Sugurin na Ang DBM, Malacañang Para Maipatupad ang 10% Salary Increase

Sa meeting ng Manila Chapter Council ngayong araw, Huwebes, ika-2 ng Oktubre 2008, nagkaisa ang lahat na pagod na ang mga kawani sa paghihintay sa kaukulang aksyon ng UP Administration sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM) para maipatupad ang matagal nang inaasahang 10% salary increase, kaya panahon na upang kumilos ang Unyon upang singilin ang DBM at Malacañang. Anumang pagbali-baligtad ng mga argumento walang nakikitang dahilan ang Unyon para sabihin o ideklara ng DBM na hindi tayo kasali sa nasabing 10% across the board salary increase; na naibigay na sa lahat na mga kawani ng iba't-ibang sangay ng Pambansang Pamahalaan, maliban na lang sa U.P.

Sa tingin ng Unyon, kaya tayo pinapahihirapan ng DBM ay dahil maraming bilang ng mga kawani at mga Professor ng U.P. ang kritikal sa Pamahalaang GMA bunsod na rin ng malawakang korupsiyon at pagpapatupad ng mga kontra mamamayang polisiya kabilang na ang patuloy na pagbaba ng budget pangkalusugan at edukasyon.

At upang gulantangin ang mga nagdidiyos-diyosan sa DBM at Malacañang ay sismulan natin ito sa isang picket-prayer rally sa harapan mismo ng DBM sa ika-14 ng Oktubre 2008, simula ika-9 ng umaga. Inatasan ang mga kumite ng Public Affairs, at Special Projects para sa kaukulang mga public statements, press releases, posters at placards para sa gaganaping pagkilos ng Unyon. Muling binuo ang mga Campaign Groups na unang binuo noong kampanya sa Certification Election noong 2007 upang mangasiwa sa pag-ikot sa lahat na mga opisina at clinical areas ng U.P. Manila at Philippine General Hospital. Inaasahan natin na sasama sa nasabing pagkilos ang hindi bababa sa 300 mga kawani.

Dahil na rin sa patuloy na pagtaas ng mga presyo ng bilihin at serbisyo, patuloy na dumadausdos ang kalidad ng ating kabuhayan kung kaya't matagal nang inaasahan ng mga kawani ang nasabing pagtaas ng sahod. Maliit man ito sa ating ipinaglalabang P3,000 buwanang pagtaas ng sahod ay malaking tulong na rin upang maibsan ang kahirapan.

Singilin and DBM at si GMA sa ating kaukulang pagtaas ng sahod! Ipaglaban ang ating karapatan sa nakakabuhay na sahod!

Update Sa Naganap Na CNA Negotiation

Ika-6 na Miting ng CNA/UMCB
Noong Setyembre 22, 2008 na Ginawa sa UP SOLAIR
Mula ika-2:00 Hanggang ika-5:00 ng Hapon

Matapos maideklara ng Bureau of Labor Relations-DOLE ang All UP Workers Union noong ika-14 ng Pebrero 2008 bilang panalo sa naganap na CE noong Oktubre 24, 2007 ay naganap ang ika-6 na negotiation meeting sa pagitan ng UP at All UP Workers Union kahapon ika-22 ng Setyembre sa UP SOLAIR. Si Vice-President Theodore Te (abogado ito) at Vice-President Arlene Samaniego (Doctor of Medicine) ang nanguna sa UP Panel, samantalang ang All UP Workers Union panel naman ay binubuo nina: Arnulfo Anoos ang ating kasalukuyang National President, Jossel Ebesate (National Executive Vice President), Benjamin Santos (President ng Manila Chapter), Francisca vera Cruz (Vice-Pres. ng Diliman Chapter) Fredie Sambrano (President ng Los Baños Chapter) Jesusa Besido (National Chairperson, Grievance and Negotiation Committee), Jonathan Beldia (Member, CNA Secretariat) at Clodualdo Cabrera (National Treasurer).

Sa panimula ay inihapag natin ang mga ilang isyu katulad ng update sa ating 10% dagdag sahod, pangalawang P5,000 incentive at pagpapaalala sa ground rules para sa negotiation, partikular na ang tagal ng negotiation (dapat kasi sa loob ng 4 na buwan ay tapos na ito), dahil nga sa lampas na ito sa 4 na buwan.

Sa isyu ng 10 %, ipinahayag ni VP Te na hiningan sila ng MOA ng DBM at ito naman ay naisubmit na nila sa DBM noon pang Agosto 26, 2008, subalit wala pang katugunan ang DBM hinggil dito. Sa usapin naman ng 2nd P 5,000 hiniling ng unyon na maibigay na ito sa Nobyembre 2008, bagay na sinabi naman ni VP Samaniego na pinag-uusapan na ito ng UP Admn at kasama na din ang malaking posibilidad na makakuha pa tayo ng 3rd rice subsidy ngayong taon.

Sa pag-uusap sa laman ng CNA, binalikan muna ang mga deklarasyon ng mga prinsipyo, sa puntong ito hinihiling natin na mapalitan ang katagang consultation ng involvement upang mas lalo tayong magkaroon ng direktang partisipasyon sa mga polisiya at patakaran na pinaiiral ng UP sa usapin ng may kinalaman sa ating trabaho, promosyon atpb., subalit matindi ang pagtanggi dito ng UP panel, maraming sinabing dahilan dito si VP Te, tulad ng wala daw ganitong probisyon sa ibang CNA, at kahit daw sa ruling ng Supreme Court sa kaso ng PAL, ay hindi pinayagan ng korte ang paglalagay ng salitang involvement, dahil ito daw ay para lamang sa management at ito daw ang pag-iiba natin sa management.

Bagama’t matindi ang kanilang pagtutol dito, hindi natin inatras ang ating laban na dapat mula sa consultation ay maitaas ang ating participation na tayo ay direktang maging kabahagi sa mga pagdedesisyon sa mga patakaran at polisiyang ipapairal ng UP na may kaugnayan sa ating pagiging empleyado, kasi kung titingnan natin kala mo ang ilan sa ating mga opisyal ay mga hari o naghahariharian dito sa UP. Dapat nating tandaan na tayo sa UP ay pare-pareho lamang na pinasusuweldo sa pera ng mamamayan at dapat ibalik ang paglilingkod sa mamamayan.

Ipinaliban na lang ng dalawang panig ang pagresolba sa isyung ito sa susunod na mga pagpupulong.

Subalit, kahit medyo matindi ang naging balitaktakan sa simula ng ika-6 Meeting ng CNA Negotiation, marami pa din naming napagka-isahan ang UP at All UP Workers Panel. Ito ang mga sumusunod:

1. 2 days nursing leave for nursing mothers (wala ito sa dating CNA natin)

2. 3 days additional job related sickness leave,non-cumulative at non-commutative – bagama’t ito’y nakapaloob na sa dating CNA natin, mas magiging maluwag ang implementasyon nito, sa dating probisyon kasi kailangan ng medical certificate na pinili ng dalawang panig, kaya halos bihira ang nakakapag-avail nito. Ngayon kailangan mo lamang mag-submit ng medical certificate kung 3 days consecutive mo itong gagamitin, pero kung dalawa o paisa-isa ang gamit hindi na kailangan na mag-attached ka ng medical certificate

3. Rice Subsidy - bukas sila na maging 3 ang ating rice subsidy na may halagang P1500.00 bawat isang sakong bigas, subalit ang proposal natin ay quarterly rice subsidy na minimum 50kg bawat sako ng bigas na mahusay ang kalidad.

4. Hazard Pay para sa mga hazardous ang trabaho – bukas silang tukuyin ang mga empleyadong hazardous talaga ang trabaho, kaya napagkasunduan na magbuo ng komite para dito.

5. Comprehensive Medical Insurance – bukas silang pag-usapan ito, kaya napagkasunduan na magbuo ng komite upang masusing pag-aralan ito at ibigay ang rekomendasyon kay Pangulong Roman.

Natapos ang Meeting dakong ika-5 ng hapon at itinakda ng dalawang panig ang susunod na CNA Negotiation (7th Meeting) sa ika-16 ng Oktubre 2008, ika-2:00 din ng hapon.

The U.S. Financial Crisis and the Philippines’ Economic Debacle

Having produced only disastrous results, economic management can no longer be left in the hands of an elite corps of bureaucrats and technocrats who ape lock, stock and barrel models purposely to make corporate profits bigger at the expense of workers, farmers, and other marginal sectors.

By the Policy Study, Publication and Advocacy
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 14 Series of 2008
September 29, 2008

The opposing views proliferating in the media on whether the U.S. financial meltdown will have an extensive impact on the Philippine economy are expected and time may help settle this debate. By zeroing on the element of “impact”, however, these divergent views – voiced largely by economic authorities, bankers, and financial analysts – only miss the truth about the country’s economic anchors, a core issue that is hardly touched every time a financial crisis in the U.S. happens. They forget that neo-liberalism, enforced in most parts of the world by U.S.-led global capitalism, has left billions of people more marginalized and their lives more miserable by the day.

The Philippine economy has been fettered by prolonged unequal ties with its former colonial master – the U.S. - and by being made an appendage to global capitalism. This imbalanced relationship takes its roots, among others, in post-war onerous impositions, one-sided trade agreements, bitter debt payment programs, and unilaterally-enforced credit arrangements.

At the heart of this historical imposition is the Philippine presidency and its economic generals who have perpetuated this unequal relationship for decades, keeping the Philippines always at the receiving end of global capitalism’s periodic crisis. The current U.S. financial crisis - a result of the unregulated speculative financial sector leading to a housing mortgage mess and credit crunch - should compel everyone to reject this inherently disastrous economic model and work toward an independent, people-oriented economic policy.

“Dark age”

To begin with, the Arroyo government is lying through its teeth when it assures the business community not to fear as the country will ride out America’s financial meltdown even if this has all the makings of a second Great Depression or what European groups call a modern “dark age.” However, as early as January this year, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresaw the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia – and other developing regions - as bearing the brunt of the global impact from a major economic slowdown in the U.S. The recession, the Fund said, will trigger a stiffer export competition from China at the expense of the Philippines and other export-driven countries in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Making a similar forecast, the economic intelligence center Euromonitor projected that the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia heavily dependent on exports to the U.S. will be hit by the economic slowdown as the export demand by the world’s biggest economy declines.

Indeed, the U.S. remains a major destination for Philippine exports. About 20 percent of the country’s exports go directly to the U.S. Another 50 percent of the exports go to Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia but these are actually components assembled into products that end up in the U.S. market. All these mean that cuts on the U.S. export demand could be potentially devastating to 70 percent of the country’s exports.

Aside from export manufacturing, highly dependent on the U.S. market are the information technology-enabled industry and the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. In 2005 these accounted for 90 percent of BPO export revenues and over two-thirds of foreign equity.

At the receiving end

Each time the U.S. economy tumbles, the Philippines and the rest of the world are bumped aside. Being in the clutches of the U.S. economic hegemony since colonial times, however, the Philippines is at the receiving end of the crisis of capitalism that America passes on to small, developing countries and emerging economies.

To recall, America bought the Philippines from Spain at the end of the 19th century in the period of U.S. capitalist expansion and its conquests for market, cheap labor, and raw materials in Asia Pacific. A strong lobby mounted by U.S. producers against Philippine exports during the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the transition that ended with the granting of independence.

But the grant of independence in 1946 was conditioned upon onerous agreements that tied the Philippines to a “free trade” allowing the unrestricted entry of U.S. exports with parity rights for American citizens to exploit the country’s natural wealth, and own properties and strategic industries. Emerging from the war in control of more than half of the global wealth and awash with trade surpluses, America had to keep the Philippines and other countries in its grip where it could dump its excess commodities, exploit their cheap raw materials, expand finance capital operations, and extend a new-found military hegemony. Accordingly, national security doctrines during the period emphasized the importance of maintaining a pro-U.S. government in the Philippines that would guarantee America’s over-arching economic and military objectives.

Over the next 60 years, the Philippines’ economic dependence on the U.S. gave birth to treaties and policies allowing the entrenchment of U.S. strategic enterprises and investments, the export of raw commodities, heavy reliance on foreign investments, and the elimination of protectionism. This neo-colonial structure maintained the system of landlordism and a bourgeoisie that depended on the plunder of natural resources and export of cheap raw commodities. As a result, the local economy became lethargic and generally backward, unable to shield itself from the rise and fall of an increasingly globalized economy where modern agriculture, a strong industrial base, and protective barriers are the keys to survival.

Bitter prescriptions

Imbalanced trade, a weak manufacturing base, and heavy borrowings further resulted in the accumulation of foreign debt that made successive and corrupt administrations accommodating to bitter economic pills prescribed by the IMF and World Bank. Under the regime of the structural adjustment program (SAP), up to 50 percent of the national budget went to automatic debt servicing, regressive taxes were increased while social services were reduced, and strategic public corporations went to private hands many of them TNCs.

The government’s commitment to globalization and World Trade Organization (WTO) led to the deregulation of the oil industry. Import liberalization displaced the country’s small producers while tens of thousands of workers lost their regular jobs due to labor-only contract system.

These economic policies took shape in the midst of the periodic crisis of contemporary capitalism battering the U.S. and other capitalist countries. Holding neo-liberalism with a sacred aura, the country’s economic strategists laughed off criticisms from progressive groups that this “new” capitalist paradigm was designed to bring relief to the leading capitalist economies at the expense of the Philippines along with other emerging economies.

Champions of neo-liberal globalization have shown no empirical evidence to support their claim of “equal playing field” and economic growth. On the contrary, neo-liberalism has lost its appeal as it has only widened the gap between rich and poor the world over. Today, nearly three billion people - half the world's population - are living on less than two dollars a day. Conversely, the richest 2 percent of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth.

Poverty and unemployment

Here at home, claims of economic growth based on GDP cannot hide the unprecedented increase in the number of poor Filipinos by three million (2003-2006), with the total conservative number of poor now 27 million. Current increases in the prices of oil and food products aggravated by the adverse impact of the U.S. meltdown will likely increase the number of poor several times in the coming years. Meantime, about 4.1 million people are jobless with the country facing a 10.8 percent underemployment record in 2007. At least 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday in search of jobs abroad. There are other grim statistics about the Philippines human development rating that will make it hard to see any positive signs of success attributed to government’s neo-liberal policies.

The management of the country’s economy is a serious responsibility that should be grounded on the people’s rights and well-being, above all else. Having produced only disastrous results, economic management can no longer be left in the hands of an elite corps of bureaucrats and technocrats who ape lock, stock and barrel models purposely to make corporate profits bigger at the expense of workers, farmers, and other marginal sectors.

Clearly, the most recent financial crisis in the U.S. has dealt a mortal blow to the failed but deadly practices of neo-liberalism the world over and undoubtedly lays the groundwork for the crafting of alternative policies more responsive to the needs of the powerless and marginalized in our societies. We can start right here in our country by working for the end of the destructive and rapacious rule by the elite and building people-centered democratic governance.

Update sa Naganap na Pagkilos Kahapon sa Quezon Hall

Kahapon, Setyembre 15, 2008, 1:30 ng hapon kasabay ng meeting ng President’s Advisory Council ay nagkaroon tayo ng pagkilos upang igiit na maibigay na ang ating 10% salary increase. Ito ay dinaluhan ng halos 200 empleyado at nagkaroon ng isang maikling programa. Sa pagkilos na ito ay nagsalita si Pang. Roman, inilahad niya ang mga ginawa/ginagawang hakbang ng UP Administration para maibigay na ang ating 10%
tulad ng pagsulat, pakikipag-usap sa mga opisyal ng DBM, pag submit ng mga report na hinihingi ng DBM, subalit sa dulo ay hindi pa din siya nagbigay ng katiyakang maibibigay na talaga sa atin ito, sinabi din niyang ayos lang naman ang ginagawa nating mga pagkilos dahil nakakatulong ito sa ating hinihinging 10% salary increase.

Dahil nga sa wala pa ding katiyakan kung ito ay maibibigay, ngayong Oktubre ay nagpaplano tayo ng isang pagkilos papunta ng DBM Malacanang, pero siyempre patuloy ang ginagawa nating mga local na pagkilos upang patuloy din ang pressure sa Administrasyong Roman at ang gusto nga natin ay dapat sumama din sila (ang UP officials). Mungkahing ang mga chapter sa mga awtonomus campus ay maglunsad din ng pagkilos , kasabay ng isasagawang pagkilos mula sa Diliman (pinag-uusapan pa ang petsa ng pagtungo sa DBM) patungong DBM Malacanang.

UP Faculty, Workers Protest Wage Hike Delay

MANILA, Philippines – Around 200 faculty members and nonacademic workers of the University of the Philippines (UP) Monday marched to its main campus in Diliman, Quezon City, Monday to protest the two-month delay in the release of their 10-percent salary increase.

Bearing placards containing their demands, members of the All UP Workers Alliance held a program at the lobby of the Quezon Hall shortly before the scheduled meeting of senior university officials around 3 p.m.

The protesters assailed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for its alleged arbitrariness in holding funds for the increase.

Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, national vice president for faculty of the All UP Academic Employees Union, said they could not understand why DBM Secretary Rolando Andaya has yet to act on several requests made regarding the wage increase.

Citing an executive order issued by President Macapagal-Arroyo on May 1, Taguiwalo argued that all government workers, including UP personnel, should have received the increase effective July 1. “We see no logical reason why the DBM should keep what is rightfully due us,” Taguiwalo told the Inquirer.

“It’s been two months now since they delayed our salary hike. With the worsening inflation rate, the 10 percent additional salary could hardly help us keep up with the rising costs of goods and services,” she added.

UP President Emerlinda Roman earlier told Taguiwalo’s group in a letter that the DBM declined to approve the budget for the wage hike because UP was no longer included in the government Salary Standardization Law when the university’s new charter was signed last April.

Roman briefly spoke Monday with the protesters on her way to the meeting of the UP President’s Advisory Council.

She said she was optimistic that the DBM would soon approve the funds after the agency asked for documents and the draft of an agreement between the university and DBM.

Roman said she found it strange that while the national government regarded UP as the top university in the country, “our employees have the lowest salary among government workers. I think that’s inconsistent.”

“I assure you that we’re doing what is needed to give you the best of both worlds,” she told the protesters, apparently referring to their efforts to get the nod of the DBM while studying ways to improve other benefits for UP personnel.

Taguiwalo, however, said they were not contented with Roman’s speech.

She then challenged the UP executive to join them in a prayer rally to press Andaya to hasten the release of the funds.

“President Roman told the union that all we can do now is pray. If she’s really with us, then she should lead us in a prayer rally in front of the DBM office,” Taguiwalo said.

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:29:00 09/15/2008

Ating hamon sa Administrasyong Roman: Pangunahan ang “Prayer Rally” sa DBM para igiit ang ating 10% Salary Increase

Setyembre na. Dalawang buwan nang natanggap ng mga kapwa natin kawani sa pamahalaan ang 10% salary increase. UP na lang ang wala pa.

Samantala, kung ang inflation rate noong Hulyo ay 12.3%, at nitong Agosto ay umakyat pa ito sa 12.6%, ibig sabihin lalong bumaba ang halaga ng inaantay na 10% salary increase sa pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin at mga serbisyo!!!

Bakit iniipit ng Malacañang at ni Andaya ang ating salary increase?

Hindi natin maiintindihan kung ano talaga ang dahilan kung bakit patuloy na iniipit ng DBM sa pamumuno ni Rolando Andaya ang ating 10% salary increase. Utos ba ito ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na siyang kagyat na pinuno ni Andaya?

Kung ang dinadahilan ay ang probisyon sa bagong UP Charter na may kapangyarihan ang UP Board of Regents na magtakda ng bagong compensation scheme para sa mga empleyado ng UP, may ganito ring probisyon ang 1991 Charter ng Philippine Normal University.

Ang 1991 PNU Charter (R.A. 7168) ay may ganitong probisyon kaugnay ng kapangyarihan ng Board of Regents: "Section 7, h: To fix and adjust salaries of faculty members and administrative officials and employees." Pero ang mga faculty at kawani ng PNU ay nakatanggap na ng 10% salary increase dahil hindi naman sila nagkaroon ng hiwalay na salary scale labas sa SSL mula pa nang ipinasa ang kanilang Charter noong 1991. E ganito rin naman sa UP a. Wala naman tayong bagong salary scale; wala namang pagbabago sa ating sweldo mula nang naipasa ang RA 9500 o 2008 UP Charter.

Nitong nakaraang linggo lamang, ipinagmalaki ni Andaya na may panukala ang DBM na itaas ng 100% ang sweldo ng mga kawani at mga opisyal ng pamahalaan sa kanyang paghapag ng 2009 budget. E bakit, 10% salary increase man lang namin dito sa UP para ngayong 2008 ay ayaw niyo pa ibigay?

Ating panawagan sa Administrasyong Roman: Pangunahan ang “Prayer Rally” sa DBM para igiit ang ating 10% Salary Increase!

Sa pinakahuling dayalogo ni Pangulong Roman sa mga guro at kawani ng UP sa UP Baguio noong Agosto 30, 2008, sinabi niyang halos araw-araw nilang tinatawagan ang DBM tungkol sa ating salary increase at hininging “magdasal” tayo para mapabilis ito. Marami sa ating mga kawani at ang kanilang mga pamilya ay isinasama sa kanilang mga dasal na maibigay na nga itong 10% salary increase. Pero hindi nakasasapat na umasa na lang tayo sa “Divine Intervention” para sa ganitong problema.

Sa tagal na ng panahong pakikisuyo at pakikipag-usap ng Administrasyong Roman sa mga nasa poder sa DBM at Malacañang ay nanatili silang bingi.

Hinahamon natin si Presidente Roman at mga opisyal ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas na pangunahan ang isang ”prayer rally” sa harap ng opisina ng DBM, malapit sa Malacañang, para igiit ang matagal nang nabimbing 10% salary increase. Baka sa ganitong paraan lamang diringgin ng nag­aastang mga bathala sa Malacañang ang dasal na ibigay na ang ating 10% salary increase.

Employees of Biggest State Hospital Pickets Over Non-Payment of Salary Increase

More than a hundred employees of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) picketed in front of the hospital main lobby today at around 12:00 - 1:00 PM to dramatize their discontent over the continued non-payment of the 10% salary increase being trumpeted by the National Government since last year but was only given to almost all government agencies starting July 2008. Said salary increase was mandated under the 2008 National Budget but was enacted by Congress only on February 2008.

According to officials of the University of the Philippines (the mother unit of PGH) led by President Emerlinda Roman, they could not give the increase because the Department of Budget and Management have not yet released the money for the said increase, justifying that the University is no longer covered by Salary Standardization Law under its new charter (RA 9500).

However, Mr. Benjamin Santos, Manila Chapter President of the All U.P. Workers Union, the group that leads the picket contend that: "No matter how you would read and interprete the new university charter, there's nothing in the law that disenfranchise the university employees from the 10% salary increase to all national government employees. As a matter of fact, the law even mandates that all the requirements of the university for this year and the years to come, shall be included in the national budget."

The employees promised that should their call for the implementation of the 10% salary increase starting July 2008 as mandated by law remained unheeded, they will bring the matter up to the doorsteps of Malacanang (the Official Residence of the President of the Republic).

A Shortage amid the Glut in Nursing Graduates

The Philippines has an oversupply of nursing graduates especially with the visa retrogression in the US. But ironically, many government hospitals lack nurses and other health professionals. With low pay and poor working conditions in government hospitals, nursing graduates opt to work abroad even as volunteers with no pay and allowance.

BY RITCHE T. SALGADO
Contributed to Bulatlat
Volume VIII, Number 28, August 17-23, 2008

Jay-R Manzano, 21, is all set for his review. He made sure to wake up early so that he could still go through his notes and not forget the discussion his class had the day before.

Jay-R and his friends, sisters Grethel Ann and Gretchen Mae Tubo, are reviewing for the licensure examination for nurses come late November. Like most of their friends and classmates, they have started their preparation early, the usual being a month before the scheduled exam. They have enrolled at a commercial review center, but by late October they will be undergoing a more intensive review in their school, the University of Cebu.

Despite the effort that they are making, they have already accepted the fact that they may not be able to get their dream job as nurses in the United States of America as soon as they hoped. But they are willing to work as volunteers abroad or even in private hospitals here, with no pay and no allowance.

“Just so we will gain the experience that we will need once the US will start accepting Filipino nurses again,” said Jay-R.

“We know that right now the US is not accepting Filipino nurses because of the (visa) retrogression, but then I am still optimistic that after the elections (in the US) this little obstacle will be lifted, and again they will open their doors for us,” Grethel said.

In order to protect American nurses and other health professionals, the US has set a limit on the number of foreign nurses that will be given access to the US. This created a shortage of nurses and physical therapists in the States and so the US Congress passed H.R. 5924 or the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. However, the Hispanic block in the US Congress sets as a condition to passing the bill, the granting of amnesty to Mexican illegal settlers in the US. This created a deadlock in the progress of the bill and in the process, the hiring of foreign-trained nurses decreased, if not stopped.

In an article in The FREEMAN (August 11, 2008), Oscar A. Tuason, administrator of the Cebu Doctors University Hospital, expressed alarm over the decrease in the demand for Filipino nurses in the US. He said that this has a direct effect on the number of enrollees in the nursing program of schools, elaborating that at present most nursing schools are losing students at the rate of five to eight percent.

Tuason cited five reasons for the decrease in demand for Filipino nurses: the worsening quality of graduates, unskilled and inexperienced nurses, attitude problems that include lack of motivation and lack of commitment, signing up with more than one agency, and poor ability in conversational English due to the decline in the standard of education.

Judy Aragones, R.N., PhD., spokesperson of the Cebu chapter of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and a professor at the University of San Carlos, however, expressed disagreement with Tuason regarding the trend in nursing enrollees.

“It is obvious that more and more of our young people are taking up nursing,” Aragones claimed. “There are those whose heart may not be in the profession but they see it as their way out of poverty. Even if the US is closing its doors, there are alternate destinations for our nurses like the Middle East, Singapore, Japan and European countries.”

Aragones, however, maintained that going out of the country for work is not the solution to the country’s economic problems. “I strongly disagree with our government encouraging our people to work abroad. It is the responsibility of our government to take care of our graduates. We are losing skilled and hard working people,” she lamented.

Aragones admitted that the main reason for the decrease, if not stop, in the hiring of foreign-trained nurses is mainly because of the visa retrogression policy of the US. As a consequence, many graduates have found themselves unemployed or under employed; and with schools producing more nursing graduates each year, the health sector in the country is now facing a dilemma in the oversupply of nurses.

“Some of them have to make do with being volunteers, receiving no pay or allowance. Their only consolation is that they would be able to use the certification that they would get from hospitals for possible employment in other countries,” Aragones said.

She admitted that hospitals in Cebu are understaffed. Because they could not afford to hire new nurses, they are forced to accept only volunteers.

“It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that our nurses are employed. To encourage them to stay and serve the country, the government should come up with a good socio-economic package that would include non-monetary compensations,” Aragones said.

She said the government must provide good working conditions, skills development, and such other non-economic benefits, saying that salary-wise the Philippines would not be able to compete.

“The starting pay of our nurses right now, on average, is at P15, 000 ($331) per month. Compare that to the salary they will be getting in the US and other countries (an average of US$20 per hour). This is very small,” she explained.

Jay-R, Grethel and Gretchen are now making efforts to pass the local licensure exam. Soon they will start to process their papers for the US, despite the retrogression. “We know that right now it seems impossible to get a job in the US, but then again, it does not mean that we should also stop trying,” Gretchen said.

Aragones explained that unless the government would do something to encourage health workers to stay in the country, more young people like Jay-R, Grethel and Gretchen would still desire to work in foreign countries like the US. Contributed to Bulatlat

Arroyo wants lasting reign, not lasting peace in Mindanao

InPeace Mindanao
Press Release

August 14, 2008


The Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (InPeace) questions and condemns in the strongest terms President Arroyo's proposal for charter change which is meant to extend her stay in power beyond 2010, rather than solve the Moro problem in Mindanao.

The group questions the sincerity of Mrs. Arroyo who said that charter change will solve the issue of Muslim autonomy in Mindanao. We are rather persuaded that with Arroyo's past conducts in pushing for cha-cha, that she is just exploiting this issue to justify its own interest, which is to create a federal form of government and have Arroyo elected as prime minister or as head of state.

She wants lasting reign and lasting power, not lasting peace. Arroyo has clearly used the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as a trojan horse to subvert the Senate as a stronghold of the political opposition and open the floodgates for charter change. Arroyo's peace rhetorics have been unmasked anew. She has employed duplicity in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)'s negotiations with the MILF to cater to her own desire for political perpetuation.

This proposal for cha-cha would never bring peace in Mindanao. This is peddled by this same government that fails its negotiations with the MILF. This would be the same government that has been engaged in an all-out war policy against the Moro people. Ultimately, this will be the same government responsible for aggravating the country into critical level of poverty, economic and political hardship, due to corruption and repression.

It is a big shame that Arroyo and her cohorts are trampling the noble aspirations of the Mindanao peoples for just and lasting peace in order to further her self-interest. We deplore this move by Arroyo, and we call on our Mindanao legislators to hear the voice of the people in Mindanao: We want authentic peace, not charter change.

We continue to support the right to self determination of the Bangsamoro people. The political maneuverings of the Arroyo government has shown that it will not be the Bangsamoro who will benefit from the windfall of gains from the peace negotiations. Arroyo has once more trampled upon the Bangsamoro people's aspiration for genuine autonomy. She will go down in history as the President who is caught red-handed for undermining the GRP-MILF peace process to pursue her interest. #


for Reference: Atty.Beverly Selim Musnia

Public Health Providers Tired of GMA’s Promises

A meager P18.65 ($0.42) per day is the equivalent of the ten percent increase to Salary Grade I government employees, which includes health workers in public hospitals.

BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat
Volume VIII, Number 25, July 27-August 2, 2008

Jamil Dionisio has been working as nursing attendant for 15 years at the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP). His take home pay is only P3,000 ($67.827 at an exchange rate of $1=P44.23)a ) per month.

A big chunk of his salary is gobbled up by payments for Government Security and Insurance System (GSIS) and Pag-ibig loans, personal loans and taxes.

Even though his wife is working abroad, Dionisio still finds it hard to make both ends meet.

His three children have transferred from private to public schools due higher tuition and other fees. To cut expenses on transportation, he acquired a motorcycle and still pays for it on an installment basis.

Asked about the ten percent salary increase for government employees, he said, “Hindi namin naramdaman.” (We never felt it.)

Dionisio is one of the thousands of health workers nationwide who grapple with low salary and limited benefits.

According to the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), the ten percent salary increase is only P18.65 ($0.42) per day for Salary Grade I workers.

Entry level for rank-and-file employees in hospitals categorized as government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) is Salary Grade IV with a P7,000 ($158.26) salary. Utility workers receive less, with Salary Grade III entry level receiving only a little more than P5,000 ($113.045) per month.

As of March 2008, the National Wages and Productivity Commission placed the daily cost of living for a family of six in the National Capital Region at P858 ($19.15). It means that to be able to live decently, a family needs to earn P25, 740 ($574.68) per month.

An insult

Emma Manuel, AHW chairperson warned Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against taking pride in the ten-percent salary increase for government employees.

“Pagod na kami sa mga pangakong walang katotohanan,” (We are tired of empty promises.) Manuel said.

She said that Arroyo’s tarpaulins with the slogan “Ramdam ang Kaunlaran” (Progress is felt) is a big insult to government workers.

She described their condition, “Butas na ang bulsa, hikahos na.” (Pockets empty, struggling to survive). She added, “Our present take home pay even with the measly ten percent hike could not even take us home.”

Manuel also said that the long-awaited benefits accorded by law such as the subsistence allowance, cost of living allowance (COLA) backpay, increase in hazard pay “remain only as dreams” as these are subject to the availability of funds.

She also criticized Arroyo for not allocating funds for the implementation of the Nursing Law. The law mandates the increase of entry salary grade for nurses to Salary Grade 15 or P16,000 ($361.745) per month. Most nurses are classified under Salary Grade 10.

The AHW reiterated their demand for a P3,000 ($67.827) salary increase for government employees.

Doctors

Meanwhile, Dr. Julie Caguiat, executive director of the Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) decried the Arroyo government’s neglect of doctors and health workers.

Caguiat said that while there are many well-meaning doctors who would want to serve the poor in rural areas, the economic conditions and lack of support from government compel them to work abroad. Caguiat said that 80 to 90 percent of municipal health officers in the country are taking up nursing.

The HEAD said that resident doctors in public hospitals receive only P18,000 ($406.96) per month.

“The conditions are not inviting,” Caguiat said. She deplored that those who go to far-flung areas are even branded as rebels.

“We ask Arroyo, where have the doctors gone? If we are losing our doctors, who will be the ones to look into the people’s health?”

Caguiat also called on the Arroyo government to address the plight of the poor. Caguiat said, “It is frustrating for us to treat them and then send them back to their abject conditions.” Bulatlat

The 2008 UP Charter: Forging the Transition from Premier State University to Corporate Enterprise

Published on Bulatlat (http://bulatlat.com)

The first thing which would probably strike a casual reader of the "Centennial Charter" (RA 9500) is the replacement of the conventional label of "state university" by the term "national university." The current nomenclature rests on the crucial distinction between Private Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). Indeed, the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA) only mentions SUCs as recipients of government subsidy. The studious elimination of all mention of the term "state university" in the Charter sends a message that this distinction no longer holds for the University of the Philippines. This suspicion is confirmed by the contents of the Charter itself.

BY CONTEND-UP*
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 20, June 22-28, 2008

The first thing which would probably strike a casual reader of the "Centennial Charter" (RA 9500) is the replacement of the conventional label of "state university" by the term "national university." The current nomenclature rests on the crucial distinction between Private Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). Indeed, the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA) only mentions SUCs as recipients of government subsidy. The studious elimination of all mention of the term "state university" in the Charter sends a message that this distinction no longer holds for the University of the Philippines. This suspicion is confirmed by the contents of the Charter itself.

UP and the Rise of a New Managerial Stratum

One salient characteristic of the Charter is the creation of a managerial stratum distinct from the existing governance structures of the University. The UP President, aside from being referred to as the "chief academic officer," is also labelled in the text of the Charter as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), which means no less than that she/he shall henceforth serve as the highest ranking officer of the corporate entity which is the "national university." Since the President shall be appointed in this capacity as the head of a corporation and since good CEOs don't come cheap, she/he shall also receive a salary befitting a CEO. In 2007, CEOs in the Philippines received an average base salary of $44,496 and $51,519 in annual cash or PhP4,271,899 or PhP355,991 a month (www.mercer.com [1]). Bear in mind that this is only the average. The Charter consequently states that the Board shall deem it within its powers to "determine the compensation of the President of the University" (Sec. 14). Despite the efforts of the promoters of the Charter to allow the UP President to have an unprecedented two terms, this proposal was eventually withdrawn because of strong opposition. Quite disturbing, however, is the fact that the Chancellor of each constituent unit will not only receive an unspecified amount to be determined by the Board but will also serve an unspecified term likewise to be determined by the Board (Sec. 18: "The Board shall determine [both] the term and compensation of the Chancellor").

Combining managerial and governance roles, the President shall serve simultaneously as the co-Chairperson of the Board of Regents (with the Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education or CHED) and as the Chairperson of an Independent Trust Committee (ITC) to be made up of representatives nominated by the following private entities explicitly specified by the Charter: Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), Investment Houses Association of the Philippines (IHAP), Trust Officers Association of the Philippines (TOAP) and the Financial Executive Institute of the Philippines (FINEX). Furthermore, in case of two failed biddings these same private entities shall nominate representatives who shall make up the majority of a "third-party body" tasked with making a "fairness opinion report" (Sec. 23). The individuals making up the ITC and the "third-party body" shall be "entitled to a reasonable per diem as the Board may specify" (Sec. 23 & 24). Some information about these private entities is in order. The BAP was founded in 1964 and aims to provide "a necessary avenue for member banks to raise and discuss issues that affect the commercial banking industry." It counts among its members, 40 commercial banking institutions covering 26 local banks and 14 foreign bank branches (http://www.bap.org.ph/ [2]). The IHAP was founded in 1974 and its current membership consists of "fifty-five (55) member houses, which include the top players in the investment banking industry" (http://www.ihap.org/ [3]). Established in 1964, the TOAP's aim is to unite, professionalize and promote the Philippine Trust and Investment Management Industry http://www.toap.org.ph/ [4]). Lastly, the FINEX, founded in 1968 is said to be an "organization devoted to the continuing development and improvement of financial management techniques and the promotion of efficiency in business enterprises" (http://www.finex.org.ph/ [5]).

There is no good reason why these entities should have their names inscribed in such a solemn document such as the UP Charter. These are plainly transitory private entities, which do not sit well in a national public document drawn up with claims to perenniality such as the UP Charter. They could always be hired if and when consultants are needed and paid their "reasonable compensation." As it is, they could just fold up in a couple of years and leave embarrassing blank spaces on the Charter. This is almost equivalent to putting the names of private businesses in the Philippine Constitution. Being in the UP Charter lends these private entities more prestige than they are worth.

The function of the ITC, befitting its "independent" nature, is to recommend to the Board five banks aside from providing the "Board with direction on appropriate investment objectives and permissible investments with the view to preserving the value of the funds while allowing the University to earn a reasonable return thereon" (Sec. 24). Emphasis should be placed on the words "appropriate" and "permissible" in the above sentence in order to stress the actual managerial power of the ITC. These individuals, the President, the Chancellor, and these representatives from the BAP, IHAP, TOAP and FINEX shall henceforth constitute a distinct stratum of managerial technocrats whose "compensations" and privileges shall be at a qualitatively differently level than the ordinary faculty, REPS and administrative personnel making up the university community. It seems that such gains as the Staff Regent who shall represent the administrative personnel and the research, extension and professional staff was conceded by the framers of the Charter with the foresight that the BOR itself shall eventually no longer carry much weight in the scheme of things to come.

UP as a Commercial Area with an “Academic Core Zone”

The scope of the income generating activities that these individuals shall plan and undertake shall only be limited by the size of what is termed in the Charter as the "academic core zone." According to Section 22 of the Charter, "The Board may plan, design, approve and/or cause the implementation of land leases: Provided, That such mechanisms and arrangements shall … be exclusive of the academic core zone of the campuses of the University of the Philippines." The whole territory of the University lying outside of this so-called "academic core zone," which is as of yet unspecified, is therefore declared as a commercial zone. Furthermore, lands donated to the University from hereon may simply be sold if the terms of donation allow for it.

Profiting from the Pursuit of Truth

It is hard to see, given the power enshrined in the new Charter which now gives private business interests a preponderant role in shaping the future of the University, how such half-hearted provisos in the Charter itself, such as one stating that "such mechanisms and arrangements shall not conflict with the academic mission of the national university" or that "any plan to generate revenues and other sources from land grants and other real properties entrusted to the national university shall be consistent with the academic mission and orientation of the national university as well as protect it from undue influence and control of commercial interests" (Sec. 22) can realistically be adhered to. Instead of protecting it, the Charter actually renders the University extremely vulnerable to the "undue influence and control of commercial interests" as never before. For example, Sec. 3 on the "Purpose of the University," states that the University is "a community of scholars dedicated to the search for truth and knowledge." However Sec. 13 specifies without irony "that research and other activities funded by the University shall likewise undertake research in fields of topics that have promising commercial applications." ("Likewise" here means "also" and cannot be read as meaning "optional.") The message is clear: the scholars of the University shall be dedicated to the "search for truth and knowledge" only as long as these have "promising commercial applications."

The Price of Higher Wages

The thoroughgoing commercialization of the campus, and of the research and academic mission of the University together with projected substantial tuition fee increases are being sold to the faculty with the promise of higher salaries. This is the proverbial carrot. Indeed, Sec. 13 states that "any law to the contrary notwithstanding, to fix and adjust salaries and benefits of the faculty members and other employees: Provided, That salaries and other benefits of the faculty shall be equivalent to those being received by their counterparts in the private sector." Aside from the fact that a great part of these promised higher wages shall come from rising tuition fees and rampant commercialization, it is also more than likely that these salary increases shall come at the cost of undermining existing rights to tenure in the longer term and lead to a rising percentage of part-time and full-time non-tenure track teaching staff. This is already a problem in the US where according to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), 68 percent of all university and college level teaching personnel comprise these so-called "contingent faculty," thus seriously undermining academic freedom, academic quality and professional standards (www.aaup.org [6]).

This Charter marks the next 100 years of UP. What has been dangled to clinch faculty support—exemption from the SSL and salaries competitive with the private sector—is neither forthcoming nor will it be within the range of the compensation package of the UP President as CEO. This Charter legitimizes the neoliberal turn to greater commercialization, privatization, deregulation of UP and of higher education in general.

A Charter Against the University of the People

This blatantly neoliberal charter accepts the conventional and deadly wisdom of aspiring to be "globally competitive" at the cost of erasing all traces of the University of the People. It accepts the assumption that the government cannot and will not provide sufficient budget for UP. Its main direction is to forge the transition from being a service-oriented public entity towards being a privately run corporate enterprise with its own CEO and an independent trust committee driven primarily, if not solely, by the search for profit. This Charter is nothing but the tragedy of the UP Centennial.

As the UP administration advances its neoliberal agenda in the transformation of higher education, CONTEND calls on the various sectors of the university to be militant and continue to struggle for a UP which may be called an exemplary university of the people.

Education is not a commodity!

Continue the Fight for a genuine University of the People!

*The Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy or CONTEND is a progressive organization of academics based in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Please email your comments to upcontend@yahoo.com [7].

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Links:
[1] http://www.mercer.com
[2] http://www.bap.org.ph/
[3] http://www.ihap.org/
[4] http://www.toap.org.ph/
[5] http://www.finex.org.ph/
[6] http://www.aaup.org
[7] mailto:upcontend@yahoo.com

Health Groups Doubt New Law Would Make Medicines Cheaper

Published on Bulatlat (http://bulatlat.com)

Health groups expressed doubt that the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 or Republic Act no. 9502 would bring down the prices of medicines in the country. They said that this is because the law failed to dismantle foreign control over the country’s drug industry.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 20, June 22-28, 2008

Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9502 or the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 on June 6.

The law aims to bring down the prices of medicines in the country. The Philippines is one of the countries where medicines are the most expensive.

According to the World Drug Situation of the World Health Organization in 2000, the Philippines is classified as among countries where less than 30 percent of the population have regular access to essential drugs. Moreover, the Department of Health, in its Rational Drug Use paper in 1999 revealed that those who cannot afford the drugs they need resort to under-medication of essential drugs (such as antibiotics) and over-medication of cheaper symptomatic preparations. Symptomatic preparations are medicines that address the symptoms of a disease, like paracetamol for headache.

Regulation?

The Council for Health and Development (CHD), a national organization of community-based health programs, cited several reasons for believing that the new law would not deliver on its promise of reducing the cost of medicines in the country.

In a statement, Eleanor Jara, medical doctor and CHD executive director, criticized the omission of a Drug Price Regulatory Board.

The Lower House version, House Bill 2844 proposed the establishment of a Drug Price Regulatory Board. Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron, principal author of the Bill, asserted that state intervention in the form of a Drug Price Regulatory Board is needed to significantly reduce the prices of medicine.

However, Section 17 of the enacted law gives the President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Health (DoH), the power to impose maximum retail prices over drugs and medicines.

Jara said, “Failure to create a regulatory body for drug prices would only strengthen monopoly trade among big players in the drug industry and would further banish local manufacturers into oblivion. Thus, the Filipino people’s access to essential medicines is at the mercy of profit-greedy transnational drug corporations.”

She added, “We do not understand why our legislators decided to give the authority to regulate the prices of medicines to the President when Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself is tainted with corruption and other anomalies. Besides, she has no record of going against the profiteering acts of transnational drug corporations. She has allowed it for seven years. What can she do in the next 120 days?”

Under the new law, the health secretary is mandated to establish and initiate a price monitoring and regulation system for drugs and medicines within 120 days after enactment of the said law. The health secretary’s recommendations would later be approved by the President.

In an interview with Bulatlat, Dr. Geneve Rivera, secretary general of Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) branded the new law as a mere palliative. She said, “Walang ipinatutupad ang gobyerno na permanente at epektibong patakaran sa pagkontrol ng presyo.” (The government does not implement a permanent and effective policy of price control.)

TNC control

Rivera said that the Arroyo government does not recognize that foreign control over the country’s drug industry is the main reason for the prohibitive cost of medicines.

The CHD asserted that the Cheaper Medicine Act is silent about the control of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the marketing, distribution and pricing of medicines.

According to the CHD Primer on Cheaper Medicines, 72 percent of the country’s drug industry is controlled by TNCs. In 2006, TNCs cornered 70 percent of the P9.11-billion ($205,411,499 at an exchange rate of $1=P44.35) worth of medicines sold in the country.

In its position paper, KilosBayan Para sa Kalusugan (KBK) said, “TNCs control the pricing of essential medicine through international trade impositions like the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization. This agreement further aggravates the escalating drug prices by granting exclusive license to TNC-dominated patent holders to produce certain drugs and dictate its price in the market.”

The Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) said that 80 percent of toll manufacturing of drugs for multinational corporations is done by one company. About 65-70 percent of wholesale distribution is handled by a sister company. In the end, more than 60 percent of the retailing of finished products is sold through Mercury Drug, which has more than 600 outlets nationwide.

Parallel importation

Moreover, Rivera said that provisions on parallel importation would bear no significant impact on the prices of medicines. She noted that even before the passage of the law, parallel importation is utilized by the government in its Botika ng Barangay (Village Drug Strores) program.

Third World countries use parallel importation to buy cheaper medicines from other countries. The Philippines buys medicines from Pakistan and India.

CHD’s Jara said that parallel importation would only further aggravate the country’s import-dependence and stunt the development of the local drug industry. She said, “Instead of being dependent on imports, why not develop our own drug industry and grant tax holidays for local manufacturers?”

The KBK’s position paper stated that developing a national drug industry is one of the most decisive steps in lowering the prices of medicines. It cited that India and Pakistan have done this during the last ten years.

The CHD primer revealed that there are about 600 drugs in the country that are considered essential. Of these, only 200 drugs are made by local companies. The other 400 off-patent drugs do not have local generic counterparts and are thus dependent on importation.

Alternatives

The KBK and CHD proposed as an alternative the creation of a transitory drug price regulatory board composed of representatives from the academe, consumers and health professionals. The drug price board would regulate prices of essential medicines based on production costs and a reasonable profit.

The health groups said parallel importation of essential medicines should be selective and subject to extensive government testing for safety and efficacy.

They are also pushing for the implementation of the Generics Law. The CHD noted that while the law has been in effect for 19 years, many are still not aware that generic equivalents are as safe and effective as branded, expensive drugs. As of 2006, generic drugs account for a measly four to five percent of medicines being sold in the Philippines.

Long-term solutions recommended by the health groups include the development of a self-reliant national drug industry that is responsive to the medical and health needs of the people; development of the technology to refine and extract raw materials and chemicals; tapping of the medicinal potential of indigenous and herbal plants in the Philippines through government-sponsored research and development, among others.

Palliative

Jara said, “The Arroyo government is merely preoccupied with populist rhetoric. In reality, it falls short of medium-and long-term solutions to the Filipino people’s problems.”

Rivera said the Arroyo government would not implement measures that contradict its own policy framework. The deregulation of the drug industry and liberalization of imports of medicines, she said, form part of the neoliberal policies being undertaken by the Arroyo government. Bulatlat

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Ang Lihim ni Winston Garcia

Pinoy Weekly Online

Saturday, June 7, 2008
in Lathalain

Ilang-Ilang D. Quijano/ Tarik Garcia

Hindi matapat sa publiko.

Ito ang ibinibintang ni Winston Garcia, general manager ng GSIS (Government Service Insurance System), sa pamilya Lopez na namumuno ng Meralco (Manila Electric Company). Tinatangka ng GSIS na makontrol ang Meralco, pinakamalaking distribyutor ng kuryente sa bansa, para mapababa umano ang labis-labis na singil nito sa kuryente.

Pero kung inililihim man ng mga Lopez ang abusadong paniningil nito, inililihim din naman ni Winston ang kanyang posibleng tunay na interes sa Meralco.

May koneskiyon ang pamilya Garcia sa Veco (Visayan Electric Company), pangalawang pinakamalaking distribyutor ng kuryente sa bansa. Malapit na alyado ni Pangulong Arroyo si Winston na tubong Cebu ang pamilya.

Nakadikit ang prominenteng mga miyembro ng pamilya Garcia sa Veco, na pag-aari ng pamilya Aboitiz. Nakabase rin sa Cebu ang mga Aboitiz, at tulad ng mga Garcia, malapit diumano sa Palasyo.

Dating legal counsel ng Veco si Jesus Garcia Sr., tiyo ni Winston. Humalili sa tiyo ni Winston ang kanyang pinsang si Jesus Garcia Jr. Ang pamangkin ni Jesus Garcia Jr. na si Jess Anthony N. Garcia ang kasalukuyang legal counsel ng Veco.

Samantala, umupo rin ang mga Garcia sa Board of Directors ng Vivant Corporation, nakalista sa Philippine Stock Exchange na holding company ng Veco. Si Jess Anthony N. Garcia ang kasalukuyang corporate investment officer at sekretarya ng Vivant.

(May dalawang grupo ng mga Garcia sa board ng Vivant. Hindi kadugo ng pamilya ni Winston ang mga Garcia na lahing Espanyol na kumokontrol sa board ng kompanya.)

“Niloloko ni Garcia ang publiko sa pamamagitan ng pagkukunwaring panig siyang walang interes na nagnanais lamang pababain ang singil sa kuryente ng Meralco. Sa totoo, may interes ang kanyang pamilya sa Veco, na makikinabang ang mga may-ari kapag nalusaw ang prankisa ng Meralco. Ang kanyang populistang retorika ay pagtatakip sa pandarambong ng mga alyado at kroni ni Arroyo,” ayon kay Jaime Paglinawan, tagapangulo ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Central Visayas.

Hindi umano malayong gamitin ni Garcia ang pensiyon ng mga kawani ng gobyerno para sa kapakanan ng kanyang pamilya at mga alyado sa pulitika at negosyo. Nagawa na niya ito noon.

Noong 2004, bilyun-bilyong piso ng pondo ng GSIS ang kinuha ni Garcia mula sa Land Bank of the Philippines na pag-aari ng gobyerno at inilipat sa pribadong Union Bank.

Iginawad din ni Garcia sa Union Bank ang multi-milyong pisong kontrata sa proyektong E-Card. Idineklara ng Commission on Audit na “illegal” ang nasabing kontrata.

Pag-aari ng pamilya Aboitiz ang Union Bank.

Samantala, nagpahayag ng pagtutol ang mga kawani ng gobyerno sa umano’y tiwaling pamamalakad ni Winstyon sa GSIS at pag-abandona nito sa tungkuling pangalagaan ang kanilang interes.

Sa ika-22 anibersaryo ng Courage (Confederation for the Unity Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees) noong Mayo 19, nagkaisa laban sa pamunuan ng GSIS ang mga empleyado ng National Food Authority, National Housing Authority, Bureau of Customs, Land Transportation Office, Department of Trade and Industry, National Broadcasting Network, Quezon City Hall, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Labor and Employment, Senado, at iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno.

“Pinagsasamantalahan ng GSIS ang pondo ng mga manggagawa at ginagamit lamang sa pamumulitika,” ani Ferdinand Gaite, tagapangulo ng Courage.

Update sa Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) Meeting

Hiwalay na Kahilingan Para Sa UP Centennial Bonus ng mga Kawani ng PGH Isinumete Kay Pangulong Roman/BOR ng AUPWU Manila

Noong ika-21 ng Mayo 2008 ay nagkaroon meeting ang Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) kung saan tinatatalakay ang lahat na usaping pang-ehekutibo sa pamantasan at ang idudulog na pagdedesiyunan ng Board of Regents (BOR). Labas sa usapan sa ating bagong CNA, may apat (4) tayong kahilingan na pinag-usapan sa PAC meeting. Sa ulat ni Dr. Arlene Samaniego, Vice-President for Administration ng U.P. ang mga napag-usapan ng PAC ay ang sumusunod:

Una: Ang kahilingan P20,000.00 Centennial Bonus ay pag-aaralan pa kung kakayaning ibigay.
Ikalawa: Ang P1,700.00 na Rice Subsidy para sa unang isang sako ng bigas ay inirekomenda ang P1,500.00 “for Approval” ng BOR sa meeting nito ngayong ika-30 ng Mayo 2008.
Ikatlo: Ang dagdag na sampung (10) araw na sick leave para sa may malalang karamdaman ay para sa mga faculty lamang dahil ang mga admininstrative personnel ay meron nang 15 days sick leave.
At ika-apat: Ang 50-50 hatian sa budget para sa Merit Promotion ay pag-aaralan pa rin.

Maliban sa dagdag na P500.00 (mula P1,000.00 magiging P1,500.00) para sa isang sakong bigas, dama natin na hindi seryoso ang U.P. Administrasyon sa pagbibigay ng solusyon sa ating mga kahilingan at maiangat kahit papaano ang ating kabuhayan. Puro PAG-AARALAN ang kanilang mga sagot kaya’t kinakailangang magpalakas pa tayo at magparami upang higit nating maigiit ang ating mga kahilingan.

Samantala, tayo sa All UP Workers Union Manila ay nagsumite naman ng araw na iyon ng liham sa Office of the Secretary of the University para BOR sa pamamagitan ni Pangulong Roman upang hilingin na huwag ibawas ang P3,000.00 na PGH Centennial Bonus sa anumang ibibigay na UP Centennial Bonus. Mahalaga na igiit natin ang posisyung ito dahil nauna nang nagbigay ng posisyon ang UP Panel sa CNA Negotiation Meeting nitong ika-7 ng Mayo 2008 na ibabawas ang PGH Centennial Bonus sa UP Centennial Bonus.

Nasa pagkakaisa at sama-samang pagkilos pa rin natin makakamit ang ating TAGUMPAY! Suportahan ang ating Unyon para sa pagkamit ng mga dagdag benepisyo.

(Ito ang lead article sa ikalawang issue ng Pandayan Manila sa taong ito na lumabas noong ika-28 ng Mayo 2008.)

CRISPIN BELTRAN: MOST OUTSTANDING LEGISLATOR

CenPEG ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 8
May 23, 2008
Series of 2008

In session, Beltran stood tall and dignified among many, untainted by the corruption that soiled many multimillionaire- congressmen' s seats.

As the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) prepares its assessment of the first 10 years of the Party-list system this year, we deemed it apt to devote this issue analysis to the life and struggles of Crispin Bertiz Beltran, first nominee of the Party-list group Anakpawis. Beltran, a charismatic labor leader who died in a fatal accident last May 20 in Bulacan, was a central figure in the Party-list system - defending it from subversion by the powers-that- be yet tirelessly asserting the people's right to democratic representation in governance.

Crispin Beltran is an exemplary product of his times. Trained in genuine unionism, steeled in the parliament of the streets, and more defiant after Marcos imprisonment, he brought new politics in Congress. Through it all he remained at the forefront of the workers' struggle – and that struggle has produced a hero.

Beltran, known to many Filipinos as Ka (short for kasama or comrade) Bel, was adjudged Most Consistent Outstanding Congressman from 2002-2005 and was elevated to the Congressional Hall of Fame by the Congress Magazine in 2006. He filed the most number of bills in the 13th Congress among the Party-list representatives and would have achieved the same record in the present one had he not met a fatal accident on May 20. The Philippine press and the whole nation – ruled by a government seen as one of the most corrupt in the world - were astounded to find that he died a poor man and had maintained an even frugal life.

But why was Beltran tagged and imprisoned as an "enemy of the state" by two Presidents – Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s and, for a year-and-a-half, by Gloria M. Arroyo? What kind of politics did he wage that provoked state authorities to believe that by neutralizing him – either by arrest or physical harm (he had faced countless attempts on his life) – they would put an end to his ideology as well?

Humble beginnings

Born of humble beginnings in Bikol in 1933, Beltran's life had been etched by struggles whether as a young guerilla courier fighting the Japanese imperial occupation or as a farm worker, office sweeper, gasoline attendant, messenger, bus driver and later, as a cab driver to support his education. His legacy as one of the country's outstanding labor leaders traces its roots to when, at age 20, he joined fellow drivers in a strike. From thereon, there was no looking back. He either helped organize or served as leader of pioneering labor organizations, the last as chair of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in 1987 following the abduction and brutal murder of Rolando Olalia and his driver by military operatives. Three years earlier, he escaped Marcos torture and imprisonment and went to the countryside to organize workers and farm laborers.

For Beltran, working alongside the country's proletariat did not only mean going on strikes for bread and butter or facing company executives in tough wage negotiations. The years spent in labor leadership also produced hard-fought lessons in ideological skirmishes with "yellow" or compromising trade unionism and also linking up with organizations of farmers, youth-students, urban poor and other sectors in a nationwide cause-oriented movement. It meant taking up the cudgels of the poor through peaceful but militant engagement with state authorities in denouncing oppressive policies while advocating for genuine social, economic and political reform. He knew that any picket or street protest would be met by police truncheons, water cannons, or even bullets but Beltran never for a second vacillated in the frontline of the struggle, as colleagues in the street parliament would narrate.

Known for his solid pro-people leadership in the labor movement, Beltran was invited to join the senatorial slate of the Partido ng Bayan (PnB or people's party) in the 1987 elections – the first to be held after 14 years of Marcos dictatorship. Reminiscent of the fate suffered by the Democratic Alliance (DA) whose six representatives elected in the 1946 elections were unseated for opposing onerous economic and military agreements with the United States, the PnB came out badly bruised from the polls with many of its volunteers killed and most of its candidates for Congress and local positions victims of fraud.

Beltran and the Party-list organizations that he represented (Bayan Muna and, later, Anakpawis) garnered significant seats in elections for the House, with BM topping both the 2001 and 2004 polls. House records show that the labor leader championed the issues of the poor in privilege speeches as well as by filing bills and resolutions on their behalf. The speeches, bills and resolutions penned by Beltran, among others, called for investigations of violations of the rights of workers, farm laborers, urban poor, migrant workers, consumers, GSIS members as well as public employees and victims of human rights violations. He was most vehement in opposing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Arroyo's support to the U.S. war on terror and the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Vindictive Arroyo

These initiatives inevitably antagonized government agencies, big industrial and agricultural corporations, energy companies, and military authorities. Consequently, the congressman earned the vindictive ire of Mrs. Arroyo as she watched her centerpiece policies and bills sponsored subjected to condemnation one after the other by the labor leader - together with Party mates and other legislators - inside and outside the halls of Congress. Co-authoring three impeachment initiatives and denunciations against scams linking the Arroyo couple also cost Beltran's office access to the countrywide development fund, among others.

The denial of CDF funds became part of what the progressive Party-list bloc denounced as a systematic campaign to unseat them from the House through demonization, election fraud, and the use of physical violence. The campaign was integral to a national security doctrine that seeks to neutralize the underground Left's alleged political infrastructures resulting in a series of summary executions and forced disappearances. Beltran was picked up and jailed by Arroyo authorities in February 2006 in a crackdown mounted by the President's attack dogs against the progressive bloc. After nearly two years in detention, he was set free by the Supreme Court which dismissed the trumped-up charges. By then, however, Beltran had physically weakened - a result of harassment, threats, and stress he suffered under a government that considered him "a threat to national security" and only because, as workers in the labor movement said, he stood by his principles and refused to be cowed by Malacanang through bribery and other pressures.

The last public performance that he did was when as a minority member of the House energy committee he spoke against attempts by the President to place Meralco in the hands of her business cronies in the guise of state nationalization. Before that, he filed a bill calling for a genuine agrarian reform program in place of CARP which for two decades he had denounced as a hoax. Just like the P125 legislated wage increase that Beltran and the militant labor groups had been asking for nearly 10 years, the genuine agrarian reform measure that the progressive legislator filed will be shot down by Congress' dominant conservative members and Arroyo allies. Ever a leading figure in major rallies even while he was already in Congress, Beltran delivered what turned out to be his valedictory – wearing a white T-shirt and a red cap together with co-workers at the May 1 rally in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila.

Tributes

In a tribute to the fallen labor leader, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said Beltran is probably among the few members of Congress deserving of the title "Honorable." People who visited him while in detention to lend moral support left being inspired instead, a fellow activist leader recalls. Down with ailment, he still took pains serving food or coffee, a former KMU public information writer also says. "Don't deprive me of my wanting to serve you – no matter how small it is - if that's the only way I'll be of service," Beltran told him, quoting Golda Meir.

There are at least two lessons that can be drawn from the legacy left by Beltran. One is that his participation in the Party-list system led to the infusion of new politics in an elite-dominated Congress and with it a sterling record of legislative work for social and economic reform for the poor. A member of the legislature once noted that the entry of the progressive Party-list bloc into Congress gave the body the meaningful role that it never had. In session, Beltran stood tall and dignified among many, untainted by the corruption that soiled many multimillionaire- congressmen' s seats. But the political repression that Beltran and his colleagues endured – and continues to endure – all the more unmasks not only the state's subversion of the Party-list program that aims to represent the poor in policy making but also the continuing dominance of elitist politics that denies the poor a role in governance participation.

Beltran is vindicated for devoting his life to labor militancy alongside other marginalized classes – building power from the bowels of poverty and injustice – from where people's governance will rise. The labor and legislative record of Beltran proves that the breed of people's leaders is bound to increase – as it now appears - and that elitist rule will be a thing of the past. And that is the second lesson.

Reference:

Bobby Tuazon
Director, Policy Study, Publication and Advocacy (PSPA)
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
TelFax +63-2 9299526; mobile phone: 0915-6418055
E-mail: cenpeg.info@gmail.com; info@cenpeg. org
http://www.cenpeg. org

Ka Bel’s Legacy

The accolades coming the way of Anakpawis Representative Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, in his untimely death, salute his honesty and self-sacrifice, his courageous resistance against all forms of political repression, his unwavering commitment and service to the cause of the working class, his example of humility, good cheer and sincere concern for the lowly and downtrodden and, not the least, his being a loving and responsible family man who found time to rear ten children in the midst of his life-long struggle against exploitation and oppression.

by: CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO
Streetwise
Business World

The accolades coming the way of Anakpawis Representative Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, in his untimely death, salute his honesty and self-sacrifice, his courageous resistance against all forms of political repression, his unwavering commitment and service to the cause of the working class, his example of humility, good cheer and sincere concern for the lowly and downtrodden and, not the least, his being a loving and responsible family man who found time to rear ten children in the midst of his life-long struggle against exploitation and oppression.

It is not difficult to imagine what sorts of blandishments, bribes and outright persecutory schemes were thrown at Ka Bel by his foes who were, as far as we know, all political and ideological and not personal, adversaries. The most outrageous recent ones have been chronicled in the mass media: an attempted bribe of P2 million pesos for him to support a flawed-and-programmed-to-fail impeachment complaint against de facto President Gloria Arroyo and his 15-month detention on rebellion charges that were dismissed by the Supreme Court as baseless and a gross violation of his right to due process.

As a grizzled icon of the trade union movement in the country, the opportunities to grow rich by compromising the interests of workers were always present. As chairperson of the multisectoral alliance, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, a volte face in his leftist viewpoint and politics on many a burning issue would have been a boon to ruling regimes and the elite class interests they protect and promote.

As a bone fide member of the House of Representatives (he didn’t use public funds, military generals and corrupt members of the Commission on Elections to get elected) he acted in true form – a radical oppositionist in a reactionary institution. He spoke on and filed countless bills and resolutions addressing the urgent and most basic problems of the nation from the P125 legislated minimum wage increase to genuine agrarian reform to making the US-backed Arroyo regime accountable for its grievous crimes against the people.

But never for a moment did Ka Bel forsake the Parliament of the Streets where his familiar smiling face, firm handshake and steady stride inspired both demonstrators and onlookers alike.

Ka Bel had traveled to many places around the world but not to the United States of America. Succeeding administrations, whether Republican or Democratic, had continued to blacklist him as an unwanted alien long after the downfall of his jailer, the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and even when he had already attained the title of “Honorable” as an elected representative to Congress. His staunch anti-imperialist stance and his identification with progressive causes and leadership role in the International League for Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) have earned him the ire of rabid pro-imperialists while endearing him to struggling peoples and their movements worldwide.
Next to having devoted his entire life to the struggle for national and social emancipation, the most remarkable thing about Ka Bel is how he remained simple and humble despite his fame and stature. He is the best, if not the only person we know who could get away with wearing a dressy suit or barong tagalong without losing his “masang-masa” aura.

Now the secret is out, ironically revealed by his accidental death. Ka Bel looked like a man of the masses, not only because he always took up the cudgels for them and was with them in their day-to-day as well as historic struggles, but because, in truth, he lived and died a man of very modest means. His wife of more than 50 years, Ka Osang, recounted between sobs, how he had been recently occupying himself with repairs on their house, clearing a space in their cramped residence to park an old van he had been using but was badly in need of repair and sweetly promising that he would help her pull the weeds from the garden in the coming weeks so that their vegetables would grow well and help feed the hungry.

His comrades, co-workers and subordinates and even some on the opposite side of the fence in many a bruising political battle, can attest to Ka Bel’s good-heartedness and humility. He never threw his weight around in meetings nor did he demand special treatment wherever he went. He was always willing to give his time and energy to undertake risky, strenuous and even unglamorous roles so long as these were needed. He was concerned about the welfare of "kasamas", the ordinary people and his growing brood of grandchildren.

Ka Bel was never intentionally mean to anyone (of course he would get angry at oppressors and exploiters and would have willingly engaged his persecutors in the Department of Justice in a street brawl). He was generous, some say to a fault, in giving even the policemen standing ready to violently disperse demonstrators, the option to disobey unlawful orders from their superiors by addressing them as “kababayan” (countrymen) and asking them to open their eyes to what was happening in the country.

Those in the Arroyo regime who contributed in no small measure to Ka Bel’s deteriorated health condition, his economic difficulties and his unabated political persecution would now want to act as if they had, all along, only the highest regard for Ka Bel despite their disagreements with his ideology and politics. They send flowers and make sympathetic noises now that he’s dead and even wish to let it appear that as far as they are concerned, bygones are bygones.

Let us in the democratic mass movement express ourselves clearly and emphatically. Ka Bel was an uncompromising, untiring fighter for freedom, justice and fundamental reforms. He has left us a legacy that serves as an inspiration to generations of activists and the toiling, struggling masses he so loved and whom he served to his last breath.

We celebrate his life by affirming the progressive, nay revolutionary, principles and national democratic program he fought for. As the marchers who accompanied his hearse to the Iglesia Filipina Independiente Cathedral shouted resolutely, “Ka Bel, tuloy ang laban!”

Apat na Kahilingan, Tuloy na Ipaglaban! Diskriminasyon sa Unibersidad Tutulan, Labanan

Ulat sa Tugon ng President’s Advisory Council sa Apat na Kahilingan ng
ALL-UP WORKERS UNION AT ALL-UP ACADEMIC EMPLOYEES UNION

Halos walang ibinigay ang administrasyong Roman sa kahilingang inihapag natin sa President’s Advisory Council meeting ng Mayo 21, 2008.

Ganito ang ibinihagi ni UP Vice President for Administration Arlene Samaniego sa mga kawani, REPS at guro na matyagang nag-antay hanggang alas dose ng tanghali:

1. Pag-aaralan pa ang hinihingi nating P20,000 centennial bonus
2. Ibibigay ang P1,500 para sa bigas pagkatapos ng BOR meeting sa May 30, 2008.
3. Sick leave para sa mga kawani at REPS. Meron na raw nito ang mga kawani at REPS
4. 50-50 na hatian sa merit promotion. Pag-aaralan pa rin daw ito. Ayon kay VP Samaniego may mga report na hindi daw naubos ang alokasyon para sa merit promotion ng mga kawani at REPS noong 2005!!

P20,000 Centennial Bonus:

Sa Hunyo 18, 2008 na ang isang daang taon ng UP at sa Mayo 30, 2008 ay ang pulong ng Board of Regents na pusibleng mag-uusap kaugnay ng mga benepisyong matatanggap natin para sa mahalagang okasyong ito. Noon pang Enero 8, 2008, inumpisahan ang opisyal na selebrasyon ng sentenaryo ng UP. Marami nang pinaggastusan ang UP kaugnay ng sentenaryo: mga fireworks, mga centennial lectures, mga centennial professorial chairs. Pero hanggang ngayon, pag-aaralan pa nila kung ano ang maaaring tanggapin nating mga karaniwang kawani, REPS at guro para sa sentenaryo. Ano ba yan?

P1,700 para sa rice subsidy

Ang rice subsidy ay dati nang natatanggap natin. Mula P1,000 bawat sako hiniling nating gawing P1,700 bawat sako dahil P34 bawat kilo na ang relatibong maayos ayos na kalidad ng bigas. Sa P1,500 na ibibigay ng Administrasyong Roman, hindi aabot sa 50 kilong bigas ang makukuha natin bilang rice subsidy!!!

Sick leave para sa mga kawani at REPS

“Meron na raw nito ang mga kawani at REPS”. Ano ba yan? Noon pang Nobyembre 2008 ay sumulat na ang dalawang unyon natin na nagpapaliwanag kung bakit tayo humihiling ng sick leave para sa mga kawani at REPS

Ang esensya ng kahilingan natin ay ang pagbibigay suporta ng Administrasyong Roman sa mga kawani at REPS na mayroon o magkakaroon ng malalang sakit tulad ng suportang ibinibigay sa faculty na siyang pinagmulan ng extended sick leave. Ang pagsagot na meron ng leave credits ang mga kawani at REPS ay hindi tumuturol sa esensya ng usapin at nagpapakita na bingi ang Administrasyong Roman sa pangangailangan ng tulong ng mga kawani at REPS na may malalang sakit.

Bakit hindi saklawin ang mga kawani at REPS ng probisyong katulad sa ibinigay sa mga regular, full time faculty members na may naipong leave credits bunga ng paging administrador. Sa naturang probisyon, ang mga faculty na may naipong leave credits na magkakaroon ng malalang sakit ay magkakaroon ng sick leave with pay sa ilalim ng ganitong patakaran hanggang sa maksimum (10 araw sa bawat taon ng panunungkulan) bago nila gamitin ang naipong leave credits.

50-50 na Alokasyon para sa Merit Promotion ngayong 2008

Nakakainsulto ang tinuran ni VP Samaniego na “may report na hindi naubos ang alokasyon para sa mga kawani at REPS sa hatiang 80-20 noong 2005”. Alam ba ni VP Samaniego at ng mga kagawad ng PAC na sa guidelines noong 2005 promotion, isang step lamang ang pwedeng maitaas ng isang kawani o REPS sa saklaw ng limang taon (1999-2005) ? Kaya kahit na kwalipikado ang marami rami na lampas sa isang step na promotion, ay hindi nila nakuha ito. Ngayon naman, sa guidelines for promotion, kailangang OUTSTANDING ang kawani o REPS habang satisfactory ang minimum na hinihiling para sa faculty teaching. Mga kagalang-galang na mga panginoon sa Quezon Hall. Ang one step o two step promotion ng mga kawani ay magkakahalaga lamang sa karaniwan ng dagdag na P150 o P300 bawat buwan!!! At sa marami-raming opisina, nagmulti-tasking na ang mga kawani dahil sa patuloy na atrisyon sa hanay nila. At wala pang overtime pay para sa kanila!!!

Hindi namin lubos maisip kung paanong nakatutulog nang mahimbing ang mga administrador ng unibersidad gayung nagpapatupad sila ng hindi makatarungan at hindi makataong mga patakaran. Paano nila nagagawang magpatupad ng mga patakarang nagpapalaganap ng elitismo at indibidwalismo sa hanay ng iisang sektor sa halip na pagbuklurin ang lahat ng sektor.

Lahat ng kawani ng unibersidad -- administratibo, REPS o guro man -- ay may mahalagang papel, batay sa kanilang posisyon, sa pagpapaunlad at pagpapayabong ng dantaon nang unibersidad. Nakapagtataka kung bakit hindi makatarungan ang pamantayan sa pagbibigay ng merit awards. Hindi nga ba't ang pagtingin ay "to the extend that his/her position will permit"? Nangangahulugan ito na lahat ng kawani ng unibersidad ay esensyal na miyembro ng tumatakbong institusyon.

Hindi maglulubay ang All UP Workers Union at All UP Academic Employees Union sa paggigiit ng benepisyo para sa mga kawani, REPS at guro batay sa prinsipyo ng social justice at equity. Hindi maglulubay ang ating dalawang unyon sa paglantad sa parami-rami at tumitinding diskriminasyon sa pagtrato sa mga kawani at REPS sa ilalim ng Administrasyong Roman.

Apat na kahilingan, tuloy na ipaglaban!!

Diskriminasyon sa Unibersidad, tutulan, labanan!!