Ang bilang ng paglalapit
ng bayan na remata’ng sinapit
o ang paglalagkit ng pait
sa ating mga nakaambang karit?
ng bayan na remata’ng sinapit
o ang paglalagkit ng pait
sa ating mga nakaambang karit?
Lawyer, doctor refused from seeing Frank Fernandez
“I understand the context is war – and two sides are at odds. Pero bawal bang maging makatao ‘pag magkaaway? Kung kaya ng isa, kaya din naman ng kabila, di ba?”
The People’s Choice Movement candidates will win if…
The People’s Choice Movement 10 senatorial candidates for the May 2019 elections will win if the lay people of the churches, not only Roman Catholic Church (RC), will truly campaign, vote and protect their votes for them without reservation.
The lay people selected 10 out of 32 senatorial candidates based on these criteria: “Character & Honor, Competence & Abilities, Faithfulness to public service, and Faithfulness to God, the Constitution and the laws.”
The People’s Choice Movement says: the “10 best senatorial candidates that our country and people need during these times” are Makabayan candidate Neri Colmenares, independent candidate Grace Poe and Otso Diretso candidates Gary Alejano, Bam Aquino, Chel Diokno, Samira Gutoc, Pilo Hilbay, Romy Macalintal, Mar Roxas and Erin Tañada.
The lay people should really feel the electoral situation which was conveyed to them by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) statement, released last January 28, 2019, an excerpt states:
“The midterm election on May 13 is crucial. In our country today the checks and balances in the government are being undermined. So far the senate is the institution in the government that is holding out as our country is inching towards total control. It is very crucial therefore that we elect candidates who are principled, courageous and who have the common good as their main concern and not their own political interests.”
RC Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said, “Our lay leaders, with the People’s Choice Movement, have done their work of discernment. Now is the task for all the lay faithful to campaign the deserving candidates so as to counter the money and the political machineries that the TRAPO politicians are using. There are still two months for all to do this particular exercise of the Christian faith.”
The message is clear.
The People’s Choice Movement “10 best candidates” are deserving candidates. The lay people of the Philippine Churches must campaign and safeguard their votes. The task of the lay people is not only “vote-getting” for the 10 candidates, but also they should resist fraud and terrorism.
In “vote-getting,” the lay people shall ensure that the basic Christian communities in urban and in the hills will be reached out. They can do this because the Churches, especially the RC Church, Aglipayan Church, the Protestant and Evangelical Churches, have satellite or outstation chapels even in the remote areas of the country. The key persons in this campaign are still the lay people in the parishes and local churches in all dioceses, jurisdictions and conferences around the country.
If the elections are done in a free, fair and honest manner, the lay people can deliver win votes to the 10 candidates. However, elections in the Philippines are marred with fraud and violence and the rule of guns, goons and gold. The opportunity for the 10 candidates to win in this situation is slim. The lay people must resist fraud and terrorism.
The lay people must see and be convinced that President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime, through the Local Government Units (LGUs), Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Philippine National Police will not just sit, look and listen during elections. The Duterte administration is fighting hard to ensure its candidates will win in the May elections. Duterte is thinking of charter change and federalism after May elections. His candidates must win by hook or by crook for charter change and federalism to push through—a charter change characterized by unli-power and unli-wealth and no accountability to those in power. The Duterte government will use government funds, resources, facilities and COMELEC officers and personnel to dominate the electoral campaigns and processes, as have been seen with his former aide’s use of government programs as part of his campaigns.
In the provinces, especially in the barangays, the posters, streamers and other campaign materials of the opposition candidates, who are part of the 10 candidates, are prohibited and/or intentionally removed by the people who are working for the Duterte regime. This is already unfair and unjust.
In some areas, if not all, the opposition candidates are denied of the use barangay halls and municipal plazas as their campaign rally areas. Usually, the LGUs officers and personnel, including the AFP and PNP, of the Duterte regime invent many reasons in denying the opposition candidates to campaign freely.
During elections, “vote-buying” is rampant. The local administration candidates, especially candidates running for mayor and councilors, are the operators of this ‘vote-buying’ scheme for local to national posts. They have their barangay political leaders and wards that will ensure that those who received the “sample ballots and money” will follow their instructions, including signs and counter-signs during the voting period.
The other maneuvering is the “harassment and threats” made by the state forces. The voters who are identified to vote for the opposition candidates will be threatened and tagged as “communists or terrorists” supporter. This act of terrorism will disenfranchise the voters. It will be very true in all polling precincts in Mindanao and Abra where the AFP and PNP considered as “hotspots” and to be controlled by the COMELEC. The AFP and PNP will become the personnel of the COMELEC that will administer the elections. The provinces in Bicol, Samar and Negros will be also declared as election “hotspots”.
The COMELEC will play a key role in proclaiming the winning candidates. The candidates who are engaged in fraud and unfair electoral processes could be declared winners and let the losing candidates file a formal complaints or protests to the proper bodies. Electoral protests are usually resolved within three years or more.
Thus, the lay people who choose the 10 best candidates must not only vote for them but to protect their votes. They must expose and condemn “vote-buying” and terrorism. They must be willing to participate in mass protests either in electoral tribunal and marches on the streets.
The midterm elections on May 13 is crucial indeed.
But, if the people are denied to vote freely with fairness and honesty, the lay people should not stop to find solution of the “checks and balances in the government” through elections. They must participate in people’s struggle towards genuine democracy, towards genuine progress, towards a just and lasting peace.
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Netizens’ free expression in grave threat with cyberlibel conviction
THE CONVICTION of two radio broadcasters in Kidapawan City for simply expressing their opinion in social media –supposedly meant to provide an avenue for personal opinions and narratives – is the latest attack on free expression not only of media practitioners but of everyone who dare share their stand on burning issues. Their conviction may well be a signal that will herald a new wave of attacks against free speech and expression, rights that are in fact enshrined in our very own Constitution.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the conviction meted by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Kidapawan City to broadcasters Eric Rodinas of Radyo Natin and Larry Baja Subillaga who were charged with online libel by North Cotabato Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza.
In a decision dated March 22, the Kidapawan RTC convicted the two broadcasters of online libel with a penalty imprisonment ranging from a minimum of 4 years and one day to a maximum of 8 years and one day. The broadcasters were also ordered to pay P1 million fine, P1 million for moral damages, and P500,000 for examplary damages.
The case sprung from what Governor Taliño-Mendoza labelled as “malicious” statements posted by the two in their social media accounts last March 2017. In his Facebook post, Subillaga said that Taliño-Mendoza was fooling the people of the province, while Dugaduga said the governor became rich because of corruption. The broadcasters said that they will appeal their conviction before the Supreme Court.
This latest development proves what we have been pointing out ever since the passage of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012: that it can be exploited to silence criticism by well-entrenched and powerful people, especially government officials. RA 10175 not only criminalizes libel – something that has long been clamored to be decriminalized – but also sets penalties “one degree higher” than that provided for libel in the Revised Penal Code.
Weaponizing online libel adds to the long list of attacks perpetrated by state forces to the media, which include harassment of journalists, cyber attacks on newssites, legal debacles, and most heinously, killings. This latest development only intensifies the reigning climate of impunity brutely cultivated and propagated by the current administration. Online libel is yet another lethal weapon that can be abused to silence criticism by an apparent insecure government afraid of the truth. We reiterate our call to repeal the anti-cybercrime law, decriminalize libel, and to put a stop to all forms of attacks against legitimate dissent and free speech.
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Dismiss trumped-up charges against the Rosales couple – Karapatan
Today, March 27, 2019, political prisoners and former public sector organizers Oliver and Rowena Rosales, will again face the trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against them in the Regional Trial Court Branch 19 in Malolos, Bulacan.
Sa Digma ng Halimaw, Isang Dokyu Teatro | Why this is necessary piece of theater from SIKAD / Tanghalang Mulong Sandoval
By ALON SEGARRA
Bulatlat.com
“…contemporary performances seem interested in exploring the range of ways in which ‘reality’ can be produced, explored, and understood. Or, to put it another way, the ways in which ‘make-believe’ is made believable.” (C. Turner and S. Behrnt 2008: 188)
‘Sa Digma ng Halimaw, Isang Dokyu Teatro’ is neither fiction nor ‘make believe’. The documentary theater play was devised from series of interviews and the transcripts were organized and woven into narratives “about the war on drugs, told from the point of view of the families of the victims of said war and others affected by it.”
I saw the play last November 22, 2018 at the Commission of Human Rights in UP Diliman. Reminded myself that my intention was to be present. I knew what I was about to watch were real accounts of incidents, portrayed by actors and later on joined by the tellers (the voices behind the stories/monologues) narrating their stories. I had to, all throughout, been conscious of my reactions, I was aware not to take pity, but to watch with empathy and respect for their courage and strength in telling and re-telling of one of the worst day/night/weeks/months/years of their lives. Unimaginable even, that one would hope never to experience. But I also had no way of controlling my tears.
The power of the material lies in its urgency, and in the rawness and realness of the portrayal of the actors and the tellers. As an actor, I respect the courage of the families of the victims going onstage/ in front of everyone and going through trauma again and again for each performance, hoping for healing and transformation, and justice to be served. In the performances, the lives of their loved ones are handled with so much value and given meaning and their deaths exposed as inhumane and cruel. We, the audience, experienced the everyday struggles to make ends meet, yet at the end of each day, felt the love, hope for life and family. And, in an instant, life is taken away. They just become numbers, a quota to be fulfilled. We become (state) witnesses to a system/government that authorized killings, sanctioned police brutality and leaders publicly declaring no respect for human lives.
We are at war with a system that was created to protect us, work for us, and public servants who have taken their oaths and promised to be of service to the masses, the now and for future generations. But instead, the system has turned monstrous and undeniably evil and greedy, and has abandoned the poorest of the poor of society.
I believe most of them, do not ask for much. An opportunity for a decent life, a good future, a system that encourages them to be better human beings; a piece of land they can farm on their own or a piece of land to build their homes. I believe we are not asking for much, we are asking for what is just and right. Everyone deserves a better life. We demand a government that nurtures its people and not one that kills them.
At the ending, a mother shouts, cries and raises a closed fist, urging us to stand with them and continue seeking, fighting for justice; overthrow the monster in Malacanan! Names of the victims were placed all over the room. We look for them and call out their names, as if even at that moment we know them, we’ve met them and we remember them.
What do you feel after being witness to eight stories knowing that there are more than 20,000 deaths and counting and at least 20,000 more mothers, fathers, children, relatives left with nothing, feeling numb, hopeless and angry? I am confronted, assaulted with the reality that the poor, innocent lives are sacrificed for this so-called ‘war on drugs’, and any glimpse of hope or transformation is killed in an instant. One hopes that everything was just fiction, but truth is, it’s not. Even when the last sentence is said, lights fade out, we are confronted and reminded the whole time: the reality that the killings never stop, and possibly at that very moment, in another place, another victim falls, and somebody is grieving and wailing for justice.
Sa Digma ng Halimaw is necessary theater. Because truths, no matter how painful and brutal, are told. And outside the four walls, as we go out, it is necessary to fight.
The post Sa Digma ng Halimaw, Isang Dokyu Teatro | Why this is necessary piece of theater from SIKAD / Tanghalang Mulong Sandoval appeared first on Bulatlat.
Envi groups, fisherfolk and urban poor communities call for moratorium on reclamation projects in the country
Over 200 leaders and members of fisherfolk, urban poor, environment and church groups from across the Philippines gathered in the 2nd People’s Summit on the Impacts of Reclamation today at Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros Manila.
After six years, the 2nd national conference aimed to reinvigorate the people’s call for a moratorium on reclamation projects in the country.
According to Leon Dulce, spokesperson of Peoples’ Niche, the people need a national reclamation moratorium to avert the impending ecological crisis expected from reclamation policy developments under President Rodrigo Duterte.
“At least 11.24 million people may significantly be impacted by reclamation projects covering 39,414 hectares, threatening coastal and marine landscapes across the country,” Dulce added.
Of the reclamation projects under the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and with the partnership of local governments, 80% are concentrated in Manila Bay. Other reclamation projects are located in Cebu, Iloilo, Laguna, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Batangas, Bacolod City, Palawan and Aklan.
“These are the hectares upon hectares of wetlands and marine habitats where rare migratory birds converge, where fish breed and feed, and where millions of people subsist for their sustenance and livelihood. These are the green corridors that are our first and last line of defense from growing risks of storm surges, floods and other disasters,” Dulce said.
EO 74 slammed
Last month, Duterte signed Executive Order 74 (EO) which returned reclamation approval powers to the PRA, a government-owned and controlled corporation mandated to generate profits from reclamation. The EO also placed PRA directly under the command of Duterte’s office.
“The order mandates the PRA to come up with a reclamation and development plan. Not a single reclamation project should be approved through this plan without concretely fleshing out which areas in the country should be off limits to reclamation based on science and social justice,” Dulce said.
People’s Niche cited that the areas with clear ecological zoning such as the key biodiversity areas and rehabilitation areas in Manila Bay and the marine protected areas and ecotourism sites in Cebu and Tanon Straits should be declared reclamation-free.
“EO 74 does not present anything new on environmental regulations. It is silent on the displacement of fisherfolk and urban poor communities. But it promotes efficiency and ease of doing business in the reclamation industry, even allocating a development fund for scaling up PRA’s reclamation capacity,” Dulce said.
Affected communities, fisherfolk sentiments vs reclamation
Peoples’ Niche cited that almost 50,000 to 110,000 families would be displaced if the reclamation projects in Manila Bay pushed through.
Alexander Rosales, spokesperson of Baseco Peoples’ Alliance expressed dismay with the reclamation projects that would affect their communities. He said that the government has no development plan in their areas that would benefit the poor and the reclamation will further prohibit the demolition and eviction.
“Walang kabuhayan ang reklamasyon sa amin. Hindi trabaho ang ibibigay sa amin, kundi perwisyo. Sisirain ang aming bahay at ang ating kalikasan, kaya tutol kami dito,” Rosales added.
[There is no means to live with the reclamation in our place. It will not give us jobs, only suffering. It will destroy our homes and our environment, that’s why we oppose this.]
He also slammed the Build, Build, Build Program of Duterte that will give the reclamation authority to the massive destruction of livelihood, houses and environment.
Monique Anastacio, spokesperson of Samahan ng mga Mangingisda at Mamamayan ng Bulakan at Obando (SMBO), strongly opposed the construction of Aerotropolis because it will destroy their livelihood, shelter and environment.
“This billion-peso project will never compensate for our priceless future that will be ruined just in the name of colossal profits of the elite few,” she said.
The conference was organized by the Peoples Network for the Integrity of Coastal Habitats and Ecosytem (People’s Niche), a national alliance advocating for ecological restoration as an alternative to land reclamation.
The two day confab hosted discussions from scientific, legal and social experts expounding on the varying impacts of land reclamation to communities. The outcomes of this convergence were expected to usher in an era of ecological restoration, and not devastating reclamation for our coasts and the people whose lives depends on its integrity.
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AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
Dear President Duterte: We, bishops in Mindanao, have gathered together in Cagayan de Oro City on March 25-26, 2019 for a conferential meeting with the Obispo Maximo. It is with a heavy heart that we write this open letter to you Mr. President. In the last six months, our Church, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and church leaders, along with peasants, workers, lumad, media people, teachers and people’s lawyers, are being attacked through red tagging, vilification, surveillance, harassment and intimidation and worse, killings. We saw at the highways and even walls of our churches desecrated with graffiti maligning the IFI and its leaders, Bishop Antonio Ablon of Pagadian and Bishop Felixberto Calang of Cagayan de Oro. In your days as Mayor of Davao City and to this very day as President of this country, you have personally known our Church with the two bishops among our leaders taking exemplary role in peace talks and in public witness to attain the aspirations of the ordinary Filipinos especially the peasants, workers and indigenous peoples. We are deeply troubled by these attacks against people of faith who by their mandate to fulfill the gospel of truth, life and salvation are now facing the brunt of state forces. Under the blanket of martial law, these evil acts perpetuate. Not a single act of due and proper investigation or any action whatsoever from state forces leads to a resolution to these violations. Worse, illegal arrest and detention, trump up charges and forced NPA surrenderees of peasants and lumad who are partners of our church in our community work and mission are conveniently presented to the public as prima facie evidence of the IFI’s and bishops’ affiliation to the rebel group. We strongly condemn the recent attack dated February 22 where leaflets or hit list bearing names of the bishops including that of Fr. Chris Ablon, Fr. Rolando Abejo, Fr. Khen Apus and other networks and friends like Benjie Sambaan, Cong Corrales, Ofelia Tabacon, Atty. Beverly Musni, Atty. Czarina Musni, and Atty. Beverly Ann Musni! This baseless and malicious accusation strongly believed to be orchestrated by state forces has openly identified these people as members of the CPP-NPA-NDFP. We as episcopal leaders of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in Mindanao are very much alarmed that wanton extra judicial killings may fall on our church leaders. God forbid! We likewise have active church lay leaders who now fear for their lives and security. They are constantly under surveillance and are possible subject to warrantless arrest. Mr. President, we are not your enemy. In fact we tend to believe that you were one with us in pushing the cause and struggle of the less fortunate members of our society. We witnessed and heard you several times how you wished to address and end the systemic problem of social injustice besetting our land due to resource and capital monopoly, corruption and inept bureaucracy and globalisation policies that aggravated the situations of the majority of Filipinos especially the poor and downtrodden among us. As a matter of fact, we were inspired by your earlier public announcements on your support and initiatives for lasting peace to reign in our land and resolve the basic problems of our society. We see them as clear affirmation of our common goal that the way to a just and lasting peace is by resolving the root causes of the armed conflict. We strongly appeal to you, Mr. President, to heed the call of the people. Do not remain persuaded by your security advisers to pursue the path of war against your own people. Their militaristic approach continued from administrations past has only emboldened mercenaries from military and police and entrenched normalcy of state violence, wanton disregard of people’s rights and human dignity and snuffed the many lives of your people. It has killed hundreds of your best citizens who take a collective role of nation building by struggling towards national industrialization and genuine land reform. We strongly urge you, Mr. President, to put an end to these attacks against peasant and labor leaders, against lumad and their communities, against defenders of lumad schools, lawyers, media and the Church. Let us instead endeavor together to make Philippines truly a nation with thriving democracy, just peace and pro-people development. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente, its leaders and mass membership will continue to live out its historical role and prophetic witness to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). We still believe Mr President that you have a heart for your people, and we ask that it may be a heart at its right place that truly beats for the interest and wellbeing of our people especially the poor, the defenceless, and the vulnerable. We continue to pray for you, Mr. President, and your government, persistently invoking God’s help that through your leadership your government “may make wise and just decisions, and promote liberty, peace and welfare of God’s people” (Intercession, IFI Order of Mass).
THE MOST REVD RHEE M. TIMBANG (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD ANTONIO N. ABLON (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD FELIXBERTO L. CALANG (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD DELFIN E. CALLAO JR. (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD DENNY D. DAPITAN (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD RUDY N. JULIADA (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD NOEL LORENTE (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD MERVIN JOSE ELIMANCO (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD ROMEO G. TAGUD (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD REDEEMER A. YAÑEZ JR. (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD RAUL O. AMORCILLO (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD JULIUS M. DACERA (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD CARLO A. MORALES (SGD) THE RIGHT REVD VICTOM Y. BATOY (SGD) THE VERY REVD GIL DINAPO (SGD) |
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