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.

On the first anniversary of the unresolved T’boli massacre, Group hits Duterte plan to extend martial law in Mindanao

Press Release

December 3, 2018

On the first anniversary of the unresolved T’boli massacre

Group hits Duterte plan to extend martial law in Mindanao

Quezon City, Philippines – Progressive groups Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa Partylist staged protest actions at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Armed Forces of the Philippines, Camp Aguinaldo as they commemorate the first year anniversary of the killings of eight (8) lumads now known as TAMASCO (T’boli-Manobo Sdaf Claimants Organization) 8 in Datal Bonlangon, Brgy. Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.

The group claimed that the unresolved massacre is sufficient grounds to lift martial law in Mindanao since it only serves the interests of land grabbing corporations and not the Mindanaos themselves

On December 3, 2017, the 27th and 33rd Infantry Battalions (IB) of the military conducted ground assault and artillery bombardment on the TAMASCO community in Lake Sebu resulting in the death of its tribal chief Datu Victor Dinyan and his sons and relatives. The military justified the operation as an encounter against armed communist rebels.

“One year since the killings, the murderers remain at large. Worse, it is business as usual for Consunji’s coffee plantation encroaching operations on the T’boli –Manobo ancestral lands. As corporate and military perpetrators get away with cold-blooded murder, the Lumads continue living in fear, harassment and threats to their lives. The killers of TAMASCO 8 must be brought to justice; so must Consunji be driven out of lumad lands,” said Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, SANLAKAS, Secretary-General and PLM Partylist nominee.

Pedrosa adds that martial law in Mindanao has left lumads living in fear and have systematically fallen victim to encroachments on their ancestral domain by agro-industrial ventures and mining corporations.

“Any extension would only mean the perpetuation of human rights violations and ecological plunder of the natural resources which these communities rely on,” he said.

Consunji’s M&S./Silvicultural Industries Inc. (SII) has been granted an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) by the DENR which allowed it to run a coffee plantation in ancestral domains claimed by the T’Boli Manobos in South Cotabato and the Dulangans in Sultan Kudarat. Under IFMA 22, Consunji’s coffee business is granted the power to control forest resources within an aggregate area of 27, 530 hectares in Sultan Kudarat alone. A consolidated IFMA under IFMA 18-2007 empowers SII to undertake its coffee business for a period of 32 years even as it invades into TAMASCO ancestral domains.

“The communist bogey and red-tagging have been weaponized by security forces to legitimize its attacks on lumads and vilify legitimate opposition against the land grabbing schemes on ancestral domain. These have been the Duterte administration’s license to kill which affords corporations the protection it needs to operate in tension-filled communities due to indigenous peoples’ resistance,” Pedrosa further explained.

The protesters carried a coffin and mounted a wreath at the DENR Central Office and Camp Aguinaldo symbolizing the unresolved deaths of TAMASCO 8.

“TAMASCO is not an isolated incident. Lumad and indigenous communities are under attack, if not by military forces, by extractive activities like mining or plantations under the guise of forest management sanctioned by the Government. For example, there are currently 104 IFMAs across the country. How many more IPs should be martyred before the Duterte Government acts?”, said Pedrosa.

Citing DENR data, Mindanao has the most IFMAs with a total of 51, followed by Luzon with 40 and Visayas with 13.

According to Pedrosa the problem does not end there. He pointed out that overlapping these IFMAs are mining tenements and coal operating contracts. For Lake Sebu, a San Miguel Corporation subsidiary plans to undertake a large-scale coal mining project.

“We demand the cancellation of all permits issued to agribusinesses and mining and coal mining companies in ancestral domains and an immediate stop to the militarization of IP communities. Stop killing indigenous peoples!”, Pedrosa concluded.

Sanlakas and PLM Party-list joined civil society organizations in the actions under Task Force TAMASCO.

Contact person:

ATTY. AARON PEDROSA

Secretary-General, Sanlakas, +639275924830, 
aaron_pedrosa@yahoo.com

Pagbati mula sa Brgy. Sauyo

picture from facebook

Happy Silver Anniversary, SANLAKAS!

Pahayag laban sa Pasismo ni Duterte

https://www.facebook.com/Sanlakas/posts/ang-bukluran-ng-manggagawang-pilipino-bmp-partido-lakas-ng-masa-plm-at-koalisyon/1201431403326786/

SANLAKAS
Mayo 11, 2018

Ang Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), at koalisyong SANLAKAS ay nananawagan sa sambayanan na labanan ang panibagong pagtatangka ni Duterte na hayagang kontrolin ang buong estado, partikular ang hudikatura. Sapagkat ilalatag nito ang mga kondisyon tungo sa hayagan at ganap na diktadura at awtoritaryanismo.

Ngayong Mayo 11, inaasahang maglalabas ng desisyon ng Korte Suprema sa petisyong quo warranto, na magtatanggal kay Maria Lourdes Sereno bilang punong mahistrado ng Korte Suprema.

ANG PAGKONTROL SA HUDIKATURA AY TUTUNGO SA LANTARANG PASISMO

Itanggi man ng Palasyo, malinaw na ang nasa likod nito ay ang naghaharing paksyon nila Rodrigo Duterte. Sinong nakakalimot sa pahayag ng pangulo noong Abril nang sinabihang niya si CJ Sereno na “I am now your enemy”. Wala namang bago sa ganitong maneobra. Si Noynoy ang nagawa pa ngang mapa-impeach si dating chief justice Renato Corona dahil hindi niya isinapubliko ang kanyang mga bank account at statement of assets, liabilities and net worth o SALN. Ganundin ang isa sa mga isyu na ipinupukol ngayon kay CJ Sereno.

Noong 2011, nanawagan kami ng “Disclose All” upang magkaroon ng tunay na reporma sa burukrasya. Hindi lang si Corona ang magsapubliko ng kanyang yaman kundi lahat ng opisyal – laluna ang mga nasa matataas na posisyon. Hindi ito sinunod ng mga opisyal ng gobyerno sapagkat hindi naman totoong paglilinis ang kanilang ninanais kundi ang pagulungin ang ulo ni Corona para humalili ang hukom na mas pabor sa Malakanyang.

Mga ipokritong burukrata! Ang SALN ay hindi naman tunay na nagpapakita sa yaman ng mga opisyal ng burukrasya. Hindi sapat ang SALN. Buksan ang inyong mga bank records – pati ng myembro ng inyong pamilya. Alam naman nating lahat na, liban sa sweldo, ay may mga pribilehiyong kakambal ng kanilang mga posisyon. Magkano ang bawat pirma ng mga hukom sa inyong mga desisyon?

Isa lamang ito sa mga reporma na maaring gawin – hindi lamang sa hudikatura kundi maging sa ehekutibo at lehislatura. Dagdag pa ang pagtitiyak na ang na-aappoint sa Korte ay mula sa merito ng kanyang pagseserbisyo, hindi ng kanyang katapatan sa pangulo ng bansa. Subalit ang kaibhan ng ginagawa ni Duterte ay hindi ito simpleng maneobra para kontrolin ang hudikatura. Dahil kung si Noynoy ay umasa sa mga diumano’y demokratikong proseso para hawakan ang buong burukrasya, si Duterte ay mas brusko. Sa Kongreso, nagwawasiwas si House Speaker Alvarez na tatanggalan ng pondo ang mga tumututol sa administrasyon. Sa Senado, ginamit nila ang kanilang numero para makuha ang posisyon ng Senate President. Sa barangay, susuportahan ang mga kandidatong pabor sa pederalismo. Sa PNP ay mas lantarang nilagay ang mga pulis Davao sa pamunuan ng pulisya.

Higit sa lahat, nagaganap ang pagkontrol ng Ehekutibo sa iba’t ibang saray ng gobyerno kasabay ng malawakang patayan at paglabag sa mga karapatang pantao. Nililikha nila ang klima ng impyunidad para isuko ng mamamayan ang kanilang civil and political rights – alang-alang sa kapayapaan, kaayusan, at pagsugpo sa tinitingnang kaaway ng republika gaya ng mga terorista at durugista.

ANONG KLASENG DEMOKRASYA ANG DAPAT NA IPAGTANGGOL NG TAUMBAYAN?

Sa pagtutol sa quo warranto petition laban kay CJ Sereno, may mga sektor ang nananawagan ng “Defend Democracy” at “Stand with CJ”. Nais naming ilinaw ang aming reserbasyon sa naturang mga panawagan.

Ang umiiral ba ngayon ay demokrasya? Hindi po. Sa araw-araw na buhay ng manggagawa, walang saysay ang pinakapipitagang “demokrasya”. Ang tunay na kahulugan nito ay ang paghahari at pamamayani ng kapasyahan ng nakararami. Majority rule, ika nga. May saysay ba ito sa loob ng pabrika at plantasyon? Wala. Ang nasusunod doon ay hindi ang nakararaming manggagawa o magbubukid kundi kung sino ang may-ari, kahit sila ay minorya lamang sa lipunan.

Dahil ang totoo, ang naghahari sa lipunan ay ang karapatan sa pag-aari (property rights), hindi ang karapatan na mabuhay ng disente’t marangal ang masang anakpawis (right to decent life). At sinuman ang punong mahistrado – kaalyado man o hindi ng Palasyo – hindi magbabago ang mga desisyon ng Korte Suprema. Hindi rin nito papaboran ang mas mabilis na proseso na siyang nagpapaatras sa mga inaapi kapag sila ay nag-aasunto sa pang-aabuso ng mga makapangyarihan sa lipunan.

REHIMENG DUTERTE, KAAWAY NG MANGGAGAWA

Ganunpaman, ang ganitong “pagkakaiba” ay hindi hadlang para sa bigkisin ang pagkakaisa ng mamamayan hindi lamang laban sa pasistang tunguhin ng rehimen kundi sa gobyernong ito mismo na kaaway ng uring manggawa at masang naghihirap. Ginamit lamang ni Duterte ang naipong disgusto ng taumbayan sa pekeng elitistang paghahari na nanumbalik sa bansa matapos ang Edsa Uno, na tinagurian niyang paghahari ng mga “Dilaw”. Nangako siya ng “Change is coming”. Ngunit wala namang nagbago.

Ipinagpapatuloy nito ang neoliberal na doktrinang pang-ekonomya – ang liberalisasyon, deregulasyon, pribatisasyon at kontraktwalisasyon. Aminado pa nga siyang “walang pangil” ang inilabas niyang Executive Order laban sa kontraktwalisasyon noong nakaraang Mayo Uno. Lalong naghihirap ang taumbayan! Ang ipinagmamalaking “build, build, build” ay humantong sa bagong mga buwis na nagpasirit sa presyo ng mga bilihin. Ang TRAIN Package 1 ay isa sa mga mayor na dahilan ng 4.5% inflation rate noong Abril 2018, na siyang pinakamataas na antas sa loob ng tatlong (3) taon.

Subalit ang masakit ang nakolektang buwis – na naiipon pa sa bulsa ng mga retailer bago ibayad sa BIR, ‘di gaya ng withholding tax na awtomatikong kinikaltas sa sweldo ng mga empleyado – ay hindi naman direktang gagamitin para sa “build, build, build”. Ang mga proyektong pang-imprastraktura ay tutustusan ng pautang! 80% sa domestic borrowings, (ibig sabihin, sa BDO, Metrobank, BPI, atbp.) at 20% mula sa official development assistance o mula sa dayuhan.

Ano ang koneksyon ng buwis at utang? Ang pagtaas ng koleksyon sa buwis ay para bigyang kumpyansa ang mga pinag-utangan na mayroong kapasidad ang gobyerno para makapagbayad ng utang. Ang resulta, ang outstanding debt ng bansa ay P6.652 trilyon noong 2017, na pinakamataas sa kasaysayan. Kaya’t lagpas-tao na ang pagkalubog natin sa utang! Tax, tax, tax na. Debt, debt, debt pa! Iyan ang build, build, build.

INDEPENDYENTENG KILUSAN NG MASA

Sa umiigting na bangayan ni Duterte at Sereno, ang mga empleyado ng Korte ay nananawagan din ng pagbibitiw ng punong mahistrado. Sinasalamin nito ang isang matinding suliranin. Nagagamit ang mga ordinaryong masa sa paksyunal na bangayan ng mga elitista. Walang pinag-iba noong Edsa 1986, nang magamit ang taumbayan para patalsikin ang diktadura at umakyat sa poder ang anti-Marcos na paksyon ng mga kapitalista’t asendero.

Ang masa ay hindi dapat magpagamit bilang pambala ng kanyon sa alitan ng mga elitista. Ang tunay na demokrasya ay makakamit ng taumbayan sa independyenteng kilusan ng mamamayan. Umaasa sa pagkilos ng masa, hindi sa sinumang pulitiko o anumang mga institusyon gaya ng mga militar o ng Estados Unidos (na maaring napuno na sa pagkiling ni Duterte sa Tsina). Lalaban hindi lamang para palitan ang rehimen kundi para sa malawakang mga reporma para sa masang Pilipino.

Labanan ang pasismo ni Duterte! 

Tunay na Demokrasya ng Mayorya ng Mamamayan! #