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Magalong’s sense of accountability ‘admirable, great example’ for other officials — Robredo

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Magalong’s sense of accountability ‘admirable, great example’ for other officials — Robredo

By: Christia Marie Ramos – Reporter / INQUIRER.net / January 31, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo said Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s sense of accountability with the violation of health protocols during a controversial birthday party he attended was “admirable” and serves as a “great example” for other government officials.

“Obviously mayroong lapse, pero ang sa akin, bilib naman ako kay Mayor Magalong na malakas iyong sense of accountability. Kung mayroon mang nagawang lapse, iyong sa akin, iyong response—dapat ganito iyong response ng mga public officials na nalalagay sa ganitong sitwasyon,” Robredo said in her weekly radio show on Sunday.

(Obviously there were lapses, but for me, I admire Mayor Magalong’s sense of accountability. If there were lapses that were committed, his response—this should be what other officials should do if they find themselves in a similar situation.)

“Napaka-admirable sa isang public official—kasi wala namang perpekto, talagang somewhere along the way may magagawa tayong, ‘di ba, parang nagkakaroon nga ng lapses—napakahusay noong pag-ako ng accountability,” she added.

(It’s really admirable for a public official—because nobody’s perfect, somewhere along the way there would be lapses—but the way he took responsibility was commendable.)

“Tingin ko napakagandang example nito. Hindi natin sinasabing wala siyang lapse, kasi siya nga mismong nagsasabi na mayroon. Pero iyong response niya doon sa lapse na nagamit ay tingin ko ito iyong dapat,” she further said.

(I think this is a great example. We’re not saying that there were no lapses, because he said so himself that there were. But his response, it’s the way it should be.)

Magalong recently resigned as contact tracing czar after he drew flak for attending a party in Baguio City where he admitted that health protocol violations were committed.

It was in July last year when Malacañang named Magalong as the country’s contact tracing czar.

“In hindsight, being a senior officer of the (National Inter Agency Task Force for COVID-19), I should have done an immediate spot correction of the errors I witnessed (at) the time,” Magalong said in his letter to vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr.

“Much as I have given my best to discharge my duties for the task force, this is a reminder that a higher standard is expected of me,” his letter further read.

As seen in videos posted on social media, guests in the party thrown by social media personality and events host Tim Yap did not appear to observe physical distancing and were not wearing masks.

Yap has since assured that all guests present tested negative of the coronavirus and the gathering was meant to promote local tourism in Baguio City.(PA)

Congaing to COVID-19

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Congaing to COVID-19

Editorial, Philippine Daily Inquirer / January 30, 2021

A plague known as the “Red Death” haunts the countryside. A prince known as Prospero seeks shelter in his palace and orders its gates locked. But after a few months, the prince seeks the company of others and throws a fancy masquerade ball.

Everyone is having a grand time but at the stroke of midnight, a mysterious guest arrives. “His mask looks like the face of a corpse, his garments resemble a funeral shroud, and his face reveals spots of blood suggesting that he is a victim of the Red Death.” A furious Prospero chases the figure through the rooms of his palace, but as soon as he confronts the figure, the prince dies. The other guests rush to unmask the unidentified guest, but they find no body beneath the costume. The Red Death had found its way to the palace and crashed the party. Everyone dies: “Darkness and Decay and the Red Death” had triumphed.

This is the gist of the tale “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe. Partygoers and the “influencer” set would do well to sit down and read it before they traipse off once again to their next gig, maskless and shimmying in a conga line. For no locked gates, masks, security precautions, and even the presence of local officials can fully protect against an unseen but treacherous virus. And people partying in defiance of health guidelines and in the face of immense suffering by the rest of the populace is tone-deaf, callous, and arrogant.

Writing in her website “The Diarist,” former Inquirer Lifestyle editor Thelma Sioson San Juan points out that “in specific terms… people are dying; people are getting sick; frontliners continue to be heroic; people have lost their jobs, businesses or means of livelihood or are about to; people feel unsafe in their environment and are not confident about the governance; people are facing depression; poverty is more real now than ever. That is the new normal.”

Indeed, it rankles to see the well-heeled and well-connected whooping it up while ordinary Filipinos are not only left cooped up in their homes but, when forced to go out to work, are also left vulnerable at the hands of police and petty law enforcers ready to pounce at a mere infraction.

A dinner hosted by Sen. Manny Pacquiao showed the attendees posing maskless for the obligatory photos. Then, actor-host Raymond Gutierrez celebrated his birthday in a bar in Taguig again in violation of social distancing rules, with the unfortunate consequence of the bar being closed down by authorities, rendering its employees jobless.

But the “award winner” in this series of social faux pas was the three-day celebration hosted by self-proclaimed “eventologist” Tim Yap in Baguio. Yap brought about 30 guests to the mountain city, at a time when the region itself is recording a surge in infections. Highlight of the multi-day bash was a dinner into which Yap made his entrance astride a white horse, clad all in white with traditional Cordilleran accessories. Costumed “cultural workers” danced alongside the party host, pulling guests off their seats to join a merry-looking conga line. Among the guests were Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and his wife; Magalong also happens to be the government’s designated “contact tracing czar.”

Scrambling to explain himself, Magalong said the guests had taken off their masks because they were eating before being asked to dance. Then he told Yap “not to worry” about a planned probe by the city government and the Department of Tourism, which said it would investigate the Manor Hotel where the party was held. Yap, said Magalong, had meant well, promoting Baguio as a tourist destination and having his group buy up a number of local artworks. (Following the backlash, Magalong tendered his resignation as contact tracing czar yesterday, but the National Task Force Against COVID-19 rejected it.)

In their defense, both Gutierrez and Yap said they and their guests had all undergone testing and tested negative. But as a doctor, quoted by San Juan, pointed out: “Your current negative result doesn’t mean you will not get contaminated after the test… Even in a room full of COVID-negative people, there are no guarantees. Many things can still happen from the time you were tested to the time you were at the party.”

It is also a question of privilege. The moneyed can pay to have themselves tested any time and for as often as they like, and then use that as an excuse to carouse; claim that it’s for a good cause—promoting tourism, boosting artists, raising charity funds—and even government officials who should know better are happy to grace the soiree. But the poor who can’t afford swab tests and swanky venues? Let them try a streetside karaoke session at this time and see the cops swoop down in no time. Pandemic or not, the rich are seemingly determined to stay different from you and me. Now where’s socialite Cat Arambulo and her infamous line—“Why can’t you motherf—rs just stay at home!?” directed at the toiling masses stranded by the lockdown in March last year—just when they’re truly needed?


Callamard on PH drug war review: Focus on those enabling killings, too

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Callamard on PH drug war review: Focus on those enabling killings, too

By: Neil Arwin Mercado – Reporter/INQUIRER.net /January 29, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — A review of the over 5,000 drug-related police operations that resulted in deaths should also cover people who “emboldened those that pulled the trigger,” United Nations (UN) special rapporteur Agnes Callamard said Friday.

During the online forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Callamard, an international human rights investigator, was asked on possible benchmarks that the inter-agency panel evaluating the police drug operations should hit. The inter-agency panel is headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“To me, one of the most clear and centrally-important steps that must be taken and that should be a benchmark is to not just focus on those that pulled to trigger but to also focus on those that emboldened those that pulled the trigger,” she said.

“Is the review panel prepared to tackle incitement? Is the review panel prepared to tackle those who have repeatedly said ‘I have your back’ to the killers in uniform, to the serial killers in uniform?” she added.

Callamard said the review panel should be ready to look into the system itself and the policies of the leadership “that has allowed for the continuation of those human rights violations.”

“There should be no limit as to who should be included in that review—from the President to the police commissioners, and below and in between, all of them,” she said.

“If they have said, if they have incited, if they have protected, if they have done any of those things, they should be part of the benchmarking of how the Philippines is prepared to respond to those human rights violations,” she added.

Callamard said that mere dismissal of police officers involved in human rights violations in the drug war operations is “not a benchmark,” even saying that it is “the opposite of accountability.”

“I’m sure being dismissed is a problem, but being dismissed if you’ve killed people, that’s not acceptable,” she said.

“Let’s begin by talking about a clear benchmark for killings, clear benchmark for human rights violations that’s not an administrative response. It’s got to be a traditional response, it’s got to be a proper acknowledgement of the wrong being done,” she added.

The review should also cover the family of the victims and the help that has been extended to them, both in terms of achieving justice and receiving financial support, Callamard further said.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the initial report on the review of drug war deaths has been submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Guevarra noted, however, that the submitted document was just a partial report.(PA)

Gov’t subsidy needed to quell high prices of pork, chicken — Zarate

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Gov’t subsidy needed to quell high prices of pork, chicken — Zarate

By: Neil Arwin Mercado – Reporter/ INQUIRER.net /January 26, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate urged national and local governments to provide temporary subsidy to consumers amid high prices of goods such as pork and chicken.

Zarate said the national government and LGUs can buy the produce of farmers then sell them to consumers at a subsidized rate—similar to what was done during the early stages of the lockdown last year.

“Similar mechanisms may also be done now as prices of basic goods, especially food stuff, are rising. The Quick Response Fund of P6.37 billion may be tapped to help farmers and consumers,” Zarate said in a statement.

Such a response would help both producers and consumers, said Zarate.

“This is better than the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture for another round of price freeze for hogs and poultry because such a move would have a negative effect on local farmers and groups who are still reeling from the economic effects of the pandemic, African swine flu and bird flu,” he added.

“For the long haul, increased government support for agriculture along with genuine agrarian reform is truly needed to ensure the Philippine’s food security and as a first line of defense against high prices of goods,” the lawmaker added.

Inflation breached 3 percent during the last two months of 2020 as a string of strong typhoons damaged agricultural production while an uptick in demand caused by the holiday season made goods and services more expensive.PA

Worst post-war GDP slump: Pandemic shrinks Philippine economy by 9.5% in 2020

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Worst post-war GDP slump: Pandemic shrinks Philippine economy by 9.5% in 2020

Jan 28, 2021 Ralf Rivas

MANILA, Philippines

(UPDATED) For the 4th quarter of 2020, the slump in gross domestic product is at 8.3%

The coronavirus pandemic plunged the Philippine economy to its worst contraction since World War II, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 9.5% in 2020.

The latest figure announced by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Thursday, January 28, is the sharpest dip on record since available data dating back to 1947 and the first GDP decline since 1998 (-0.5%).

President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic team earlier projected GDP would contract between 8.5% and 9.5%.

GDP – which is the sum of all products and services created by a country – sank by 8.3% in the 4th quarter of 2020. 

While less severe than the 11.4% slump seen in the 3rd quarter and the 16.9% crash in the 2nd quarter, the contraction in the 4th quarter is still sharper than what most analysts expected in various polls.

On an annual basis, industry posted the largest contraction of 13.1%, while services and agriculture slumped 9.1% and 0.2%, respectively.

Other services, such as personal care services, entertainment, salons, casinos, and museums, contracted the most in the 4th quarter with a -45.2% growth rate.

Food services (-42.7%), construction (-25.3%), and transportation (-21.3%) also posted double-digit dips.

Prospects

While figures were grim in 2020, acting chief state economist Karl Chua noted that “prospects for 2021 are encouraging.”

“We see no reason why the economy cannot bounce back once community quarantines are further relaxed. The halving of the unemployment and hunger rates from record highs as we gradually relaxed the quarantine in the 2nd semester of 2020 shows that economic potential remains, and only held back by excessive risk aversion,” Chua said.

Chua added that Filipinos would have to manage risks and learn to “live with the virus,” as prolonging the status quo of lockdowns “is not an option.”

“Further opening the economy will entail increasing the public transport capacity, allowing gradual face-to-face schooling beginning with pilot cases, and broadening the age group allowed to go out, all with the appropriate safeguards,” he said.

Don’t expect the cavalry

While the economy contracted sharper than during the debt-ridden Marcos years, ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa is not expecting the government to turn into some cavalry, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas already did its part and the government has showed no signs of beefing up fiscal response.

“Despite the 9.5% contraction in the economy, we are not counting on authorities to whip out any form of stimulus to offset the downturn, both on the monetary or fiscal front,” Mapa said.

“The 2021 budget was bumped up by 10% in 2021 and will not likely be enough to move the needle to jump-start the ailing economy.”

For Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort, the government’s push for tax reform would be an important pillar for economic recovery this year.

“Reform measures such as the CREATE bill would also become another important pillar for economic recovery as this would become the country’s biggest stimulus measure with P40 billion for the 1st year and at least P600 billion for the next 6 to 7 years,” he said.

Ricafort also noted that the arrival of vaccines would play a big part in the economic recovery.

The earliest arrival of vaccine orders will be in February, but only for medical frontliners. Other orders are expected to arrive in the 2nd half of the year.

Long way out of recession

Most countries in Southeast Asia have yet to announce full-year GDP figures, but some nations like Vietnam have resisted the global downturn, while Singapore posted better-than-expected numbers.

The Philippines’ slow recovery can be attributed to the further easing of lockdown restrictions amid continuous rising cases, increased spending during the holidays, and the seasonal uptick in remittances from Filipinos abroad.

However, strong tropical cyclones in October and November wiped out gains in agriculture, which in turn pulled down GDP and pushed inflation up.

Analysts have also blamed the sluggish economic recovery on the government’s conservative fiscal response.

Duterte’s team estimates GDP growth for 2021 would settle between 6.5% and 7.5%, and hit the 8% to 10% range in 2022.

These ambitious projections were made along with the assumption that the entire country would still be under some form of quarantine restrictions for the entire 2021, and that the vaccine would be widely available by 2022. – Rappler.com

More than 3,300 arrested across Russia as protests swell for jailed opposition leader Navalny

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More than 3,300 arrested across Russia as protests swell for jailed opposition leader Navalny

By Robyn Dixon and  Isabelle Khurshudyan

Jan. 24, 2021, WashingtonPost.com

MOSCOW — More than 3,300 people were arrested Saturday in protests spanning nearly 70 cities and towns across Russia calling for the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny — a massive show of defiance against President Vladimir Putin and his widening crackdowns against challenges to his power.

Among the detained was Navalny’s wife, Yulia, and many heads of Navalny’s regional offices. It was the largest number of protesters taken into custody in a day since the Russian rights group OVD-Info began monitoring demonstrations in 2011.

The rallies — from Russia’s Far East to central Moscow — came less than a week after Navalny returned from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning in August during a trip to Siberia. Navalny was arrested shortly after stepping off the plane.

The wide turnout sent a powerful message to the Kremlin on the reach and resolve of Navalny’s network. The swift crackdowns by authorities underscored the pressure facing Russian authorities who must decide whether to keep Navalny behind bars.

Navalny once more proved he can mobilize mass support to confront Putin’s government, particularly among young Russians, and even when he is behind bars.

Scuffles broke out in central Moscow, and police beat protesters with batons, according to video posted by independent media. Protesters at times pelted police with snowballs and plastic bottles.

“Putin is a thief,” some chanted in Moscow. “This is my home, I’m not afraid!” Passing cars honked in support.

Police loudspeakers bellowed: “Respected citizens, the current event is illegal. We are doing everything to ensure your safety.”

Protesters cried: “Police are the shame of Russia.”

What to know about Navalny’s protest movement — and why Putin fears it

After nightfall, police charged at groups of young protesters trying to get close to the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center, where Navalny is held. Some protesters were wrestled to the ground before being dragged to police buses. Dozens were arrested near the detention center.

Some 40,000 people participated in the Moscow protest, Reuters reported, while police said 4,000 people took part.

According to OVD-Info, 3,324 people were taken into custody around Russia, including about 1,320 in Moscow. Russian officials did not immediately give figures on detentions.

Video posted on social media showed sporadic clashes, including police beating protesters with batons. Protests took place in nearly 70 locales, OVD-Info reported.

Navalny’s wife, Yulia, wearing a black woolen hat and black jacket, posted a selfie at the protest, saying: “What happiness that you’re all here. Thank you!” Minutes later, she sent a selfie from the inside of a police van, saying she had been detained. Local media showed video of police leading her to the van. She was released from police custody after several hours, the Russia news outlet RIA Novosti reported.

The protests marked one of the most forceful displays of opposition to Putin since anti-government rallies in Moscow in summer 2019 over the banning of candidates for local elections.

Saturday’s demonstrations came after a sweeping national crackdown in which police detained opposition activists and courts locked up Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, and another team member, Georgy Alburov, co-author of the bombshell viral YouTube video “Putin’s Palace — History of the World’s Largest Bribe.”

The video, posted Tuesday, alleging colossal corruption in the construction of a vast Black Sea palace for Putin, has been viewed more than 70 million times. The Kremlin denies any relationship between Putin and the palace.

Navalny has led opposition to Putin for more than a decade. But Putin has recently moved to crush dissent, with some measures that appear aimed squarely at Navalny.

New Russian laws allow authorities to brand individual activists as “foreign agents,” while others have made it more difficult to express dissent, organize and protest. It follows constitutional changes last summer that gave Putin the opportunity to stay in power until 2036.

The showdowns in Russia could pose an early foreign policy challenge for the Biden administration as it looks to define its relations with Putin. A State Department statement said the United States “strongly condemns the use of harsh tactics” and called for Navalny’s “the immediate and unconditional release.”

In Moscow, key Navalny ally Lyubov Sobol, an investigator at his Anti-Corruption Foundation, was arrested at the square soon after the protest started. She was later charged with repeatedly participating in illegal protests.

Alexei Navalny was once a mere annoyance to the Kremlin. His poisoning shows how much that has changed.

Sobol live-streamed a message directly from the police truck after her arrest, urging Russians: “Don’t be silent! Don’t be afraid.

“I believe that I am right,” she said as other arrested protesters cheered in the police truck. “You cannot close your eyes to what is going on in Russia right now.”

Nikolai Agilko, 23, one of the protesters in Moscow, said he was inspired by Navalny’s return to Russia on Jan. 17. “He’s like a hero, I think. It’s very inspiring. He’s brave, so we should all be brave today.”

“I have a lot of friends who are scared in this situation, so they’re not here,” he said. “But I wanted to be brave and come here today.”

Ruslan Ivanov, 79, stood out in the Moscow crowd amid many young demonstrators. “I wanted to come out to support all of the young people here, to show that their demands are correct,” he said, referring to the calls for to release Navalny.

Elena, 60, who declined to give her name because the protest was not authorized by authorities, said she came out in support of Navalny, but also because she was unhappy at “how people in this country live.”

“I have five grandchildren, and I want them to live in a different country — a free country,” she said.

Navalny accuses Putin of ordering the nerve agent attack that left him in a coma and under medical care for months in Berlin. The Kremlin denies any links to the poisoning, but it has refused to open a criminal investigation.

In Khabarovsk — about 3,800 miles east of Moscow — riot police wrestled protesters to the ground and dragged them to waiting police trucks, according to videos posted online from the city.

Even in jail, Russia’s Navalny knows how to enrage his rival Putin. This time it’s with a viral video.

Popular Russian video blogger Yury Dud, whose YouTube channel has more than 8.6 million subscribers, participated in the Vladivostok protest in support of Navalny. Another popular blogger, Ilya Varlamov, was detained in Moscow. Journalists from independent media outlets Mediazona and Meduza were arrested in St. Petersburg.

Many coordinators of Navalny’s regional headquarters were detained in different Russian cities, according to the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov.

Zhdanov made the comments on a live YouTube broadcast on Saturday with more than 200,000 viewers.

A court ordered Navalny jailed on Monday over allegations that he violated the terms of a suspended sentence in a fraud case, a case that the European Court of Human Rights has declared was political. Facing two other criminal cases in a justice system notorious for politicizing cases, he could face years in jail.

Navalny says the cases against him are political.

“Russian authorities arresting peaceful protesters, journalists — appears to be concerted campaign to suppress free speech, peaceful assembly,” said Rebecca Ross, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. “This continues years of Russia tightening restrictions, repressive actions against civil society, independent media, political opposition.”

Russian authorities said Friday that the embassy posted information on the website on the planned location of the protests. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said U.S. Embassy officials would be summoned to address the Russian complaints. #

[EDITORIAL] Sino ang #1 recruiter ng NPA?

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[EDITORIAL] Sino ang #1 recruiter ng NPA?

Jan 25, 2021 Rappler.com

Nakagat ba ng asong ulol ang mga taga-militar? Matapos tapusin ni Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and UP-DND accord, narito naman si Lt General Antonio Parlade Jr, bumubula ang bibig. 

Sabi ni Parlade, ang spokesman ng task force laban sa insurgency, 18 pamantasan daw ang “recruitment haven” ng New People’s Army. Kung ganoon karami ang recruitment haven ng NPA, matagal nang nagkatotoo ang pangarap (o ilusyon) ng mga rebelde na “surround the cities from the countrysides.” Ginoong Parlade, magpa-rabis shots ka muna, please.

Pero pagdating sa messaging, mas matinik si Lorenzana nang binanatan niya ang mga opisyal ng UP: “Sagutin muna nila kung bakit namatay ang mga taong ito kasama ang mga NPA?”

Madikit ang messaging na ito dahil pinapakaba niya ang lahat ng mga magulang na may anak sa mga pamantasang ito. At mabango ngayon ang pangalan ng militar, lalo na sa Katimugan. Ayon sa survey, tiwala ang mga Pilipino sa kakayanan ng militar na labanan ang security threats.

Ang ‘di alam ng mga respondents, mismong mga anak nila sa kolehiyo ang ipapahamak ng militar. Mukhang nakalimuntan din ng maraming respondents na iniikutan lang ng mga Tsinong barko ang mga barkong Pinoy sa West Philippine Sea, at kung ika’y maliit na mangingisda tulad ng Gem-Ver fishermen, huwag ka nang umasang ipagtatanggol ka ng militar. Dahil ang mga patpating bully, tumitiklop sa mas higanteng bully.

Ang ugat ng armed struggle

Walang dudang may mga dating estudyante ng UP – at emphasis sa dati –  na “naghukbo.” “Naghukbo” ang tawag sa loob ng kilusan sa mga aktibistang hindi na naging sapat ang maging aktibista lamang kung kaya’t nagpasyang mag-armas. 

Mundo ang pinagkaiba ng aktibista sa combatant na NPA. Hindi pa tinatawid ng aktibista ang mapayapang pakikibaka patungo sa armadong paglaban. At sino ang sisisihin natin kapag na-radicalize ang isang aktibista? Ang paaralan ba? O ang lipunan na nagkait sa kanila ng solusyon?

Ginoong Lorenzana, huwag mong ituloy ang baluktot na katwiran mo at mauubusan ka ng pangalan ng umano’y patay na taga-UP. (Kaya ba nag-imbento na lang ang Armed Forces of the Philippines ng mga namatay kuno sa bundok? Nag-apologize si Lorenzana sa maling mga pangalan, pero hindi pa rin niya binawi ang abrogation ng kasunduan.)

Dahil sa bawa’t isang nag-NPA na taga Peyups, may 10 katapat na tibak-tibakang tumahak ng kabaligtad na landas. Andyan si Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque na tumakbong councilor sa College of Arts and Sciences nung estudyante pa siya, naging human rights lawyer na mahilig mag-grandstand, pero ngayon ay shameless apologist ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.

Andyan din si Taguig Representative Alan Peter Cayetano na sumasama sa rally laban sa rehimeng Marcos nung panahon niya sa UP pero ngayon ay master ng makasariling pamumulitika at abala sa pagkakalat ng hidwaan sa Mababang Kapulungan. Andyan din ang dating UP Diliman student council chairman na si Anakalusugan Representative Mike Defensor, na tulad ni Cayetano ay malaki ang papel sa pagpapasara ng ABS-CBN, at sa isang punto ay gusto pang i-takeover ang broadcasting headquarters nito. Andyan din si Ronald Cardema na dating taga-UP Los Baños, isang palyadong aktibista na nagpupumilit na siya’y “youth official” sa matandang edad na 34.

Hindi pa kasama rito ang diktador na si Ferdinand Marcos, ang henchman niya na si Juan Ponce Enrile, at marami pang ibang graduate ng UP na nasa Hall of Horrors ng bansa dahil sa disservice nila sa bayan.

Produkto rin ng UP ang mga tulad ni Ninoy Aquino, Conchita Carpio Morales, Antonio Carpio, Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Haydee Yorac, Renato Constantino, Marvic Leonen, Solita Monsod, Jesse Robredo, Bhen Cervantes, at Lino Brocka. Hindi sila namundok sa kabila ng “aktibismo” nila sa kani-kanilang larangan.  

UP naming mahal

Napakaliit na porsyento ang mga namumundok at bahagi lang ito ng gaslighting ni Lorenzana laban sa institusyon ng UP. 

Ang tunay na diwa ng UP ay ito: maaaring sumulpot ang isang Ninoy Aquino at isang Juan Ponce Enrile, tulad din ng pagsulpot ng taga-UP-PGH na nagrebeldeng si Dr Johnny Escandor mula sa perehong panahon. Ito ang tunay na “Let a hundred flowers bloom.”

Hindi ang UP ang lumikha sa mga rebelde, sa parehong paraan na hindi UP ang lumikha kay Cardema. Sumulpot ang rebelde sa matabang lupa ng kahirapan, pang-aapi, at pagkitil sa malayang pamamahayag. (BASAHIN: The youth of the Philippines vs Secretary Lorenzana)

Uulitin namin dito ang tanong ni Glenda Gloria sa kanyang opinion piece, The Philippine military and its hypocrisy. “Who is the biggest recruiter for the communist movement? Surely the generals know?“

Sino nga ba ang pinakamagaling magrekrut para sa kilusang komunista? Walang iba kundi ang estadong nagpapasikip ng espasyo ng demokrasya. 

Sinong nagtutulak sa mga estudyanteng maging radikal? Kapag nakikita nilang walang middle ground – walang puwang para sa mapayapang reporma dahil nakaamba ang mga baril sa kanilang mga ulo. 

Walang malawakang radikalisasyon

Ang imahe ng laganap na komunismo at mga rebeldeng nag-i-infiltrate sa mga pamantasan ay kathang-isip lamang. 

Nakakausap na ba kayo ng tunay na Kabataang Makabayan, ang youth arm ng National Democratic movement, Ginoong Lorenzana at Parlade? Sila, at hindi NPA ang kumikilos sa pamantasan. Hindi sila armado kahit naniniwala silang rebolusyon ang solusyon sa lahat ng problema ngayon. (For the record, hindi kami sang-ayon diyan.)

Sasabihin nila sa inyong napakahirap mag-recruit sa millennials at Gen Z na makasarili, nakatali sa kanilang gadgets at Wi-Fi, at walang malinaw na konsepto ng nasyonalismo dahil mas globalist sila mag-isip.

Kaya mismong militar ay dina-downplay ang katotohanan: na pagdating ng 2018, ang pangalawang taon ng Duterte administration, 3,700 na lang ang armadong myembro ng NPA sa buong bansa, sa mismong pagtantya ng militar.

Sinturon ba ang sagot sa kabataang nangangatwiran? Maniniwala ba tayo na salat sa human psychology si Lorenzana, at inuulit niya ang pagkakamali ng maraming heneral na nauna sa kanya? Siguro. Anong nangyari sa “winning the hearts and minds approach” ng militar? 

May mas malalim na dahilan bakit binubuhay ng militar ang communist bogeyman o ang panakot ng Kaliwa. Ito’y dahil nakatali sa giyerang counter-insurgency ang pondo nito. Kailangan nitong palabasing buhay na buhay ang naghihingalong kilusang komunista. Kailangan nitong panatiliin ang myth ng halimaw ng rebelyon na naka-ambang wasaking ang paraiso natin sa ilalim ni Duterte. Ugh.

Sa totoo lang, nagiging irrelevant ang sundalo kapag peacetime. Kaya’t nang nagwakas na ang romansa ng self-proclaimed na komunista na si Duterte at mga taga-Kaliwa, pinag-ibayo ng militar ang dati na nitong ginagawa mula ng una at huling student insurrection ng First Quarter Storm 50 taong nakalipas: habulin ang Reds. At kung walang mahabol na pula, aba’y puwede namang mag-imbento ng bagong pula sa pamamagitan ng red-tagging.

Ayaw ng mga sundalong magtanim na lamang ng puno at gulay o magmartilyo ng paaralan. Gusto nilang bumili ng mga armalite, helicopter, granada, at tangke. Gusto nila ng giyera, at kung may war vs drugs ang pulis, kailangang may war vs Reds din ang militar. 

Dahil hindi naman agenda ang sagipin sa umano’y panganib ang mga estudyante. Hindi naman agenda ang matigil ang recruitment ng NPA. Ang tunay na agenda ay ituloy ang giyerang nakaprograma sa DNA ng militar. 

At pasok ito sa agenda ng bosstsip ni Lorenzana na si Duterte na kontrolin ang mga kritiko at lumikha ng mga inimbentong panalo – tulad ng inimbentong panganib ng droga. It’s all about control. 

Tunay na pamana ng UP

Tantanan na ng militar ang UP pati na rin ang 17 pamantasan. Kailangan natin ang mga institusyong ito na maglilinang ng kaisipan at makabayang kamulatan. 

Uulitin namin. Hindi UP ang lumikha ng mga rebeldeng NPA. Tanging pamana ng UP sa kabataan ay ang ideyalismo, critical thinking, at tapang.

Oo, tapang, dahil ang kabataang pinalaki ng kanyang mga guro sa pagtatanong at pagsusuri ay natututong manindigan sa katotohanan. – Rappler.com.

Curfew riots in at least 10 municipalities; 190 arrested in Amsterdam

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Curfew riots in at least 10 municipalities; 190 arrested in Amsterdam

NLTimes.nl Monday, January 25, 2021

After illegal protests in Eindhoven and Amsterdam on Sunday, the evening brought riots and unrest in at least 10 other municipalities. Riot police had to intervene in The Hague, Tilburg, Venlo, Helmond, Breda, Arnhem, Apeldoorn, and Stein, among others. “It is terrible,” Hubert Bruls, chairman of the Security Council and mayor of Nijmegen said to Op1. “This is not demonstrating, I would call these corona hooligans.”

After the illegal demonstration on the Museuplein in Amsterdam, a total of 190 people were arrested, including seven minors. The police estimate that around 1,500 people were at the protest. Extra security was placed around mayor Femke Halsema’s home on Herengracht, with the police cordoning off the area around her home, AT5 reported.

In Enschede, the Medisch Spectrum Twente was pelted by stones, and rioters unsuccessfully tried to smash the hospital’s windows, a spokesperson for the hospital said to NOS. Extra security was deployed. “Around this time, it is the change of evening- and night shifts for the hospital staff. Security is there to be on the safe side, so that colleagues know they can safely enter and leave the hospital,” the spokesperson said. 

Earlier, dozens of people gathered on the Oude Markt in Enschede to demonstrate against the coronavirus measures, according to RTV Oost. Fireworks were set off and the riot police ultimately dispersed the crowd.

In The Hague neighborhood of Schilderswijk, a large group gathered on Hobbemastraat and set a fire, a police spokesperson said to Omroep West. The riot police were deployed to restore public order and the situation was well under control by around 9:30 p.m., half an hour after the start of curfew, the spokesperson said. 

Groups of people also gathered in Oosterhout and Breda to commit vandalism, the police said on Twitter. “Anyone who is outside without a valid statement will be fined.” In Helmond, people were called to demonstrate against curfew on social media platform Snapchat, a police spokesperson said to NOS. “About 50 young people came, fireworks and stones were thrown at the police.”

People were also throwing stones in Venlo, the local police said on Twitter. 1Limburg reported that rioters also smashed stores’ windows. The mayor issued an emergency decree.

In Roermond, rioters vandalized a shopping center and at least one cop sustained minor injuries. In Stein things got so out of hand that the Koninklijke Marechaussee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military, had to be deployed. 

In Arnhem and Apeldoorn, fireworks were set off and the riot police were deployed, Omroep Gelderland reported. Calm restored in the municipalities after curfew started. Fines were handed out in both places.

In Tilburg, the riot police had their hands full until after midnight. 19 rioters were arrested and the mayor issued an emergency degree. There was also an incident near the Wandelboslaan in Tilburg, where fireworks were set off and traffic signs and lamp posts were pushed over, according to Omroep Brabant.#

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