Statement on raiding of offices of activists in Bacolod City

Sanlakas condemns the raiding of the offices of and the arrests and detention of activists from National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), Bayan Muna and Gabriela in Bacolod City.

The raids, arrests and detention are part of the Duterte Government's Oplan Sauron, an aggressive, all-out anti-insurgency campaign being conducted in Negros through the combined forces of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

These acts are a display to silence, harass and intimidate progressive groups who remain critical of the Government's brazen disregard for fundamental rights and freedoms and rolling out of anti-worker and anti-poor economic policies such as TRAIN, Rice Tariffication Law, Contractualization, to name a few. Despite this, we will not be cowed.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Negros in fighting militarization and state terrorism.

We call on the people to condemn this latest episode of tyrannical abuse reminiscent of the dark days which Negros had had to endure under the Marcos Dictatorship.

#Resist

Sanlakas Statement on the Death of Gina Lopez

A Tribute to Gina Lopez

Sanlakas Statement on the Death of Gina Lopez

August 19, 2019

Today, we mourn with the millions of people whose lives have been touched by Gina Lopez.

Her unwavering commitment to instill in our consciousness the untapped and unseen wonders of the country’s flora and fauna has inspired many a movement for the protection of the environment. In her many endeavors, she brought together people from different backgrounds and walks of life with a new-found confidence that together anything is possible. She challenged big corporate interests in their environmentally-destructive projects such as mining and coal plants even if it meant putting herself directly at odds with many of her peers in the business community. But that is precisely what made Gina Lopez what she was: if it meant saving the environment, the vulnerable and voiceless communities, she was willing to fight the world for it. She was tireless, unrelenting and stubbornly passionate. For all these, she was loved.

Gina Lopez reminded the people of how little we have given when we could give so much. No doubt, Gina Lopez was born to a world of opulence but she chose to deny herself the worldly desires that laid at the tip of her fingertips for she saw the urgency of action.

She lent her voice to the lumads and indigenous communities assaulted by mining corporations. She stood by the women and children devastated by coal operations. She dedicated her life to shedding light to the beauty offered by our lands, waters, mountains and seas.

To honor Gina Lopez is to soldier on in the fight against large-scale mining, against the next coal plant, against the violation of the indigenous peoples right to their ancestral domain, against pollution, against the wholesale plunder of our country’s natural resources.

When the Duterte Government turned its back on Gina Lopez by feeding her to the dogs of the congressional commission on appointment during her stint as DENR Secretary, we saw that the officialdom would have none of her genuine stewardship for the environment. We saw the same interests that Gina Lopez was up against opposed to her appointment. But when the Duterte-backed Congress rejected Gina Lopez, it no longer mattered. Because by then, Gina Lopez had already occupied a special place in our lives. She made us realize that after all, when Government willed it, it can make itself matter to the lives of the people.

In a world full of Dutertes, Marcoses, Arroyos, we are thus challenged: choose to be a Gina Lopez.

Rise above chauvinism

Sanlakas stands in solidarity with the 22 affected fisherfolks who, in their bid to eke out a living, braved the West Philippine Sea and figured in a mishap with a Chinese fishing vessel. That no assistance was rendered to them by the latter is deplorable as it is beyond comprehension. It is our undivided position: all Filipinos must be allowed to fish freely in the West Philippine Sea.

President Rodrigo Duterte has at his disposal billions worth of intelligence resources which should have been mobilized with haste to determine the real events which have resulted in the mishap, and ultimately to determine accountability. Instead, the President dilly-dallied and left the speaking to his minions who far from providing clarity have immediately exculpated the Chinese from any wrongdoing, and worse,trivializing the mishap as an ordinary accident. 

When finally Duterte spoke, he cautions the nation on the issue. While treading cautiously is the most prudent option for any officialdom given the emotionally-charged tension arising from the contradicting claims by both the Philippines and China over territories in the West Philippine Sea, doing so must not compromise our sovereign yet mutually shared interests.

The Recto Bank is no doubt found within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone. As such, as the coastal country we should exercise sovereignty over the resources in the area. Sanlakas is, however, of the position that the enjoyment of maritime resources should not be to the exclusion of all other countries in the region. Moreover, no one country, not even ours should resort to violence in the enjoyment of what should belong to all of humanity, a natural commons.

If any wrongdoing was committed by the Chinese vessel, its perpetrators should be made to answer in accordance with law without need to stoke chauvanistic sentiments that only benefit the warmongers and spoilers of peace. Neither should the matter give license to the further militarization of the West Philippine Sea - a growing eventuality given the hype being pumped by interests hell-bent on clipping China’s growing economic challenge to a single-hegemonic world order. The US and its allied military powers have deployed warships and military sea crafts in the area which only feed into the growing instability and insecurity in the region. 

It is most welcome for Duterte to allude to rules in dealing with the mishap hinting on the need to uphold due process on the matter where he has deliberately decided to err on the side of caution. If only he offered the same guarantee of due process to the tens of thousands of Filipinos killed in his bloody war on drugs, Duterte without doubt would have the moral ascendancy to command prudence. Unfortunately, he does not.

Sanlakas calls for an immediate independent, third party probe on the incident. 

We call on our kababayans to rise above chauvinism - extreme patriotism - a real challenge nowadays, but nonetheless a political imperative to ferret out the truth and frustrate attempts to militarize the West Philippine Sea.