Bayan sustains Alston’s implication of Gloria Arroyo’s accountability on continuing political killings

Press Release

May 9, 2009

Davao City – Bayan said here today that the grounds laid by UN special rapporteur Philip Alston in his report realistically imply Gloria Arroyo’s accountability on the worsening extrajudicial killings in the country, her, being the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“The notion that the AFP is behind the killings and abductions of political activists all over the country is a fact that has long been proven by circumstantial evidences of the crimes, actual accounts of the witnesses and of the victims themselves and their families,” Bayan-SMR spokesperson John Birondo said.

Birondo added the divulged Oplan Bantay Laya of the AFP and PNP which counterinsurgency machineries are designed to liquidate members and leaders of progressive groups whom it accuses as legal fronts of the communist revolutionary movement.

Bayan noted that in Southern Mindanao alone, only within the 2008 time-frame, Arroyo government has committed more than 300 cases of human rights violations victimizing 30,857 individuals and 4,802 families.

“It is not only necessary to demand for Gloria Arroyo’s accountability on the crimes because of the so- called chain of command. More importantly, Gloria Arroyo should be made accountable along with the leaders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as they have deliberately and nonsensically killed and abducted innocent civilians and are relentless in committing such heinous crimes,” Birondo exclaimed.

Bayan condemned the killing of Ludinio Monson last April 29 whose anti-mining advocacy in Boston, New Bataan, caused hindrances in the operation of foreign-owned transnational mining companies in the area.

“Ludinio Monson, like any other victims of political killings in the country was killed because he was actively working for the protection of the environment, human rights, and the people’s welfare. It is always a fight against the government when what is being fought for is justice and equality,” Birondo said.

Bayan also hit the proposed reward system of the Arroyo government for informants of extrajudicial killings which would need P25 million from the congressmen’s pork barrels.

“It is blatant hypocrisy for Gloria Arroyo to say she is sincere in resolving extrajudicial killings when she cannot even act on allegations that involved the armed forces in the killings that are happening all these years. The Arroyo government has gone farther in making it possible for Jovito Palparan, a known butcher of activists, to secure a seat in Congress,” Birondo said.

“Not only the proposal sounds so poor based on propaganda value, this is yet, another scheme of the Arroyo administration to corrupt the people’s money,” Birondo added.

“The Arroyo government is bound to be faulty as it can never be a government for the people. The state will always be the people’s enemy unless genuine societal changes are done for genuine land reform and industrialization,” Birondo added.

“And for as long as there is oppression, the people will inevitably fight back. The people’s resistance against the government’s anti-people policies makes the killings, abductions, and other human rights violations more inevitable for the Arroyo government to commit for its protection and survival,” Birondo said.

Read More

Bayan upholds legitimacy and urgency of transport strike

STATEMENT

April 20, 2009

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan believes in the legitimacy and urgency of the transport strike that the public transport sector as headed by TRANSMISSION-PISTON will hold on April 29. Rooting on the legitimacy of the calls to abolish DOTC Order No. 38 and 39 plus the calls to scrap Oil Deregulation Law, it is urgent that a higher form of opposition such as transport strike be done and supported by other sectors and the riding public ourselves.

High time as it is, the public transport sector needs to act strongly against DO 39 as such implementation is unjust and abusive. The implementation has not only bypassed due processes and the right of the drivers and operators to be consulted, the objectives are clear in using the public transport sector as a milking-cow of the Arroyo administration to suffice its needed funds for the 2010 election. The vulnerable condition of the sector to traffic rule violations is clearly being maximized for income generation which made the Land Transportation Organization (LTO) as the 4^th most income generating government agency under the Arroyo administration.

In the 1st quarter of 2009, LTO was able to generate an income of P2.8 B from the fees it has collected from the public transportation sector and is set to collect P10 B more by the end of 2009. Add to this the Road User’s Tax which already amounted to P51 B in the past 7 years that LTO has been collecting such tax. There is also the 12% Value Added Tax which is estimated to amount to P81 B for 2009. While the government is earning this much from the public transportation sector, nothing has been done to improve the traffic situation in the country.

Not a single motive would explain that DO 38 and 39 is meant to deter traffic rule violations and vehicular accidents. DOTC’s own study of the traffic situation in the country does not show positive changes by its implementation of penalties and fees. In fact, it admits that the traffic situation is worsening over the years. And for it to say that additional penalties and fees are necessary to resolve the problem is way-off illogical and purely a tall tale statement.

We stand against DO 38 and 39 on ground that the country’s perennial problem on traffic necessitates deeper understanding of a traffic system under a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Traffic violations and vehicular accidents are worsening basically because the conditions of the streets and highways in almost all parts of the country are sub-standard and not proportionate to the large number of vehicles that are on the streets in a day-to-day basis. This is to emphasize that the rampant corrupt practices in the biddings and implementation of the government’s infrastructure projects have been sacrificing the convenience and safety of the drivers and the riding public.

There is more that confronts the ordinary public transportation drivers in today’s situation. Burdened by numerous and redundant fees, the everyday threat of oil price hikes makes life even harder for the drivers. Amidst the worsening global economic crisis that is already causing the prices of basic commodities and services to become more unaffordable for Filipinos from all walks of life, the implementation of D0 38 and 39 is absolutely absurd and inhuman.

The track record of the Arroyo government, the DOTC and LTO on corruption makes the implementation of DO 38 and 39 more unacceptable. Within their turfs, corruption is rampant and undeniable. Thus, the people will not stop from getting more vigilant against corruption and anti-people policies of the Arroyo government. We stand firm in saying:

Abolish DOTC Dept. Order 38 ug 39!

Scrap Oil Deregulation Law!

Oust Gloria Arroyo!

Read More

Bayan holds GFC and CHA-CHA forum for SP employees

PRESS RELEASE

April 15, 2009

Davao City – Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in coordination with the office of vice mayor Sara Duterte will hold a forum on Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and Charter Change today (April 15) dubbed “The Philippines’ Worsening Economic and Political State and the People’s Alternatives”.

“Our efforts to raise the consciousness of the people regarding global financial crisis and charter change are all geared towards forging unities among the various sectors of our society that will stand in oppose to all forms and attempts of economic and political manipulations of the Arroyo government,” Bayan-SMR spokesperson John Birondo said.

“Government employees are not exempted from the crisis that has so far caused massive retrenchments in the private business sector. Basing on the resolutions undertaken by the Arroyo government like the Executive Order 366 (E.O. 366)or the rationalization in government agencies, it is not far that more government employees will lose their jobs as the crisis heightens,” Birondo stressed.

Bayan noted that since the implementation of EO 366, thousands of regular and contractual government employees nationwide have already lost their jobs. As targeted by the Civil Service Commission, about 420,000 or 30% of the 1.4 million workforce of the government nationwide will be affected by the rationalization.

“The Arroyo government has never paid attention to the welfare of the government employees. When it knew for a fact that the crisis is severely causing hunger and job instabilities, it speciously pushed for the immediate approval of the P330 billion stimulus package which will come from the funds of GSIS, SSS, and the private business sector,” Birondo lamented.

“These funds are supposed to provide financial assistance to private and government workers in these most crucial times of economic crisis. It is the people’s money to begin with and they alone have the right to decide for whatever is due to them,” Birondo added.

Bayan also hit the continuous effort of the Arroyo government to pursue charter change as headed by house speaker Cong. Prospero Nograles.

“Like a pimp, Cong. Nograles is all out in giving away the remaining wealth of our country for foreign exploitation. Just the same, he can never hide the fact that this is a conspiracy he and Gloria Arroyo would want to realize for their filthy political ends,” Birondo said.

Bayan noted the ongoing forums on GFC and Cha Cha happening in the various barangays of the city which is in close coordination with the office of ABC Davao City chapter president Paolo Duterte.

“We need to inform and equip the people with the kind of knowledge that will agitate their assertions for their legitimate rights and for the protection of the country from plunder and foreign exploitation. There is no way we can allow the Arroyo government to once again take advantage of the situation to fulfill its political agenda and greed for money and power,” Birondo said.

Read More

Bayan supports call to abolish DO 39, hits corruption of the Arroyo government

Press Release

April 3, 2009

Davao City – Bagong Alyansang Makabayan registers here today its support for the abolition of Department Order 2008-39 saying “the policy should be abolished at all costs on grounds that it is unjustifiable, abusive, and highly susceptible to corruption of no less than the Arroyo government.”

“The implementation of DO 39 is obviously a conspired effort of Malacanang, the Department of Transportation and Communication, and the Land Transportation Office to satisfy their greed for money and suffice the funds needed by Gloria Arroyo to maintain her influence and post beyond 2010,” Bayan-Southern Mindanao Region spokesperson John Birondo said.

“DO 39 will not deter traffic violations of PUJ and PUB drivers as it does not address the root cause of the problem. These violations are results of the drivers’ poor education on traffic rules. This is to emphasize the fact that the corrupt practices in LTO allow the drivers to have their licenses without undergoing the necessary seminars and examinations,” Birondo stressed.

“Who among us does not know about the fixers that are rampantly operating within the LTO? And who among us would believe that the officers of LTO are unaware of these corrupt practices within their turf?” Birondo raised.

“The track record of Gloria Arroyo, DOTC, and LTO on corruption would explain the need for the abolition of DO 39. This is aside from the fact that DO 39 is nonsensical and a redundancy of existing laws such as EO 128,” Birondo added.

The Office of the Ombudsman recently tagged the five most graft-prone agencies in government which included the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the list. “It is an understatement to claim that these government agencies are prone to corruption for they are actually doing corruption,” Birondo said.

“The drivers can no longer bare the burdens added to them by this unjust implementation not only because economic crisis is worsening but basically because they have long been exploited of their poor situation,” Birondo added.

“From the burdens of high oil prices, undue taxes, unaffordable prices of basic commodities, lack of social benefits, and redundant penalties, how do we expect our poor drivers to survive?” Birondo said.

Read More