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 CouncilInternational 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!

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

office@migrante.eu

+31-6-33056411

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/

The undelivered speech of Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. upon his return from the U.S., August 21, 1983

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing                                                                                       Rome, Italy 21/08/2014

I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedoms through nonviolence.

I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation founded on justice.

I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.

A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.

I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.

I never sought nor have I been given assurances or promise of leniency by the regime. I return voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that in the end justice will emerge triumphant.

According to Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.

Three years ago when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and prayed that the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living conditions would improve and that blood-letting would stop.

Rather than move forward, we have moved backward. The killings have increased, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.

During the martial law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for Habeas Corpus. It is most ironic, after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court last April ruled it can no longer entertain petitions for Habeas Corpus for persons detained under a Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all so-called national security cases and which under present circumstances can cover almost anything.

The country is far advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we can be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21, 1972 are fully restored.

The Filipino asks for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 Constitution—the most sacred legacies from the Founding Fathers.

Yes, the Filipino is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that patience snaps?

The nation-wide rebellion is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody revolution. There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize that freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the blood-letting of the past that brought forth our Republic or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?

I have often wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the disputants only dared to define their terms.

So as to leave no room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:

1. Six years ago, I was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a Military Tribunal whose jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime to decide. Order my IMMEDIATE EXECUTION OR SET ME FREE.

I was sentenced to die for allegedly being the leading communist leader. I am not a communist, never was and never will be.

2. National reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a Dictator. No compromise with Dictatorship.

3. In a revolution there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in order to build.

4. Subversion stems from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solutions; it can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom, and

5. For the economy to get going once again, the workingman must be given his just and rightful share of his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where there is so much uncertainty if not despair.

On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish:

“How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith.”

I return from exile and to an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer—faith in our people and faith in God.

Source: Phil.gov. Official Gazzette http://www.gov.ph/1983/08/21/the-undelivered-speech-of-senator-benigno-s-aquino-jr-upon-his-return-from-the-u-s-august-21-1983/

AGHAM Press statement | DETAINED PHYSICIST RELEASED ON BAIL, GROUP REITERATES CALL FOR DROPPING OF CHARGES

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing (@bdsaguing)
Rome, Italy- 07/08/2013

Subject: [PhilConcerns] Fwd: KIM GARGAR IS FREE!

Colleagues, family and friends welcome the release on bail of detained physicist Kim Gargar. They fetched him from the Bagangga jail, upon posting bail, afternoon of August 1, as groups and individuals, under the Free Kim Gargar (FKG) Alliance reiterate the call to drop all the trumped-up and baseless charges against Gargar.

“That the court granted Gargar's release on bail, in spite the non-bailable charge against him of illegal possession of explosive devices, is an indication of how baseless all the charges against him are.

Still, this is only a partial relief, because the cases have yet to be heard,” said Noel Jalmasco, colleague, member of Agham Advocates of Science and Technology for the People and of FKG.

Kim Gargar, the former UP professor and PhD candidate of Groningen University in the Netherlands was arrested by the elements of the 67th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on October 1, 2013 at Brgy. Aliwagwag, Cateel, Davao Oriental while conducting a rehabilitation study on typhoon-Pablo devastated areas. He was then accused of being part of the armed group that the military fought with in a nearby village to where Gargar stayed. 

Gargar was detained at Bagangga jail and charged with illegal possession of explosives, several counts of attempted and frustrated murder and violation of Comelec Gun Ban.

He was represented by lawyers from the Union of People’s Lawyer in Mindanao all throughout the trial and assisted by Karapatan Southern Mindanao Region.

“Illegal possesion of explosives is a non-bailable offense but the court found the testimony of Gargar's military accusers to be weak and incoherent. They accused him to have singlehandedly carried the 27 kg explosive devices, along with many others, when they admitted that there were many of them who carried the weapons from the site to their headquarters,” said Jalmasco.

“We attribute this partial victory not only to the fact that the military's accounts and charges were false, but also to the tireless efforts of family and friends from Mindanao, Metro Manila and even Europe,” said Rog Amon of Center for Environmental Concerns Phils.

CEC-Phils is part of the FKG alliance and acknowledges that if not for the moral, material and financial help of allies, friends and networks, this partial victory could not have been achieved. The group said that if not for the groups who were willing to lend the money immediately then it would have taken more time to post the bail as several hundreds of thousands are still needed.

“We still have a long way to go to having the charges dismissed and still a lot of financial and material support to raise. We could breath more easily having Kim physically freed because we are assured that he is in the hands of friends and family,” said Amon.

According to the FKG’s statement, this is not the first time that the AFP have falsely accused innocent scientists and researchers on field in remote areas. The group cites the case of botanist Leonard Co, along with four companions, who were doing research work for the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) in Upper Mahiao, Lim-ao, Kananga in Leyte province on November 15, 2010 when the research team was fired upon by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 19th Infantry Batallion who mistook them for members of New People's Army. Co, Cortez and Borromeo were killed.

The FKG campaign is far from over said the group and they reiterate their call to drop the false charges against Kim all together.

“We call on the court to drop all trumped-up charges against Kim, as well as the cases of others falsely accused like him. Instead of commending scientists and experts who have selflessly chosen to work among the poor and marginalised communities the Aquino administration and his military men have been villifying them,” ended Clemente Bautista, of Kalikasan PNE and part of the FKG.

Reference: Noel Jalmasco, AGHAM, FKG spokesperson, +639175240580

The modern view of morality.

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, 27/07/2014

I am not a moralist. But like most people, I understand naturally what are traditional ‘proper’ and ‘improper’ behaveours are.  Modern life has given a new moral definition on what are ‘proper and ‘improper things to display publicly And apparently. People accepted this new ‘morality.

It is ‘improper’ (immoral) to display publicly people making love (I.E. sleeping together). (http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/26073588/pair-charged-for-sex-on-bradenton-beach#.U9RdjiOdaJE.facebook), very well, I may perhaps misunderstanding the gists of the article, but, it is something next to the truth.

This insults the propriety of many. It is considered indecent to see a man and a woman sleeping together in public. But one may ask, what about the millions of homeless who are forced to do so because of the ‘moral’ acts of society that neglected to combat homelessness among the less lucky members of our society?

Nobody questions the morality of a nation bombing and murdering defenseless men, women and children in defense of that nation’s ‘moral’ terretorial greed? (no need for links for this one. The media is full of pictures displayed depicting it.)

Modern definition of what is decent and what is indecent seems to have been wrped by the so called modern morality. When the rich robbed the poor, it is viewed as business. When the poor fight back, is seen as violence.

And what about the so-called informal settler (squatters) is it moral to destroy their homes to make way for sand  shopping centers and malls owned by rich business groups or is it immoral to build homes instead for the vast majority of poor, homeless sector of our society? It defends of course on the individual point of views. Modern morality has even distorted the sense of justice, spcially of politicians. A poor person caught stealing a piece of bread is jailed as a criminal. Plunderers of public treasury caught stealing billions are treated as VIP and are also 'jailed' in special, air conditioned cells with medical assistance worth a treasure in a poor man's view.

Now, so much about morality. Much of it is pure nonsense, anyway. People are tired of hearing about it. Let us just live on in any way we can.