Friday, September 26, 2014

DECLARATION:| Taking the Law into the People’s Hands: Declaration of the Mindanao People’s Legislative and Policy Agenda for Human Rights and Peace

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 27. 2014 





DECLARATION: Mindanao Human Rights and Peace Conference 2014


Declaration of the Mindanao People’s
Legislative and Policy Agenda for Human Rights and Peace


We, delegates to the Mindanao Human Rights and Peace Conference, hereby declare our strong opposition to IMPERIALIST PLUNDER AND MILITARIZATION IN MINDANAO.

We declare our condemnation of and resistance to the anti-human rights, anti-peace, and anti-people OPLAN BAYANIHAN of the Aquino Government.

After sharing on our experiences of facing trumped up charges, illegal arrests and detention, internal displacements, torture and enforced disappearances, attacks and encampments on schools, hamletting, and other forms of human rights violations, we resolve to seek accountability from a government that has further engendered the culture of impunity in Mindanao and the whole country.

The BS Aquino Regime is responsible for the 83 extrajudicial killings of Mindanawon activists, indigenous, environmental, and community leaders; the 508 individuals filed with 608 trumped up charges all over Mindanao; attacks on dozens of community schools affecting thousands of indigenous children; and the displacement of 200,000 individuals all over Mindanao.

These are the direct results of his deployment of around 50% of the combat forces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Mindanao--- 4 Infantry Divisions and 45 Infantry Battalions--- which have used as added instruments more than 20 indigenous paramilitaries and warlord armies, to sow fear, terror, and domination over urban and rural communities.

Instead of taking the path to peace by resuming the GPH-NDFP peace talks and seeking to resolve the roots of armed conflict, this government has obsessed itself with war. It has militarized civilian functions like rural education and alternative learning systems, relief and disaster response, and conditional cash transfer schemes, using them for counterinsurgency purposes. 

But the people of Mindanao are courageously resisting the state terrorism of the BS Aquino Regime.

Indigenous communities, peasants, the Moro people, and other basic sectors are resisting landgrabbing of ancestral domains by mining companies, notably of TVI in Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur, Xstrata mining in SOSCSKARGEN, Apex Mining and Agusan Petroleum in Compostela Valley, Taganito mining in Caraga, by agribusiness plantations in Northern and Southern Mindanao, and the natural gas and oil in Liguasan Marsh and the Sulu Sea.

1.       Strategic Lawsuits Against People’s Participation (SLAPP)
·         Enact the Anti-SLAPP Bill; empower the people to SLAPPback NOW!
·    Raise the standards for investigations and resolutions and the strictest adherence to due process concerning charges against human rights defenders and ordinary individuals at the level of the Department of Justice
·       Prohibit the establishment of government mechanisms for SLAPP and political repression such as the Inter-agency Legal Action Group (IALAG), now resurrected by Oplan Bayanihan
2.       Attacks on Schools
·        Prosecute state security forces using schools and communities as encampments, violating prohibitions within their vicinity, and tagging teachers and students as ‘rebels’
·        Scrap Department of Education Order No. 221 and AFP Letter Directive 25 which allows the militarization of the educational system
3.       Indigenous Paramilitarism and Warlordism
·        Disband all the indigenous paramilitaries and private armies such as Alamara, Black Fighter, Mapando, Bagani, Laplap, NIPAR, Wild Dogs, BULIF, BIN, Black Shirt, K9, SCAA, Blue Guards, and Kalpet which are reportedly aided, funded, and controlled by the AFP, PNP and other state security forces, and by modern warlords and political dynasties
·         Disband all private armies of mining companies and other extractive industries
4.       Miitarization and Internal Displacement
·         Pull out all military troops from peasant and indigenous communities
·         Prosecute state security forces engaged in the political repression of trade unions, urban poor communities, schools, and other sectors
We call on Congress to investigate these atrocities being suffered by grassroots communities and leaders.

We also make our resounding call for the resumption of the GPH-NDFP peace talks to advance the Mindanao People’s Peace Agenda, to address violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and all previously-signed agreements, and to move forward with the agenda for Comprehensive Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).

But we realize that these legislative and policy agenda for human rights and peace will not be effective without a militant and strong people’s movement that will enact these proposals and actions through the parliament of the streets. Knowing that the poor are on the fringes of the legislative and policy-making processes, we “take the law into the people’s hands” by pushing for the above agenda as concrete proposals for policy reforms, as discussion points for the peace process, and as rallying calls in schools, communities, and workplaces.

Thus, this conference declares the following actions, in addition to our current efforts in our communities and regions:

1.      We will stage another Manilakbayan ng Mindanao to expose and oppose Oplan Bayanihan in the national capital region and bring our protest before Malacanang
2.     We will hold the commemoration of the D’yandi Peace Pact among indigenous leaders in Mindanao to declare opposition to mining and militarization in ancestral domains
3.      We will conduct an International People’s Tribunal against Imperialist Plunder to bring our voices to the international community

This we declare today, as the Mindanao Human Rights Parliament culminates our Mindanao Human Rights and Peace Conference held from Sept 18-20, 2014.

Signed by 144 delegates this 20th of September, 2014 at the Homitori, Davao City, Philippines.









Thursday, September 18, 2014

News Release | SELDA hit BS Aquino’s claims board "Never again will we become victims," Martial law victims sa

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
%Rome, Italy 18 September 2014


Selda Philippines: Sep 17 11:11PM -0700

News Release 
18 September 2014
 
Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez, SELDA chairperson, +6325466573
 
 

  
 

SELDA criticized the Human Rights Victims Claims Board (HRVCB) for continuously refusing to state categorically that it recognizes as victims the 9,539 members of the class suit against former Pres. Marcos in 1986.Aside from the 9,539 class suit members, there are also 24 direct action plaintiffs who have been recognized and verified by the US Federal Court in Hawaii.


“The HRVCB itself is violating the law. Conclusive presumption becomes disputable presumption in their denial to recognize the victims who have time and again proved they suffered abuses and rights violations under the Marcos dictatorship,” said SELDA chairperson Marie Hilao-Enriquez.


“The framework of the HRVCB in its process of accepting applications is not aimed at recognizing the most number of martial law victims. The actual conduct of the claims board on the ground is also not encouraging either for them to file. They are treated like persons who are only after money, of a very small amount that can never make up for their sacrifices and sufferings as victims. They are after justice and reparation,” Enriquez said.


“Survivors of martial law are being victimized again, this time by a body formed by Pres. Aquino led by a former state agent with lack of sense of history and complete knowledge of martial law. Their actions and
pronouncements lead to disenfranchisement of victims,” Enriquez added.


The group said Pres. Aquino is the one to blame that he appointed a former PNP general as head of the HRVCB.


Martial law victims previously condemned the appointment of Sarmiento, saying it is an insult to victims that a former member of the Philippine Constabulary, forerunner of the PNP which led and implemented the worst form of rights abuses under martial rule.


“We were victims of martial law under the Marcos dictatorship. Never again do we become victims, this time of BS Aquino!”###


---
The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) is an organization of former political prisoners in the Philippines. Founded on December 4, 1984, SELDA was initiated by newly-released political prisoners of the martial law period. SELDA’s primary task is to work for the release of all political prisoners and to see to it that humane treatment of those who are still in detention are complied with by the Philippine authorities. SELDA advocates justice for current and former political prisoners. It calls for the mobilisation of resources in support of political prisoners, former detainees and their families. It carries out legislative advocacy for the indemnification and rehabilitation of political prisoners. SELDA goes into partnership and builds solidarity with concerned individuals and groups for the freedom and welfare of political prisoners and all victims of tyranny.

SELDA National Office: 2/F, Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets,
Brgy. Central District, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Tel: 632-4347486 Fax: 632-4354146
Email: selda.phils@gmail.com, selda_phil@yahoo.com.ph
Web: www.seldapilipinas.wordpress.com






















Message | On NUPL's 7th anniversary: Keeping the faith and the fires in our bellies

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 18, 2014

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: On NUPL's 7th anniversary: Keeping the faith and the fires in our bellies
Date:Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:46:55 +0800
From:National Union of Peoples' Lawyers <nupl2007@gmail.com>



Keeping the faith and the fires in our bellies --
All in a day’s work


Amidst the intensity of work, whirlwind of deadlines, and fierce slaying of the evil dragons on every front, the 7th Founding Anniversary of the NUPL passed us by.

Yet without fuss and fanfare, each of us were actually commemorating without the floodlights out there in the trenches of the fight for justice for the people.

We've been together seven years in struggle with the people, on the frontlines, on the ground - with hope, in solidarity, with a vision.

To all the best lawyers and law students that money can not buy, carry on despite the challenges, frustrations and our trials. We can not put the expectations and needs of so many who depend on us, for a sliver of promise, down. Indeed, the harder the struggle, the sweeter the victory.


17 September 2014

--

National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. Central District,Quezon City, Philippines
Telefax no.920-6660
Email addresses: nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
Follow us on twitter @nuplphilippines and facebook @https://www.facebook.com/nuplphilippines
Visit the NUPL website at http://www.nupl.net/


"By calling yourselves the ‘people’s lawyer,’ you have made a remarkable choice. You decided not to remain in the sidelines. Where human rights are assaulted, you have chosen to sacrifice the comfort of the fence for the dangers of the battlefield. But only those who choose to fight on the battlefield live beyond irrelevance.”
- Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, in his message at the NUPL Founding Congress, September 15, 2007

"After long years of experience as a people’s lawyer, I can honestly say it has been a treasured journey of self-fulfillment and rewarding achievement. I know it will be the same for all others who choose to tread this path."  
- Atty. Romeo T. Capulong, NUPL founding chairperson, in his keynote address at the Fifth Conference of Lawyers in Asia Pacific ( COLAP V), September 18, 2010

6 years of disappearance of JAMES BALAO

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 18, 2014






  (International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines)

To president Benigno Aquino III,to the former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of Philippines, mass media, trade unions and to the international democratic public, to the human rights organizations- please forward this email wherever and whenever you can to strengthen the international protest and solidarity movement for human rights in the Philippines, which people needs for their life in standing up to fight for a liberated world!

On the last Monday-demonstration in Stuttgart, 15th of September 2014, we made a little party to the 10thanniversary of the fight against the unsocial law Hartz 4 and other issues.


On this anniversary we continued as well our vigil for James Balao. We counted- as it was decided in October 2008 in the partnership agreement between the Monday-Demonstration Movement Stuttgart and the family Balao and Cordillera People Alliance (CPA) the days of the disappearance of James Balao. James Balao was a founding member of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and a fighter for freedom and against the plundering of nature by open-pit mining. It is now the 6th year of the disappearance of James Balao. This means 6 years of waiting, 6 years of tears and remembrances and 6 years of international protest, 6 years of demanding justice and for demanding to stop impunity. The killers and murders are still living among us and they think, that they could go on with their counter insurgency US made plan „ Oplan Bayanihan“.

After 6 years we still want to know, what happened to James and we demand that the responsible persons and authority will be jailed into prison like the former dictators in Argentina. More than 30 years the Mothers of the Placo de Mayo demand for the truth and for stopping impunity. They have been successful and we will be successful as well, there is no doubt!

On this Monday-demonstration we remembered as well that on the 14th of September 1973 the revolutionary singer and songwriter Victor Jara was murdered together with thousands of other freedom fighters in Chile by the US-leaded counterrevolution against Salvador Allende and the progressiv government. It was said, that in fighting for a bright future with bread and roses our killed brothers and sisters accompany us always. We are proud to held up the banner of humanity all around the world and we know, that we will hold and close the line, if one of us is murdered or enforced disappeared:
Touch one-touch all!

Long live international solidarity.

If the President Aquino III visits Germany and Europe in these days we protest against this visit. If he shakes hand with Chancellor Angela Merkel we know, that there is blood and repression in his hand! We accuse Chancellor Angela Merkel for peace- and human right washing with Aquino III while in the Philippines a lot of human right and trade union activists are jailed into prison, killed or enforced disappeared like James Balao. We know as well that they are talking about preparing next wars in the Chinese Sea together with the USA.

German Philippines Friends and the Monday-demonstration in Stuttgart demand
  • Surface all the truth of James Balao
  • Stop the killings
  • Stop impunity
  • Free all political prisoners

On behalf of the Monday-demonstration of the 15th of September 2014, Stuttgart, Germany

Excuse me, but, what are BS Aquino’s true motives in his trans-Atlantic outing?

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 18,2014





What is behind Aquino's trans-Atlantic jaunt? Could it be to project him as a world-class statesman worthy of international note for his sage of handling peace and emergency situation?

How will Aquino respond, if asked how he has cared for the Yolanda victims? One can only speculate.

If Aquino is looking for work for jobless Filipinos, he may have gone to talk to the wrong people in the wrong places. Except for Germany, whose economy remains more vibrant than the rest of Europe, the countries on his itinerary are in economic decline, with record-high unemployment rates. The only jobs available there are low-paying ones rejected by the natives.

People in the trans-Atlantic trip. I am sure have heard of the country’s much ballyhooed economic growth, but they must also have heard of its crude shift to one-man rule, its unending corruption scandals, its shabby infrastructure, its infernal red tape, its permanent traffic jams, its electric power shortages and second to none public utility prices, and its ever-widening poverty and inequality indices, and ever increasing human rights abuses.


Banking on the “colonial mentality” of many Filipinos, Aquino could use his five-nation visit to procure the impression, no matter how false, of strong foreign support for his “continued stay” in office beyond 2016. No one can discount the possibility of Aquino telling US President Barack Obama after he crosses the Atlantic that his government supports without any qualification the US and European sanctions against Russia, and whatever action Obama chooses to take against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He could even propose that his government be considered a major non-NATO ally, just like Mrs. Arroyo did when President George W. Bush invaded Iraq.


If this is a campaign to open the European market to Philippine products and services, as officially announced, the Europeans will want to know exactly what we have to export apart from our skilled and unskilled manpower, which now contributes $25 billion a year to our Gross Domestic Product.

As far as we know, our manufacturing is dead. We manufacture nothing but outrageous political lies, corruption scandals and man-made calamities. These add to our natural calamities, the most devastating of which has been super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, which drew the whole world to our side, but whose financial donations have gone undisclosed, unaccounted for and kept in shady bank accounts, while some of their relief items were allowed to spoil in transit or in storage or distributed to the wrong parties.



Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder what B. S. III could be saying to his Spanish, Belgian, French, German and American hosts on this 12-day trans-Atlantic trip. I am sure they all have heard of the country’s much ballyhooed economic growth,





But how can he do it? The entire government is a mess, Metro Manila is a permanent traffic jam, getting to Heaven, quips a wag, is now easier for a reprobate than for a law-abiding citizen to get an MRT ride, power blackouts turn daytime into midnight, and local government officials can frustrate an important project approved by the national government. In its latest report, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranks the Philippines as “the most restrictive” among 64 economies.





Now, Mr. President, what are you up to with this PhP31.9M trip?. Are you just doing a fishing expedition for salvation of your sinking political boat? Your salestalks on your PPP is seen by us as putting the country in deals which the everyday street Filipinos will be the losers in the long run. You might as well have stayed in the country and saved the money for something more benefical to the people.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Carlos Bulosan legacy lives on

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 17, 2014


Carlos Bulosan legacy lives on 
By Gabriel Cardinoza |Inquirer Northern Luzon
10:00 am | Wednesday, September 17th, 2014


Carlos Bolosan ( downloaded photo from internet)

TERESITA DACPANO, head of the information and publication office of the University of Eastern Pangasinan, with the memorabilia on Carlos Bulosan displayed at the UEP Museum in Binalonan, Pangasinan. photo by Gabriel Cardinoza

TERESITA DACPANO, head of the information and publication office of the University of Eastern Pangasinan, with the memorabilia on Carlos Bulosan displayed at the UEP Museum in Binalonan, Pangasinan. photo by Gabriel Cardinoza

Fifty-eight years after his death in 1956, writer Carlos Bulosan continues to inspire his town mates in Binalonan town in Pangasinan province.

“Of course, we are very proud of him. He is our hero and he is an inspiration to the people,” said Teresita Dacpano, head of information and publication office of the University of Eastern Pangasinan (UEP), a local government-run institution here.

On Sept. 11, Binalonan commemorated the writer’s death anniversary as Carlos Bulosan Day.
Dacpano said like in the previous commemorations, literary contests on Bulosan among the town’s high school and elementary students were held.

“We are doing this to show to the people that he is really a hero worth remembering,” she said.
Bulosan, who was born in a farming village known then as Mangusmana (now Mangcasuy), was among the young Filipino migrant workers who arrived in the United States in 1930.
Bestseller

While there, he did menial jobs, working in restaurants, plantations and canneries. In 1943, he wrote “My Father Goes to Court,” his first short story published in the New Yorker Magazine.
The following year, American book publisher Harcourt, Brace and Co. compiled Bulosan’s stories in a single volume titled, “The Laughter of My Father,” which became a bestseller.
In 1946, his autobiography, “America is in the Heart,” which was about his life as a migrant worker in the US, was published.


‘Great influence’

Local fiction writer Manuel Diaz said Bulosan had been a “great influence” on him as a writer. “I was only in high school in the early 1950s when I read ‘My Father Goes to Court’ and I was amazed by the simplicity of his style,” Diaz, 75, said.

From that time on, he said, he would read every article that Bulosan wrote, including poems, short stories and essays, that he found in the library of what was then the Binalonan High School.

“He was my idol as a writer because of the local color [in his stories]. He had a great influence on me because I’m also a writer in Ilocano and English and I also used local color in my stories,” he said.

Diaz had published three books—“Rice for the Moon and Other stories (1984),” “Ilocano Harvest (1988),” and “Paraiso a Papel (Paper Paradise) (2005)”—and had written about 150 Ilocano stories.

In 2007, he translated Bulosan’s “America is in the Heart” into Ilocano language through a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The Ilocano translation, “Adda iti Puso ti America,” was also serialized in the Ilocano weekly magazine Bannawag for 47 weeks. Two years later, the translation was published in book form.
Original letters

To keep Bulosan’s memory among Binalonan residents, a part of a museum at UEP displayed original copies of letters that Bulosan sent to his brother and to then First Lady Aurora Quezon, Dacpano said.

“We hope to exhibit his original manuscripts and other memorabilia here,” she said.
After Bulosan’s death in Seattle, Washington, the literary pieces he wrote since 1914, which consisted of short stories, poems, plays and essays, have been kept in seven boxes, a folder and 17 microfilm reels at the University of Washington Libraries in Seattle.

Dacpano said a three-unit subject, “Life and Works of Carlos Bulosan,” has been offered as a required course at UEP starting this school year after the Commission on Higher Education approved it.

“We have also met with division office officials to work out the inclusion of Bulosan’s stories among the readings in elementary and high schools here,” she said.

###



Monday, September 15, 2014

PRESS RELEASE | Palparan released from jail—Desaparecidos

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 15 2014



desaparecidos pilipinas: Sep 15 02:02PM +0800 

PRESS RELEASE

September 15, 2014



REFERENCE: Lorena Santos, Desaparecidos secretary general,+63908-8121982

"The last ray of hope for justice has just been doused. Palparan is essentially freed, and Malacanang welcomes it," said Lorena Santos, secretary general of Families of Desaparecidos for Justice as the Malolos Regional Trial Court resolved to transfer Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan to Philippine Army Custodial Center.


"The basis of the decision is unclear. The police warden of Bulacan Provincial Jail Col. Flamenco admitted in court that his basis for the so-called threat to Palparan's life is purely speculative," Santos said.


"Mabuti ka pa nga, Gen. Palparan andito ka. Nadadalaw ka ng anak at asawa mo. Ang anak ko asan ngayon? (You’re in a better position, Gen. Palparan. You’re in jail. Your children and your wife can visit you. How about my daughter, where is she now?)" Mrs. Connie Empeno shouted at the end of the hearing, unable to contain herself from the disappointment.


Both Santos and Empeno attended the hearing and were able to witness how Judge Teodora Gonzales of the Malolos RTC used the premise of lack of funds and security of other inmates at the Bulacan Provincial Jail to grant Palparan's transfer.


"This is yet another proof that the Aquino regime and the Armed Forces of the Philippines coddle butchers like Palparan and are protecting him," Santos said. "Bringing Palparan back to camp is good as saying, he is back in power among his minions," Santos said.


Palparan’s co-accused Col. Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio are also at the Philippine Army Custodial Center. Palparan is facing charges of kidnapping with serious illegal detention for the disappearance of Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan. ###

Saturday, September 13, 2014

On BS Aquino's European tour.

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 13, 2014



The Filipino community in Rome look upon with utmost indignation the visit of Philippine president BS Aquino to Europe from Sept. 14-20 \ as a waste of the people's money better spent on the victims of typhoons and housing and employment for the country's urban poor and millions of jobless Filipinos.

We consider this travel as a futile and inutile gesture to mend the by now irremediably damaged reputation of the BSAquino regime. His four years in office has proven his criminal neglect of the people’s needs, and most of all his indifference to the welfare of OFWs, turning deft ears and blind eyes to the wanton criminality of his so.called OPLAN Bayanihan that targeted mostlylians that resulted only to increase human rights violations. He has betrayed the people’s trust with his unconstitutional pork barrel and protects the corrupt elements in the government.  We consider this trip as a waste of taxpayer’s money to brag about his accomplishments as an economist while the people are languishing in poverty and hunger, his failure to attend to the plight of natural disasters where the aids addressed to the victims are just rotting in government warehouses.

His attacks against the constitution to prolong his rampages against the people are very much noted by the Filipinos in Italy. His ineptitude to govern has been underscored during his first four years in office and his “matuwid na daan” governance has been exposed before the eyes of the nation and international community as rotten and crooked. It is therefore useless for him to beg for more political and material support from European governments as his regime has been seen as a pigsty of corruptions and scandals that isolated him politically.


As concerned citizens, we demand that he account himself to the numerous urgent issues that affects the Filipino people.





Statement ! Enough of B. S. Aquino, Corrupt and Brutal Ruler! Never again to another Marcos dictatorship!

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy September 13 2014




(Statement on the visit of BS Aquino to Europe)




WE view with utmost indignation the visit of Philippine president BS Aquino to Europe from Sept. 14-20. His visit on an expensive chartered flight is a waste of the people's money better spent on the victims of typhoons and housing and employment for the country's urban poor and millions of jobless Filipinos.

He and his coterie will be traveling around Europe principally seeking to repair what is, in fact, the irreparably damaged image of his regime's supposed 'righteous path' that has been exposed to be rotten and crooked before the eyes of the Filipino people and the international community. He will beg for increased political and material support from major European governments as his regime suffers political isolation in the Philippines and further sinks into the quagmire of corruption scandals involving the theft of public funds by his family and close allies not seen since the time of the Marcos dictatorship.

He is following the footsteps of the much-hated dictator Ferdinand Marcos by seeking an extension of his term despite being forbidden by the Philippine constitution, which he will try to dismantle by using the fiscal resources of the government that is under his absolute disposal.
As concerned citizens and residents of Europe, we demand answers on several urgent issues affecting the Filipino people:

*Where is the money raised in Europe for the rehabilitation of the victims of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)? Where is the rehabilitation, almost one year after the disaster?

*Where are the trillions of pesos of public funds used as "pork barrel" under such names as Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), etc.? Despite having usurped absolute control over public funds, how come essential social services remain starved of much-needed funds?
*Why all the posturing on defending Philippine sovereignty on the issue of China's claims, while on the other hand, signing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) allowing US troops to occupy every corner of the Philippines?

*Where is justice and human rights under Aquino's regime? Gross and systematic violations of human rights persist despite having received large funds from the EU to enhance human rights in the Philippines! There is still no justice for two European citizens murdered under Aquino's counterinsurgency scheme -- missionaries Fr. Pops Tentorio of Italy and Willem Geertman of the Netherlands. He won't rein in impunity, because he knows that his Oplan Bayanihan equals human rights violations.

*Why continue to hype about the country's supposed economic progress, when it's only Aquino's clan and business allies that benefit, and that the majority of the people continue to suffer under very poor and inhuman conditions? Why hype about progress when the number of Filipino migrants in search of jobs continues to increase in Europe and the rest of the world?

*Why the continued intransigence in continuing peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) towards a just and lasting peace, which the European Parliament has endorsed?

We join in solidarity with the Filipino people in firmly opposing BS Aquino's scheme to extend his term and become another Marcos. Aquino´s ambition to become another Marcos assassinates the democratic legacy not only of his parents, but all of those who fought and died fighting the Marcos dictatorship.

We join the people in calling for the prosecution of ALL involved in the pork barrel scam and all forms of corruption -- from BS Aquino to his close political allies and family members. We call for an end to impunity and a stop to the political killings! We call on the solidarity of our European friends to join us in asking European governments: STOP political support and aid to the corrupt, oppressive, fascist, puppet and rotten Aquino regime! 

Initial Signatories:
* International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
* BAYAN Europe

* Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines - United Kingdom (CHRP-UK)* Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands
* ICHRP-Rome, Italy

* MIGRANTE Europe - (Migrante Austria, Migrante Denmark, Migrante Geneva, Migrante Milan, Migrante Netherlands, Umangat-Migrante Rome, Ugnayan ng mga Pilipino sa Belgium, Migrante-UK, Filipino Domestic Workers-London, Filipino Scholars in Berlin, Concerned Filipino-Germans in Berlin and Hamburg, Makabayang Samahan ng mga Pilipino-Netherlands)

References:

CANON BARRY NAYLOR
Chairperson, Global Council
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
and Honorary Chairperson of the
Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines - United Kingdom (CHRP-UK)
Office: +44 (0) 116 261 5371

Email: inquire@humanrightsphilippines.net

REV. CESAR TAGUBA
MIGRANTE Europe
Email: office@migrante.eu

We enjoin the European community to join us in exacting accountability from the BS Aquino government; please feel free to forward and affix your signature/endorse this statement to your networks.

NEVER AGAIN TO ANOTHER MARCOS DICTATORSHIP!







Thursday, September 11, 2014

PRESS RELEASE | Filipinos in Europe say “Enough of B***S***!”

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos 
Rome, Italy September 11, 2014


PRESS RELEASE
11 September 2014




Progressive Filipinos in Europe will hold protest actions against Philippine President BS Aquino when he visits several European countries from September 14 to 20. They want the governments and peoples of Europe to join them in telling the world “Enough of BS Aquino!”.

This was expressed by Rev. Cesar Taguba of Migrante Europe, which coordinates a network of progressive Filipino organizations in Europe. Majority of Filipino compatriots continue to support rehabilitation efforts of the victims of typhoon Yolanda, and are actively campaigning against the pork barrel.

BS Aquino is going on a costly public relations tour in Europe to try to repair the irreparably damaged image of his supposed 'righteous path' that has been exposed to be rotten and crooked,” stressed Taguba.

Reverend Taguba said Filipinos in Europe are rightfully seething with anger since last year when the inutility of BS Aquino was exposed with his handling of the Yolanda (Haiyan) disaster, and later with the public exposure that he is the biggest user of the so-called “pork barrel” funds (DAP), which the Philippine Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.

He (Aquino) has become a lameduck president, exposed as the number one user of pork barrel, a traitor to the Philippine Constitution for signing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) which allows the basing of US troops in the country, and an enemy of human rights,” Taguba says. The increasing number of undocumented Filipinos in Europe, working as domestic helpers, he says, is the starkest indication of Aquino's failure to uplift the economy and solve unemployment and poverty in the Philippines.

Recently, Taguba says, Aquino wants to be another Ferdinand Marcos, for wanting to extend his term as president, which the Philippine constitution forbids, in order to divert public attention away from his corruption and coddling of his political allies involved in stealing billions of public funds. The term extension issue, Taguba explains, has prompted a scathing editorial from the influential New York Times, that warned him against “political mischief” and virtually blew up Aquino's remaining reputation in the international community as a defender of his parents' democratic ideals.

Taguba says Filipinos in Europe and their European friends will conduct meetings and discussions on the issues in the Philippines, hold mass actions, lobby European governments to stop aid to the Aquino government, and probably hound Aquino as he trots around several countries in Europe.

Aquino is scheduled to visit Spain (Sept. 14-15), Brussels (Sept. 15-16), France (Sept. 17-18) and Germany (Sept. 19-20). Meanwhile, Filipinos and environmentalists are preparing to picket BS Aquino during his attendance in the UN Global Climate Summit in New York after his Europe junket.

Reference:
Grace Punongbayan
MIGRANTE Europe
Amsterdam, The Netherlands




Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Pagpupugay kay AJ, Bayani ng Sambayanang Pilipino

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Roime, Italy Serptember 11, 2014


Pagpupugay kay AJ, Bayani ng Sambayanang Pilipino

AJ with his daughter Raia

AJ: Ama, Asawa, Anak, Kapatid, Kasama, Kaibigan,
Mandirigma ng Bayan.
Pinaslang sa Lacub, Abra, ika-4 ng Setyembre 2014.

AJ ang nagbaba/nagpaabot sa akin ng desisyon ng partido na ako ay itiwalag sa organisasyon dahil sa mga kahinaan at pagkukulang sa paggampan ng mga gawain sa kilusan. Dahil sa maayos nyang pagpapaliwanag di ako nagdamdam sa atas na iyon bagkus lalong tumaas ang respeto ko sa partido.
Pulang Saludo sa iyo AJ! Dati kang kasama subalit isa kang tunay na kaibigan magpakailanman. - by rvhebron on 07/09/2014

Walang pamagat (Sept.8, 2014, Baguio)
Created by tdmpanem on 09/09/2014
Matunog ang iyong pangalan
Singtunog siguro ng ke Superman.
Ikaw ang 'A" sa salitang AMAZING
Bagaman di ka naman si Spiderman.

Lagi mong banggit
Hatiin ang isa sa dalawa;
Sikapin, hindi susubukan;
Magkalayo, hindi magkahiwalay;

Sabi mo pa
May 2 klase ang tiwala,
Prolet at Burges.
Aba, pati sa tiwala,
Hinati mo pa sa dalawa!

Taos-pusong pasasalamat sa mga ito
Pati na rin sa huling regalo mo.
Ang regalo ng buhay na ubos-kayang pakikibaka
Para sa inaapi at pinagsasamantalahan.
Regalong siguradong ipagpapatuloy
Lalo na ng mga rebolusyonaryong kabataan.

Ode to Libra Boy by Martin Masadao
Created by nadinemnavarro on 06/09/2014
September 4, 2014
Malate, Somewhere in the Cosmos

I am hoping the moon was shining on you.
On those last minutes, seconds...
On your last breath. ..
If only to complement your oh-so-fair complexion
And fairer sense of universal balance.
We envy you. For you have lived a life.
A life of clarity of purpose. Of deepest convictions.
Of steadfastness.
Unlike the moon, you never waned. Nor waxed inconsistencies.
Your spirit shall shine in us all.
For as long as the moon, in Libra
Continues to ascend with hope.
I know the moon was shining on you.
And you were smiling back.
Assured that in the grand scheme of this goddamn Universe,
All your efforts are not for naught!

Farewell, Libra Boy!

Aginana can gayyem
Created by Ruben on 07/09/2014

Nagsangit diay tangatang apaman a naawat ko diay balita it inca ipupusay. Saanac nga mamati idi umuna. Cimmapsut ti tumeng ko. Caslaac naawanan ti pigsa. Simagawisiw ti angin. Nagrisiris daguiti sanga. Bimmegang ti ricna. Ladingit ken pungtot. . . pimmanawen diay gayyem ko. Di ko man la makita.

Nacibor ti barucong ko. Nagtudo ti lua. Awanen, awanen diay nanumo nga kabsat ko! Immaponen. . . napan naginana.

Diyos ti kumuyog gayyem ko. Masungbatan coma ti amin nga calicagum mo. Uray agpiyang piyang tu pay ti langit quen daga, diac tu pulos malipatan ti inta panagcadwa.

source: http://arnold.jaramillo.muchloved.com/