Statement: Live the spirit of Bayanihan ang Unleash the Power of the Organized Masses

A CHALLENGE TO THE DUTERTE REGIME:

LIVE THE SPIRIT OF BAYANIHAN AND UNLEASH THE POWER OF THE ORGANIZED MASSES

The President appeals for Bayanihan to combat the menace of COVID 19. But asking the people to timidly stay at home and practice physical distancing belies the true spirit of Bayanihan.

Bayanihan is not just about cooperation nor simply conforming to rules. It is more about solidarity and action of the people to overcome enormous challenges in life such as the COVID 19 pandemic.

Much has been said about the weaknesses of current government efforts to effectively fight the growing COVID 19 epidemic. More than oneness and adequacy in our government efforts, the colossal task of defeating an invincible adversary like the COVID 19 can only be accomplished by both government and the people willing to survive and return to their normal daily lives.

The urgency to end and be victorious against the current health challenge will need more than funds but physical power. Our front liners have been extended to its limits. Doctors and other health workers have succumbed to infections and died. Even our state forces have been likewise susceptible to the dreaded disease. The protracted war against COVID 19 is taking its toll on the health and lives of all of those in the frontline. No one is safe and imperishable at this time unless we truly flatten the curve.

Hence, we call on the Duterte government to live up to the true spirit of Bayanihan. Unleash the enormous power of the organized masses in the community. The workforce of the organized masses is society’s reserve army against such social menace. Unleash it and utilize it to supplement our current frontline. A community based-approach that taps the reserved force of the organized working people can help government effort to effectively combat COVID 19 at the community level. Much can be done at the community level to augment our front liners. All is needed is to unleash it and make it part of our social warriors against the epidemic.

⚫️ Utilize our organized communities to make masks, gloves and makeshift protective gear. Supply them with materials and procure it for our mass consumption;

⚫️ Organize community laundry washers to provide service to our front liners;

⚫️ Utilize organized workers in the community to augment our barangay forces, in maintaining not only peace and order but ensuring that we maintain effective social distancing and quarantine;

⚫️ Create community kitchens in every community not only to feed our frontlines but also our poor people;

⚫️ Tap our displaced workers to act as logistics volunteers to ensure more efficient deliveries of goods and services;

⚫️ Encourage farmers and fishers’ groups to engage in community gardens for local food production; and,

⚫️ Task our LGUs to utilize our stranded construction workers to build quarantine facilities.

More can be said and done if you unleash this potent force sitting in our communities The spirit of BAYANIHAN is the spirit of united collective action. The true spirit of Bayanihan is believing in the capacity and power of the people.

Meanwhile, as to funding requirements, we suggest that the employers sector - especially the top ten billionaires that is collectively worth P1.6 trillion - to finance the anti-COVID drive. You were the first to benefit during times of economic prosperity. Is it too much to ask for you to be first to sacrifice in times of crisis? Do consider the proposal of purchasing billions worth of zero interest government securities. The odds are not even a loss nor a breakeven (tabla-talo). You own most firms that produce the people's needs and facilitate the circulation of money and commodities. All of this will eventually end up to line your pockets but before it does, it will trickle down to feed and cater to the needs of a hungry and quarantined population. #

Bakit sinasabing ang relihiyon ay opyo sa mamamayan?

Bakit sinasabing ang relihiyon ay opyo sa mamamayan?

Saliksik at sanaysay ni Greg Bituin Jr.

Ang isa sa madalas sipiing pahayag ni Karl Marx ang “Religion is the opium of the people”. Salin umano ito mula sa Aleman ng "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes". Makikita ang pahayag na ito sa sulatin ni Karl Marx na "A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right" na nalimbag sa Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, na nalathala  sa Paris noong Pebrero 7 & 10, 1844. Ngunit parirala lang ito sa buong pangungusap na  "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people". Salin ko ay "Ang relihiyon ay buntong-hininga ng inaapi, puso ng isang walang pusong mundo, at ang kaluluwa ng walang kaluluwang kalagayan. Ito ang opyo sa mamamayan".

Marahil ay may paniwala si Marx na ang relihiyon ay may ilang mga praktikal na gamit sa lipunan tulad ng opyo para sa maysakit upang mabawasan ang agarang pagdurusa ng mga tao at binigyan sila ng mga kasiya-siyang ilusyon (ang relihiyon) na nagbigay sa kanila ng lakas na magpatuloy. Nakita rin ni Marx na mapanganib ang relihiyon, dahil pinipigilan nito ang mga tao na makita ang pagkakaiba sa uri, at pang-aapi sa kanilang paligid. Kaya pinipigilan ng relihiyon ang kinakailangang rebolusyon.

Dugtong pa ni Marx, "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the  demand  for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo." Isinalin ko na "Ang pagpawi ng relihiyon bilang ilusyon ng kasiyahan ng tao ang hinihingi upang matamo nila ang tunay na kasiyahan. Ang panawagan sa kanilang tigilan na ang ilusyon tungkol sa kanilang kalagayan ay panawagan sa kanilang mapigil na ang kalagayang nangangailangan ng ilusyon. Kaya, ang kritisismo sa relihiyon, sa buod, ay kritisismo sa mga bula ng luha kung saan ang relihiyon ang sinag sa ulo."

Ang relihiyon ay nagsisilbing opyo upang matiis ng tao ang kanilang abang kalagayan, at umasa na lang sa diyos upang lumaya sa kahirapan. Mapalad nga raw ang mahihirap, ayon sa Sermon at the Mount. 

Kaya sa awiting Imagine nga ni John Lennon ay may linyang  "Imagine there's no heaven, its easy if you try" at "Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too. Imagine all the people livin' life in peace." Nakita na rin ni John Lennon na pag nawala ang organisadong relihiyon ay maniniwala ang tao sa sama-sama nilang lakas upang baguhin ang bulok na sistema. Iyon din ang kailangan natin ngayon, dahil ayon nga sa awiting Internasyunal, "Wala tayong maaasahang Bathala o Manunubos, pagkat ang ating kaligtasan ay nasa ating pagkilos."

* Unang nalathala sa kalahating pahina ng pahayagang Taliba ng Maralita, ang opisyal na publikasyon ng Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML), isyu ng Abril 1-15, 2020, pahina 18.

Duterte: Palpak sa Harap ng Matinding Pandemiko

DUTERTE, PALPAK SA HARAP NG MATINDING PANDEMIKO

isinulat ni: Kathy P. Unan

Ika-dose ng Marso nang unang ianunsyo ng pangulong Duterte ang pagsasapatupad ng community quarantine sa National Capital Region bilang tugon sa banta ng COVID-19 sa bansa. Kaakibat ng nasabing community quarantine ang pagsuspinde ng klase, pagbawal ng mga pagtitipon, pagsuspinde ng trabaho sa karamihan ng mga opisina ng pamahalaan, at paghikayat na sumunod ang pribadong sektor sa flexible work arrangement upang malimit ang galaw ng mga tao sa Maynila at maiwasan ang malawakang pagkahawa sa COVID-19, ang sakit na dala-dala ng bagong virus.

Lumobo ang bilang na ito sa 142 matapos ang apat na araw at inanunsyo ng Pangulong Duterte ang isang Luzon-wide “enhanced community quarantine”. Kasama nito ang mas matinding mga pagbabawal tulad ng pagsasatupad ng curfew, pagsuspindi ng trabaho maliban sa mga may kinalaman sa pagbibigay ng serbisyong pangkalusugan at sa pagbebenta ng pagkain, at pagsara ng mga pampublikong transportasyon sa kabuuan ng Luzon; ang mga hindi susunod sa polisiyang mamalagi muna sa sari-sariling tahanan ay maaaring dakipin ng pulis o militar na agarang namobilisa ng presidente upang ipatupad ang effective “lockdown”. Tila naging modelo ng pamahalaan ang mga polisiyang unang ipinatupad sa Tsina kung saan unang kumalat ang virus.

Kapansin-pansin sa mga anunsyo ng pangulo ang hindi pagbanggit ng mga probisyong medikal upang sugpuin ang paglaganap ng COVID-19 sa bansa. Ito ay sa gitna ng apela ng mga ospital para sa karagdagang pera, pasilidad at kagamitan at sa gitna nang natukoy nang kakulangan sa testing kits para sa COVID-19. Wala ring imik ang presidente tungkol sa mga manggagawang lubusang maapektuhan ng kawalan ng trabaho sa panahon ng lockdown; pinasa na lang nito ang responsibilidad ng pagbigay ng kagyat na tulong sa lokal na pamahalaan. Sa halip, pinaka-litaw sa lahat ng anunsyo ng pangulo ang pagpapalawak ng presensya ng pulis at militar sa ating pamayanan. Dahil dito, naging maigting ang hinaing ng marami na magbigay ang Pangulo ng “solusyong medikal, hindi militar”.

Ngunit sa halip na palakasin ang ating sistemang pang-medikal, lalo lang pinaiigting at pinapalawak ng pamahalang Duterte ang kapangyarihan ng militar bilang tugon sa paglaganap ng COVID-19. Ang taktikang ito ng pangulo na sumandal sa pwersang militar para sugpuin ang kahit anong kinikilala niyang problema ay hindi na bago. Nakita na natin ito sa pagpatupad ng Martial Law sa Mindanao at sa pekeng War on Drugs. Nakikita natin ito sa bawat pagtalaga ng retiradong heneral sa kaniyang gabinete. Ngayon, ang nakatalagang mamuno sa pagpapatupad ng National Action Plan laban sa COVID-19 ay hindi ang kalihim ng Kagawarang Pangkalusugan, na siyang dapat ay may alam sa isang krisis medikal, kung hindi ang kalihim ng Kagawaran ng Tanggulang Pambansa, ang dating Major General Lorenzana, ang kalihim ng Kagawaran ng Interyor at Pamahalaang Lokal, ang retiridong Heneral Año, ang kalihim ng DSWD, retiridong Lt. Gen. Bautista, at ang mga pinuno ng miltar at kapulisan.

Lalong hindi na bago sa atin ang retorika ng pangulo. Kahit ang suliranin laban sa COVID-19 ay hinahalintulad niya sa “digmaan” kung saan ang Coronavirus ay, sa kaniyang sariling salita, nagsisilbing “invisible enemy”.

Mahalagang maintindihan na ang pagtalaga ng pangulo sa virus bilang kalaban ay taktika lamang upang mabigyang-katwiran ang paggamit niya ng pwersa. Pilit na pilit ni Duterteng ipakitang may ginagawa siya kahit wala naman talagang nalulutas na problema ang pwersang ito. Kailan ba mapapatay ng baril ang isang virus?

At ngayong hirap na nga itong sugpuin ang COVID-19, humingi na naman ang pangulo ng emergency powers na sa porma at itsura ay pagbabalik lamang sa batas militar.

Napasa man ang batas para bigyan ng “special powers” ang pangulo, napasa ito nang alinsunod sa kagustuhan ng senado na mailimita ang kapangyarihang nakalagay sa bersyong unang naihain ng pamalahaan. Natanggal ang mga probisyon na magbibigay ng kapangyarihan sa pangulong mamahala ng kung anumang korporasyon at mga batayang serbisyo, arbitrayong maglipat ng pondo ng gobyerno mula sa isang proyekto patungo sa iba, at pagkukulong at pagmumulta ng mga hindi susunod sa gobyerno.

Ngunit lumipas na lang ang ilang araw at hindi pa rin natutugunan ng pamahalaang Duterte ang pangangailangan ng mga ospital, mga frontliners, at mga ordinaryong mamamayang ngayon ay naghihirap dahil sa kawalan ng trabaho.

Mapapatanong ka na lang - para saan ba talaga ang nabigay na emergency powers sa ating kinauukulan? Bakit ang bagal bagal pa rin ng pagdating ng serbisyong kinakailangan ng mamamayan?

Klarong-klaro. Ang Presidente natin ay isang inutil na macho-pasista na hanggang pananakot at salita lang. Dumadami ang mga taong nakikita ang katotohanang ito. Alam ito ng pangulo, at dahil alam niya ito, sasandal at sasandalan niya ang pwersang militar at kapulisan upang manatili ang hawak niya sa kapangyarihan. Walang pinag-iba si Duterte sa ibang mga pulitikong gumawa nito.

Ngunit kailangan niya, at kailangan natin, tandaan – hindi natatakot ang virus sa mga baril at batuta na dala nila. Ang tanging makakatalo sa COVID-19 ay gamot at doktor. Ngunit bunga ng hindi kahandaan ng gubyernong tugunan ang tunay na pangangailangan ng mamamayan, gagawin niya nalang ang tanging bagay na sanay na sanay na siyang gamitin: pahirapan ang ordinaryong mamamayan at uring manggagawa. ##

APRIL 1, 2020

BMP condemns arrest of QC protestors

Press Statement

01 April 2020

BMP condemns arrest of QC protestors

The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) condemns the arrest and dispersal of urban poor residents of Sitio San Roque, who were holding a noise barrage near their community along EDSA this morning. The residents were seeking for food and assistance from the government.

In this time of crisis, food and state assistance are just and legitimate demands. Hunger and desperation are natural consequences of the state-imposed, ill-conceived enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). This is further exacerbated by the inept and disorganized response of agencies and local government units all over the country.

Fact is, these households already belonged to the poor and near-poor economic brackets even before the COVID 19 outbreak, the administration of President Duterte should have placed these communities on the top of their priorities and should heavily considered their plight when they decided to implement the ECQ.

To arrest hungry and desperate people is a new low for this administration. Not only did they dilly-dally in addressing the crisis in late February, the government treated the health crisis as a peace and order issue and deployed security forces instead of medical practitioners.

Protests similar to what was held in San Roque today will not be an isolated case. More and more people are questioning and rising up against the violent yet impossible implementation of ECQ in urban poor communities similar to the cases of Quiapo, Taguig and elsewhere. More community actions and marches shall burst open in the days to come as Duterte and minions continue to dismiss the calls for free mass testing and fail to guarantee food rations for all families.###

Labor fed bares ‘unjust’ employer practices during pandemic

Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms - SUPER

March 28 at 9:39 PM

PRESS RELEASE MARCH 28, 2020

Labor fed bares ‘unjust’ employer practices during pandemic

Labor federation Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (SUPER) released March 28 its first list of employers who have engaged in “unjust” practices, such as “no work, no pay” schemes, layoff/retrenchment, and “endo” during the Luzon-wide lockdown arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a labor survey conducted between March 19 and 22 with verified complaining workers, SUPER gathered 318 reports of unjust employer practices of 160 companies during the Coronavirus crisis.

These reports include companies that are allegedly using the crisis to justify illegal termination of its workers (11 companies), workers made to work under the “no work, no pay” scheme but without transport being provided; (81 companies), flexible work arrangements but with reduced pay (28 companies), suspension of work without pay (98 companies) coupled with refusal to apply for the financial assistance programs being offered by the Department of Labor (56 companies).

“Malacanang’s only response to the COVID-19 pandemic is strict quarantine, without giving thought to the economic dislocation except that it gave a mere suggestion to employers to address their workers’ needs,” Luke Espiritu, National President of SUPER, said.

According to Espiritu, the survey proves that reliance on employer volunteerism is farcical because rather than cooperating with their workers in this time of crisis, employers tend to take advantage of the situation to deepen the precarious nature of work.

The Department of Labor has created financial assistance programs for workers affected by work suspensions such as the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), however, Espiritu said that it cannot be accessed directly by the workers and they have to wait for management to accomplish and file the necessary forms with the regional labor office.

“There are a lot of companies that simply refuse to apply even if the procedure for the program is simple. The amount of assistance is very little, only P5,000, but at least it could have helped our workers.” Espiritu added.

The list is currently being relayed in official correspondence to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and their respective local government units where the companies are located.

In addition, the list of companies practicing these policies will be updated regularly to increase public pressure and force companies to do their part to “flatten the curve.”

A second survey is being conducted starting on March 28 until April 5, which will include employers who are not issuing personal protective equipment (PPE) to their employees or practice social distancing, and refusing to pay unionized workers with paid emergency leaves provided in their collective bargaining agreements.

Emergency powers for COVID19: The same politics of plunder and patronage but dressed in surgical masks and protective equipment

PRESS STATEMENT

March 23, 2020

BMP - SANLAKAS - PLM

Emergency powers for COVID19: 

The same politics of plunder and patronage but dressed in surgical masks and protective equipment

Today, March 23, we are expecting Congress to hold a special session and grant emergency powers to Duterte as requested by Malacañang. 

The supermajority in both Houses will ensure that the president will have his way, not out of deep concern for a people who face uncertainty due to the COVID19 pandemic but from a deeply-ingrained SOP (standard operating procedure) of opportunism and political patronage.

The crux of the request is for the Executive to juggle funds and cancel appropriations made by Congress in the FY 2020 budget, in an attempt to immediately channel finance into decisive steps to address COVID19, which includes the take-over of health services and facilities. 

We would leave the determination of this usurpation of the legislative power of the purse to the lawmakers, or to the Supreme Court, if the request, once accorded, is taken to the judiciary for interpretation for violations to the Constitution.

For the toilers and the propertyless, the question is “ Would the granting of emergency powers, as requested, lead to expedient and effective measures to address the health crisis”? Not really.

The president does not need more power to address this issue. Much power and privilege is already concentrated in his hands as chief executive. 

Even without changing the budgetary appropriations, Duterte could easily initiate the massive mobilization of logistics, finances and personnel to diligently follow the procedures by global health experts on how to combat the COVID19 scourge. He had the power to impose a travel ban from Wuhan/Hubei from as early as January. He had the discretion to declare a health emergency as suggested by the Health Department in latter February. 

He could have done all this but he did not; downplaying the virus as a little fire to be put out by his urinary excretions.

Then, in early March, he hurriedly imposed a quarantine/lockdown for NCR then and Luzon, without preparing the prerequisites for the successful implementation of his drastic presidential order (transportation and protective equipment for frontliners, income replacement and subsidies for temporarily displaced workers from the formal and informal sectors, steady flow of basic needs, etc).

Too much power yet too lacking not just in political will and decisiveness but more so in genuine concern to the safety and welfare of the Filipino people.

The regime may counter that this request for “emergency powers” represents a sudden turnaround from its past blunders (though they are too egotistical and arrogant to admit to mistakes).

However, the Marawi case is a starker revelation to the devastating effects of granting “emergency powers” to Duterte. The so-called restoration of the war-torn city did not materialize. The billions of rechanneled funds and foreign aid now untraceable. Emergency powers ultimately lead to brazen and unashamed plunder since the normal procedures of transparency, audit, and accountability are deemed inapplicable in ‘emergency situations’.

The legislators, mostly in the House supermajority, would not oppose the reallocation of the budget for the COVID crisis, through the emergency powers of the chief executive. They know too well that it would be coursed to local government units “through the intercession of their good offices to their almighty Tatay”. 

This is the same politics of plunder and patronage. Though this time with Duterte in front, handing out relief goods, wearing a surgical mask to hide his blush of shame for past misdeeds and blunders.

Yet, for the sake of the people, we propose the following adjustments to two major measures in the fight against COVID19: (a) social distancing and proper hygiene: not by draconian measures that regard the masses as the problem but by encouraging mass participation and initiative to dispel the view that Filipinos are inherently undisciplined, (b) mass testing in critical areas and eventual isolation, recovery and treatment of patients (which necessitates a rejection of VIP testing for its wasteful use of scarce and much-needed test kits, testing should prioritize frontline workers due to their proximity to the deadly virus) and (c) requisition of private facilities such as hotels and hospitals to serve as quarantine or isolation centers for those who have tested positive for the COVID-19 where proper medication and care can be afforded to them.

However, we call on our kauri and kamanggagawa to stretch ourselves, go beyond narrow struggles for economic gain, and tackle the questions of politics and governance to the millions of Filipino workers, as they face the ineptitude of the ruling clique (which will literally kill us all), the weak rival elitist faction, the looming economic slowdown locally and globally, and a pandemic that highlights all the contradictions of the prevailing capitalist global order. #

Environmental Planning Day of the Philippines tuwing Nobyembre 8, imbes Yolanda, ibang bansa ang pinagbatayan

PROKLAMASYON BLG. 847 (nilagdaan Nobyembre 15, 2019)

DEKLARASYON NG NOBYEMBRE 8 BILANG

“ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING DAY OF THE PHILIPPINES”

Opisyal na idineklara ng pamahalaan ang Proklamasyon 847 na ang Nobyembre 8 ay "Environmental Planning Day of the Philippines". 

Subalit bakit Nobyembre 8? Ayon sa batas, ito’y isinabay nila sa "World Town Planning Day”, subalit mas maganda sana, mula sa sariling karanasan ng bansa ang dahilan ng kanilang pagsasabatas nito. Dahil ang petsang ito’y paalala sa atin sa naganap na bagyong Yolanda noong Nobyembre 8, 2013 kung saan mahigir animnalibong katao ang sinasabing namatay sa Tacloban at mga karatig-pook. Di ba’t dapat talagang may “environmental planning” bilang paghahanda sa anumang kalamidad na mangyari, tulad ng lindol, baha, bagyo, at iba pa. Bakit hindi naisip ng mga mambabatas na sa naganap na Yolanda ang dahilan ng petsang Nobyembre 8? Wala ba silang malay sa ating kasaysayan? O wala silang pakialam? Dapat may pagpaplano talaga sa pangkapaligiran upang maiwasan ang ganitong nasabing trahedya. Sumapit man ang kaparehong lakas ng Yolanda o mas matindi pa, may kahandaan ang bansa upang di gayon karami ang mamatay.

‎Layunin ng nasabing batas na kilalanin ang mahalagang papel ng mga environmental planner sa paghubog ng ligtas, maayos, at napapanatiling komunidad. Itinataguyod din nito ang kamalayan ng publiko sa kahalagahan ng pagpaplano sa kapaligiran upang maiwasan ang mga sakuna at mapabuti ang pamumuhay sa bansa. ‎Ilan sa nilalaman nito ay isinalin natin sa wikang Filipino upang mabasa ng ating mga kapatid na maralita:

SAPAGKAT, ginagarantiyahan ng Artikulo II, Seksyon 16 ng Konstitusyon ang karapatan ng mga tao sa isang balanse at malusog na ekolohiya alinsunod sa ritmo at pagkakaisa ng kalikasan;

SAPAGKAT, ang Artikulo XIII, Seksyon 9 ng Konstitusyon ay nag-uutos na ang Estado, sa pamamagitan ng batas at para sa kabutihang panlahat, ay dapat magsagawa, sa pakikipagtulungan sa sektor ng publiko, ng isang patuloy na programa ng reporma sa lupang urbano at pabahay, na magbibigay ng abot-kayang disenteng pabahay at mga pangunahing serbisyo sa mga mamamayang kapus-palad at walang tirahan sa mga sentrong urbano at mga lugar ng resettlement;

SAPAGKAT, kinikilala ng Republic Act No. 10587 o ang "Environmental Planning Act of 2013," ang kahalagahan ng pagpaplanong pangkapaligiran sa pagbuo ng bansa at pag-unlad ng ekonomiya;

SAPAGKAT, ang Nobyembre 8 ay ipinagdiriwang sa buong mundo bilang "World Town Planning Day," upang isulong ang kamalayan ng publiko at propesyonal sa lokal at internasyonal na pagpaplano, at upang mapataas ang kamalayan sa mga epekto sa kapaligiran na nagreresulta mula sa pag-unlad ng mga lungsod at teritoryo…

* Unang nalathala sa pahayagang Taliba ng Maralita, ang opisyal na publikasyon ng pambansang samahang Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML), Nobyembre 16-30, 2019, pahina 2.