BAGUIO CITY – Ricardo P. Mayumi, an indigenous people’s leader in Tinoc, Ifugao was killed by suspected state military agents of a hydropower project on March 2, Friday. Suspected hired goons of the mini hydro project and CAFGUs visited his house several time asking his family the location of Mayumi. Mayumi was known for being […]
IPs, national minorities oppose Duterte’s Cha-cha
MANILA, Philippines – The Sandugo Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self Determination staged a protest in front of…
Scientists name Mindanao wax plant after Mayor Sara
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Researchers and scientists found a new species of the Philippine Hoya, commonly called as wax plant,…
Anti-mining groups slam 23 years of Mining Act
Environmental activist group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and indigenous people’s alliance Sandugo gathered at the House of Representatives earlier to protest the 23-year-old Mining Act and the proposed Charter change (Cha-cha) of the Duterte administration.
The groups argued that the act has policy deficiencies, part of the reason why former environment secretary Gina Lopez ordered the closure, suspension, or agreement cancellation of mining operations in the country.
They added that the Mining Act, enacted in 1995, allows foreign control over big mines and displacement of indigenous communities. According to them, the law could give a preview of how transnational corporations could steal 79% of the generated mineral wealth since 1998 while legally clearing out forests, diverting rivers and springs.
“The repeal of the Mining Act, which was officially 23 years in place last March 3, 2018, should have been one of the top legislative priorities of Congress instead of Cha-cha,” said Kalikasan-PNE national coordinator Leon Dulce.
Cha-cha to sell out national patrimony
Groups also condemn the proposed constitutional amendments of President Rodrigo Duterte that promotes the plunder of natural resources and would “put the Mining Act on steroids”.
Cha-cha opens up minerals and other natural resources to full 100-percent foreign ownership. It also unfetters mining and other extractive corporations to land-grab critical ecosystems and protected landscapes,” Dulce added.
Sandugo also decried Duterte’s rhetoric of federalism as the solution to social inequities and unrest.
“Duterte’s chacha is nothing but a total sell-out to our national patrimony and sovereignty as a nation and for us, national minorities – both the Moro and indigenous peoples – the diminution of our collective right to self-determination,” Sandugo co-chairperson Jerome Succor Aba said.
For Sandugo, Cha-cha disregards indigenous customary laws to determine ancestral land and territories.
“This allows the state to fully control the territories and sacrifice us in the ‘altar of national interest’. This will warranty more incursions into the lands by big foreign and local business interests. It will remove the right of the Moro and Cordillera peoples to autonomy as an expression of self-determination enshrined in the current constitution,” Aba added.
Kalikasan-PNE and Sandugo stated that Duterte’s Cha-cha does not address the roots of poverty and social unrest and that Duterte is only using Cha-cha as a tool to entice his political allies with an extended term and a federal system where they can consolidate their political and economic power.
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Amid grave HR abuses, AFP remains in a state of denial – Karapatan
“Despite
the distortions and deflections of the AFP, the fact remains: there are torture
victims who have told their story of inhuman and degrading treatment at the
hands of the military. The trauma that they have experienced — the marks on
their necks due to strangulation and burn marks — are still visible on their
bodies. The military is both callous and idiotic for even implying that the
victims have burned themselves for the sake of propaganda. They have clearly
identified the perpetrators in their testimonies,” said Karapatan deputy
secretary general Roneo Clamor on the military’s recent statement accusing
Karapatan of fabricating allegations of torture.
Artists, peasant advocates unveil anti-fascist slingshot
On February 24, thousands of people joined the anti-fascist, anti-dictatorship march from Cubao to the EDSA People Power Monument.
A few meters from the main program stage, a six-foot slingshot made of wood, bungee cords, and a plastic vegetable strainer was unveiled. From the makeshift contraption, several balls bearing the face of President Rodrigo Duterte were launched. Each ball carried the message “Duterte, patalsikin!” (“Oust Duterte!”)
The slingshot was mounted by the peasant advocates of the artist network SAKA (Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo).
Fellow protesters in the crowd caught the balls and threw them back to SAKA so the slingshot could ‘eject’ Duterte again and again.
The activity was consistent with the artist network’s statement released a day prior to the march. “Marapat lang na magbigkis ang sambayanan para labanan ang administrasyong nagtataguyod ng[…] diktadurya [ni Duterte]” (“The nation must come together to fight the administration establishing Duterte’s dictatorship”), the statement declared. “Sa pagpapatalsik ng diktador, taumbayan ang tirador” (“In ejecting a dictator, the people are the slingshot”), it concluded.
According to the group, charter change would only aggravate agricultural backwardness in the countryside and stunt industrial growth through its promotion of 100% foreign land ownership. Federalism under existing semi-feudal conditions would only reinforce the anti-farmer hacienda system. The group also decried the increasing militarization in the countryside.
Their statement was accompanied by a caricature of Duterte, shot into the air by peasants with a slingshot made of two giant sickles.
Read the full statement here.
Like SAKA’s Facebook page for more updates from the artist network.
The post Artists, peasant advocates unveil anti-fascist slingshot appeared first on Manila Today.
‘Monarchy Restored’? China Set to Remove Two-Term Presidential Limit from Constitution
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee proposed on February 25 to remove term limits on the presidency and vice presidency of the People’s Republic of China, which would pave the way for Chinese President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. Specifically, the committee suggested deleting a line from the country’s constitution that states the president and vice […]
Podcast sa Kampuhan ng Sinirangang Bisayas sa DA
Nagtungo sa Maynila ang mga kinatawan ng mga magsasaka mula sa Eastern Visayas para makipag-usap sa iba’t ibang ahensiya ng pamahalaan hinggil sa kanilang dinaras na kahirapan at kagutuman sa kanilang rehiyon. Dumating sila noong Pebrero 22 at inaasahang babalik ng Samar at Leyte sa Marso 9. Department of Agriculture Februay 27, 2018