Mensahe ng Sanlakas sa Kongreso ng ZOTO

MENSAHE NG PAKIKIISA NG SANLAKAS

PARA SA KONGRESO 2011 NG ZOTO

24 Setyembre 2011

Buong pagpupugay na ipinaaabot ng Sanlakas ang pinakamainit na pagbati ng progresibo demokratikong pagkakaisa sa lahat ng ating mga kasama at kasaping samahan ng Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO) sa di-malilimutang okasyon ng inyong Kongreso 2011!

Ang inyong Kongreso ngayon at ang masigla't aktibong partisipasyon ng inyong mga kasapi at lider ay matatag na patunay na ang ZOTO ay nananatiling isa sa mga ilang tumagal na organisasyon sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Ang inyong patuloy na kasaysayan ng mga matitinding pakikibakang masa para sa tunay na panlipunang pagpapalaya ng pinagsasamantalahan at inaaping maralita ng lungsod sa higit sa apat na dekada ay malinaw na isang inspirasyon para sa malawak na progresibong kilusan ng masa hanggang ngayon.

Ang inyong mga pakikibakang masa noon pa man sa tabing-dagat ng Tondo para sa katarungang panlipunan, demokrasya at tunay na progreso sa panahon ng Unang Sigwa ay isang matinding tagumpay para sa mga maralita ng lungsod. Nangyari ito noong lumitaw pasista diktadurang Marcos ay nagsisimula nang supilin ang batayang masa. Gayunpaman, ang inyong mga militanteng paglutas upang manalo ay tiyak na mananatiling isang nakakaantig na halimbawa ng kung anong magagawa ng malawak na uring manggagawa at makakamit sa pamamagitan ng nagkakaisang paglaban bilang isang solong kilusan para sa tunay na panlipunang pagbabago.

Sa nakalipas na apatnapung taon, at lalo na sa mga nakaraang dekada ng militanteng mga pakikibaka ng masa laban sa mga reaksyonaryong patakaran ng estado ng rehimeng Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, nanatiling nasa unahan ang ZOTO sa progresibong kilusan ng masa. Sa inyong sektoral at pangkomunidad na pamumuno, muling pinakikita ng ZOTO ang mahigpit nitong tangan sa prinsipyo at kolektibong paglaban upang tutulan at itigil ang anti-mahihirap at anti-demokratikong direksyon ng rehimeng GMA, sa lokal at pambansang arena ng pakikibaka.

At kahit ngayon, na may pro-elite at anti-masang karakter at tendensiya ng kasalukuyang rehimeng PNoy, ang progresibong kilusan ng masa sa Pilipinas ay hindi maaaring pumayag na magsawalang-kibo na lamang, kahit na para sa isang sandali. Sa kasalukuyan at pagbabago-bago ng pambansang kalagayan, at higit pa sa pulitikal na panahong daratal, ang batayang masa, lalo na tayong mga organisadong pwersa ay dapat patuloy na patindihin ang ating kolektibo't demokratikong tungkulin upang bumuo ng mataas na organisado at epektibong malalakas at banat na organisasyong masa. Tiyak na ang may kamalayan at nagkakaisang kilusang masa lamang ang mangunguna para sa isang mahalaga at matagumpay na sistematikong pagbabago ng lipunang Pilipino sahinaharap.

Kung gayon, kami sa SANLAKAS ay patuloy na kikilalanin ang natatanging ambag ng ZOTO sa ating pangkalahatang layunin. Ganap naming minamahalaga ang matiyagaat patuloy nitong pag-oorganisa - ang pagsisikap sa gawaing pagpapalawak at pagkokonsolida - upang mabigyang kapangyarihan ang masang maralita. Ito'y inyong isinasagawa sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng pag-aaral, pag-oorganisa at pagmomobilisa ng mga walang kapangyarihang mayorya ng lipunan. Ito ang mga nagawa ng inyong organisasyon mula pa noong 1970, at itong inyong patuloy na paninindigan ay inaasahan naming inyong ipagpapatuloy hanggang sa ang tunay na panlipunang kalayaan ay makamit ng sambayanan.

IPAGPATULOY ANG PAKIKIBAKA PARA SA TUNAY NA PANLIPUNANG PAGBABAGO!

PATULOY NA ISULONG ANG PAGPAPALAYA NG MGA MARALITA!

MABUHAY ANG ZONE-ONE TONDO ORGANIZATION!

SANLAKAS SOLIDARITY MESSAGE

FOR THE 2011 ZOTO CONGRESS

24 September 2011

SANLAKAS proudly extends its warmest greetings of progressive democratic solidarity to all our kasamas and member-organizations of the Zone-One Tondo Organization (ZOTO) on this memorable occasion of your 2011 Congress!

Your Congress today and the vibrantly active participation of your members and leaders is solid proof that ZOTO remains one of the very few surviving and historic people’s organizations in the Philippines. Your continuing story of hard-fought mass struggles for the genuine social liberation of the exploited and oppressed urban poor after more than four decades is clearly an inspiring story for the broad progressive mass movement until now.

Your earliest mass struggles in the Tondo Foreshore area for social justice, democracy and true progress during the First Quarter Storm period was a smashing success for the urban poor. This happened at a time when the still-emergent fascist Marcos Dictatorship was just beginning to repress the basic masses. However, your militant resolve to win certainly remains a rousing example of what the broad working-class masses can and, still achieve through united fight-backs as one single movement for real social change.

Over the past forty-years, and especially in the past decade of militant mass battles against the reactionary state policies of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Regime, ZOTO remained in the frontline of the progressive mass movement. With your sectoral and community-oriented leadership, ZOTO once again showed its firmest and principled courage in our collective resistance to oppose and stop the GMA Regime’s anti-poor and anti-democratic direction, both in the local and national arenas of struggle.

And even now, with the current PNoy Regime’s pro-elite and anti-masses character and tendency, the Philippine progressive mass movement cannot allow its guard down at all, even for a single moment. In the presently (and still) shifting national situation, and more so in the political period ahead, the basic masses, and especially all of us in the organized forces must continue to intensify our collective democratic duty to build highly organized and effectively strong and resilient mass organizations. Definitely and for sure, only a conscious and unified mass movement can become the spearhead for an urgent and triumphant systemic change in Philippine society in the future.

It is in this regard, therefore, that we in SANLAKAS continue to recognize ZOTO’s unique and unqualified contributions to our common general cause. We fully value ZOTO’s persistent and consistent organizing—through both your expansion and consolidation work efforts—to help empower the poor masses. This you do primarily through educating, organizing and mobilizing the disempowered social majority. This is what you have organizationally accomplished since 1970, and it is this resolute commitment of yours which we wish you will continue to carry out until real social liberation is achieved for our people.

CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE FOR GENUINE SOCIAL CHANGE!

ALWAYS ADVANCE THE LIBERATION OF THE POOR!

MABUHAY ANG ZONE-ONE TONDO ORGANIZATION!

Mag-People Power Laban sa Bulok na Sistema

MAG-PEOPLE POWER LABAN SA BULOK NA SISTEMA!

Lumaganap na ang people power sa iba't ibang bansa. Nakilala na ng masa na kung magsasama-sama lamang silang kikilos ay kaya nilang magpabagsak ng isang pangulo nang mapayapa. Naging halimbawa sa mamamayan ng daigdig ang Edsa 1 Revolution sa Pilipinas (1986) na nagpatalsik kay Marcos. Nasundan ito ng Singing Revolution sa Estonia, Latvia at Lithuania (1988), Velvet Revolution sa Czechoslovakia (1989), Bulldozer Revolution sa Yugoslavia (2000), Edsa 2 Revolution sa Pilipinas (2001), Rose Revolution sa Georgia (2003), Orange Revolution sa Ukraine (2004), Cedar Revolution sa Lebanon (2005), Tulip Revolution sa Kyrgystan (2005), Jasmine Revolution sa Tunisia (2011), at Day of Anger Revolution sa Egypt (2011).

Ngunit may mga pagkatalo rin, tulad ng 8888 Uprising sa Burma (1988), Tiananmen Students Protest sa Tsina (1989), Edsa 3 Urban Poor Revolution sa Pilipinas (2001), at Saffron Revolution sa Burma (2007).

Nagtagumpay ang mga mamamayan na mapatalsik ang kani-kanilang pangulo, ngunit karamihan sa kanila, inagaw pa rin ng naghaharing uri ang pamumuno. Dahil lahat ng ito’y pag-aalsa ng mamamayan, hindi pag-aalsa ng isang uri laban sa katunggaliang uri, hindi pag-aalsa ng uring manggagawa laban sa burgesya. Walang kapangyarihan ang masa. Wala ang uring manggagawang namumuno para sa pagbabago ng sistema. Dahil hindi lang relyebo ng pangulo ang kasagutan.

Sa ngayon, matapos mapatalsik ng mamamayan ng Egypt ang kanilang pangulo, pumutok na rin ang pag-aalsa ng mga mamamayan sa mga bansang Bahrain, Yemen at Libya. Nanalo nga ang mamamayan ng Egypt na mapatalsik ang pangulo nilang si Mubarak, ngunit dahil walang namumunong grupo o partido na gumagabay sa pag-aalsa, napunta sa kamay ng militar ang kapangyarihan, imbes na sa kamay ng mamamayang nagsakripisyo para mabago ang pamahalaan.

Ano ang kulang? Bakit sa Pilipinas na tatlong beses nang nag-Edsa, wala pa ring naramdamang pagbabago, kaya nanlalamig na ang karamihan sa people power? Naganap ang Edsa 1 at 2, napatalsik ang pangulo ngunit napalitan lang ng kauri nilang elitista. Si Marcos ay napalitan ni Cory. Si Erap ay napalitan ni Gloria. Walang lider-manggagawa, walang lider-maralita, walang lider-kababaihan, walang lider-magsasakang napunta sa poder. Wala ang isyu ng masa, wala ang isyu ng kahirapan, wala ang isyu ng trabaho, wala ang isyu ng pabahay, wala ang isyu ng salot na kontraktwalisasyon. Hindi umangat ang pakikibaka ng sambayanan sa tunggalian ng uri sa lipunan.

Dahil hindi sapat na ang layunin lang ng people power ay ang pagpapalit ng pangulo. Dapat itong itaas sa pagbabago ng sistema. Hindi sapat na demokrasya lang ang kasagutan. Dapat ipakita na may tunggalian ng uri sa lipunan, at ang pagpawi sa mga uri ang siyang kasagutan. Dapat ipakitang ang mga manggagawa’y hindi lang tahimik na masang nagtatrabaho, kundi isang malakas at pangunahing pwersa sa pagbabago.

Ano ang dapat gawin? Dalhin natin sa masa ang isyu ng kahirapan bilang pangunahing panawagan sa people power. Ipakita natin sa masa ang tunggalian ng uri. Ikampanya natin sa lahat ng pabrika’t komunidad, sa lahat ng lungsod at kanayunan, sa mga pahayagan, radio at telebisyon, sa internet, ang pagkasalot ng kapitalismo sa buhay ng mamamayan. Pag-aralan natin ang lipunan at iangat ang kamalayan ng masa tungo sa pagwawakas sa kapitalistang sistemang dahilan ng kanilang pagdurusa’t kahirapan.

Paputukin natin ang isyu ng pabahay, tulad ng ginawang pagkubkob ng mga maralitang lungsod sa Libya sa mga pabahay ng kanilang gobyerno nitong Enero 2011. Paputukin natin ang isyu ng kontraktwalisasyon bilang panawagan sa people power na pangungunahan ng uring manggagawa. Paputukin natin ang iba pang makauring isyu na maaaring magpabagsak sa mga elitista sa lipunan.

Panahon na para manawagan ng people power laban sa bulok na sistema, laban sa kapitalismo. Dapat mag-people power ang uring api laban sa uring mapagsamantala’t naghahari-harian sa lipunan!

Uring manggagawa, magkaisa! Ipakita ang inyong mapagpalayang papel para sa pagbabago ng lipunan! Mag-people power laban sa bulok na sistema!

BMP-SANLAKAS-PLM-PMT-KPML-ZOTO-PK-KALAYAAN-KPP-MMVA-AMA-MakabayanPilipinas

Pebrero 24, 2011

Polyeto para sa Unang SONA ni P-Noy

PAGBABAGO
PARA SA MASA

Sa Hulyo 26, haharap sa bayan si Benigno Aquino III, sa kanyang unang state-of-the-nation address. Sasabihin niya rito ang direksyon ng kanyang administrasyon at mga plano para ipatupad ito.

Sa araw na ito natin malalaman ang totoong ibig sabihin ng kanyang mga ipinangako noong kampanya: kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap; pagbabago sa tuwid na landas; kayo ang aking lakas; at kayo ang boss ko nitong nakaraang inagurasyon niya.

Sa araw na ito natin malalaman kung ang mga salitang ito ay simpleng gimik lang sa eleksyon;

O nangangahulugan ng totoong pagbabago para sa masang Pilipino:

— para itaas ang sweldo na makabubuhay ng pamilya;
— para sa sapat na retirement benefits ng retiradong manggagawa;
— para sa desente at abot-kayang pabahay upang wala ng iskwater sa sariling bayan;
— para sa ligtas at makataong kalagayan sa pagtatrabaho
— para sa seguridad sa trabaho at wala ng kontraktwal;
— para ayudahan ang mga manggagawa na makapag-organisa, makipagtawaran sa mga employer at matamasa nang lubos ang karapatan sa sama-samang pagkilos.
— para alisin ang assumption of jurisdiction o AJ sa mga hidwaan ng manggagawa at kapitalista.
— para bigyan ng boses at representasyon ang mga manggagawa at mamamayan sa lokal na pamahalaan at sa iba pang ahensya ng gubyerno na gumagawa ng desisyon.
— para sa tunay na repormang agraryo;
— para gumawa ng sapat at desenteng trabaho;
— para ilaan ang natitirang pondo ng bansa sa serbisyo publiko—edukasyon, kalusugan at pabahay at pagpapaunlad ng agrikultura at industriya—sa halip na ibayad sa utang.
— para paunlarin ang produksyon ng pagkain upang bumaba ang presyo nito at magkaroon ng seguridad sa pagkain.
— para ang industriya ng tubig at kuryente ay maibalik bilang serbisyo ng gubyerno hindi negosyo na pinagkakakitaan ng mga kapitalistang lokal at dayuhan;

Ilan lamang yan sa mga pagbabagong matagal na nating hinahangad. Pagbabagong di natin nakamit sa administrasyon ng lumipas na mga pangulo. Si Noynoy ba ay kaiba sa nakaraang mga pangulo? Na mas pinaboran ang mga dayuhang negosyo kaysa sa manggagawang Pilipino. Na ang sinunod ay utos ng gubyerno ng Amerika kaysa boses ng masa.

Mga kamanggagawa at kababayan. Sa oras na mag-ulat sa bayan si Noynoy sa Batasang Pambansa, iharap natin sa kanya ang ating tunay na kalagayan. Hamunin natin siya sa gusto nating pagbabago. Magdala tayo ng kanya-kanyang plakard. Isulat ang gusto mong pagbabago. Ito na ang tamang pagkakataon upang makita natin kung totoo nga ang kanyang binigkas na “Kayo ang boss ko,” at hindi isang pang-uuto!

Paapawin natin ang bulwagan ng batasan hanggang sa bakuran ng Kongreso at mga kalsadang nakapaligid dito. Tanda ito na seryoso tayo sa pagbabago. Tanda ito na sawang-sawa na tayo sa mga pangulo na pawang napako ang mga pangako. Tanda ito na ilalaban natin ang ating mga kahilingan hanggang sa makamit ang pagbabago para sa masang Pilipino.

SANLAKAS  PLM  BMP  KPML  SM-ZOTO  KPP  PMT  SANLAKAS YOUTH  SDK  TEATRO PABRIKA  MMVA  AMA  KALAYAAN!  SUPER  MELF  MAKABAYAN-PILIPINAS

Tribute to Ka Popoy - by Sanlakas Rep. JV Bautista

TRIBUTE TO A TRUE HERO OF THE WORKING CLASS AND A VALIANT SON OF THE FILIPINO NATION

by Sanlakas party-list Rep. JV Bautista

February 6, 2004

Mr. Speaker, Distinguished Colleagues -

I rise today to pay tribute to a true hero of the working class and a valiant son of the Filipino nation.

Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman lived the life of a revolutionary. He saw the ills, the corruption, the injustice, the oppression in Philippine society and sought to change it. In his life, he championed the cause of the masses, particularly the working class. And in his death, he inspired the hundreds of thousands of men and women involved in the parties, mass organizations, and movements that he helped found and organized.

Ka Popoy did not waste even in his youth in his quest for social change. Barely out of his adolescence, he plunged into activism and began to participate in mass actions while a student at the Caloocan High School. Then at age 17, he joined the radical youth organization Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK) while he was an AB Journalism student and a writer for the Philippine Collegian at the University of the Philippines. But his formal university education has to be shelved to heed the call of the revolution.

It was martial law and Ka Popoy saw the Communist Party of the Philippines as the only intrepid and uncompromising opposition to the iron-fisted rule of the elite. Recognizing his talent, the party elected him as Secretary of its Manila-Rizal Regional Committee, and it was during his watch when the country's most important urban center saw the resurgence of the mass movement, marked by labor strikes, student boycotts, and urban poor community organizing. Not too many people know that Ka Popoy Lagman worked closely with the revered nationalist and civil libertarian Senator Lorenzo Tañada in the formation of Lakas ng Bayan or LABAN, the political vehicle in Metro Manila of Ninoy Aquino and the progressive candidates, such as labor leader Alex Boncayao, urban poor organizer Trining Herrera and youth leader Jerry Barican, in 1978 Interim Batasan Pambansa elections.

It was during this time when Ka Popoy Lagman was in fact sowing the seeds of what we would later call "People Power". Allow me to quote from a column written by a former CPP Manila-Rizal Committee cadre who now sits in the Cabinet of the present administration -

"It was on April 1978 that Lagman and the Communist Party of the Philippines' Manila-Rizal Committee he headed spearheaded what really was the prototype of the first People Power in 1986. That was the metropolitan-wide "noise barrage" against the dictatorship. On the eve of the Batasan Pambansa elections, thousand of Manila residents stepped outside their houses banging pots and pans as motorists honked their horns to first shout that now classic protest-cry: "Tama na, sobra na!"

"Lagman missed out on the first People Power, as he had to follow the policy of the communist hierarchy to dissociate from the Cory-led opposition. That was the last straw for him. After debating unsuccessfully since 1986 with the communist leadership, urging it to change the party's tack toward what we call a "People Power" model of revolt, he broke away from the Communist Party in 1992."

"This time around though, he was deeply involved in the second People Power. He had only two weeks to celebrate the victory."

"Many at the second People Power were simply citizens outraged by Estrada's corruption. However, a big part of the militant core of People Power II, especially at its early stages, were from the left - whose evolution in the past few years Lagman had a big role in." (Tiglao, Rigoberto. "Outlook, Ka Popoy Lagman: People Power visionary", February 2001)

Through his relentless organizing and audacious mass mobilizations against the Marcos dictatorship, Ka Popoy Lagman has made a great contribution to the downfall of that regime.

But the most compelling contribution of Ka Popoy Lagman to the historic struggle for social justice and emancipation is his championing the cause of the Filipino working class.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas had the following to say of Ka Popoy Lagman -

"Popoy Lagman was a controversial figure, but his work and his activities for which he earned the ire of many, lent vigor, valor and added meaning to the Philippine labor movement. Under Lagman's tutelage, the BMP has proven to be the most militant labor movement. It is obvious that Mr. Lagman wielded strength because his methods were effective, and because many down-trodden people, especially workers, found validity in his cause and a champion in his person."

Ka Popoy Lagman was arguably be the most colorful and effective leader of this generation. His run-ins with the biggest of the tycoons and the most powerful of politicians are legend. Popular columnist Conrado de Quiros documents the following incident -

Lagman, as far as I know, was the first one to stand up before Erap and tell him to his face that he agreed completely with his desire to bring peace and harmony to labor-capital relations, and the best way to do that was to put criminals like Lucio Tan behind bars. This was Labor Day a couple of years ago, during the height of the labor problem at PAL, when the labor leaders were invited to Malacañang. That was real cojones." (PDI, "There's the Rub, Revamp the vision, not the men")

And who could forget that mammoth rally in Ayala Avenue during the height of the protest actions against former President Estrada, when the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) spearheaded a work stoppage and a rally together with the Makati Business Club? In the very heart of the country's premier business district, Ka Popoy Lagman, when asked to speak, defiantly called for revolution and the overthrow of the ruling class.

It is not an overstatement to say that, in the words of Secretary Rigoberto Tiglao, "the strength of unions now owes a lot to Lagman." The urban guerilla group Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), named after the LABAN candidate in 1978 for whom Ka Popoy campaigned, was precisely organized as a union's self-defense unit. It was the ABB that became the counterforce against the hired goons and even policemen under the employ of sweatshop owners and unscrupulous big businessmen in Manila. Under Ka Popoy, it veritably leveled the playing fields for the unions.

Ka Popoy Lagman's commitment to the cause of labor led to the founding in 1993 of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), now regarded as the most militant labor group in the country. And although Ka Popoy never saw the establishment of the Partido ng Manggagawa - the only party-list of labor with a sitting Representative in these very halls of Congress - the powers of his ideas and momentum of his initiatives has ensured that the workers will have their own voice in parliament.

Ka Popoy Lagman was a political visionary and a pioneer in the involvement of the Left in parliamentary struggle right inside the halls of Congress. In 1994, he helped set up Sanlakas, which, through its organizations of workers, urban poor residents, women, youth, professionals and small entrepreneurs, was able to power its way to the House of Representatives in the 1998 party-list elections, and again in the 2001 elections.

One could only marvel at the energy and vigor with which Ka Popoy Lagman pursued his cause and commitment to the uplift of the struggling Filipino people. Let his own words provide us the insight -

"Mga kasama, magtago ako't mag-underground, ako'y hinahanting. Magligal ako't mag-aboveground, ako'y inuusig. Iisa lang ang gustong mangyari ng gobyerno. Tumigil ako, isuko ang aking prinsipyo."

"Pero ang prinsipyong ito ay dinilig ng dugo; hindi lamang ng libu-libong martir ng kilusang manggagawa. Dinilig ito ng dugo ng aking kapatid at asawa, at ito'y nananalaytay sa aking isipan. At kailanman ay di nila magagawang ito'y ipiit o kitlin sapagkat ito'y dumadaloy sa kamalayan ng lahat ng manggagawang naghihimagsik sa sistemang mapang-alipin." (Isyu, 25 November 1996)

On February 6, 2001, the life of Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman was snuffed out by assassin's bullets. The cowardly act was undertaken right inside the campus of the venerable University of the Philippines. As a sure sign of gratitude for the life and work he dedicated to the cause of the workers and the common people, a mammoth funeral march, the biggest since those of the martyrs Ninoy Aquino and Lean Alejandro in the 1980s, brought Ka Popoy's mortal remains to its final resting place.

Mr. Speaker,

It will be three years since Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman was assassinated. The dastardly assault happened only two weeks after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was installed to power and only a few days after the First Gentleman Atty. Mike Arroyo personally assured Ka Popoy of his security and safety in the new regime. The director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the then Chief of the Philippine National Police vowed that the criminal perpetrators would be caught and brought to justice. After three years, this government has remained empty-handed.

Sanlakas calls for the immediate reopening of the investigation of the killing of Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman. Sanlakas demands concrete results from the NBI and the PNP, and calls on these agencies to bring the criminal perpetrators to the bar of justice in the next 30 days or else the heads of these agencies should step down.

Mr. Speaker, Distinguished Colleagues -

It is but fitting that the story of the life and passions of Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman, one of the greatest social revolutionaries of our times, a true hero of the working class, and a gallant son of the Filipino nation, be told in this chamber of deputies. For though his mortal life may have shortened by the enemies of revolutionary change, his ideas and commitments lives on in the countless people whose lives his works has touched. They are in Sanlakas, they are in Partido ng Manggagawa, they are in KPML, ZOTO, and many other mass organizations; they are spread out in the four corners of the country, making sure that the dreams of a better society for the workers and the marginalized Filipinos would someday become reality.

(This privilege speech was delivered by SANLAKAS Party List Representative JV Bautista on February 2004 at the House of Representatives in commemoration of the 3rd Death Anniversary of Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman.)

Why we walked out on Bush?

Why we walked out on Bush?

October 18, 2003

Rep. JV Baustista, Sanlakas

Rep. Renato Magtubo, Partido ng Manggagawa

Before all else, let us say that we were mere messengers with a simple message of peace. That is we called upon President Bush to stop his wars of aggression and for him to bring US troops back to their families.

It an urgent message that the parliament of the streets wished the regular parliament to hear out and take notice of. It was a message that we brought to the attention of President Bush, the Filipino people and the citizens of world through dignified protest within the halls of Congress.

First, we ask anyone who criticizes us for staging a protest within the halls of Congress if our message of peace is wrong.

And finally, we ask them if silently hoisting two small banners writ with "Stop your wars Mr. Bush" and "Bring your troops back home" for a few seconds and then gracefully walking out of the session hall just before Bush started his speech was improper and impolite.

We do not believe that we disgraced the peace-loving Filipino people by our dignified protest for we did it in solidarity with the urban poor living in front of the House of Representatives whose houses were demolished, the victims of toxic wastes left at the former US bases, the world war two veterans who have not been paid their due and the workers and farmers who have been ravaged by unfair trade policies of the US.

We missed out on nothing by walking out just before Mr. Bush spoke. As far as we are concerned, it was not just Laura Bush who did the storytelling but also her husband who regaled the joint session with a fairy tale of Filipino-American friendship.

We are ready to face the consequences of our acts-even as we believe that hoisting banners and walking out just before Bush spoke was well within the limits of dignified protest. If the leadership of the House of Representatives will see fit to file a case against us with the ethics committee and decide to expel us, we will welcome it as the price to pay for being messengers of peace. We will be more than happy to return to being street parliamentarians.

Sanlakas Rep. JV Bautista speech, 10-08-2003

Maliliit na Manininda ng Kamaynilaan: Dapat bang Kamuhian o Dapat Tulungan?

October 8, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I rise here today on a matter of personal and collective privilege on the issue of our hapless street vendors, many of whom have suffered and continue to suffer inhumane treatment from the hands of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and their respective local government units. 

Mr. Speaker, bago ko isa-isahin ang mga reklamo at karaingan ng maliliit nating manininda dito sa Kamaynilaan, nais kong iparating sa inyo na narito ngayon sa bulwagang ito ang kanilang mga kinatawan mula sa Metro Manila Vendors Alliance (MMVA). They have asked this humble representation to speak on their behalf and they would be very hopeful and happy to listen to what would be our collective response to their plight.

Good intentions done through brutal experiment

Mr. Speaker, mula nang ipatupad ng MMDA ang kanilang clearing operations laban sa mga sidewalk vendors sa Kamaynilaan noong Hulyo 2002, sa bisa ng MMDA Resolution No. 02-28 Series of 2002, naging kalbaryo na ang buhay ng ating mga kapatid na vendors. Ito ay dahil idinaan ni Chairman Fernando sa pwersa at dahas hindi sa mapayapang negosasyon ang pagpapatupad ng naturang MMDA Resolution. Kaya ngayon sa mata ng mga vendor, ang malinis at kahanga-hangang imahe ni MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando ay napalitan ng isang Hitler.

From July 2002 up to now, Mr. Speaker, the Metro Manila Vendors Alliance has recorded untold cases of physical assault from MMDA operatives ranging from harassment to extreme use of force that resulted to serious physical injuries to the death of three vendors. Sa katunayan, sa Cubao ay may kaso pa ng naputulan ng kamay dahil sa paglaban sa operatiba ng MMDA na armado ng samurai. Also, an estimated 2-3 million pesos worth of commercial articles were confiscated by MMDA personnel that resulted to economic dislocation of vendors.

Wala ring pinipili ang pandarahas ng MMDA, Mr. Speaker. Babae at lalaki, matatanda, buntis at bata ay pare-pareho ang trato sa kanila. From Monumento to Baclaran, from Fairview to Taft, and from Cubao to Divisoria, these helpless vendors, numbering tens of thousands including their families, suffered the same fate under Bayani Fernando's brutal regime in MMDA. Up to now, they are still waiting for justice.

Marami pang mga kaso ng karahasan, Mr. Speaker, na hindi nakareport dahil takot din ang mga vendor na magpa-blotter sa mga pulis. Tinitiis nila ang kalagayang ito, tinatanggap nila ang kaapihang ito, dahil ito na ang nagisnan nilang buhay bilang vendor - ang mabuhay sa pamamagitan ng pagtitinda sa gitna ng peligroso at marahas na pagtrato sa kanila ng mga nasa awtoridad. 

Sanlakas in defense

Mr. Speaker, habang nagaganap ang karahasan ng MMDA laban sa mga vendors, ang aking organisasyong kinakatawan, ang Sanlakas, ay hindi nangiming sila'y suportahan sa kabila ng suportang tinatanggap naman ni Chairman Fernando mula sa nakatataas na uri ng ating lipunan. Ngunit ito ay hindi dahil wala kaming konsepto ng kalinisan at kaayusan sa ating mga lansangan. Hindi dahil sinasang-ayunan namin ang paglabag nila sa batas. Hindi dahil kunukunsinti namin ang kanilang kamangmangan sa iba pang paraan ng paghahanapbuhay. 

Like Chairman Fernando, we also are yearning to live in an ideal, peaceful, orderly and livable city of men, women and children not only in Metro Manila but also in all urban centers nationwide. However, accomplishing such great task, we believe, requires not a brutal man but a benevolent leadership this country has yet to find.

Mr. Speaker, simple lang ang aming dahilan sa pag-aalala sa kalagayan ng ating maliliit na vendor. Ang kaharap nating problema ay isang masamang realidad -- ang realidad ng kahirapan na nagtulak sa ating mahihirap na kababayan na suungin ang peligrosong paraan ng paghahanapbuhay. Bakit lalo pa natin silang pinahihirapan? Gayung kahit ganito ang napili nilang buhay, naghahanapbuhay sila ng marangal. Maaaring sa mata ng batas ang kanilang paraan ng hanapbuhay ay iligal pero sa konsepto ng hustisya sila ay hindi perwisyo sa ating lipunan. Maging sa buhay ekonomiya ng bansa, sila ay hindi pabigat kundi'y nakakatulong pa sa pamahalaan na walang kapasidad na magbigay ng pormal na empleyo sa milyun-milyong walang hanapbuhay. 

"Ubusan ng kapital"

What these vendors find more revolting, Mr. Speaker, about Chairman Fernando's prescription in addressing the vendor's problems is his theory of "ubusan ng kapital". Confiscating vendors' commercial articles or setting them on fire to drain their capital is not only a violation of human rights but also a gruesome display of brutality, which is Hitler's trademark. In his ingenious theory, Mr. Speaker, Chairman Fernando believes that sidewalk vending will stop once peddlers run out of capital. Well, that might be true for a person who only makes vending for fun but not for a person who vends for life. Perhaps, Henry Sy can leave his mall business for another but not for Ka Pedring who lives on street vending for all his life. 

Mr. Speaker, nagtugumpay ba ang teoryang ito ni BF? According to Mr. Neil R. Lina, the City Market Administrator of Quezon City, in his memorandum to Mayor Feliciano Belmonte dated September 10, 2003: "The number of registered vendors reduced only in books but not in the streets."

Let me quote him in full: "Problems and complaints have arisen against the alleged abuse of authority by MMDA operatives. Cases after cases have been filed against these people, Bayani Fernando included. As a result of their indiscriminate and uncoordinated clearing operations with the city counterparts, the number of registered vendors in the city has been greatly reduced. Many of them refuse to go back to the office to renew their permits, however, some have continued to vend in spite of the risk of being demolished. Our record shows that there are about 10,000 to 12,000 vendors in the city of which 6,000 are registered. After a series of demolition jobs by the MMDA the number of vendors who are renewing their permits considerably dropped, but nevertheless you would see many of them back on the streets again and again."

Along this fact, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Lina also noted some negative effects on the "indiscriminate, brutal, inhuman and barbaric acts of MMDA personnel", and I quote: 

1. "Many of our vendors who have faithfully paid and complied with our requirements have been victimized involving loss of hundreds of thousands of pesos in capital. Goods and even cash sales were confiscated but not returned;

2. MMDA continues to defy the permits we are issuing. Thus, the vendors' trust and confidence in our effort to require them to pay our vending taxes and fees is diminished;

3. Because of this, many of registered vendors have stopped renewing their permits from us. Hence, the reduction and slump in revenues. Last year 2002, was our highest collection of P5.021 million. This year's collection could have been bigger had not for MMDA's abuses. As of June 2003, we just collected P3.714 million; 

4. Even though vendors are aware of the previous written proposal by the City Market Administrator to the Mayor to declare alternative vending sites, the image of the city has been marred since the vendors do not see it implemented. They perceive lack of support to their business or a relocation site where their trading will be unhampered by threats of demolition is a failure on the part of the City Government."

Mas malamang, Mr. Speaker, ganyan din ang nangyayari sa maraming syudad sa Metro Manila. Marahil, dahil sa inaasahang mangyayari, kung bakit hindi sumang-ayon sa naturang ordinansa ng MMDA ang mga lungsod ng Maynila, Mandaluyong at Caloocan. Sila ay nagpapatupad ng sariling vending program na may konsultasyon sa mga manininda. 

Disorder to anarchy

Mr. Speaker, ganyan kadalasan ang nagiging resulta ng Hitler na pormula sa paglutas ng problema. Sa halip na maayos nang mapayapa ang problema lalo lang itong nauuwi sa anarkiya. Sa halip na maorganisa sa isang programa ang mga vendor at maipatupad ang disiplina, itinulak sila ni Fernando sa pagtitinda sa paraang gerilya. 

Hindi nagkulang ang mga manininda na ipaabot ang kanilang hinaing sa mga kinauukulang ahensya ng pamahalaan. Sa katunayan, humarap na sila sa Pangulo, sa National Anti-Poverty Commission, sa Commission on Human Rights at sa kanilang mga mayor, sa layuning ayusin sa paraan ng negosasyon ang kanilang kalalagyan at ang kabutihan ng syudad. Tanging si Chairman Fernando ang hindi humaharap sa kanila para makipag-usap. 

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I urge this august body to make forceful recommendations to concerned agencies to urgently and finally come to a viable solution to address the problems of our hapless vendors. A moratorium on clearing operations would be a good start that must be followed by positive negotiations both in the national agencies level as well as in the local levels. 

Mr. Speaker, small vendors are not our enemies in the streets. They are dignified people who make their living out of the shameful failure of our government to provide them decent lives. Hindi ba't sa halip na kamuhian at ipagtabuyan, sila ay dapat tulungan ng pamahalaan? 

Maraming salamat, Mr. Speaker.

A Sanlakas poem

Come forth all you who are tired,
all you who have grown weary.

You who suffer by the heavy hand
of exploitation and stand aghast
at the avarice of the few.

You who know that every voice
that has been allowed to speak,
a thousand others have been muted
by want and constraint.

You who have been numbed
by the growling of your stomach
as you fed the latest
statistics on growth.

You who have been shamed
and angered by the fate
of our people in a world
that would not acknowledged
our dignity.

You who feel the emptiness
of an existence drawn only
to the self and to the profit
while the world and its
life pass by you.

Come forth, Filipinos,
and raise the call!

For these times
are not for those
who will remain weak
but rather for those
who would be strong;
not for those
who would hide in fear;
but for those
who show themselves resolute;
not for the hopeless,
but for those
who will continue to dream.

Our people's hope

Our people's resolve

Our people's strength

Sanlakas

(This poem was published at the front page of Maypagasa magazine, the official publication of Sanlakas, Vol. 2, No. 1, October-December 1999)