SANLAKAS at BMP sa CoA: Isiwalat lahat!

Joint Press Release

23 Setyembre 2013

Militante sa CoA: Isiwalat lahat! 

Iginiit ng mga progresibong grupo sa Commission on Audit (CoA) na isiwalat sa publiko ang lahat ng audit reports nito at hindi lang yung paborable sa mga opisyal ng Palasyo. Sa partikular, hiling nila na isapubliko ang lahat ng report ng ahensya sa Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) at pondo mula sa kinita sa Malampaya para sa taong 2010 hanggang 2012.

Ito matapos nagbigay ng testimonya sa Blue Ribbon Committee ng Senado ang pangunahing whistler-blower na si Benhur Luy na hanggang sa taong 2012 ay nagawa ni Janet Lim-Napoles at mga kasabwat nitong mga mambabatas na maglihis papunta sa kanilang mga bulsa ang mga alokasyong PDAF at pondong Malampaya at ang mga special na report ng CoA ay limitado lamang sa mga taong 2007 hanggang 2009, mga taong matapos kumalas sa koalisyon ng dating pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang Partido Liberal ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino. 

“Bilang pinakatapat na tagapagbayad ng buwis, hinihiling namin ang buong katotohanan. Pinagnakawan at niloloko ng paulit-ulit ang sambayanang Pilipino ng mga pulitikong nagpapanggap na mga lingkod-bayan, ngayon naman ay lalo pa kaming iinsultuhin nitong CoA sa pagkukubli nito ng katotohanan at ang linalabas lamang ay ang mga report na may basbas ng Palasyo,” ani Leody de Guzman, pambansang tagapangulo ng militanteng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP).

Ayon sa mga raliyista, ang tanging motibo ng special audit report ng CoA sa PDAF at pondong Malampaya para sa taong 2007 hanggang 2009 ay para wasakin ang reputasyon ng nagdaang administrasyon na ang epekto naman nito ay pa-pogi sa kasalukuyang nakaupong Pangulo at hindi pa para bigyang hustisya ang taumbayang biktima ng pork barrel scam.

“Magsawa si Aquino kakasisi sa nagdaang rehimen ngunit hindi-hindi niya mapapahupa ang isang galit, mulat at palaban na mamamayan. Alam na ng lahat ng Pilipino na matagal nang mina-mastermnind ng mga nasa tuktok ng gobyerno ang korapsyon at nagaganap ito hanggang sa kasalukuyan. Sumabog na sa sariling mukha ni Aquino ang boladas niyang “tuwid na daan,” bintang ni de Guzman. 

Samantala sinabi naman ni Aaron Pedrosa, tagapagsalita ng grupong Sanlakas na, “Sa panahon ng sigalot, kailangan ng taumbayan ng inspirasyon at integridad, kahit pa siya’y ni Aquino appointee, kailangan sagpangin ng Commissioner Grace Pulido-Tan ang hamon ng ating panahon; kailangan magsilbi sa masa ang CoA at hindi sa pampulitikang interes ng Partido Liberal. 

Nangako ang mga grupo na maglulunsad pa ng iba’t-ibang pagkilos para patuloy na igiit ang pagsisiwalat ng lahat ng report hanggat hindi natitigil ang pagmamaniobra at pagiimpluwensiya ng Palasyo. Dagdag ni Pedrosa, “hanggang hindi nalalagpasan ang mga ‘to, hindi masisiwalat ang totoong kalagayang pampinansiya ng gobyerno ay sa huli’y, mananatiling biktima ng kawalan ng hustisya ang sambayanang Pilipino”.### 

SANLAKAS and BMP demand CoA to disclose all audit reports

Joint Press Release

23 September 2013

Groups demand CoA to disclose all audit reports, 

Says Filipinos deserve the truth

Progressive groups urged the Commission on Audit (CoA) to divulge to the public all audit reports and not only those favorable to Palace officials. The activists in particular, demanded the full disclosure of the audit reports of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Malampaya Fund for the fiscal years of 2010 to 2012.

This after state primary whistle-blower Benhur Luy testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that Janet Lim-Napoles and cohorts siphoned PDAF allocations and Malampaya funds up to 2012 and the agency’s special reports on the PDAF and Malampaya fund are limited to 2007 up to 2009, the years following the breakaway of the Liberal Party from the ruling coalition of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“As the most consistent taxpayers, the workers demand the truth, we deserve the truth. The Filipino nation has already been robbed and duped by numerous politicians posing as public servants and now, the CoA is literally adding insult to injury by concealing the truth and presenting only audit reports that have Malacanang’s blessing.” said Leody de Guzman, national chairperson of the militant Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP).

The protestors allege that the motive for the special audit report of the CoA on the PDAF and Malampaya Fund for the years 2007 to 2009 was to discredit the past administration and in effect will lead to the added credibility of the sitting President and not to serve justice to the indignant nation. 

“Aquino may play the blame game all he wants but he can never pacify an enlightened and vigilant people. All Filipinos know that corrupt practices have long been masterminded by those in the highest echelons of power and even up to the present regime. His daang matuwid rhetoric has imploded and reared its ugly head,” de Guzman charged.

Meanwhile Sanlakas spokesperson, Aaron Pedrosa said that, “In this period of turmoil the Filipino nation need a beacon of light that will dispel all uncertainty and exhibit integrity. Despite being an Aquino appointee, Commissioner Grace Pulido-Tan must accept the challenge of our times; the agency must genuinely serve the people and not the political interests of those in the Liberal Party. 

The groups vowed to sustain public pressure on the audit agency until all doubts of political maneuverings and undue influences are extinguished. Pedrosa added that, “not unless such obstacles are conquered, full disclosure of all government revenue and expenditure will never be achieved and our people denied of justice once again”.###

PR - Progresibong grupo: Ikulong silang lahat!

Joint Press Release

11 Setyembre 2013

Progresibong grupo: Ikulong silang lahat!

NAKIISA sa libong-libong galit na Pilipino ang mga progresibong organisasyong Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Sanlakas at ang Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML) sa tuloy-tuloy na nalalantad na sampung bilyong pisong pork barrel scam na kung saan sangkot si Janet Lim-Napoles at ilang mga Senador at Kongresista. 

Hiniling ng mga progresibo na ipakulong ang lahat ng mga nasasangkot batay sa testimonya ng mga lumutang na whistleblower at ang special audit report ng Commission on Audit. Idinamay na rin nila ang lahat ng mga patuloy na nagtatanggol sa bulok ng sistemang pork barrel. 

Naniniwala ang BMP na bulok hanggang sa kaibuturan ang buong kasalukuyang sistemang pampulitika sa bansa. Ang lahat ng mga senador at kongresistang nakipagkuntsabahan sa mga opisyal sa sangay ng Ehekutibo para mapasakanila ang pondo ng mamamayan ay nagkasala ng sistematikong pandarambong at pagsasakatuparan ng sistemang TRAPO na nagbunga ng patronage politics, pampulitikang dinastiya at naglalako ng impluwensiya sa mga polisiya para sa pansariling interes. 

“Ang pulitikang TRAPO ang siyang dahilan para nagpatuloy at lumala pa ang pandarambong sa kaban ng bayan habang ang malawak na anakpawis ay pinanatiling baon sa kahirapan at kapighatian. Sobra na ang TRAPO, sobra na ang sistema nila! Kailangan nang palaganapin ang mga protesta tungo sa makabuluhang pagbabago ng sistema, sabi ni Leody de Guzman, ang Pambansang Tagapangulo ng BMP. 

“Ang pagkakadawit ng ilang opisyal ng mga Kagawaran ng Agrikulura at Budget at Management at mga ahensyang nagpapatupad ng mga proyektong nagmula sa Priority Development Assistance Fund gaya ng National Agribusiness Corporation sa ilalim ng Ehekutibo ay nagpapakita lamang na nangaanak ang sistemang ito ng isang gobyernong nagkaka-anyo ng isang “ligal” at organisadong sindikato na ang modus operandi ay pagnakawan ang mamamayan ng kanilang karapatan sa isang desenteng buhay. Kailangan mabulok silang lahat sa bilangguan,” dagdag ni De Guzman. 

Justice delayed is justice denied

“Ngayon na nakapiit si Napoles at naghihintay ng kanyang paglilitis sa mga kasong sibil at kriminal, sana’y bumilis ang gulong ng hustisya at mapahirapan siya ng husto sa bawat sentimong ninakaw niya,” sabi naman ni Anthony Barnedo, Pangkalahatang Kalihim ng KPML sa National Capital Region at Rizal. 

Dinagdag din agad ni Barnedo na, “Bagamat nalulungkot kami na eksaktong dalawang linggo na ang nagdaan mula nang sumuko si Napoles kay Pangulong Aquino ay walang kahit isang naisasampang kaso ang Department of Justice at Philippine National Police laban sa kanya na may kaugnayan sa mahigit sampung bilyong pisong pork barrel scam”. 

Nangako ang mga organisasyon na ipagpapatuloy nila na itaas ang antas ng mga protesta na siyang magpapalakas sa loob ng taumbayan na sumanib sa nabubuong kilusang masa hangga’t hindi nawawakasan ang sistemang pork barrel sa bansa at hindi napaparusahan ang mga mandarambong.###

PR - Progressive groups: Jail ‘em all!

Joint Press Release 

11 September 2013

Progressive groups: Jail ‘em all!

PROGRESSIVE organizations Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Sanlakas and the Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML) today joined thousands of Filipinos angered by the unfolding 10 billion peso pork barrel scam involving Janet Lim-Napoles and several senators and congressmen.

The progressives demanded to imprison all those implicated in the testimonies of the whistleblowers and the special audit report of the Commission on Audit and those who continue to defend the graft-riddled pork barrel system. 

The BMP believes that the entire current political system is rotten to the very core. Every Senator and Congressman who connived with officials of the Executive branch to siphon peoples’ funds in order to fatten their bank accounts are guilty of systematic plunder and of perpetrating the TRAPO system that engenders patronage politics, political dynasties, and influence peddling in policy and legislation for partisan interests.

“It is TRAPO politics in turn that has allowed the continued and unmitigated plunder of the coffers of the Filipino people while the large majority of the toiling masses have been kept in poverty and misery. Enough with TRAPO politics! We must carry forward the momentum of the people’s protests and actions towards a system overhaul,” said BMP Chairperson Leody de Guzman.

“The implication of certain officials in the Departments of Agriculture, Budget and Management and other implementing agencies such as the National Agribusiness Corporation under the Executive branch shows that this system has bred an organized mafia that conspired to rob hardworking Filipinos of a decent life. They must all languish in prison,” de Guzman added.

Justice delayed is justice denied

“Now, that Janet Lim-Napoles is detained and awaiting trial for her various civil and criminal cases, may the wheels of justice turn swiftly but grind exceedingly fine for every centavo siphoned to her bank accounts,” said Anthony Barnedo, regional Secretary-General of KPML National Capital Region and Rizal chapter. 

Barnedo was also quick to add that, “Though it is also lamentable that exactly two weeks today since her supposed surrender to President Aquino, the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police has not filed a single case out of the more than 10 billion peso pork barrel scam”. 

The progressive organizations vowed to continue to escalate protest actions that will embolden the masses to join together with the emerging mass movement until the entire pork barrel system is abolished and all the plunderers are in prison.###

What we stand for - The SANLAKAS Partylist Legislative Agenda

What we stand for

The SANLAKAS Partylist Legislative Agenda

Aaron Pedrosa

3rd Nominee, SANLAKAS Partylist

When SANLAKAS pursued electoral engagement the first time the partylist system of representation was adopted in Congress in 1998, it carried with it that singular collective vision it shared with the underrepresented basic masses. – that is widening democratic spaces for direct intervention, participation and articulation of the ordinary pedestrian’s sentiments in the established reins of power.

SANLAKAS continues to believe in exhausting all arenas of struggle to organize and represent the sovereign interests of the masses, of the working people and “invisible” sectors of society, across a broad range of issues that to this day have taken backseat to the political platform being advanced by mainstream, traditional political actors – their platform being entrenching and fortifying a system that worries less and less about how government should play a central and proactive role in helping those who have less in life meet the fundamental necessities dictated by everyday life – a platform that demands for less of government at a time when people are waging their battles against poverty, unemployment, deprivation and injustice – the social milieu which defines the prevailing condition of avast majority of our people.

By engaging parliament, so to speak, SANLAKAS hopes to present an antithetical paradigm – an antithesis to a development model that is oblivious to the plight of the people, one that puts people precisely in the heart of the so-called development.

To complement the grassroots organizing, a tradition and continuing narrative that SANLAKAS has built on for two decades now, SANLAKAS once again dares to present its critical analysis of plaguing and burning issues and translate this into concrete, well-meaning measures and tangible actions through legislation – to breathe life into the lofty ideal of a hayahay na bukas, bring it from the discursive realm down to laws of relevant application.

SANLAKAS has drawn up a 14-point program which essentially captures the vision of a hayahay na bukas:

· It is time to make housing cheap and accessible to all, to ensure Filipinos roofs on their head, of decent houses they can rightfully call home.

· It is time to curb unemployment and underemployment and reverse the government’s standing labor export policy by creating jobs at home and ensuring protection to our labor force overseas; to uphold workers’ right to security of tenure.

· It is time to afford justice to the backbreaking labor exerted by our workers by guaranteeing them with a living wage as against the standing cheap labor policy punctuated by unrealistic and uncompetitive wage levels.

· It is time to uphold education and health as primordial human rights starting off with appropriate and responsive financing in accordance not only with international treatises but as mandated by our Constitution.

· It is time to ensure food on the table, thrice a day; for government to feed a large section of its famished, malnourished and undernourished population by investing in our agricultural sector, by empowering our fisherfolks and farmers, by providing ample support to those who tend the fields and brave the seas for our nourishment.

· It is time to bring down the cost of electric power, of dismantling the private oligopoly that bleeds families of potential savings, of tapping into clean, safe and renewable energy sources based on the actual power requirements of the people and sustainable development and not of corporate expansionism.

· It is time to regulate oil prices and insulate consumers from market volatility, of ending a liberalized regime which allows oil companies to whimsically hike pump prices, unchecked and unregulated.

· It is time to empower citizens with information by pushing for greater accountability from public servants through proper disclosure of their assets and liabilities, of their dealings and transactions,of contracts entered into in the name of the people.

· It is time to rationalize our fiscal policies, of addressing the debt problem that would result in our liberation from the debt bondage, of ultimately repudiating illegitimate debts and holding those who wantonly benefitted from this indebtedness to account.

· It is time to strengthen the promotion, respect and defense of human rights by putting teeth on existing human rights mechanisms and removing existing structures and policies which undermine our human rights effort.

· It is time to institutionalize climate justice as a policy framework, a lens from which all foreign relations and trade arrangements should be anchored, to stand up for community resiliency in the face of climate change, of facilitating the transition to a low carbon economy without compromising the integrity of the environment.

· It is time to say no to unfair multilateral and bilateral trade and foreign policy arrangements that relegate our sovereignty into the periphery of negotiations and external linkages, of making our government work for our people and not allow our sovereign will to play second fiddle to impositions from so-called allies and trade partners.

This is our collective vision. This is what we stand for. And if you believe that it is high time to realizethis vision, if you believe in this vision of a hayahay na bukas, then indeed, it is time to get SANLAKAS back toCongress!

Thank you and padayon!

Corona Conviction is not a Deterrent to Corruption

PRESS STATEMENT

May 30, 2012

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM)

SANLAKAS

Corona Conviction is not a Deterrent to Corruption

Malacanang and its paid hacks in media are now making a mountain out of a molehill. They say that the conviction of Renato Corona by the impeachment court is a triumph of democracy and a cleansing of the bureaucracy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. 

The telenovela that was the impeachment of Corona ended with a predictable and lackluster climax, leaving the masses unentertained and not craving for more. The single and simplistic moral lesson of the story: “tell the truth in your SALN”. 

Despite the long proceedings, the Senate could only prove one fact: Corona did not properly disclose his dollar deposits in his SALN. Hence, its verdict rested on the sole issue of “non-disclosure”, covered by Article 2, which it raised to a “culpable violation of the Constitution”.

In so doing, the complaint, reduced to Articles 2, 3 and 7 during the deliberations, was further narrowed down to “non-disclosure” (Article 2, paragraph 2.2). It did not determine if such cash assets were ill-gotten or acquired illegally, leaving unanswered the people’s questions on “ill-gotten wealth”, “court decisions for sale”, “misconduct and corrupt practices”, etc., etc. The result was a “narrowing down” not to focus on more substantial issues; the case was watered down to insignificance. 

The respondent’s admission of non-disclosure was enough for the prosecution and the senator-judges to obtain a guilty verdict. They did not use Corona’s waiver of his dollar deposits to put such bank accounts under scrutiny. Hence, it is clear as daylight that the real intention of the impeachment court was not to expose and punish immoral conduct and corrupt practices in government but to merely remove Corona in the Supreme Court, to replace an Arroyo crony with an Aquino lackey in the judiciary.

If the impeachment court truly wanted to cleanse the bureaucracy, it should have let the sun shine in the dark and shadowy corridors of power. Let the people know how Corona acquired his millions of dollars; how Lucio Tan compelled the Court to flip-flop on the FASAP (Flight Attendants and Stewardesses Association of the Philippines) case; how much perks and privileges are given by PAL to members of the Supreme Court. 

But it did not; the impeachment court stopped in its tracks. It did not go beyond the question of non-disclosure. To the people, especially the workers and the poor, we believe that they did so because further investigation would reveal their modus operandi, the prevalent malpractice of officials in the bureaucracy who use their power and influence for economic and personal gain.

Disclose All or Resign All! Genuine Cleansing of the Bureaucracy not a Telenovela of Elite Infighting

PRESS STATEMENT

Mayo 23, 2012

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM)

Sanlakas

Disclose All or Resign All!

Genuine Cleansing of the Bureaucracy not a Telenovela of Elite Infighting 

We have said it before and we will say it again. Give the Filipino people a chance for real reforms and meaningful cleansing of the rotting bureaucracy.

The impeachment of Corona is not enough. The process is a spectator sport for the Filipino masses who are neither senator judges nor members of the prosecution and defense panels. More so, it is atelenovela of elite infighting being used by the Aquino regime to consolidate its control of the state and to advance its economic interests.

In impeachment proceedings, the masses are being induced to take sides between two oppressors. They are made to choose the lesser evil among rival camps of the ruling elite, which is nothing more than a choice between hell and purgatory.  By so doing, it fosters the illusion of democracy, of people’s participation in the affairs of the State.

But while the impeachment process is patently limited in its scope and objective and is being utilized by factions of the elite to pursue their self-serving economic and political agendas, it would inevitably open more meaningful questions. Its narrowness and limitation would provide exact arguments for the necessity of genuine and widespread reforms, and for other means of political activity that ensure public participation in the cleansing of the bureaucracy.

Hence, upon the opening of impeachment proceedings against Corona, we issued the “Disclose All” slogan, the demand for the full disclosure of all financial records and transactions by all government officials.

The beleaguered chief justice – who is more an astute politician than an honorable judge – knows this Achilles heel of the impeachment process. Hence, Corona is now piercing the veil of Noynoy’s anti-corruption pretense in order to save his skin as he challenges Senator Drilon and the 188 signatories of the impeachment case to “disclose all”. Truly, crooks know when to speak the truth to hide a lie.

We are neither “pro-Corona” nor “pro-Noynoy”. Both politicians are personifications of the social evil of a corrupt bureaucracy under an elite democracy. If government officials want to dispel public mistrust, they should let the sun shine into dark places. The broad masses of the people, not just the workers and the poor demand the public scrutiny of their private wealth.

If they could not “disclose all”, then they should all resign. And if the demand for “full disclosure” is continuously not met, the cry for “Resign All” would transform from an appeal for delicadeza into a call of action for their ouster. #