honest people?” said Manila Auxilliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.

Pabillo is referring to the open endorsement of Brother Mike Velarde of the Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai to 14 senatorial aspirants, which included, among others, Imee Marcos, former police chief Ronald dela Rosa, and former presidential aide Christopher Go.

For the longest time, the faith-based vote appears to be the “sleeping giant” that various politicians always seek out every election time. The irony is not lost to some who are known to take an extra mile to woo faith-based communities – with one hand attending masses and receiving communion, for instance, while the other hand pockets funds intended to provide due social services to those in need.

It is not surprising that most religious groups refuse to openly endorse candidates in the context of not getting their hands “dirty” of politics, according to People Choice Movement convenor Alex Lacson. Instead, they focus on guiding their respective faithful, educating them of “qualities” they should look for in a candidate.

This midterm elections, however, prove to be different from the past, with several prominent church lay groups endorsing senatorial candidates as a protest vote to the looming authoritarian rule in the country by ensuring an independent senate.

In a pastoral letter earlier this year, the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines encouraged lay groups to form discernment circles, engage in principled partisan politics and even “campaign for good candidates as an exercise of their Christian faith.”

After all, no less than Pope Francis considered “politics” as one of the highest forms of charity as it “seeks the Common Good.”

Church People for an Independent Senate

Members of Protestant Church Iglesia Filipina Independiente who formed a discernment group dubbed as Church People for an Independent Senate recently expressed their support to 10 senatorial aspirants this midterm election. This, they said, is an effort to frustrate President Rodrigo Duterte’s seeming plan to impose total control of the Senate.

At the heart of their endorsement is their strong stance against the present policies of the Duterte administration such as allowing China’s incursions and abuses in the West Philippine Sea, rampant killings in the name of the war against illegal drugs, efforts to amend the Constitution, and the attacks against people’s right to assemble and protest.

They are endorsing the following senatorial candidates:

1. Bam Aquino
2. Nancy Binay
3. Neri Colmenares
4. Chel Diokno
5. Samira Gutoc
6. Leody de Guzman
7. Florin Hilbay
8. Serge Osmeña
9. Grace Poe
10. Erin Tañada

The IFI members who formed the CPIS clarified that their endorsements are not “pledge of allegiance” to any political group but rather a part of their crusade to campaign for an independent senate.

People’s choice movement

It is also the campaign to have an independent senate that brought over 130 lay people from the biggest Christian Churches – Catholic, Protestant, Evangelicals- to discern on senatorial candidates that they will endorse and campaign for, and later formed the People’s Choice Movement.

Among the knockout issues they were able to identify are the candidates’ belief in God and their stand on the proposed charter change to shift to a federal form of government, which has been passed by the Macapagal-Arroyo Lower House with the prodding of the Duterte administration. These, they said, are crucial to the lives of the Filipino people as, especially the latter, will deprive them of hard-earned rights enshrined in the Constitution.

The two knockout issues instantly brought down their choices to 17. The candidates were again subjected to another round of standard test, as provided by “Gabay Kristo,” which guides the faithful in choosing the “right candidate who will more likely contribute to bringing about change or transformation to our land and people.”

You may take a look at the “Gabay Kristo” by clicking here.

Among the criteria are: (1) not indulging in alcohol, drugs, or illicit affairs, (2) not involved in graft and corruption, (3) genuinely empathetic towards the poor and underprivileged, (4) has the courage to fight for what is right, to name a few.

The standard test is accompanied by a profile of the candidates, to help participating lay people to rate the candidates.

Their discernment circle then resulted in 10 senatorial candidates:

1. Gary Alejano
2. Bam Aquino
3. Neri Colmenares
4. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno
5. Samira Gutoc
6. Florin Hilbay
7. Romulo Macalintal
8. Grace Poe
9. Mar Roxas
10. Erin Tañada.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines Acting Secretary General Minnie Anne Calub told Bulatlat they are supporting the People’s Choice Movement.

In its Easter message, the NCCP said, “let us cast our vote as an act of faith in practice, not just as an act of self-interest. Let us remain true to the biblical mandate to elect to positions of authority those who are acceptable in the eyes of God.”

Bishops’ take on upcoming elections

Prominent religious leaders have also expressed alarm over the possibility of the senate losing its independence.

Related story: Churches urged to guide faithful in ensuring independent Senate

Episcopalian Bishop Rex Reyes Jr. said that participating in the upcoming elections is both a duty and a right.

“We are the people of the resurrection. There is a new breed of candidates whose hearts are aflame for genuine public service,” he said in a letter dated May 1.

Pabillo, for his part, said there is a need to have a “strong opposition to preserve our democratic space” and a “strong senate who can prevent the onrush of totalitarianism.”

In March, UCANews reported that Catholic priests will also be rooting for opposition senatorial candidates. While they have been warned not to openly support candidates in public, Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the CBCP Social Action Secretariat, said they will “whisper” it to the people.

Meanwhile, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias has openly endorsed eight-member slate of the Liberal Party dubbed as “Otso Diretso.”

Why are Church groups into this?

These endorsements and efforts to seek for an independent senate have been ushered by what religious and lay leaders perceive as a looming authoritarian rule in the country.

Pabillo added that, “the ball is on your court. Should we play ball or just let them take control of the game because they are more enterprising?”

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By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Former Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador passed away today, May 7 due to a lingering ailment.

Alternative news outfit Kilab Multimedia reported that Virador, who served as Bayan Muna lawmaker from 2004 to 2007, succumbed to thyroid cancer at the Brokenshire Hospital at past noon today.

He was 52.

Virador was among the five lawmakers dubbed as Batasan 5, who sought the protection of the House of Representatives for 70 days, after a rebellion charge was filed against them under then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The charges were later dismissed by a Makati court.

“We are saddened with the passing of one of the stalwarts of Karapatan in Mindanao, former Karapatan Southern Mindanao Secretary General and Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador. We vow to continue his sterling record of genuine service and advocacy of people’s rights,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a Facebook post.

The late progressive lawmaker was former head of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao. He also served as regional vice chair of Kilusang Mayo Uno – Southern Mindanao.

Read: Batasan 5 Leave House, Hailed as ‘People’s Heroes’

He was also among those who opposed US military intervention in the country and called the public attention to US warships docking in the country.

Read: Progressive congressman wants U.S. warships probed, seized

Former Social Welfare secretary and women’s right advocate Judy Taguiwalo said in her Facebook post that Virador’s death is “heavier than a mountain.”

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