Laban ng Masa to public: 'Wake Up. Think. Act.'

Original FB post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156768193849332&set=a.349003289331&type=3&theater

GISING NA, MAG-ISIP NA, LABAN NA, BAYAN

Laban ng Masa Statement at the United People's SONA Press Conference, July 16, 2019
by Dr. Walden Bello, National Chairman, Laban ng Masa

Our nation has gone through the most tumultuous three years of the last three decades. 40 per cent of the electorate voted for President Duterte, but that did not give him the license to destabilize our society. These three years have been among the most bloody in our history as a people, more bloody than the Marcos years, and eclipsed only by the bloodshed during the Japanese invasion and occupation and during the war of independence against Spain and the United States.
Candidate Duterte promised change three years ago. Yes, change has come, but it is change not for the better but for the worse.

Let us review the facts:

Over 20,000 Filipinos have lost their lives in Duterte’s war on drugs, countless numbers of them owing to extra-judicial execution.

The cherished principle of separation of powers has been destroyed, with the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Judiciary now performing under the direction of Master Conductor Digong.

The rule of law has given way to arbitrary actions deriving from the president’s vengeful character, like his imprisonment on fabricated charges of Senator Leila de Lima and ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

We are on our way to becoming a province of China, with the abandonment of our territorial and resource rights in the West Philippine Sea under Malacanang’s strategy of “preemptive surrender.”

We have witnessed the massive inflow of Chinese money into the purchase or rental of houses, apartments, and condominium units throughout the country for gambling purposes, inflating prices and putting housing beyond the reach of ordinary Filipinos, including the middle class.

We have witnessed the legislated condemnation to death of our rice industry with the signing of the WTO-supported Rice Tariffication Act by a president who said during his campaign that the World Trade Organization was the biggest threat to our agriculture.

We have seen the worst inflation in almost a decade owing to ill-advised neoliberal tax policies.
Sabi nga nila sa Latin. “Contra factum non esse disputandum.” You cannot argue against the facts.
But I would like to end by emphasizing two things:

First, Duterte was made possible because of people’s disappointment with the liberal democracy under the EDSA Republic that reigned for 30 years. They could no longer tolerate the massive gap between EDSA’s promise of equality and popular empowerment and the realities of great inequality and mass disempowerment. EDSA democracy was, in reality a political arena in which rival factions of the elite, whatever their color, be it brown, black, yellow, or blue, competed to pursue their interests at the expense of the people. So, in their frustration, many have turned to a strongman.

Second, our people must admit their own role in allowing Duterte get away with murder. They have given him an 81 per cent approval rating. A great number have surrendered their critical faculties in judging his policies. Now, we may concede that President Duterte has a certain charisma, what some people call gangster charm. We may even concede that he has hypnotic powers. But as psychologists tell us, “You cannot be hypnotized if you don’t want to be hypnotized.” O, gaya ng sabi ng ating pambansang bayani, ni Jose Rizal, “There are no tyrants where there are no willing slaves.”

Kaya ang mensahe ng Laban ng Masa sa bayan Pilipino: “Gising na. Mag-isip na. Laban na.”

BAKIT KAILANGAN NG BAYAN ANG LABAN NG MASA: Speech at the First General Assembly (Bello)

Mga kasama, invited guests, dear friends:

When I invited a Dean at a prominent university to this assembly he said that he remembered the first Laban ng Masa as the biggest alliance of progressive forces that had come together since the 1986 People Power Revolution. Many of you here today were part of that first Laban ng Masa. [The Chairman of that First Laban ng Masa is here today, Ka Dodong Nemenzo, the person who is most associated with the socialist tradition in our country. Let us give Ka Dodong a big hand. He will be giving us a message later this morning.]

 

Naririto ngayong ang Pangulo ng unang Laban ng Masa, si Ka Dodong Nemenzo, isang taong kilala ng lahat bilang primerong tagataguyod ng tradisyon sosyalista sa ating bansa. Bigyan natin si Ka Dodong ng isang masigabong pagbabati. Magbibigay siya ng isang mensahe sa atin mamaya ng kaunti.

 

[In our decision to found the second Laban ng Masa, we confront conditions that may be different from the circumstances of 2005 and 2006, but we face them in the same way, as progressives who seek to change the social structure that condemns millions of our compatriots to poverty, inequality, and powerlessness.]

 

Noong nagdesisyon tayo na itayo ulit ang Laban ng Masa, alam natin na iba ang mga kondisyon na hinaharap ng bansa ngayon sa mga kondisyon na umiiral noong 2005 at 2006. Ngunit hinaharap natin ang mga bagong kondisyon na hawak ang parehong pananaw--ibig sabihin, bilang mga progesibong nagtatankang palitan ang isang rehimeng sosyal na nagkokondena ng milyung-milyun ng ating mga kapwa Pilipino sa kahirapan, sa di-pagkapantaypantay, at sa kawalan ng kapangyarihan.

 

Today, our country is ruled by a man whose brainchild, the so-called War of Drugs, has taken over 13,000 lives in less than a year and a half. Placed in a Southeast Asian context, the number of those killed makes the Duterte’s war against the poor the third most deadly in the region’s recent history, after the Khmer Rouge genocide of 1975-78,, which took some 3-4 million lives, and the massacre of Communists and Communist sympathizers in Indonesia in 1965, whose victims ranged from 500,000 to 2 million.

 

[If you remember, Duterte said in October of 2016, when the number of those slain was “just” around 3000, that 20,000 to 30,000 more Filipinos might need to be murdered for his campaign to meet its objectives. Many people then said he was joking or he was engaging in hyperbole. A year later, no one is laughing any more.]

 

Naala siguro niyo, sinabi ni Duterte noong Oktubre nang 2016, noong mga tres mil pa lang ang napaslang niya, na baka kailangan pa raw mamatay ang 20 hanggang 30 mil na Pilipino bago makamit ng War on Drugs ang layunin niya. Maraming nagsabi noon na nagbibiro lang siya or gumagawa raw siya ng hyperbole. Matapos ang isang taon, wala nang tumatawa.

 

President Duterte is what I call a fascist. But he is a fascist original. The usual textbook model of how fascism comes about is that of “creeping fascism,” like that of Marcos, where the first phase is marked by violations of political and civil rights, followed by the grab for absolute power, then by massive, indiscriminate repression. Duterte’s brand of fascism is what we might call “blitzkrieg fascism,” wherein the order is reversed: first indiscriminate murder in the form of thousands of extra-judicial executions of poor people, then with all sectors thoroughly intimidated, followed by the grab for absolute power and the abolition of democratic institution and political and civil rights.

 

There may be differences among us as to whether we should call the current regime fascist, authoritarian, or de facto dictatorial rule, but there can be no doubt that the direction is towards the consolidation of absolute power, whether this comes in the form of martial law, the de facto subjugation of all the other branches of government to the president, a so-called revolutionary government, or charter change along the lines of “federalism.”

 

Siguro may mga pagkakaiba ng opinyon ang ilan sa atin tungkol as katangian ng rehimeng Duterte—pasista ba ito, o awtoryanismo, o isang de paktong diktadura? Pero walang duda na ang takbo ng pamahalaan ay patungong konsolidasyon ng kapangyarihang total sa pamamagita ng iba-ibang anyo, sa porma man ng martial law o sa de paktong pagsisira ng mga ibang sangay ng gobyerno o sa porma ng tintatawag na rebolusyonaryong gobyerno o sa pagpapalit ng saligang batas sa sistemang pederalista daw.

 

The only response that we can make to this swift movement towards absolute rule is resistance. However, it cannot be resistance in the name of restoring what I have called the EDSA system of elite democracy, for one of the chief reasons why Duterte is in power is because of the failure of that 30-year-old system to deliver on its promise of bringing about genuine democracy and the redistribution of wealth. Instead, what it gave us was a system dominated by traditional political elites, the continuing concentration of economic power in an oligarchy, and neoliberal economic policies that have resulted in some 25 per cent of our population living in poverty and in a gini coefficient of 50, which represents the worst inequality ever in the distribution of wealth and income in our history.

 

[We cannot go back to the past.]

 

Hindi tayong maaring bumalik sa nakaraan.

 

Despite his populist rhetoric, Dutere has, in fact, shown that he belongs to the past. He has shown his true colors when it comes to economic reform. Instead of outlawing contractualization, he has made it legal. He has made no effort to promote agrarian reform. He has not given coconut farmers the coco levy funds, as he promised during the campaign. He allowed the big mining lobby to oust Gina Lopez when a phone call to his allies in the Commission on Appointments could have save her. He has become the BFF of big capitalists like Ramon Ang and Manny Pangilinan. Nearly a year after he assumed office, nearly all fractions of the ruling class stand solidly behind him, and he stands solidly behind them. The only difference of substance from past regimes is that his main base within the elite are the warlords and clans that control local politics throughout the country.

 

[We are at the moment at a dangerous juncture. ]

 

Ang bayan ngayon ay nasa isang puntong mapanganib.

 

The popularity and credibility of the administration have declined. The vast majority of the people do not believe the police’s explanation that most of those killed in the anti-drug war resisted arrest. The killing of teenagers Kian de los Santos, Reynado de Guzman, and Carl Angelo Arnaiz brought many people to their senses. Trust in the police, the main agency of the war on drugs, is lower than its already low level before Duterte. It is surely a sign of changing times when Duterte’s allies in the Senate are angry that they were not signatories of a resolution condemning the killing of young people by the police, undoubtedly because these opportunists feel the wind is shifting.

 

[With distrust and disappointment building, Duterte has seen a drop of 18 percentage points in his net satisfaction rating. The public mood is changing. Fearful of losing his momentum, Duterte may panic and move forward quickly to dictatorial rule.]

 

Pataas ang bilang ng mga walang tiwala kay Duterte o mga nabigo yung mga pagasa nila sa kanya. Napapakita ito sa pagbagsak na labing walong porsyento sa tinatawag na net satisfaction rating niya. Nagpapalit ang ihip ng hangin. Nababagabag sa pagkawala ng momentum, baka masindak si Duterte at sumulong na mabilis upang magtayo ng diktadura.

 

The country today is looking for a force that will rescue it from the mess it is in. People will not, however, trust those who say they are against dictatorship but have until very recently been part of the regime they are now denouncing. It is certainly positive that these forces have ceased being part of a bloody regime, but for them to claim leadership of the resistance is not something the people will buy. You cannot fool the people.

 

Neither will our people at this point accept an alternative that looks back to the past, to forces associated with the elite democracy and neoliberal politics that destroyed the promise of the EDSA People Power Revolution. Yellow has become a term of contempt among our people, because it has come to represent a system that is democratic in rhetoric but oligarchic in substance.

 

The people will only trust those forces who are neither compromised with the present nor the past. The people will only trust those who have condemned the anti-people policies of this administration from the very beginning and have been consistent in their opposition. The people will only trust people like you who are assembled here today--people untainted by opportunism or association with a discredited past and a menacing present.

 

Ang mamamayan ay magtitiwala lang sa mga puwersang hindi nasangkot sa kasalukuyang or nakaraang rehimen. And bayan ay magtitiwala lang sa mga puwersang nagkondena na sa mga laban sa bayan na mga polisiya ng administrasyon noong pasimula pa lang niya at pirme sa kanilang oposisyon. Ang bayan ay magtitiwala lang sa mga taong kagaya niyo na nagpupulong ngayon ditto, mga taong di markado ng oportunismo o ng pagkakasangkot sa nakaraang bulok at sa kasalukuyang mapanganib.

 

The need for a genuine and credible opposition to authoritarian rule is one reason we have come together in Laban ng Masa. But there is another reason. That other reason is that we offer the only alternative that our people can take to break from the repression, poverty, and inequality that engulf them. That alternative is system change. This is change oriented in a socialist direction.

 

When we say we are socialist, we do not mean we champion the centralized bureaucratic systems that collapsed in Russia and Eastern Europe in 1989. Those regimes that disfigured the vision of socialism deserved to be banished to the dust bin of history, and the authoritarian left movements that continue to adhere to their failed ideology are doomed to permanent marginalization.

 

Socialism for us means a system of genuine, participatory democracy dedicated to transforming the economic order in order to eliminate inequality among social groups.

 

Para sa atin, ang ibig sabihin ng sosyalismo ay isan tunay na demokrasya kung saan nakikilahok ang lahat sa pagdedesisyon, isang system na magwawakas as kasulukuyang rehimeng na nakabase sa di-pagkapantaypantay ng mga mamamayan.

 

When we say socialism, we mean a post-capitalist system where the means of production are owned and controlled by the majority for the welfare and interests of the majority.

 

We mean a system that recognizes that it is labor that creates wealth and promotes the self-organization of workers to determine the ways in which the wealth they create is used, whether for consumption, investment, or enabling democratic government.

 

We mean a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, with the emphasis on by the people, that is, direct, participatory democracy.

 

Ang ibig natin sabihin ay isang gobyerno ng bayan, para sa bayan, at sa pamamagita ng bayan, na ang diin as nasa pamamagita na bayan—ibig sabihin, sa pamamagita ng isang demokrasya kung saan lumalahok ang lahat sa paggagawa ng mga desisyon, hindi yung nagpapanggap na kintawan nila ngunit sa katotohanan ay naghahari sa kanila.

We mean a system of governance that will abolish inequalities based on class, race, ethnicity, and gender--one that will bring about real, substantive equality, not just formal equality before the law.

 

We mean a state that will safeguard our national sovereignty and fight imperialism in whatever shape it takes, whether this be US militarism or Chinese hegemony.

 

We mean a government that will provide the full range of social services for its citizens, from a guaranteed basic income to job security to all forms of social security.

 

Ang ibig natin sabihin ay isang gobyerno na magbibigay ng lahat ng serbisyo sosyal sa mga mamamayan, mula sa garantisadong sahod na basiko para sa lahat hanggang seguridad ng trabaho at lahat na klase na seguridad sosyal.

 

We mean a system of governance that will safeguard the environment and work with other governments to protect the planet and the country from global climate change.

 

We mean a state that recognizes the right of self-determination for all oppressed minority peoples.

We mean an economic and social system that will give ownership and control of the land to the people and communities that till the soil through thorough and comprehensive agrarian reform.

 

Ang ibig natin sabihin ay isang sistemang ekonomiko at sosyal na magbibigay ng karapatan at kontrol sa lupa sa mga tao at komunidad na nagtratrabaho sa lupa sa pamamagita ng isang ganap at komprehensibong reporma sa lupa.

 

These are our demands. These are the Filipino people’s demands. These are the demands of 99 per cent of people throughout the globe.

 

Ito ang mga ating pinaglalaban. Ito ang mga pangangailangan ng Bayan Pilpino. Ito ang mga pangangailangan na ipinaglalaban ng siyamnaput siyam na porsyento ng buong mundo.

 

Let me end by saying that we as a nation are at a crossroads. There are essentially three paths before us.

 

The Duterte regime and its fanatic supporters are herding us towards the dark destination of open dictatorship and fascist rule, to a frightening repeat of Marcos’ “New Society.”

 

Then there are those who speak the language of democracy but look back with nostalgia to the system of oligarchic rule masked by formal democracy that reigned for 30 miserable years.

 

Then there is us, ordinary citizens who look toward and are fighting for a future of participatory democracy and economic and social equality. It is such a vision that Proverbs 29:18 meant when it said, ““Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

 

Laban ng Masa affirms that a future of democratic equality that goes beyond capitalism is possible and worth fighting for.

 

There is no guarantee that our vision will win, but we cannot win without putting all our sweat and, need be, our blood into making this future that we desire a reality.

 

Idinidiin natin sa Laban ng Masa na isang sistema na demokratikong pagkapantaypantay na lalagpas at papalit sa kapitalismo ay maaaring malikha ng kolektibong trabaho natin. Walang garantiya na magtatagumpay tayo. Ngunit hindi tayo magtatagumpay kung hindi tayo magbubuhos nang todo todo ng atin pawis a, kung kailangan, ating dugo upang maging tunay ang ating mga pangarap.

 

Mabuhay ang Laban ng Masa! Mabuhay ang sosyalismo!

 

The original post is here https://web.facebook.com/notes/laban-ng-masa/bakit-kailangan-ng-bayan-ang-laban-ng-masa-speech-at-the-first-general-assembly-/520941431600336/ 

REPOST: BMP: Unang Taon ng Rehimeng Duterte: Bogus na Pagbabago ng Kapitalista’t Reaksyonaryong Gobyerno

ISANG taon na ang rehimen. Kung dati’y sinasabi ng marami na maaring pagbigyan si Duterte dahil siya ay nasa transisyon pa mula sa dating meyor ng Davao tungo sa pagiging pangulo ng bansa, maari nang husgahan ang kanyang isang taon sa pagitan ng dalawang SONA.

Sa ikalawang SONA ni Duterte, ni anino ng “Change is coming” ay hindi pa rin naaaninag ng mamamayang Pilipino, laluna ng masang manggagawa. Napako ang lahat ng mga pangako. Naglaho na tila bula ang mga repormang itinalumpati para makuha ang boto ng 16 milyong Pilipino. Kung mayroon man tayong nasasaksihang pagbabago, ito ay ang tuminding kahirapan, karahasan, at kaguluhan sa buhay ng mayoryang mahihirap!

Tumitinding Kahirapan

Iba si Duterte sa nagdaang mga pangulo. Walang pretensyon sa pagiging modelo ng “good manners and right conduct” bilang pangulo ng bansa. Isang butangero. Magaspang. Matapang magsalita. Subalit iba ang kanyang ginagawa. Kabaliktaran ng kanyang mga salita.

Kontraktwalisasyon: Para sa manggagawang sahuran, ang pinakamapait na kasingalingan ni Duterte ay ang pangakong “contractualization must stop”. Sapagkat walang nagbago. Tuloy ang endo. Tuloy ang ligaya, hindi lamang ng mga contractor at subcontractor kundi ng mga prinsipal na employer na patuloy na masusuplayan ng mura at maamong kontraktwal na manggagawa. Ang nilabas na Department Order 174 ni DOLE Sec. Bello ay kabaliktaran sa ipinangako ni Duterte. Ngunit hindi siya kinakastigo ng Palasyo! Wala ring Executive Order para iwasto ang kalokohan ni Sec. Bello. Trabahong regular, hindi kontraktwal!

Tax reform: Nagmamalaki ang gobyerno na “pro-poor” daw ang kanilang panukalang pagrereporma sa sistema ng pagbubuwis. Kailangan daw ito sa mga proyekto ng “build, build, build” na papakinabangan ng taumbayan. Pero sino ang kakargo ng pasaning pagbubuwis? Ang mga mahihirap! Sapagkat ang itataas nila ang excise tax sa mga produktong petrolyo at inuming may-asukal. Pasasaklawin din ang VAT. Tatanggalin ang eksempsyon sa VAT sa renta o pangungupahan na nagkakahalagang P10,000 kada buwan.

Tataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin sa balak na tax reform. Sapagkat ang pangunahing dadagdagan ng tax ay ang produktong petrolyo, na ginagamit sa transportasyon ng mga tao at mga produkto – at sa paglikha ng kuryente. Tataas ang upa ng mga maliit na komersyante, dahil sa VAT, at babawiin nila ito sa presyo ng kanilang mga paninda. Hindi na din eksempted sa VAT ang low-cost at socialized housing!

Nagkukunwari pa silang ibabalanse daw ang sistema ng pagbubuwis dahil itataas sa P250,000 ang eksempsyon sa personal income tax. Kalokohan! Ang milyon-milyong manggagawa, na karamiha’y kontraktwal sa maliliit na mga establisyemento at kumikita ng minimum wage, ay hindi na kinakaltasan ng withholding tax. Ang mahihirap na 60% ng mga pamilyang Pilipino ay hindi nabubuhay sa sahod, kumikita ng mas mababa sa minimum wage, at nasa underground economy. Hindi sila kasali sa income tax exemption! Ang mga mayayaman ang mas makikinabang sa pagtataas ng eksempsyon sa income tax! At tila hindi pa sila nasiyahan dito, ibaba din nila ang buwis sa kita ng mga korporasyon at estate tax (buwis sa mga pag-aari ng isang yumao bago ipamana sa kanyang benepisyaryo). Tax the rich, not the poor!

Mababang sahod. Nananatili ang kontraktwalisasyon. Mababa pa rin ang sweldo. Hindi na nga sapat para mabuhay ng disente’t marangal ang isang pamilya ng manggagawa. Lalo pa itong liliit sa pagsasabatas ng TRAIN o Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion sa 2018, na magtataas sa presyo ng mga bilihin at magbabagsal sa tunay na halaga ng sweldo. Isabatas ang living wage, buwagin ang mga wage board!

Demolisyon at pabahay. Sabi ni Duterte, wala raw madedemolis kung walang relokasyon. Subalit maraming pampublikong proyekto – kasama ang mula sa mga local government, ang nagreresulta sa pwersahang ebiksyon ng mga maralita, kahit hindi pa naisasayos ang kanilang relokasyon.

Ilan lamang dito ang sa Tatalon sa Quezon City, sa Minuyan sa Bulacan, at Langaray Market sa Malabon. Dadami pa ito sa binabalak na “golden age of infrastructure” sa termino ni Duterte. Wala pa ring policy ang Palasyo ukol sa mura at disenteng pabahay sa masang maralita.

Kaya’t sa mga proyektong pang-relokasyon (tulad ng nabulgar sa pabahay na inokupa ng Kadamay sa Bulacan), nananatili ang problema ng kawalan ng serbisyo. Malayo sa hanapbuhay, sa paaralan, sa ospital, atbp. Nasa liblib na karatig-probinsya ng Metro Manila. Minsa’y problema pa ang mismong linya ng tubig at kuryente. Ang masahol, napakamahal pa! Kaya’t tuloy pa rin ang problema ng foreclosure sa mga residenteng hindi makapagbayad ng mga amortisasyon, atbp. Binabawi lamang ng bangko. Habang tumatabo sa tubo ang mga real estate developer, mga opisyal ng local government, at mga bangko’t pinansyer, na tanging nakinabang sa mga proyektong pabahay ng gobyerno. Maayos na relokasyon bago demolisyon! Ipatupad ang Konstitusyunal na probisyon sa mura, ligtas at disenteng pabahay para sa masa!

Pag-atake sa oligarkiya. Aatakehin daw ni Digong ang “oligarkiya” o ang iilang mga pamilya na patuloy sa pagyaman sa kabila ng lumalalang kahirapan ng nakararami. Noong Agosto 2016, ang pinagsamang pagaari ng 50 pinakamayaman sa bansa ay nagkakahalagang $79.47 Bilyon o 27.58% ng gross domestic product o GDP. Mas mataas kumpara noong 2013, na nasa $65.8 Bilyon o 24% ng GDP.

Katunayan, ang pondong tutustos sa mga proyektong pang-imprastraktura ng Dutertenomics - na nagkakahalagang walo hanggang siyam na trilyong piso (P8-9 trilyon) hanggang 2022 - ay magmumula sa bagong buwis (na papasanin ng mahihirap) at bagong mga pautang.

Sa mga uutangin, 80% ay mula sa mga domestic loans (ibig sabihin, BDO ni Henry Sy, BPI ni Ayala, Metrobank ni Ty, RCBC ni Yuchengco, atbp. na pawang mga oligarkiyang sinabi ni Duterte na kanyang tutugisin!). Habang 20% ang mula sa dayuhang pautang (kasama ang Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank o AIIB), na pinangunahan ng Tsina at kanyang binantaan noon laban sa paghihimasok at pag-angkin sa mga isla sa West Philippine Sea!). Redistribusyon ng yaman!

Pag-atake sa Estados Unidos: Si Duterte raw ay para sa isang “independyenteng patakarang panlabas”. Ayaw daw niya sa panghihimasok ng Amerika. Ngunit hindi niya nilalansag ang kasunduang militar gaya ng Mutual Defense Treaty, Visiting Forces Agreement, Enchanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, atbp. Bumaliktad din siya sa mga nauna niyang pagkontra sa pagpasok ng tropang Amerikano, pinayagan niya itong sumali sa operasyon laban sa grupong Maute. Lansagin ang dominasyon ng imperyalistang Amerika sa ekonomya’t pulitika ng bansa!

Pagwasak ng Kalikasan at Pagmimina. Dati animo’y kumakampi si Duterte kay Gina Lopez para proteksyunan ang kalikasan. Subalit hinayaan niya itong malaglag sa Senado. Binabawi na ni DENR Sec Cimatu ang mga suspensyon sa pagmimina na iginawad ni Lopez. Ang pagkawasak sa kalikasan ang sisira sa agrikulturang pangunahing ikinabubuhay ng ating mga kababayan sa kanayunan. Labanan ang mapanira at malakihang pagmimina at pagtotroso!

Umiigting na Karahasan at Kaguluhan

Panghuli, at higit sa lahat, sa unang taon ni Duterte, naging saksi tayo sa kaliwa’t kanang patayan at pagkawalang-bahala sa proseso ng batas. Libo-libo na ang pinatay ng “War on Drugs”, karamiha’y mga mahihirap na adik at tulak. Ngayo’y idinidikit na nila ang isyu ng droga sa gyera kontra terorismo. May mga nagpapanukala pang patagalin at/o palawigin ang Batas Militar sa buong bansa upang magamit ang kamay na bakal na estado sa lahat ng kalaban ng republika.

Nililikha ng mga pwersa ng reaksyon ang isang klima ng takot, pananahimik, at pag-aatubiling punahin ang mga ginagawa ni Duterte, na kung hahayaang magtagumpay ay tutungo sa tuluyang paglusaw sa ating mga demokratikong karapatan. Laluna sa kalayaang lumaban sa pang-aapi’t pang-aabuso ng iilang mayyaman at may-kapangyarihan - sa pamamagitan ng malayang pagtitipon, sama-samang pagkilos, at sariling pag-oorganisa.

Ang klima ng takot at pagsawalang-kibo ang pinakapaborableng kondisyon para sa malawakang pandarambong, hindi lang ng mga burukrata’t opisyal na magpipiyesta sa pinalaking buwis na kokolektahin ng gobyerno kundi ng mga malalaking kapitalista magiging kasosyo’t pinansyer sa mga proyektong pangimprastraktura, mga kontrata sa pagtotroso at pagmimina, at sa lahat ng likas at likhang yamang mula sa kalikasan at paggawa sa Pilipinas. Labanan ang pasistang atake sa mga kalayaang sibil at karapatang pantao!

Mga kauri at kababayan! Huwag tayong magpaloko sa mga pretensyon ni Duterte. Bogus ang ipinangakong pagbabago ng “Change is coming”! Kiskisin natin ang nakalambong na ilusyon upang tumambad sa atin na ang kasalukuyang pangulo ay tagapagpatupad lamang ng interes ng malalaking kapital. Ito ang katotohanang aming ipinababatid sa milyon-milyong umaasa pa rin sa kanilang bulaang manunubos. Sama-sama nating isulong at ipagtanggol ang ating mga karapatan at kabuhayan tungo sa tunay na pagbabagong matagal nang inaasam ng manggagawa’t mamamayang Pilipino. #

 

Original Post: https://web.facebook.com/notes/bukluran-ng-manggagawang-pilipino/unang-taon-ng-rehimeng-duterte-bogus-na-pagbabago-ng-kapitalistat-reaksyonaryong/1458721090888497/

Duterte hits peak public satisfaction rating -- SWS

Although Rodrigo Duterte's approval rating went down in March (a separate survey conducted by SWS rival Pulse Asia), SWS's most recent report showed Rodrigo Duterte attaining a satisfaction rating of +66. "Satisfaction" is the difference between "satisfied" and "dissatisfied" respondents.

This net satisfaction rating is the highest since Duterte took office. The results probably should not come as surprising. It is expected, in the sense that net satisfaction does not really drop dramatically until an administration's third year. Duterte's public net satisfaction also traces the pattern of presidents past, with the exception of the Aquino II regime. Note that Aquino II still has the highest average entire-term public net satisfaction compared with all post-EDSA presidents.

What does the Philippine economy produce?

Bourgeois economics has a fetish with the national GDP (gross domestic product), a number which represents economic production. Quarter after quarter, journalists, economists, policymakers, and the local elites join together to hear the most recent GDP number from the government, hoping from anywhere near 6%-7% growth each time.

The notion is that higher GDP growth is better, and lower GDP growth sucks. GDP growth is supposedly better for all of us. That may be true, but it is important to know what the economy is actually made of.

In 2016, going by current prices, the Philippine economy based on PSA data amounted to some P15 trillion (not considering a category called "Public Administration and Defense; Compulsory Social Security" for which I could not find data).

Our Top 15 economic activities and their worth at current prices in 2016 are as follows (in millions):

1. Retail Trade	2,056,789	SERVICE SECTOR
2. AGRICULTURE SECTOR	1,397,615	AGRICULTURE
3. Construction (Private)	1,359,660	INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
4. Food manufactures	1,347,029	INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
5. Renting and other Business Activities	969,128	SERVICE SECTOR
6. Education	557,836	SERVICE SECTOR
7. Banking Institutions	529,041	SERVICE SECTOR
8. Wholesale Trade	508,306	SERVICE SECTOR
9. Ownership of Dwellings	485,451	SERVICE SECTOR
10. Construction (Public)	465,995	INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
11. Real Estate	444,319	SERVICE SECTOR
12. COMMUNICATION	377,092	SERVICE SECTOR
13. ELECTRICITY	373,196	INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
14. Non-bank Financial Intermediation	371,342	SERVICE SECTOR
15. Chemical & chemical products	356,133	INDUSTRIAL SECTOR

What do we produce as a country, then?

A lot of the activity is in a category called "Retail Trade" within the Service Industry. Retail trade means nothing more than selling goods. According to the 2013 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (most recent), establishments within this category are engaged in activities such as retail and wholesale in household equipment (appliances, etc.); food, beverages and tobacco; and specialized items.

Retail sale in a category called "non-specialized stores" according to the PSA employed the largest number of workers among all Philippine industries, with 130,834 employees at the time. For their troubles, workers in the sector (which include "salesladies" in malls) received an average of P11,260 per month.

We are basically a nation of malls, salespeople and construction workers that receive low pay. And a lot of the wealth really comes from people renting out the capital resources that lie firmly in the hands of the elites, whether land, buildings, telecommunications infrastructure and electricity.

Another conspicuous detail is that our logical economic base, agriculture, amounts to a only around 9.3% of the economy by current value. And because we failed our economy at its base, it follows that we also do not have any serious industrial manufacturing capability, especially in machineries (which is among our top imports), industrial chemicals (not just chemicals for producing soap and shampoo) and electronics (beyond making chips for export, which return to us as finished goods in the form of cellphones and laptops). We have a Communication service sector, but not an industrial manufacturing sector dedicated to this. At this point, one can see the folly of arguing for a mining renaissance in the Philippines -- all of that raw material will only be exported, because we have no serious industry within to use them on.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to up government spending in infrastructure (our No. 10 economic activity) during his administration. Earlier in his campaign, he said he would espouse Philippine industrialization and pay attention to agriculture. Of course, those were the days. Almost a year later, not even a hint of any industrialization plan has been made, and we still import rice, our staple, by the ton.

Next time they give us the numbers on GDP growth, we should ask -- growth for who?

Sources:

http://psa.gov.ph/nap-press-release/pr/2016%20Q4
http://psa.gov.ph/content/2013-annual-survey-philippine-business-and-industry-aspbi-wholesale-and-retail-trade-repair

Duterte's Martial Law: Implications and Challenges

Block Marcos Statement on Martial Law Imposition in Mindanao

Poverty inching up based on SWS data

After a 42% near-historical drop in the poverty rate as regularly measured by SWS, the self-rated poverty rate is now back to 50% of Filipino families. The last time this happened was in December 2015, and the second consecutive increase, following the 44% recorded during the last survey.

I said previously that the historical low reported in November which greeted the Duterte administration last year is probably mostly still a product of policies under the previous administration, which, toward its final two years, appeared to have managed to pull the rates down consistently.

What a difference a year makes, and after the euphoria over electing a populist president have subsided. At this rate, the previous administration's centerpiece anti-poverty program, the Pantawid, has not yet been completely phased out -- which is the same thing people like Duterte supporter Liza Maza of the NAPC are advocating.

When the Pantawid/CCT disappears, we can expect poverty to riot some more. Sure, you can argue all day that the Pantawid is a dole-out and does not solve poverty. But neither does killing the poor by the thousands, which is this government's own centerpiece program.

REPOST: 'P334M from only 13 donors funded Duterte’s presidency'

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) published a nice report that sheds light on the class background of the Duterte presidency. The findings won't actually surprise you. But it's important to get substantial information on the interests of Duterte's cronies in the fields of mining, agriculture, real estate, procurement, and others.

Some of the names of rich people that appeared belong in the Forbes list, which was previously also mentioned in this blog.

Marcos gets hero status courtesy of ND Left's main ally

Marcos had not a small number of people from the Left abused and killed. Now the country's main Left formation, the Communist Party of the Philippines, is Duterte's ally. (The CPP has as of now not issued a condemnation of the SC, when it would have done so faster than Quicksilver under previous admins.)

This afternoon, the same day the SC made its ruling, Duterte was introduced on the stage by Judy Taguiwalo. moments later, on the same platform, Duterte would comment on Leni Robredo's short skirts during cabinet meetings.

The Left is dead. Live long, the Left!!!

This is the police that serves and protects you (and kills your drug pushers)

The van driver's name is Franklin Kho, a member of the police force according to reports. The Manila police chief cleared him of any fault.

Why the Left's silence on Duterte's politics of persecution?

I always thought that Leftist politics stood for the best behavior one can possibly project on the political arena -- that apart from its sharpest analysis and the correctness of its views, it also represents, by itself, a politics of freedom. Of human perfectibility.

Of Reason.

Whether we like Senator Leila de Lima is beside the point. The most powerful official of the land is resorting to wanton political persecution of its own political enemy. This is not leadership, but  tyranny.

And for what? Because she originally asked a valid enough question: Why are so many deaths happening under the president's favorite advocacy -- an advocacy which incidentally does not strike at the heart of our foremost social problems. Asking this question is wrong?

And yet, the Left is silent. Their reason -- De Lima probably deserves it. For being a stooge of the Liberal Party, which is a party of the ruling class.

As if Duterte is not. As if Duterte's campaign was not funded by the elite.

Congress, and the worst elements residing there, are under a renewed vigor, basking under the glory of Rodrigo Duterte, and the current public euphoria over him. These are the same people who by themselves, at separate periods in history, maimed, killed and looted the nation. People who are unfit even now to kiss Leila De Lima's feet. Their new project: the showing of De Lima's supposed sex video.

The ND Left, supposedly the best of the lot, is of course silent. Never mind that when its ranks were being massively killed under Gloria Arroyo, it was Leila De Lima's Commission on Human Rights that was among a handful of government agencies it could find a sympathetic voice from.

The nation is unravelling, and the Left is unravelling with it.

REPOST: NAGKAISA Condemns Killings of Labor and Community Organizers

NAGKAISA (SOLIDARITY), the coalition of 47 labor federations and workers organizations, which is the largest labor formation in the Philippines, strongly condemned the recent spate of murders of labor union and community organizers with seven incidents happening only this month. NAGKAISA expressed grave concern that this may just presage the start of more violence directed towards grassroots labor organizing.
Yesterday, 64-year old Edilberto Miralles, former union president of R&E Taxi transport service, was gunned down by unknown assailants right in front of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Quezon City. He was scheduled to attend a labor hearing that day.
On September 17, union organizer Orlando Abangan, 35 years old, was shot by unidentified gunmen on the way to his home in Barangay Maghaway, Talisay City, Cebu.
Abangan was a full-time organizer for Partido Manggagawa (PM) in the province since 2001. During the last elections, he built an organization in Talisay that campaigned for social protection and social services for persons with disabilities. He was also engaged by the labor center Sentro as organizer for the informal sector workers.
Earlier this month, four farmers were shot dead by unidentified men in a farm located inside Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija. The armed men involved in the brutal slay were reportedly dropped from a helicopter seen hovering over the military reservation camp. The victims were Emerenciana Mercado-de la Cruz, Violeta Mercado-de Leon, Eligio Barbado and Gaudencio Bagalay.
They were all members of the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayang Nagkakaisa, tilling part of the disputed 3,100 hectares of land inside Fort Magsaysay. Several others were wounded.
On September 7, farmworker leader Ariel Diaz was shot to death by three men in his Villa Pereda farm in Delfin Albano town, Isabela. Diaz is the chairperson of the Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon ti Isabela and was the head of the provincial chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Isabela.
Union and community organizers are the quintessential vital cogs of our still nascent and highly vulnerable grassroots democracy. Their collective struggle is key in helping realize inclusive growth and preventing “the race-to-the-bottom” particularly for the majority poor and their families in a Philippines where the gap between the poor and the rich are growing wider and deeper every day.
The wide ranging implications of their deaths further underscores the need for the government to ensure protection to ordinary citizens let alone labor leaders and community organizers. The killings, again, put into question the bragging rights of employers and government that we have stable industrial peace.
NAGKAISA expressed sympathy with the relatives of those killed, and also demanded swift justice for the victims.
NAGKAISA called upon Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to immediately convene the high-level labor-government-employer Tripartite Industry Peace Council (TIPC) that would not only draw up long-lasting measures to contain and prevent anything of this sort from happening again but place a spotlight into any attempt to short-circuit the Constitutional right of workers to organize, bargain collectively or engage in legitimate concerted action. NAGKAISA also, called on Secretary Emmanuel Sueno of the Department of Interior and Local Government and PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa to reconvene, with labor, business and civic organization membership, the National Peace and Order Council, and its regional, provincial, and municipal chapter counterparts to send a clear signal of the primacy of the law .

Retrieved from the SENTRO website: http://www.sentro.org/?p=925

=========================================================================

Nagkaisa is made up of:

Alliance of Free Workers (AFW) ,
All Filipino Workers Confederation (AFWC),
Automobile Industry Workers Alliance (AIWA),
Alab Katipunan,
Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO),
Associated Labor Unions (ALU),
Associated Labor Unions- Association of Professional Supervisory Officers Technical Employees Union (ALU-APSOTEU),
ALU-Metal,
Associated Labor Unions-Philippine Seafarers’Union (ALU-PSU),
ALU-Textile,
ALU-Transport, Associated Labor Unions-Visayas Mindanao Confederation of Trade Unions (ALU-VIMCOMTU),
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL),
Association of Trade Unions (ATU),
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP),
Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU),
Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services (CLASS),
Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS),
Federation of Coca-Cola Unions (FCCU),
Federation of Free Workers (FFW),
Kapisanan ng Maralitang Obrero (KAMAO),
Katipunan,
Pambansang Kilusan sa Paggawa (KILUSAN),
Kapisanan ng mga Kawani sa Koreo sa Pilipinas (KKKP),
Labor education and Research Network (LEARN),
League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO),
MARINO,
National Association of Broadcast Unions (NABU),
National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU),
National Mines and Allied Workers Union (NAMAWU),
National Association of Trade Unions (NATU),
National Confederation of Labor (NCL),
National Confederation of Transport Union (NCTU),
National Union of Portworkers in the Philippines (NUPP),
National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN),
Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA),
Pepsi Cola Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP),
Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA),
Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS),
Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PILLU),
Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA),
Partido Manggagawa (PM),
Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA),
Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK),
Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO),
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP),
Workers Solidarity Network (WSN).

REPOST: On the Extra-Judicial Killings: The Matobato confessions confirm the failure of the entire trapo system

On the Extra-Judicial Killings

Written by Partido Lakas ng Masa

Saturday, 17 September 2016 21:08

The Matobato confessions confirm the failure of the entire trapo system By Sonny Melencio The statements of operative Edgar Matobato during the Senate hearings on extra-judicial killings have confirmed the existence of the Davao Death Squad (DDS) which we know have existed for a long time now. According to Matobato, the killings have been going on since 1988 starting with the Cory administration through to FVR's, Erap's, GMA's, Noynoy's, up until now. This means that all these administrations must be held accountable. They all have blood on their hands. The statements also expose the connivance of the police and government forces in perpetrating the killings. We also know that this connivance has been established in the operation of the illegal drug trade itself. As to how the killings could remain unabated all through the years has to be explained not only by the Duterte government but also by the previous ones. The previous administrations have known what was happening in Davao all along, but they chose to ignore it. Some administrations even consorted with the drug lords and syndicates, until the drug issue became so significant that it catapulted Rodrigo Duterte to power. The killings have become almost nationwide. Now its becoming clearer that these mass killings are in fact systemic. It's part and parcel of the system of trapo politics and elite rule in the country. Davao is not the only case. There have been similar killings in Negros (Escalante), Isabela, Maguindanao and elsewhere. It might not have the same intensity and publicity as in Davao, but it points to the capacity of the ruling individuals in power to form their own death squads, bodyguards and goons to do their bidding. We have a term to describe this localized phenomenon, that is warlordism, reminiscent of an era when the landowning class in their fiefdom ruled through terror and violence. We have to assess and therefore question the direction of the Senate hearings in this context. The hearings have degenerated into a jockeying of opposing factions within the ruling class in order to score points and advance their own agenda. This makes the Senate hearings an exercise in futility, as they are not meant to resolve the problem of the killings, but to lay the blame solely with the present administration. The motive is therefore suspect. The question is posed: Why didn't the elite factions which were previously in government, not so long ago, use their power to stop the killings? Let's not fool ourselves. There has been an increasing polarization of forces within the ruling class. Even if the Liberal Party is in disarray, with a majority of its members having joined the Duterte faction, they are still powerful enough to destabilize the Duterte regime. Yes, there is a Plan B, as there is a Plan A, or even a Plan C that are a part of this faction's maneouvers to control power. But where are the masses and the poor in all these designs? Our interests are not represented in any of these maneouvers. While they quarrel in the halls of the Congress, we continue to be the casualties of their system -- oppressed, exploited and even killed in the streets. The solution is not to replace Duterte with another trapo via plans engineered by any of the elite factions. We must not be trapped into aligning ourselves with any of the factions. The masses must organize and mobilize for their own agenda and interests. This is the only way that we can protect our communities and win genuine peace and security. The unity of the Left and progressive forces is crucial to achieving this.#

Too radical for Duterte

Someone should really write a nice, well-written, article with a theme like this: "A more kickass anti-imperialist position goes far beyond criticizing American leaders for their 'human rights' jabs, and instead focus on how, even now, Global Capitalism (and its excesses) is clearly on a roll at the behest of the American empire."

She/he can start by this awesome Dutertenomics bullet point: All macroeconomic policies of the previous administrations, especially Aquino, will be maintained.

She/he could also quote Gindin and Panitch while she's/he's at it :D

#TooRadicalforDuterte

RPST: WORKERS RESTLESS AS CAMPAIGN PROMISE TO ABOLISH CONTRACTUALIZATION STILL NOWHERE IN SIGHT

REPOST: Statement Against Attacks on Women's Dignity

In a low-handed attempt to derail investigations into the killing of suspected drug peddlers and dependents in the country, President Duterte has accused Senator Leila de Lima of being immoral, an adulterer, with links to the illegal drugs trade. The President is especially scathing in his attacks on women critics. Not only does he hurl accusations left and right as if there are no laws on evidence governing this country, accusations against women are also painted with personal malice—something you don’t hear against male critics. Demonstrating a conduct unbecoming of a head of state, indeed, strutting like a common brute, a bully, the President resorts to name calling when he should be presenting legal arguments and facts to support his policies.
Why does he find it necessary to readily label critics before giving proof? He does it to put opposition figures in a box where he could render them not human- when labeling critics as immoral or adulterous or drug suspects, it removes their dignity, their humanity. In the eyes of society, they become a social disease that needs to be eradicated. So follows soon after, critics also become victims of the heinous crime of murder. We know too well from the labeling of Jews by the Nazis, Tutsis as “cockroaches” in Rwanda, even activists as communists by the late dictator Marcos, results the familiar massacres and other crimes against humanity. Duterte starts with unsubstantiated accusations that end in cardboard signs. We are thus gravely alarmed that if this accusations are the kind of intelligence dirty data requested and used by the President to malign and destroy his critics, what sort of harmful information is gathered and passed on regarding drug suspects to the rank and file of the PNP and/or to the local government officials and personnel to justify EJKs, as well as intensify a coercive environment and a culture of fear.
As more people begin to question his methods we expect more tirades and threats from this man. But what will go down in history are the courageous women and men that speak out against this administration’s excesses-- at the frontline are Senator de Lima and Chief Justice Sereno. iDEFEND extols their example and stand with them amidst overwhelming adversity, amidst attacks by no less than the President himself. We stand with them in the deafening silence of the rest of society. We dedicate to them these words that gave meaning to the struggle of a generation against Martial Law, by the late Lean Alejandro: “In the line of fire is a place of honor”. Mabuhay po kayo at maraming salamat po.
___________________________________________________________
In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND) is a growing broad coalition of non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs), individual HRDs, human rights lawyers, religious sector and members of the academe which came together to defend and assert human rights for all.

http://www.philippinehumanrights.org/news/11-statements/8-statement-against-attacks-on-women-s-dignity

Duterte's first budget

The Budget department has submitted to Congress its proposed national budget for 2017. This is the first budget proposal under the Duterte government, which came to power without any coherent economic platform (apart from references to improving Philippine agriculture).

As far as agrarian reform is concerned, this has quietly disappeared based on the government's 10-point economic agenda released less than a month ago.

What's in store for Filipinos out of all the blood-and-sweat taxes the government takes from them? 

• A lot of Police Power. The PNP budget planned for next year is P110.4 billion. This figure is 24.6% higher than last year's budget, as the administration proudly announced. This acceleration is second only to the 32% planned budget growth intended for the DENR which is only getting P29.4 billion anyway.

• Militarization. The Armed Forces of the Philippines still corners a significant portion of the budget at P130.6 billion. The budget for the AFP is still higher than areas such as agriculture and agrarian reform (P120.5 billion) and the DSWD (P129.9 billion less the P78.7 billion expense for the conditional cash transfer or the "Pantawid" of the previous administration).

• Token funding for relevant areas. While the AFP will get to keep its militarization perks, areas such as science and housing will get a measly P20.8 billion and P12.6 billion respectively.

• Meanwhile, according to the Freedom from Debt Coalition, due to a Marcos-era-derived law, the Philippines for 30 years has been spending 27.21% of its national budget automatically to fraudulent and useless debts -- or rather, interests to these debts. Scheduled debt servicing for foreign liabilities amounted to P214.5 billion in 2016, a figure higher than the combined proposed budgets for health and calamity funding next year.

Summary:

Infrastructure  P860.7 billion
Education  P699.95 billion
Health   P151.5 billion
 PhilHealth P50.2 b
 RH Law  P4.3 b
AFP   P130.6 billion
DSWD   P129.9 billion
 CCT P78.7 b
 rice allowance P23.4 b
Agri/AR   P120.5 billion
PNP   P110.4 billion
NDRRMF  P37.3 billion
DENR   P29.4 billion
DOST   P20.8 billion
DOLE   P13.5 billion
NHA   P12.6 billion
DoT   P7.3 billion
Energy   P5.6 billion

Nothing is fundamentally different with these numbers. They basically affirm status-quo neoliberal economic policies -- the same policies that during the Arroyo and Aquino administrations (total of 15 years) have resulted in self-rated poverty hovering at the 50% territory.

Data sources:

http://www.dbm.gov.ph/?p=16394
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/570703/money/economy/duterte-s-economic-team-reveals-10-point-socioeconomic-agenda

RPST: Strong dissent: Luneta rally set vs hero's burial for Marcos

Lawmakers, student groups, and advocacy groups are urging the public to help stop a hero's burial for former president Ferdinand Marcos.
Various groups have formed 'Coalition Against the Marcos Burial in Libingan Ng Mga Bayan,' which aims to prevent Marcos's interment at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).
They are inviting the public to wear white and join a non-partisan citizens' assembly at the Lapu-Lapu Area, in Rizal Park, Manila on Sunday, August 14.
"Every day that passes, Marcos' burial at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani becomes more and more inevitable," wrote the organizers on their Facebook page.
In a memorandum dated August 7, the Department of National Defense instructed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to plan and prepare Marcos's interment at the heroes' cemetery.
The burial has been projected to be held on September 18, after a nod from President Rodrigo Duterte.
The coalition cited Duterte's willingness to bury the late dictator in the site is "because he doesn't see widespread opposition to it." With the assembly, they aim "to prove him wrong."
"Before the president makes an official announcement and goes past the point of no return, we Filipinos need to make our strong opposition loud and clear," they wrote.
They said that because they recognize that the ultimate decision remains with Duterte, they call for the assembly to be able to offer a solution to the chief executive.
"We believe that the LNMB issue is too critical to how we define ourselves as a nation and to how our future as a nation will be shaped - we cannot lose focus," they added.
Susan Quimpo, one of the organizers of the assembly, told ABS-CBN News Sunday's program will focus solely on the "issue of Marcos burial and [their] opposition to it, and [their] request to President Duterte to change his mind about it."
"We have a petition to President Duterte outlining our reasons for requesting the burial not be held in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Mayroon po tayong petition signing na mangyayari on Sunday," she said.
She revealed, there will also be simultaneous rallies planned in Cebu, Bacolod, and Davao.
"Sa ngayon, sabi ni President Duterte, mag-rally daw. E di, magra-rally tayo. For now, that is the expression that we see of this request to President Duterte," she said.
She also urged citizens to course their opposition through their congressional district representatives.
Quimpo was also among the conveners of the Bawat Bato initiative which laid rocks and stones bearing the names of Martial Law victims on Marcos's burial site.
She emphasized that Marcos has no room in the heroes' cemetery in Taguig.
Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act signed in 2013, she cited, "provides reparation for the human rights victims of the Marcos regime."
"Kung nagbibigay ng reparations yung batas, ibig sabihin, talagang may human rights violations, 'di ba po? When you say human rights violations, automatic po, the state is responsible for it," she said.
"Ang dami pong claimants--umabot po ng 75,730 claimants. Ito po ang clear cut na batas na po ito, saying that he is guilty of human rights violation," she said.
Five of Quimpo's siblings were among those who were victims of human rights violations.
"Sa tingin ko, hindi naman karapat-dapat that he is given a hero's burial, when [there are] tens of thousands of people who were the real heroes fighting for freedom and justice and democracy," she said.
Apart from the human rights violations, Quimpo also underscored that there is proof Marcos laundered the people's money.
"In fact, even the Swiss courts have basically said na yung kaniyang deposits na umaabot sa approximately $10-billion ay ill-gotten wealth," she said.
She also noted, Marcos "was deposed by popular uprising," and as a soldier was "given dishonorable dismissal by the people that he was supposed to serve."
"Because he is a plunderer, because he is a violator of human rights, and fake naman yung kaniyang war medals and war records, patong-patong na po ito. It is overwhelming proof that he is not a hero," she said.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/08/10/16/strong-dissent-luneta-rally-set-vs-heros-burial-for-marcos

A very short ceasefire?

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday took back his pronouncement of a ceasefire vis-à-vis the CPP-NPA-NDF. This was a mere five days after declaring it in his first State of the Nation Address.

Duterte expressed irritation when a member of the Cafgu was killed in an encounter with the NPA in Mindanao after his SONA speech. After the death, he gave the CPP until 5 p.m. of Saturday for their side to declare their own ceasefire conduct.

The CPP pleaded with Duterte not to rush things, reasoning that the government itself was only able to effectively operationalize the ceasefire a few days after Duterte's declaration of it. But when the CPP was not able to meet Duterte's 5 p.m. deadline, the president acted on his ultimatum.

Something is wrong here. There is no reason to doubt the CPP's statement that it were the state forces that were violating the ceasefire and that the NPA acted only in self defense. The CPP has only been too willing to cooperate with Duterte in the past months.

Duterte is receiving his reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, whose troops he has been paying tribute to through visits over the past week. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has never been known to be fair and transparent organization. It is a significant human rights violator, known for killing activists working in the open legal mass movement.

But what is most telling in this is Duterte's apparent unreasonableness in dealing with the CPP. Giving the CPP an "ultimatum" is not a very diplomatic way to treat a movement carrying very legitimate issues. It is counterproductive because it puts the CPP with its back against the wall over a very flimsy premise. If Duterte were serious with the ceasefire proclamation, he would not have made a move that could only antagonize the CPP. All of this puts Duterte's sincerity with the ceasefire pronouncement into question.

Duterte's treatment of the CPP as showcased here bodes ill for the entire Philippine Left, not just the CPP. If Duterte can act so aggressively with an organization that has this much clout, how much more harshly will Duterte treat other smaller Leftist/Socialist groups in the country?

And at a time when the killings through the state's armed elements are growing rampant, a peek into how impulsive and fascist Duterte could be is troubling. Duterte has already shown that he has little regard for human rights. Will those opposing his regime's human rights conduct be as aggressively treated as the CPP? Will their voices not be heard?

The Philippine Left should condemn Duterte's conduct in this whole affair. It could be that we are witnessing a very dangerous representative of the Philippine ruling class in the making.