Gerry Albert Corpuz presents

This is Gerry Albert Corpuz and this is my life and political journey to the world of class struggle and class emancipation

Group accuses DENR secretary of gambling fishers’ lives
to please ‘Korean spa firm’ in Taal Volcano
“ECC granted to Jung Ang, a death warrant”- Pamalakaya

Leaders of the leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday accused Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of gambling the lives of more than 10,000 fishermen in Taal Lake by allowing a South Korean firm to construct a resort spa at the foot of Taal Volcano.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said Secretary should be held liable if something devastating happen to fisherfolk and farmers cause by volcanic eruptions as a result of the ongoing construction of resort spa by South Korean firm Jung Ang Interventure Inc.

“Secretary Reyes has issued a wholesale death warrant to thousands of small fishermen and farmers when he granted the Korean firm the environmental compliance certificate and approved the construction of the most ambitious eco-tourism spa at the foot of Taal Volcano, which is bound to explode in gigantic proportions if the construction of the spa is not stopped,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOCS) on Sunday recommended a stop of the ongoing construction of structures for the resort spa, saying it has recorded eight eruptions since of the active volcano since the South Korean firm started building the resort spa.

Also yesterday, Secretary Reyes announced that he will order a review of the ECC awarded to Jung Ang but remained uncommitted whether he would order a cease and desist order this week, a news report said.

“Secretary Reyes should revoke the ECC and tell Jung Ang to pack up and leave the place. That’s the right step to do. Is the DENR chief waiting for Taal Volcano’s explosion to gigantic proportions before he says its’ enough?. If that is the case, then that’s very, very ridiculous and grossly insulting,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap added.

Earlier, militant groups led by Pamalakaya-Timog Katagalugan (Pamalakaya-TK), Pamalakaya-Batangas, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Samahan ng Mga Mamamayan sa Taal (SAMATAAL) and Samahan ng mga Mangingisda, Magsasaka at Mangangabayo (SAMABAYO) held a two-day fluvial protest in Taal Lake last June 23-24 to protest the construction of resort spa.

The same groups are planning to have a repeat of the fluvial protest in the second week of July if the construction continues and the DENR fails to stop Jung Ang from “destroying and catching the ire of Taal Volcano.

The groups said it remains a mystery why a foreign company was able to obtain the right to own the portion of the land located at the foot of Taal Lake because the 1987 Constitution bans any foreigner to own land in the Philippines.

The groups also wondered by Jung Ang Interventure Inc. was able to secure an ECC from the DENR when Taal Volcano and the rest of its surroundings were declared part of the permanent danger zone and any diggings may cause the active volcano to erupt.

“Secretary Reyes has a lot of explaining to do why his office granted the ECC to Jung Ang despite the fact that any extraordinary activity in Taal Volcano is strictly prohibited by the natural law of science, the natural law of the environment and even existing laws and jurisprudence,” Pamalakaya said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:53 | link | comments |

Militants now waiting for 4th general
to break silence on extrajudicial killings

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said on Monday said it was looking forward for the 4th general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to break his silence and confirm to the public that political killings of leftwing activists is a national policy and was openly discussed during a military command conference two years ago.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the military generals opposed to extrajudicial killings, one by one are coming out in the open to expose the policy of political liquidation carried out by the National Security Cluster and big guns in the military advocating such militarist policy in eliminating leftwing activists, political foes and critics of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

“Another general broke his silence against political killings. We expect decent thinking generals to follow and break their silence and tell the people the truth and nothing but the truth,” the Pamalakaya leader said, a day after a third general, speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that killings of leftwing activists was openly discussed in a top-level military conference in 2005.

Earlier, two generals first disclosed the military conference who had vowed to support Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s investigation on political killings under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration by providing the former Navy officer with “ammunition” for privilege speeches and committee inquiries by the Senate.

Hicap said the mission dispatched by the European Union to investigate the spate of political killings across the country and the Supreme Court, which had vowed to address the issue by calling a multisectoral summit next month should put premium to what the three generals had exposed regarding the policy of extrajudicial killings implemented by military generals associated with the national security cluster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Things are slowly falling on their proper places. All the European Union and the Supreme Court should do is to pick up these pieces of material evidence and use these as weapons in bringing out truth, justice and accountability,” the Pamalakaya chair said.

Earlier, Pamalakaya welcomed the high tribunal’s plan to call a multisectoral summit on political killings, adding Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s advocacy to take the battle against extrajudicial killings in their own turf was a positive step and a confidence building measure.

If invited, Pamalakaya said it would join the multisectoral summit on extrajudicial killings to represent their members who were executed by alleged military agents since 2001.

“We see the Supreme Court’s multisectoral congress on extrajudicial killings as an opportunity, and at the same time a promising venue to ventilate our cause for truth, justice and accountability,” the militant group added.

Pamalakaya said the plan of Trillanes to investigate the role of AFP death squads in the spate of political killings of leftwing activists in the country should serve as a parallel effort to address the issue of extrajudicial killings.

“We ask the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to publicly endorse and support the initiative of Senator Trillanes to investigate the role of military death squads on the unabated killings of leftwing activists and journalists by suspected agents of the state and encourage more generals to come out in the open and speak against the government’s policy on extrajudicial killings” the group added.

Pamalakaya also urged a team of experts dispatched by the European Union to ask their governments to stop economic and other technical aid to the Philippines, unless President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo categorically orders the military to stop the practice of extrajudicial killings victimizing leftwing activists and journalists across the country.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:52 | link | comments |

Stop of EU aid to RP a must,
visiting mission in CL told
“Wider EU probe on political killings in Region 3, necessary” --- Pamalakaya

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday urged a team of experts dispatched by the European Union to ask their governments to stop economic and other technical aid to the Philippines, unless President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo categorically orders the military to stop the practice of extrajudicial killings victimizing leftwing activists and journalists across the country.

“All members of the EU mission team should ask the union and their respective government to immediately recall all economic, military and technical aid awarded to the Philippine government, unless this administration and the military admit that extrajudicial killings as a national security policy and that the left and right killings of activists and journalists were carried out on the basis of such state policy,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“Please allow us to remind the European Union that the bulk of its financial aid to the Philippines usually go straight to the pockets of bureaucrat capitalists in the Arroyo administration, including generals loyal to extrajudicial killing republic in Malacañang and to killing machinery of the oppressive state,” Hicap added.

The militant leader said the European Union must be extra careful about their economic and other technical financial aid to the Arroyo government, adding that the Macapagal-Arroyo government is notorious for corruption and for using funds to finance the extrajudicial killing activity of the AFP against political foes and perceived enemies and critics of the Arroyo administration.

“There’s strong possibility that the European taxpayers’ money were used by the government to liquidate political foes and critics in Central Luzon. See how the military generals of President Arroyo discuss the successful campaign to eliminate activists in an open AFP command conference?” Pamalakaya’s Hicap said.

The EU team will visit the Commission on Human Rights in Central Luzon this afternoon to gather more information about the series of political killings in the region and interview the regional commissioners of CHR-Region III, one of the regions hardly devastated by the spate of political killings, along with Southern Tagalog, Bicol and Eastern Visayas.

Yesterday the team visited the headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame. The EU mission had visited the CHR office in Manila, along with the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo and met top officials of said government and military offices.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said a wider and comprehensive investigation on the spate of political killings in Central Luzon by the EU mission is necessary; adding that Malacañang and its military agents and AFP backed death squads had converted the region into a huge killing field since 2004.

“The EU mission should put Central Luzon, along with Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and several regions in Mindanao in the map as killing fields of the Arroyo military, where the focus of investigation should take place,” the militant leader stressed.

Pamalakaya also told members of the EU mission that CHR Region III had committed a major blunder when it cleared retired Army Major Gen. Jovito Palparan of any involvement in the unabated killings of leftwing militants in the region. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:51 | link | comments |

Great escape, nothing but a super roadshow presentation, Pamalakaya says on DA “immersion” program

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday said they did not participate in the one-month immersion program of the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) last May, saying they did not want to be part of a highly insulting project of said government agency.

“It is a great escape from reality. It is nothing but a super roadshow presentation that seeks to rally the Filipino fishermen behind a program that would sacrifice the sector’s livelihood and people’s environment at the altar of transnational interests in this age of modern-day slavery,” Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said in a press statement.

Corpuz said they have heard the news since April that agriculture secretary Arthur Yap was planning to hold a month immersion program wherein BFAR officials would trade in places with leaders of fisherfolk groups from various provinces in view of the government’s objective to promote better understanding among the principal stakeholders in the fisheries sectors.

“We have alerted our national and mass membership nationwide not to join this cheap political offensive of Secretary Yap. We don’t want to be part of this government sponsored carnival and grand fiesta initiated to boost the stock of an isolated government and give legitimacy to Yap’s anti-fisherfolk and pro-monopoly projects,” Corpuz added.

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz said Secretary Yap merely wants to be called the undisputed “king of the agriculture department and the fisherfolk leaders as his “knights” in this government version of “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

The militant group said the problems of Filipino fisherfolk had been lodged before the regional and provincial officers of DA and BFAR since time immemorial. Since 1987, Pamalakaya has been conducting dialogues with both agencies informing them about the major problems confronting the fisheries sector, but their complaints and offered solutions were either not attended or completely rejected by these government agencies.

“Are they deaf? Are they blind? We have been talking the problems of small fishermen across the country for two decades. And now Secretary Yap wants to know and understand the continuing struggle of Filipino fisherfolk for sectoral and class emancipation? Give us a break,” Pamalakaya said.

“We won so many battles not because the government is kind and pro-people, not because DA and BFAR are working hand-in-hand to give solutions to our problems, but because of our organized and collective action. Definitely, we will not subscribe this dime-a-dozen gimmick of DA and BFAR and we will not join King Arthur and his own knights of the round tables,” Pamalakaya stressed.

This is not the first time Pamalakaya rejected a government offer. In 2001, weeks after the successful People Power 2 that ousted former President Joseph Estrada, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) based in Navotas had offered the militant organization a seat in the board of directors of the PFDA.

Pamalakaya said the offer was relayed to Rudy Sambajon, chairman emeritus of Pamalakaya by one of their allies inside the PFDA shortly after the fall of former President Estrada in 2001.

“Of course, the government and key persons in the PDFA will deny that sometime in not so distant past, they asked our group to join this club only to be rejected and snubbed by our leaders and mass members,” the militant group said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 09:21 | link | comments |

Militants looking forward to SC summit on slays
Pamalakaya says Trillanes probe on AFP death squad should serve
as parallel effort to high court summit

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said on Sunday it was looking forward to the multisectoral summit on extrajudicial killings that would be spearheaded by the Supreme Court next month.

“The militant community, the families and supporters of victims of political killings welcome the desire of the high tribunal to take the battle against extrajudicial killings in their turf,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap added: “Thank you Chief Justice for engaging the high tribunal in this fight against extrajudicial killings. We hope to see a more vigilant and more active SC in the coming days.”

If invited, Pamalakaya said it would join the multisectoral summit on extrajudicial killings to represent their members who were executed by alleged military agents since 2001.

“We see the Supreme Court’s multisectoral congress on extrajudicial killings as an opportunity, and at the same time a promising venue to ventilate our cause for truth, justice and accountability,” the militant group added.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno over the weekend revealed that the high tribunal was planning to call a multisectoral congress to set the stage for the possible rewriting of Philippine legal procedures to make these more helpful the victims, more forceful against suspected perpetrators, and more demanding of the government agents assigned to solve such cases.

Hicap said the strong statement of Chief Justice Puno against political killings and the planned congress on extrajudicial killings addressing the dead ends and blank walls often impeding the investigation of politically motivated should be welcomed and harnessed to bring the armed agents of the state suspected behind the spate of extrajudicial killings to the court of justice.

The Pamalakaya leader said the plan of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to investigate the role of AFP death squads in the spate of political killings of leftwing activists in the country should serve as a parallel effort to address the issue of extrajudicial killings.

“We ask the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to publicly endorse and support the initiative of Senator Trillanes to investigate the role of military death squads on the unabated killings of leftwing activists and journalists by suspected agents of the state,” Hicap said.

The group said Chief Justice Puno should call on members of the National Security Cluster composed of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and top military officials headed by Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Isafp chief Delfin Bangit and retired Army Major Gen. Jovito Palparan to attend the senate probe on political killings to be called by Senator Trillanes.

“If Chief Justice Puno succeeds in bringing in the Arroyo generals and top level military planners to the Trillanes probe, then that would be a good confidence building measure on the part of the high tribunal to show to the public that it really immerse itself to end the spate of extrajudicial killings across the country,” Pamalakaya added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 09:21 | link | comments |

Leftists appeal to Joker: Let Ping revive Pidal case

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday urged Senator elect Joker Arroyo to let opposition senator Panfilo Lacson to revive the Jose Pidal case and allow the investigation to reach a final conclusion.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap reminded the maverick senator that he won fresh mandate in the last May 14, 2007 elections not because of his association with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but because of his independence from Malacañang, his staunch advocacy for human rights and civil liberties and for his crusade to ferry out the truth regarding crimes of corruption committed by the Arroyo presidency.

“We see nothing wrong in resurrecting the Jose Pidal case. The new Senate is politically, morally, legally and constitutionally obliged to revive a case that needs an objective and logical conclusion,” Hicap added.

Senator Lacson yesterday issued a statement accusing Senator Arroyo of sitting on the Jose Pidal case, an expose on the alleged secret bank accounts Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo, which the first gentleman’s brother Negros Occidental Rep. Iggy Arroyo claimed ownership.

“We appeal to Senator Arroyo to let Senator Ping Lacson finish the Jose Pidal case. It is in the highest interest of the people and we are confident Arroyo will pave way for the case resurrection in the name of good governance, public transparency and accountability,” Hicap said.

Senator Arroyo was one of the senatorial candidates endorsed by militant party list groups in the last May 14, 2007 elections, along with Wednesday Club fellow Ralph Recto and a number of opposition senatorial candidates led by Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Manuel Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Pangilinan, Sonia Roco and Nikki Coseteng.

“We know this is a tough act to follow, but we are still hoping Senator Arroyo would have a change of heart and allow Senator Lacson to pursue the final episode of the Jose Pidal account before the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee,” the militant leader added.

Pamalakaya and other leftwing groups endorsed Senator Arroyo’s senatorial candidates for speaking out against extrajudicial killings and forced abductions of leftwing activists and for opposing Palace backed measures like Executive Order 464, the Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR), the State of National Emergency declared on February last year and for going against the Palace backed Charter Change also last year.

Senator Lacson yesterday claimed he had presented enough evidence to prove his case including original copies of checks issued from the Pidal accounts. The Senator a former PNP chief during the administration of deposed president Joseph Estrada denied he was lusting for the Senate Blue Ribbon post which was previously chaired by Senator Arroyo, stressing that he just want to hold bad people in government accountable for their illegal acts.

But Arroyo, former chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee insisted that committee could not move on because Lacson has yet to share with his fellow senators his proofs, documented findings, voluminous documents and

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:48 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya seeks Senate, House probe on oil hunt in Cebu-Bohol Strait

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday said they would submit a petition to the Senate and the House of Representatives urging lawmakers to conduct a separate or joint congressional inquiry the harsh effects of massive offshore mining in declared protected seascapes off waters of the Visayan Sea.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said their chapters in Cebu, Bohol and Negros would also ask both chambers of Congress to conduct an on-site congressional inquiry in Cebu-Bohol Strait, separating the island provinces of Cebu and Bohol, and in Tañon Strait, separating the island provinces of Cebu and Negros and find for themselves the collective sentiment of fishermen and other affected sectors.

“The oil monopolies’ great chase for rich oil and gas deposits in the Visayan Sea will promote a national calamity of bigger proportions. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her corporate clients in Japan, Australia and Canada must be stopped from executing this unprecedented massacre and uncontrollable destruction of people’s livelihood and national environment,’ the fisherfolk leader said.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap added: “Lawmakers are mandated and obliged to perform in accordance with the highest interest of the Filipino people. They must take a bold and daring stand and confront this issue in aid of legislation and on the strength of people’s sovereign rights and national patrimony.”

The Pamalakaya fisherfolk group issued the call to Congress, as NorAsian Energy Limited, an Australian based oil and gas exploration firm kicked off its offshore mining exploration off in Argao town, Cebu amid the avalanche of protest displayed by affected fishermen, whose fish pens were demolished ahead of the exploration activities.

The seismic survey was confined to the Cebu side of the strait because the Department of Energy and its contractor had decided to delay work on the Bohol side because of resistance not only from fishermen, but also from local government officials.

At least 12 fish pens maintained by small fishermen in Argao were demolished to pave way for the seismic test. The MV Pacific Sword, the main vessel used for seismic test was accompanied by supporting vessels from the Coast Guard, the DoE and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to prevent other vessels and fishermen from entering the 8.5 kilometer radius assigned to the seismic vessel.

Pamalakaya warned of severe fish crisis if government would not cancel all offshore mining activities in the Visayan Sea, adding that the far reaching effect of oil and exploration could lead to decrease of 600,000 metric tons in the yearly production of fish in the country or approximately 20 percent annually.

The fisherfolk group said the offshore mining in Central Visayas and other parts of the Visayan Sea will affect not less than 100,00 small fishermen and 500,000 dependents, will further exacerbate the problem of food security of 86 million Filipinos.

Pamalakaya said the left-and-right oil and gas exploration in the Visayan Sea will affect fish
production in Region VI composed of provinces Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental which account for an average for 350,000 metric tons of fish harvest per year, while Region VII composed of Negros Oriental, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor account for 205,000 metric tons of fish produced.

Region VIII made up of Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar and Southern Leyte yield and average of 100,000 metric tons of fish per year. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:48 | link | comments (1) |

Leftists welcome anti-GMA generals plan to unmask brains behind extrajudicial killings

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday welcomed the plan of a group of top military officials to supply Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with ammunition once the military rebel turned lawmaker begins probe on the military’s use of death squads to liquidate leftwing activists across the country.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the pieces of evidence in their possession would be of mammoth importance to unmask the brains behind the spate of political killings of militant activists and journalists critical of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“We appreciate the concern and help of anti-Arroyo generals on the unabated extrajudicial killings of our colleagues. President Arroyo and generals loyal to the ruling syndicate in Malacañang should prepare for a major political showdown once Senator Trillanes takes the Senate center stage and begins his probe on extrajudicial killings,” Hicap stressed.

One of the anti-GMA generals said Trillanes could use as his opening salvo information on how another general spoke openly about liquidating militant activists in Luzon. The source said the discussion took place during a command conference at which the general asked about the status of their supposed “mission” against militant groups.

The source said the military general was asking his men how many militants they had killed so far. The same source said another general present at the command conference that was fed up of the discussion phoned then AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga to ask if killing militant activists is a national policy of the government.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said Trillanes opening salvo that would investigate the involvement of military death squads on extrajudicial killings and the resurrection of the Hello Garci scandal has terrified the masterminds in Malacañang and the AFP.

“This is the reason why AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is doing all he can to stop Trillanes from investigating these two high explosive cases. The people in Malacañang’s war room are now preparing their next move to sabotage Trillanes probe and prevent the Senate from arriving at the truth about extrajudicial killings and Hello Garci,” the fisherfolk leader added.

Pamalakaya reminded President Arroyo, members of the National Security Cluster and Esperon that the Filipino electorate gave Senator Trillanes the real mandate in the May 14, 2007 elections and he is legally, constitutionally and morally empowered to investigate the rash of killings and the voluminous cases of election fraud in the May 2004 and 2007 national elections.

The militant group has urged Trillanes to have retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan testify on the alleged role of military death squad in the unabated political killings and abductions of leftwing activists across the country.

Aside from Gen. Palparan, Pamalakaya said Trillanes should also invite Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Defense secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Isafp chief Delfin Bangit and top commanders of the AFP in areas where extrajudicial killings and forced abductions of activists happened. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:47 | link | comments |

Leftists prefer to see Oliver Stone rather than Oliver North
Special report for Fox News on counterterrorism meant to justify US intervention in RP

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday said they would rather see Hollywood ace director Oliver Stone to visit the country and do a documentary film on US military intervention in the Philippines, instead of seeing a former American military officer involved in the shameless military arms scandal in the early 80s praising Washington for its counterterrorism involvement in the country.

“Mr. North is an extra ordinary military criminal with brutal records and super crimes against humanity. Why is it the Philippine government is tolerating this unwanted and unwarranted US military campaigner to undertake a sinister agenda against the sovereign rights of the people?” Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said in a press statement.

The group’s information chief said North is an undesirable alien, passing himself off as a Fox News war correspondent to make millions of dollars from promoting US intervention and war of aggression.

“Mr. Oliver North, the notorious man behind the sale of antitank and antiaircraft weapons to Iran to order to generate funds to support the Washington backed Nicaraguan contra rebels in the 80s should not be allowed to make documentary films in the Philippines to advertise and promote US military intervention in the Philippines,” Corpuz added.

“The special report Mr. North is doing for Fox News about the success of US counterterrorism project in the Philippines is nothing but a political advertisement aimed to convince the American people to support US President George W. Bush campaign on war against terror and justify the Philippine conversion into imperialist America’s second front against global terrorism,” Corpuz said.

The Pamalakaya spokesperson said he would prefer to see Stone, the three time Oscar Academy winner director and screenwriter make films in the Philippines about the harsh impacts of US war in the country in the tradition of his Vietnam war movies as depicted in his highly politicized films like Platoon in 1986, Born on the Fourth of July in 1989 and Heaven and Earth in 1993 which

North yesterday paid a visit at the Philippine National Police (PNP) national headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City to interview ranking police officers on the war against terrorism. The controversial former US military officer is in the country for two weeks doing reports for Fox News, including the $ 10-million reward given recently by the US government to four Filipino formers instrumental to the deaths of Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Soliman.

North, host of Fox News’ War Stories praised the Philippine military for its successful drive against Abu Sayyaf bandits in Mindanao, saying the strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the Filipino people is contributing a lot in the success of the Philippine government campaign to combat terrorists in the country.

Pamalakaya’s Corpuz said Malacañang should not have allowed North to enter the country and make documentary films that would insult the collective intelligence and interest of “peace loving and anti-unjust war people across the globe”.

“Malacañang allowed North to make propaganda films that would put premium to Washington’s all-out military intervention and war of aggression in the Philippines. This is wrong, very wrong, a direct affront to every Filipino’s sovereign right,” he added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:46 | link | comments (2) |

Militant fishers mourn death of Bayan Muna leader in Bohol

A leader of the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said their fisherfolk members in Cebu, Bohol and Leyte has lost a father, a big brother and a dearly comrade upon the demise of Bayan Muna-Bohol Secretary General Mario Auxillo, who was shot by a single assailant Friday night at the public market of Bien Unido town in Bohol.

“This is tragic. We lost a wonderful father on the occasion of Father’s Day. The killing machinery of the Macapagal-Arroyo government strikes again with the cold-blooded murder of a true-blue crusader working for the emancipation of small fisherfolk in Central and Eastern Visayas and across the country,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“We hold the Arroyo administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines responsible and accountable for the gruesome murder of Auxillo,” Hicap added.

Hicap said Auxillo, 50, a resident of Barangay Kabiguhanm Trinidad town, had just finished a meeting with Pamalakaya members in Bohol at around 11:30 pm on Friday, when the assailant shot him in the head and left arm.

“Our leaders in Bohol informed us that Auxillo was having a discussion with Pamalakaya members regarding their long-time concern about the mush rooming of bogus fish sanctuaries and the left and right human rights violations and assassination attempts carried by the Bohol police against small fishermen caught fishing near these eco-tourism oriented projects,” he said.

“He was performing his political and moral duty to uphold the basic interests and human rights of small fishermen in the area at the time he was summarily executed by the hired killer of the state,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

Hicap said, Auxillo as Bayan Muna secretary general in Bohol was also the Pamalakaya campaign coordinator against offshore mining in Cebu-Bohol Strait and Cebu-Leyte Strait and illegal fishing in Central and Eastern Visayas. The militant fisherfolk leader said the slain Bayan Muna leader was also coordinating the activities of Pamalakaya-Leyte chapter with Pamalakaya chapters in Cebu and Bohol.

Pamalakaya said the assailant came from the Philippine Army’s 15th Infantry Battalion based in Bohol, the same military unit accused of attacking Bayan Muna leaders and other militant leaders and members of peasant and fisherfolk groups in the province.

“Of course the killer was not sent from heaven above to assassinate Auxillo. The killer was handpicked by the national security cluster in Malacañang, trained inside the camp of the 15th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army, armed by the intelligence unit of the Philippine Army, and was tapped to perform the assassination plot, while everybody is still having a political hangover of the last May 14, 2007 elections,” the militant fisherfolk group said.

Hicap said the Pamana-Sugbo, the Pamalakaya chapter in Cebu and other militant groups are set to stage a fluvial protest in Cebu City next week to condemn the brutal murder of Auxillo. He said another protest will be staged in Bohol next week to demand for an all-out investigation on the Auxillo case and the immediate capture of the Bayan Muna assailant and the prosecution of the brains behind the killing. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:26 | link | comments |

“AFP plan to buy P 5 B new helicopters is extremely immoral”, says Pamalakaya

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Sunday rebuked the plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to buy new helicopters from the P 5 billion AFP modernization fund released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last week.

“The plan is extremely immoral, grossly insulting and highly revolting. It is like serving Butter Ball brand turkeys in silver platter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s most favored military generals to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.

“Millions of people are dying of hunger and starvation and this statement of fact has been continuously ignored by the Arroyo presidency in favor of reactionary AFP, war freak generals and all-out war hardcore in the military establishment,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Hicap said the released of P 5-B for the purchase of new helicopters showed that the priority of the Macapagal-Arroyo government is its’ senseless and unjust war against the people, adding that Malacañang merely allotted P 1-B peso for its anti-poverty, anti-hunger campaign, which is way below compared to the budget allotted for the procurement of new choppers to be used for all-out military offensives in the coming months.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. announced last week that Malacañang has released five billion pesos to the AFP to purchase new helicopters as part of the government plan to modernize the military and upgrade its fighting capacity against communist and Moro insurgents across the country.

Andaya said the money for the procurement of new helicopters is subject to public bidding to prevent corruption, but it would be up for the AFP to determine the specifications and brand of new helicopters.

But Pamalakaya said the purchase of new helicopters is a preview of what President Arroyo and the military establishment intend to do with the implementation of the controversial Human Security Act, which the group and other critics of the anti-terror law believed would be used against all critics and staunch anti-Arroyo groups and personalities all over the country.

“The P 5 billion fund for the purchase of new helicopters is strongly attached to the sinister agenda of Malacañang and the AFP to pursue an all-out war against groups and people wanting to end Mrs. Arroyo’s regime of fraud, corruption and terror,” the group said.

Pamalakaya said the senators and congressmen who would assume their legislative work in the 14th session of Congress should be obliged to recall the P 5 billion budget for the purchase of new helicopters, saying the procurement of these war materiel is not in the interest of the Filipino public, and therefore should not be prioritized.

“Lawmakers should stop this military madness and make sure the P 5 billion fund will go to spending that would benefit the people like education, health, housing and other economic concerns of every Filipino citizen,” the group said.

Pamalakaya proposed to re-channel the P 5 billion budget allotted for procurement of fresh helicopters to the following concerns: additional P 1 billion budget for education, P 1 billion for health, P 1 billion for socialized housing, P 1 billion for the procurement of locally produced palay and P 1 billion for calamity fund. “We cannot eat helicopters, how come this government is hell bent in buying those irrelevant, immaterial and unwanted choppers? This government is insane, the military establishment is insane,” the group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:25 | link | comments |

Class war declared against move to extend CARP
Leftist groups to pit own version of land reform bill vs. Palace-backed CARP extension bill

Five rural based groups declared war against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s move to extend the implementation of what they called a bogus and anti-farmer Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

In a joint press statement, the leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Amihan peasant women federation, the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and Anakpawis party list said they would challenge in Congress the proposed bill prepared by Malacañang to extend the 19-year old land reform program from 2008 to 2018

In a meeting yesterday, President Arroyo promised to certify as urgent bill seeking to extend CARP for another 10 years. The extension would allow the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to distribute a balance of 1.077 million hectares of private agricultural lands under CARP, as well as provide infrastructure and marketing support beneficiaries.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the militants’ version of Genuine Land Reform Bill calling for a thoroughgoing land reform program will be ranged against the Palace version extending CARP’s life to another 10 years.

“Malacañang and DAR should expect a class war and agrarian revolt from the countryside folks which they would never forget and would surely regret. The class war against CARP and its extension begins in the opening of Congress in July 23, 2007,” Hicap said.

Hicap said Pamalakaya, KMP, Amihan, UMA and Anakpawis will conduct a nationwide research and consultations with peasant and fisherfolk groups to determine and specify concretely what would be the main democratic content of the genuine land reform bill.

“We hope to finish the first phase of the campaign that includes the drafting of the bill within three to six months, and then submit this to Congress for lobbying and deliberation. We are banking on the collective support of patriotic party list groups like Bayan Muna and Gabriela and other allies of the Filipino peasantry inside the House of Representatives,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Pamalakaya said they would also ask members of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to support the Genuine Land Reform Bill currently being drafted to replace the 19-year old CARP and counter any move that seeks to extend an agrarian reform program that brought injustice and death to millions of landless people in the countryside.

“We will ask the CBCP and if possible move heaven and earth for a divine intervention to clinch the bishops’ support for our agrarian reform interests concretely expressed in a bill authored by the beneficiaries themselves, and not by big landlords, corporate interests and power brokers in Malacañang,” the Pamalakaya leader added.

Hicap said they would personally ask CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop to allow their groups and resource persons to speak before church gatherings the importance of having the 19-year old CARP replaced with a pro-farmer, pro-fisherfolk land reform in order to liberate them from fiefdom and feudal bondage.

“Our leaders are willing to explain and expound on political and moral necessity of junking the old CARP and have it replaced with Genuine Land Reform law and program that emancipates the Filipino peasantry from centuries old feudal exploitation and oppression,” the Pamalakaya leader said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:24 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya welcomes Trillanes investigation on AFP death squad
Leftists want Palparan to first testify in Sen. Trillanes probe

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Friday urged Senator elect Antonio Trillanes IV to have retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan testify on the alleged role of military death squad in the unabated political killings and abductions of leftwing activists across the country.

“We request the Honorable Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to immediately summon the Butcher to testify before the Senate regarding his role in the mass murder of leftwing activists in Southern Tagalog, Eastern Visayas and Central Luzon,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap said aside from Gen. Palparan, Senator Trillanes should also invite the criminal gang behind the military special operations group which is composed of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Defense secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Isafp chief Delfin Bangit and top commanders of the AFP in areas where these extrajudicial killings and forced abductions of activists took place.

“The statement of Trillanes is promising. We will see the meat of this statement once he assumes his political role as anti-Arroyo lawmaker in the 14th session of Congress. In the name of public interest, we will persuade the idealist young officer to take the patriotic path and pursue the interest of the people in and out of the August chamber,” Hicap said.

“We hope Trillanes would succeed in his plan to unmask the special teams created by the AFP to carry out the campaign of extrajudicial killings and forced abductions of leftwing activists. This is a tough act to follow given the militarist and fascist orientation of political controllers in Malacañang and the AFP,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

The human rights group Karapatan has documented 864 cases of extrajudicial killings and 194 cases of forced disappearances under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said Trillanes plan to investigate the involvement of military elements from the intelligence service and units of the AFP is a welcome news, and such undertaking must be assured of its objectivity and honest intention to ferret out the truth and render justice to hundreds of victims of politically motivated killings and forced disappearances.

Pamalakaya reminded Trillanes that the Filipino electorate gave him the mandate to expose and oppose the criminal activities of the Macapagal- Arroyo administration and become more active in the fight of the broad anti-Arroyo movement to impeach and oust the incorrigible and demonic president in Malacañang

The militant fisherfolk also commended Trillanes for announcing his political plan supporting efforts to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Incoming Trillanes echoes the national and collective sentiment of the Filipino people to have the illegitimate, corrupt and brutal President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remove from public office. And we should give him credit for his never say die political battle cry,” Pamalakaya said.

The Pamalakaya leader likewise welcomed Trillanes plan to pursue charges against officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) involved in the alleged massive fraud. Trillanes said would reveal evidence on the supposed cheating operations perpetrated by Comelec officials in due time. “Comelec is a big disaster, a major disappointment and worse than the 2004 elections. Trillanes, who votes were chopped by over a million, should actively pursue his case against the cheating bloc of President Arroyo,” Hicap added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:23 | link | comments |

Militants raise specter of global
warming in opposing oil and gas exploration in Tañon Strait
Offshore mining produces 214,000 tons of air pollutants yearly, says Pamalakaya

Leftwing militants belonging to Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the oil and gas oil exploration that would be launched by Canada and Japan in Tañon Strait, a protected seascape will produce 214,000 tons of air pollutants yearly, one of the precursors of global warming.

Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said the Philippine government through the Department of Energy (DoE) entered a 7-year contract with Forum Exploration Inc. of Canada, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Japex) to conduct seismic surveys in the protected seascape to find out the oil and gas potentials of Tañon Strait.

Under the agreement, Forum and Japex will shell 3 million US dollars and six million US dollars respectively for the 7 year oil and gas exploration contract. If the reserve will yield more than the commercial need, both transnational corporations will enter into a 25-year contract with the Philippine government for extraction and control of oil and gas deposits in Tañon Strait.

According to National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), seismic testings produce an average of 214,000 tons of air pollutants per year. “214,000 tons of air pollutants per year times 7 years equal 1,498,000 tons of air pollutants in seven years. That is horrible, terrible and unpardonable,” Corpuz explained.

Citing another briefing paper prepared by the Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Center (Fidec), a non-government group working closely with Pamalakaya and other environmental groups in the region, Corpuz said the oil and gas exploration in the protected seascape could emit 50 tons of nitrogen oxides, 13 tons of carbon monoxide and 5 tons of volatile organic carbons.

“In the name of super profits and fat commissions, Malacañang, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Energy in conspiracy with the transnational giants of Canada and Japan are preparing the black carpet for the massacre of the Filipino people with their destructive off shore mining in Central Visayas and other parts of the archipelago,” Pamalakaya’s Corpuz stressed.

Pamalakaya said oil and gas drilling operations generate huge amounts of toxic materials discarded into sea waters. The group, quoting a study made by the National Academy of Sciences, said a single operation produces 1,500 tons to 2,000 tons of waster materials.

Among the toxic materials produced during oil and gas exploration are benzene, arsenic, zinc and other carcinogens and radio active materials routinely released during seismic surveys, and drilling proper.

Fish crisis

Pamalakaya said the country would face a severe fish crisis in the next 7 to 10 years if the national government won’t stop the massive oil hunt in the Visayan Sea affecting majority of the provinces in Region VI, VII and VIII.
“The great chase for oil and gas deposit in the name of Malacañang’s transnational clients may soon trigger a fish crisis that would cut domestic production by an average of 600,000 metric tons of fish and other marine products annually in the next seven to ten years.”

“A severe fish crisis is in the offing, unless this oil adventure escapade of imperialist oil nations is put to an end,” the group added. The possible decline, Pamalakaya said, represents 20 percent of the gross domestic fish production, which the group said would gravely affect the livelihood of not less than 150,000 fisherfolk, as well as the per capita fish consumption of every Filipino family.

Region VI composed of provinces Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental accounts for 349, 928 metric tons of fish harvested last year, while Region VII composed of Negros Oriental, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor accounts for 203,069 metric tons of fish produced and Region VIII made up of Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar and Southern Leyte yielded 96,233 metric tons in total fish production last year.
Pamalakaya said Forum and Japex, under the 7-year contract are allowed to impose a total fish ban in Tañon Strait. The group said small fisherfolk who would be caught fishing near the exploration area would be fined from P 20,000 to P 60,000.

Pamalakaya said the Macapagal-Arroyo government through the DoE and DENR may soon allow other foreign oil companies to undertake oil and gas exploration in the tradition of Tañon Strait gas exploration project in other bodies of water encompassing or enjoining the provinces of Masbate in Bicol, Northern and Western Samar, Leyte and Biliran in Eastern Visayas, Aklan, Iloilo and Capiz in Panay Island. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:03 | link | comments |

Pamalakaya study: CARP exempts 978,00 hectares of developed aquaculture areas

Staunch opponents of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) said nearly 1 million hectares of developed aquaculture areas in the country were exempted from the coverage of they called a bogus land reform program.

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said a total of 978,000 hectares of fishponds and aquaculture farms were spared from distribution to fisherfolk cooperatives and associations since 1988 in vain attempt to hasten production of export fish crops and meet the increasing demand of international market under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the US-engined globalization.

“From the start, CARP was meant to maintain social injustice and keep our fish workers in the concentration camps of large-scale aqua farms owned by big foreign and local fish lords,” lamented Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chair.

Hicap said of the 978,000 hectares of fishponds and aquaculture farms, only 253,854 hectares could be classified as “original fishponds” representing 14,531 hectares of freshwater and 239,323 hectares of brackish water, adding that the larger part or 724,146 hectares devoted to aquaculture came from converted agricultural lands and public lands.

“Big landlords in Central and Northern Luzon, Southern Tagalog ,Negros provinces and Mindanao island used CARP provision exempting commercial farms and aquaculture farms from the coverage of the bankrupt land reform program as leverage to deny our fish workers their legitimate right to own and cultivate these fishponds and aquaculture farms,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

In 1995, the Philippine Congress under former President Fidel Ramos enacted Republic Act 7881 exempting all areas devoted to fishpond and aquaculture production to encourage big landlords to engage in mass production of high value fish crops for export. From 1995 to 2000, a total of 125,000 hectares of prime agricultural lands and public lands were converted to fish ponds and prawn farms as a result of the new law passed by Congress.

The law likewise triggered the conversion of traditional fishing areas into mariculture parks. At present, there are 647,226 hectares of open coastal fishing grounds converted into mariculture parks, which are prevalent in Cebu and Bohol in Central Visayas, Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos provinces in Northern Luzon.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap said Speaker Jose de Venecia, one of the biggest landlords in the House of Representatives, is also engaged in fish pond and aquaculture production. The group said de Venecia owns AsiaPhil Fisheries Corp and has hundreds of hectares of fish ponds in Dagupan City.



The group said Senator Juan Ponce Enrile is also engaged in large-scale aquaculture through JAKA Aquaculture Corp., one of the companies affiliated with JAKA Enterprises. Hicap said the CARP exemption of fishponds and aquaculture areas “massacred” the right of 259,000 fish pond and aquaculture workers to benefit from these hectarages of aquaculture farms. “CARP is a national curse, an agrarian nightmare, nothing more, nothing less,” he added.

No to CARP extension

Pamalakaya is joining the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in calling for the junking of CARP and in opposing the plan to extend the land reform program beyond 2008. “We are ready to engage the landlord and fish lord dominated Congress in a class war and score a giant kill against CARP,” the group said.

Pamalakaya, KMP, the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) and the Southern Tagalog-based peasant group Kalipunan ng Samahang Magsasaka sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) will troop to Malacañang tomorrow to press the scrapping of CARP and to demand President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to abandon any plan that would extend the implementation of the anti-farmer land reform program.

Rally organizers said around 3,000 farmers and fisherfolk from Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon will try to reach Mendiola today to press the junking of CARP and the proposed Palace bill urging Congress to extend the implementation of the agrarian program for another 5 years from 2008 to 2013.

Pamalakaya, KMP and the party list group Anakpawis are drafting a new bill that that would express the Filipino farmers’ collective sentiment and interest. The groups said they intend to finish the alternative before the end of the year and submit it as a counter bill to Malacañang’s CARP extension bill.

“The farmers’ genuine land reform bill will be pitted against Malacañang CARP extension bill that breathes life to this worsening situation of landlessness and injustice,” Pamalakaya said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 04:01 | link | comments |

Militants want Rep. Iggy Arroyo probed
on murder of 2 Negros farmers
Pamalakaya seeks JdV commitment to “punish” erring presidential brother-in-law

Leftwing militants belonging to Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday urged House Speaker Jose de Venecia to initiate a congressional inquiry on Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo for allegedly using his influence in Malacañang to scuttle the installation of farmers in the Hacienda Velez-Malaga because of his supposedly close ties with hacienda owner Robert Cuenca.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap challenged de Venecia, a day after Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman condemned the killing of two land reform beneficiaries and the wounding of six other farmers in the a sugar plantation in Negros Occidental.

“We want a commitment from Speaker de Venecia, as well as from other incoming congressmen comprising the next House of Representatives. They should probe the presidential brother in-law and the extent of his political involvement in this land reform dispute that resulted to serial killings of land reform beneficiaries in Hacienda Velez-Malaga,” Hicap said in a press statement.

“The warlord Cuenca clan has been exercising this medieval, feudal type of atrocity, arrogance and sheer madness in Hacienda Velez-Malaga because power brokers and influential persons close or associated with Malacañang are practically and politically involved in this outright denial of peasant rights to land,” the militant leader added.

Hicap said the House of Representatives, whoever is the next speaker, should prioritize the investigation of Rep. Arroyo, adding that the House Committee on Ethics should welcome any move that would call for the investigation and possible expulsion of the Negros Occidental congressman from Congress.

“The Iggy Arroyo case in relation to Negros killing of farmer land reform beneficiaries is a test case to the next Congress. Whether it is a JdV or Pablo Garcia speakership, the House is politically obliged to look into this matter,” The Pamalakaya leader said.

Pamalakaya likewise asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the latest killing of two farmer beneficiaries and the wounding of six others by security guards employed by Cuenca.

“The CHR must step in and perform parallel work with Congress in investigating this cold blooded murder perpetrated by private armies of a criminal warlord in Negros Occidental, who happens to be a close associate of Rep. Arroyo,” the militant group said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:57 | link | comments |

Leftists warn “patriotic war” vs. RP-Japan trade pact

Opponents of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) warned of a looming patriotic war against the trade agreement, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would actively campaign for Senate ratification beginning July this year.

“Scores of street protests, active lobby at the Senate, all-out war in the court of public opinion and possibly at the highest court of the land against JPEPA will characterize the patriotic war to be launched by cause-oriented group against this second imperialist invasion of the Philippines by Japanese economic occupation forces,” the leftist fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said in a press statement.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said despite the fact that the next Senate will be dominated by the opposition, such political configuration is not an assurance that the trade treaty will be rejected by the new Senate.

“Many of the senators are willing to ratify JPEPA if the Japanese and the Philippine government would agree to eliminate the provision on dumping of toxic wastes. And if senators will just base their decision on that limited scope, they would be committing one of the biggest blunders in their entire political career as lawmakers,” Hicap asserted.

Hicap stressed: “The RP-Japan trade pact is not about dumping of toxic wastes alone. There are more controversial issues included in JPEPA, which are bigger, more sensitive and more catastrophic to the Filipinos. Ninety nine percent of JPEPA is all about Japan’s sinister agenda to takeover the country’s national patrimony and exploitation of Filipino labor and natural resources.”

Pamalakaya said the new Senate should allow an extensive debate on JPEPA, and bring the debate to the grassroots communities, state and private colleges and universities, government offices and business forums to inform the public about the agreement, the pros and cons about the issue since what is stake here is sovereign and patrimonial rights of 86 million Filipinos.

The militant group noted that among the present batch of senators, only opposition Senator Jamby Madrigal has openly declared her rejection of JPEPA. The rest of senators which include Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Richard Gordon, Pia Cayetano, Jinggoy Estrada, Mar Roxas, Ramon Revilla Jr., Lito Lapid and Juan Ponce Enrile were amenable to JPEPA if the toxic waste provision is remove from the agreement.






Pamalakaya said the present batch of incoming senators headed by Manuel Villar, Loren Legarda, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, Benigno Aquino III, Allan Peter Cayetano and Joker Arroyo were also amenable to JPEPA, provided that the controversial provision on toxic wastes will be deleted from the trade pact.

“The patriotic forces should work triple time to inform the senators about the real and entire nature and cruel intention of JPEPA. We should persuade them to decide on the side of the people guided by the framework of patriotism and love for national sovereignty and patrimony,” the militant group added.

Pamalakaya said under JPEPA, Japan will mobilize its 8,000-metric ton fishing vessels to catch tuna in the Philippines. The group said under Article 28, Section 3 of the agreement, the Philippine government will allow Japan to explore the country’s rich tuna resources particularly in Celebes Sea, Moro Gulf and other fishing areas known for their rich tuna deposits.

An initial study made by Pamalakaya said more than 180,000 fish workers in the tuna industry in South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos City and Davao will be affected by the entry of Japanese “tuna factory ships” in the country if JPEPA will be implemented.

Likewise, Pamalakaya said JPEPA will pave way for the entry Japanese substandard food, including Mercury infested fish in the country. The militant group said in the early 70s, over 100 Japanese either died or became very ill because of their exposure to methyl Mercury emanating from local industrial discharge that poisoned the nearby fishing grounds in Minimata, Japan.

Just recently, Pamalakaya said, China had tightened the quarantine of food imported from Japan after Chinese authorities found out that 30 batches of imported food from Japan failed to meet China’s quality rules on imported products.

Pamalakaya said Chinese food authorities found excessive sorbic acid found in Japanese fish sausages, which was 17 times higher than the 1.3g/kg allowed by Chinese sanitation authorities. In East China’s Shandong province, some frozen octopus and fish imported from Japan were found to contain dangerous bacteria that may cause meningitis and blood poisoning.

Pamalakaya said in Guangdong, South China, potato powder imported from Japan contained excessive sulfur dioxide while the cadmium content of some frozen oysters was five times higher than the permissible upper limit. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:39 | link | comments |

DoJ Secretary told to quit after SC chides
him on rebellion case vs. 6 leftist solons

Asserting that the Supreme Court decision junking the rebellion case against six leftist party list lawmakers was a resounding indictment, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday urged Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Raul Gonzales to quit his post and resign from public service.

“It is the end of the road for this aging, has-been, yet perennial law-breaking political animal in the Macapagal-Arroyo ruling syndicate,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

Hicap added: “Secretary Gonzales should take a bow, leave the premises of the DoJ permanently and face possible criminal charges emanating from his gross prostitution of the justice system in the name of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s political survival.”

The high court yesterday ordered the dismissal of rebellion case filed against militant lawmakers Satur Ocampo, Joel Virador and Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna, Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis and Liza Maza of Gabriela, saying that the use of “antics” and interjection of political considerations in the proceedings had turned them into a veritable “sham”.

The SC said Secretary Gonzales had prejudged the case citing the controversial justice secretary’s statement during the preliminary investigation of the rebellion cases where he said that the DoJ “will just declare probable cause” and leave it to the court to decide.

The high tribunal said that by peremptorily issuing subpoenas to petitioners to appear at hearings, by tolerating the complainants’ antics during the investigation, and distributing copies of a witness’ affidavit to members of the media, knowing that petitioners have not had the opportunity to examine the charges against them, respondent prosecutors not only trivialized the investigation but also lent credence to petitioners claim that the entire proceeding was a sham.

“For sure, Mrs. Arroyo and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita will still keep Secretary Gonzales as head of the injustice department, because that is his political forte. But the Filipino people and decent persons in the legal profession will find a way on how to evict this rabid Arroyo puppet from public office and national scene,” Pamalakaya’s Hicap added.

Pamalakaya also asked the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to disbar Secretary Gonzales and remove him from the membership list of the lawyer’s association, saying it one way of punishing an incorrigible colleague guilty of prostituting the legal profession in the name of an illegitimate, corrupt and brutal regime.

“It is about time for the IBP to make a punishing statement and concrete actions against Secretary Gonzales,” the group said.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 08:38 | link | comments |

Template by motime.com  |  header image credit: Markus Gann © www.begann.de