ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHERS
2/F Teachers’ Center, Mines St. cor. Dipolog St., Bgy.VASRA, Q.C.
Telefax 453-9116
Mobile 0920-9220817
Email actphils@edsamail.com.ph
SEC Registration 0108727
TIN 236-090-727-000
June 2, 2005
Reference: Antonio L. Tinio (0920-9220817)
ACT Chairperson
“Is that it? Is that all this government can give to state workers this year? Crumbs!” This was the reaction of public school teachers to Malacañang’s announcement that it would provide a P1,000 “education assistance” bonus to all government employees.
“We need a salary increase, not a dole-out,” said ACT Chairperson Antonio Tinio.
“Malacañang is giving us crumbs. Meanwhile, corrupt fat cats closely linked to Malacañang rake in huge incomes with this administration’s blessing. WinstonGarcia earns over P300,000 monthly, Mikey Arroyo received P600,000 monthly,” added Tinio. “The vast majority of honest workers in the government bureaucracy live on a pittance. Public school teachers earn a mere P9,939 per month—less than half of the monthly cost of living in Metro Manila.” He noted that the Arroyo government has imposed a crippling salary freeze on state workers since 2001.
Teachers further denounced the Arroyo government for its continuing refusal to provide an immediate salary increase for government employees even as LaborSecretary Patricia Sto. Tomas recently announced that private sector workers in Metro Manila would receive a P25 increase in their daily wage.
“This administration really has no compassion for teachers and government employees,” said Tinio. “It continues to refuse to grant a pay hike this year despite the skyrocketing cost of living. We’re feeling the pain of the economic crisis just as much as our counterparts in the private sector.”
Tinio noted that the P25/day wage hike granted in NCR was well below the P125 increase demanded by workers nationwide. “It’s a measly sum compared to the workers’ demands. At best it would have a marginal impact on the standard of living of wage earners. But something is better than nothing—which is what we’regetting.”
“Enough is enough! Four years without a salary increase is no longer acceptable to public school teachers,” said Tinio. “On the first day of the new school year, we will lead protest actions in schools. In the coming weeks and months, we will launch big rallies and mass leaves to press for our demands.” #
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Police's Closure of PGH Main Gate: Shade of Martial Law
PRESS STATEMENT
May 11, 2005
Reference: MR. JOSSEL I. EBESATE
National PRO and Manila Chapter President, All UP Workers Union
Mobile Phone No: 09189276381
May 11, 2005
Reference: MR. JOSSEL I. EBESATE
National PRO and Manila Chapter President, All UP Workers Union
Mobile Phone No: 09189276381
The All UP Workers Union strongly condemned the barbaric acts of the Philippine National Police against the participants to the celebration of the National Health Workers Day last Friday, May 6, 2005 at the Philippine General Hospital compound. The participants, numbering about 600 who are all employees of public hospitals in Metro Manila with some support from urban poor individuals were prevented by the police from marching to the Chino Roces Bridge (Mendiola) by closing the main gate of PGH at around 9:30 AM to 12:00 noon. The gate was opened only after the voluntary, organized dispersal by the Public Health Workers at around 11:30 in the morning - the workers being fully aware and true to their calling as public servants.
The police's action had not only stopped the group from heading to Mendiola but more importantly, it proved that we are now in a state of an undeclared Martial Law. By sacrificing the services provided by PGH to the public and unduly suppress the constitutional rights of individuals – its very own public health workers at that - the police only succeeded in putting further the sitting government in a quagmire; and alienated from it, a large segment of the Public Health Workers.
It is further lamentable that this government, instead of leading the celebration of the National Health Workers Day (as declared by President Aquino in 1987), by focusing on the flight of its own Public Health Workers, what we got was political repression and the deprivation of an affordable and quality health services to our people.
The Union therefore, together with the Alliance of Health Workers’ that organizes last Friday’s activity, is appealing to all freedom loving Filipino people to join us in our crusade. Our crusade that for this government to respect our rights especially our right to health and our freedom of expression and of assembly. The incident last Friday had proven that: it is not only the provincial journalists rights and lives that were at risks, neither were the provincial and regional leaders of progressive party list groups - but all of us.
We call on Congress to investigate the said incident in PGH. Was the action of the police headed by a certain Superintendent Paglinawan and Senior Inspector Peco, an isolated case or a general policy of the state. Are we in a state of an undeclared Martial Law?
We finally call on our fellow Public Health Workers not to lose hope, instead, we must unite so that together, we forcefully carry on in our struggle for P3,000.00 across the board salary increase, implementation of the benefits under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (RA 7305), the Nursing Law of 2002 (RA 9173), the increase of health budget and an affordable quality health services to our people. We must be also conscious and vigilant that while we pursue our sectoral concerns, we shall not forget that our concerns were part of the aspiration of the Filipino people for a genuine development and a real change.###
Monday, May 09, 2005
Health Workers on Health Workers’ Day: Sick with Government Neglect
It was health workers’ day last May 7 but the more than 400 health workers from different hospitals in Manila gathered a day before not to celebrate but to call the government’s attention to the worsening condition of the health sector. Their plan to bring their grievances to Malacañang Palace was blocked when the police refused to allow them to march.
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
It was health workers’ day last May 7 but the more than 400 health workers from different hospitals in Manila gathered a day before not to celebrate but to call the government’s attention to the worsening condition of the health sector. Their plan to bring their grievances to Malacañang Palace was blocked when the police refused to allow them to march.
The protesters assembled inside the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) compound in Manila at 9 a.m. and were planning to march along Taft Avenue. However, a 50-man anti-riot police contingent from the Western Police District (WPD), armed with truncheons and batons, closed the hospital gates, including the pedestrian gates. They banned the entry and exit even of patients and relatives who needed to buy medicine from the hospital pharmacy. Everyone was made to use the Padre Faura gate, including a woman in labor.
The rallyists, led by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and Kilosbayan para sa Kalusugan (KBK) then decided to hold their protest action inside the PGH compound.
One of the rally speakers, Remedios Maltu, president of the San Lazaro Hospital Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers, using the sound system addressed the anti-riot police that blocked the gates of the PGH where they assembled before proceeding to Mendiola, the road leading to the presidential palace.
“Kung wala kaming mga unyonistang nakikipaglaban dito, may matitira pa bang ospital na libre ngayon?,” (Without unionists like us, do you think there would still be hospitals offering free services?), asked Maltu.
Maltu said the government should not have declared a “special” day for them if they could not even exercise their freedom of expression on that day. Through an executive order, former Corazon Aquino declared May 7 as health workers’ day.
Jenny Manuel of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) said the creation of Health Workers’ Day was just a consuelo de bobo (meaningless token) to them. “Kami na nga lang ang nagse-celebrate, di pa pinapayagan,” she said. “They have lined us with the other unsung heroes, and are now forgotten.”
Bulatlat called the Department of Health (DoH) but its personnel said no one is available that Friday due to the new four-day work policy of the government.
Health crisis
Both AHW and KBK hold President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the health sector’s worsening condition. The administration’s inaction with regards the health workers’ demands – a P3,000 across-the-board salary increase; higher budget allocation for health workers’ benefits; and priority to health budget – are part of the reasons the militant health workers support the call for Macapagal-Arroyo’s ouster. Aside from health-related issues, they also criticize other state policies, particularly the anti-terrorism bill and value-added tax (VAT).
Manuel added that aside from reducing the budget for health services, the government is gearing on the restructuring of government-owned hospitals, including the Lung Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Philippine Heart Center, East Avenue Medical Center and Philippine Children’s Medical Center.
Meanwhile, Celestina Latonero, also called Nanay Seling by her fellow protesters and a community health volunteer in Pook Libis, Diliman, Quezon City, said in Filipino that Macapagal-Arroyo “may be the smallest president but the worst of all.”
Nanay Seling, 68, is a native of Samar (a Visayan province 800 kms south of Manila). She told Bulatlat how difficult and expensive it is to avail of medical services whether in the province or in Manila. The problem doesn’t end when the patient dies, she said. She shared how even children are forced to play sakla (a card game) to raise money for the burial expenses of their dead loved ones.
Dr. Gene Nisperos, secretary general of Health Alliance for Democracy (Head), said that the police’s behavior was not surprising and reflects only their chief’s attitude.
Sympathy
Although they blocked the protesters as instructed by their superiors, some members of the anti-riot police believe that the health workers’ calls were legitimate.
Five policemen interviewed by Bulatlat said they sympathized with them but they had to follow orders. One of them even said, “Sana ‘wag naman nila kaming i-reject sa mga ospital, pero wala talaga kaming magagawa, kaysa naman mawalan kami ng trabaho.”
According to another, they know how hard life is with a meager salary. This PO2 ranking policeman said he only receives around P11, 000 because of so many deductions.
But Maltu pointed out that performing their task should not mean the curtailment of other people’s rights. Bulatlat
© 2004 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Publications
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
It was health workers’ day last May 7 but the more than 400 health workers from different hospitals in Manila gathered a day before not to celebrate but to call the government’s attention to the worsening condition of the health sector. Their plan to bring their grievances to Malacañang Palace was blocked when the police refused to allow them to march.
The protesters assembled inside the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) compound in Manila at 9 a.m. and were planning to march along Taft Avenue. However, a 50-man anti-riot police contingent from the Western Police District (WPD), armed with truncheons and batons, closed the hospital gates, including the pedestrian gates. They banned the entry and exit even of patients and relatives who needed to buy medicine from the hospital pharmacy. Everyone was made to use the Padre Faura gate, including a woman in labor.
The rallyists, led by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and Kilosbayan para sa Kalusugan (KBK) then decided to hold their protest action inside the PGH compound.
One of the rally speakers, Remedios Maltu, president of the San Lazaro Hospital Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers, using the sound system addressed the anti-riot police that blocked the gates of the PGH where they assembled before proceeding to Mendiola, the road leading to the presidential palace.
“Kung wala kaming mga unyonistang nakikipaglaban dito, may matitira pa bang ospital na libre ngayon?,” (Without unionists like us, do you think there would still be hospitals offering free services?), asked Maltu.
Maltu said the government should not have declared a “special” day for them if they could not even exercise their freedom of expression on that day. Through an executive order, former Corazon Aquino declared May 7 as health workers’ day.
Jenny Manuel of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) said the creation of Health Workers’ Day was just a consuelo de bobo (meaningless token) to them. “Kami na nga lang ang nagse-celebrate, di pa pinapayagan,” she said. “They have lined us with the other unsung heroes, and are now forgotten.”
Bulatlat called the Department of Health (DoH) but its personnel said no one is available that Friday due to the new four-day work policy of the government.
Health crisis
Both AHW and KBK hold President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the health sector’s worsening condition. The administration’s inaction with regards the health workers’ demands – a P3,000 across-the-board salary increase; higher budget allocation for health workers’ benefits; and priority to health budget – are part of the reasons the militant health workers support the call for Macapagal-Arroyo’s ouster. Aside from health-related issues, they also criticize other state policies, particularly the anti-terrorism bill and value-added tax (VAT).
Manuel added that aside from reducing the budget for health services, the government is gearing on the restructuring of government-owned hospitals, including the Lung Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Philippine Heart Center, East Avenue Medical Center and Philippine Children’s Medical Center.
Meanwhile, Celestina Latonero, also called Nanay Seling by her fellow protesters and a community health volunteer in Pook Libis, Diliman, Quezon City, said in Filipino that Macapagal-Arroyo “may be the smallest president but the worst of all.”
Nanay Seling, 68, is a native of Samar (a Visayan province 800 kms south of Manila). She told Bulatlat how difficult and expensive it is to avail of medical services whether in the province or in Manila. The problem doesn’t end when the patient dies, she said. She shared how even children are forced to play sakla (a card game) to raise money for the burial expenses of their dead loved ones.
Dr. Gene Nisperos, secretary general of Health Alliance for Democracy (Head), said that the police’s behavior was not surprising and reflects only their chief’s attitude.
Sympathy
Although they blocked the protesters as instructed by their superiors, some members of the anti-riot police believe that the health workers’ calls were legitimate.
Five policemen interviewed by Bulatlat said they sympathized with them but they had to follow orders. One of them even said, “Sana ‘wag naman nila kaming i-reject sa mga ospital, pero wala talaga kaming magagawa, kaysa naman mawalan kami ng trabaho.”
According to another, they know how hard life is with a meager salary. This PO2 ranking policeman said he only receives around P11, 000 because of so many deductions.
But Maltu pointed out that performing their task should not mean the curtailment of other people’s rights. Bulatlat
© 2004 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Publications
Friday, April 22, 2005
Stop Paying Nuke Plant Debt, SC Justice Urges Gov't
Posted 11:46pm (Mla time) April 20, 2005
By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer News Service
Published on page A1 of the Apr. 21, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines -- Supreme Court Associate Justice Reynato Puno has urged the government to consider stopping payments for loans that the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos borrowed to build the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
Speaking at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' 10th national convention here Tuesday night, Puno said international experts had taken the position that foreign bankers, who knowingly lent to corrupt governments, were liable for graft.
"[Several foreign creditors] knew or had no reason not to know that the loans will be used for some illegitimate purpose like supporting notoriously brazen and kleptocratic military regimes," Puno said at the convention whose theme is "Alleviating Poverty and Resolving the Fiscal Crisis."
Puno said these creditors need not be paid because they were parties to the crime. Citing Noreen Hertz, an economist at the University of Cambridge,
Puno said "there are debts which should be considered illegitimate and therefore should not be paid."
"Nearer home, the finger points to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was built in 1976 and which cost us $1.9 billion in loans," he said. [Some reports placed the total cost of the plant at $2.3 billion.]
Puno noted that the Philippines was shelling out $170,000 daily (P9.35 million a day or P3.4 billion a year) for the BNPP loans and that the payments would continue until 2018.
Servicing the country's debts now accounts for the largest government expenditure, overtaking salaries of government workers in the national budget of P907.56 billion for 2005, according to Puno.
The tragedy is that Filipinos have not benefited from a single watt of electricity from the nuclear plant, which was constructed on a known earthquake fault, according to former National Treasurer Leonor Briones.
Debt repudiation
Puno said debt repudiation was nothing new. The United States repudiated Cuba's debts to Spain in 1898 at about the time it acquired the Philippines from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War, according to the justice.
Today, he said South Africa, which is under black majority rule, had started questioning its obligation to repay loans acquired during the apartheid government.
He also said activists in the Iraqi government were questioning their foreign debts, which were secured by Saddam Hussein "to buy the knives that slaughtered them."
Making accountable businessmen, who were parties to a crime, also has a precedent, according to Puno.
Nuremberg Trials
He said the Nuremberg Trials at the end of World War II, which tried Nazi leaders for war crimes, also convicted businessmen who knowingly collaborated with the Nazis and were therefore as guilty as the people who brutalized the Jews in gas chambers.
Puno suggested that the government seek either a payment scheme similar to the Section 11 clause in the United States for bankrupt taxpayers, or a federal debt protection scheme covering American towns.
He said these schemes shield bankrupt individuals or entities from the forfeiture of their assets, protect their ability to earn, and in the case of the Philippines, its ability to continue supplying public services.
A federal law grants American municipal towns protection from creditors, enabling them to continue restructuring debts without sacrificing the quality of public service.
But Puno points out that the US law bars the towns from issuing new taxes to pay for their debts.
Puno said Hertz's proposal to put up a system patterned after the US bankruptcy laws to help developing countries could be applicable to most Asian nations burdened by debts, which were obtained by graft-ridden governments.
He said government should seek international support for an independent "ad hoc intermediary group" that would assist heavily indebted Third World countries.
Three Mile Island
It was another Puno who stopped the BNPP project. Former Justice Secretary Ricardo Puno was tasked by Marcos with assessing the condition of the plant in light of the 1979 breakdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
International experts have listed the BNPP's safety violations, including its susceptibility to an earthquake-induced damage. The Puno Commission eventually declared the plant unsafe.
But despite its mothballing, the administration of former President Corazon Aquino decided to continue paying the loans after the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
©2005 www.inq7.net all rights reserved
By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer News Service
Published on page A1 of the Apr. 21, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines -- Supreme Court Associate Justice Reynato Puno has urged the government to consider stopping payments for loans that the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos borrowed to build the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
Speaking at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' 10th national convention here Tuesday night, Puno said international experts had taken the position that foreign bankers, who knowingly lent to corrupt governments, were liable for graft.
"[Several foreign creditors] knew or had no reason not to know that the loans will be used for some illegitimate purpose like supporting notoriously brazen and kleptocratic military regimes," Puno said at the convention whose theme is "Alleviating Poverty and Resolving the Fiscal Crisis."
Puno said these creditors need not be paid because they were parties to the crime. Citing Noreen Hertz, an economist at the University of Cambridge,
Puno said "there are debts which should be considered illegitimate and therefore should not be paid."
"Nearer home, the finger points to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was built in 1976 and which cost us $1.9 billion in loans," he said. [Some reports placed the total cost of the plant at $2.3 billion.]
Puno noted that the Philippines was shelling out $170,000 daily (P9.35 million a day or P3.4 billion a year) for the BNPP loans and that the payments would continue until 2018.
Servicing the country's debts now accounts for the largest government expenditure, overtaking salaries of government workers in the national budget of P907.56 billion for 2005, according to Puno.
The tragedy is that Filipinos have not benefited from a single watt of electricity from the nuclear plant, which was constructed on a known earthquake fault, according to former National Treasurer Leonor Briones.
Debt repudiation
Puno said debt repudiation was nothing new. The United States repudiated Cuba's debts to Spain in 1898 at about the time it acquired the Philippines from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War, according to the justice.
Today, he said South Africa, which is under black majority rule, had started questioning its obligation to repay loans acquired during the apartheid government.
He also said activists in the Iraqi government were questioning their foreign debts, which were secured by Saddam Hussein "to buy the knives that slaughtered them."
Making accountable businessmen, who were parties to a crime, also has a precedent, according to Puno.
Nuremberg Trials
He said the Nuremberg Trials at the end of World War II, which tried Nazi leaders for war crimes, also convicted businessmen who knowingly collaborated with the Nazis and were therefore as guilty as the people who brutalized the Jews in gas chambers.
Puno suggested that the government seek either a payment scheme similar to the Section 11 clause in the United States for bankrupt taxpayers, or a federal debt protection scheme covering American towns.
He said these schemes shield bankrupt individuals or entities from the forfeiture of their assets, protect their ability to earn, and in the case of the Philippines, its ability to continue supplying public services.
A federal law grants American municipal towns protection from creditors, enabling them to continue restructuring debts without sacrificing the quality of public service.
But Puno points out that the US law bars the towns from issuing new taxes to pay for their debts.
Puno said Hertz's proposal to put up a system patterned after the US bankruptcy laws to help developing countries could be applicable to most Asian nations burdened by debts, which were obtained by graft-ridden governments.
He said government should seek international support for an independent "ad hoc intermediary group" that would assist heavily indebted Third World countries.
Three Mile Island
It was another Puno who stopped the BNPP project. Former Justice Secretary Ricardo Puno was tasked by Marcos with assessing the condition of the plant in light of the 1979 breakdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
International experts have listed the BNPP's safety violations, including its susceptibility to an earthquake-induced damage. The Puno Commission eventually declared the plant unsafe.
But despite its mothballing, the administration of former President Corazon Aquino decided to continue paying the loans after the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
©2005 www.inq7.net all rights reserved
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Summary Points on Rehab Leave and Related Benefits
Notes: The following are summaries of points agreed upon by the Systemwide Ad Hoc Committee to Study Rehabilitation Leave (and Related Benefits) for Job Related Injuries during its last meeting today, April 21, 2005, 9:30 AM at the UP Manila Board. Recommendations of the Committee will be forwarded to the Office of President Emerlinda Roman for consideration by the EXECOM and of the BOR.
The present Ad Hoc Committee was already the second created, after the first committee formed on October 16, 2003 failed to came up with a substantial recommendation. It was created in response to Section 2, Article X of the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) executed on April 19, 2002 between UP and the All UP Workers Union.
The present Ad Hoc Committee was already the second created, after the first committee formed on October 16, 2003 failed to came up with a substantial recommendation. It was created in response to Section 2, Article X of the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) executed on April 19, 2002 between UP and the All UP Workers Union.
- The Rehabilitation Leave with pay up to six months (to include monthly salary and ACA/PERA) shall cover all employees sector and all position levels. It shall also include expenses for transportation and immediate medical treatment for work-related injuries and diseases that shall be borne-out by the University.
- Each Constituent University/Campus shall establish a commmunications hotline so that a University Official capable of deciding on necessary immediate assistance to an employees who suffered an accident or injuries in line of duty will be readily available.
- It must be noted that all throughout the UP System, only employees of the Philippine General Hospital has been enjoying the rehabilitation leave with pay (without assistance for transportation and immediate medical expenses) provided under CSC Memorandum Circular No. 41 s. of 1988 prompting the Union to include said benefit in the CNA Negotiation, to add more weight in its implementation.
- The List of Occupational and Compensable Diseasese prescribed by the Employees Compensation Commission shall be used in determining those covered for service-related illnesses. In such case, records in the Employees Clinic for Employment and Annual Physical Examinations will be immensely utilized to determine whether a disease condition is work-related or not. Note: For UP Manila/PGH Employees, it was already established that all laboratory and radiologic examinations that are available in PGH shall be available to both UP Manila/PGH employees chargeable against UP Manila/PGH and not to individual employees.
Corollary issue of increasing government contributions to the SIF from P30 to P100 per employee per month (Per ECC Board Resolution No. 02-04-235 s. 2002 and GSIS Board Resolution No. 166 s. 2004) will be closely monitored by the Union so that such adjust ment will be included in the 2006 Budget Proposal of UP (General Fund).
State Terrorism Today: Comparable To Or Even Worse Than Marcos-era Martial Law
Press Statement/April 16, 2005
NDF-EV Media Liaison Office
Karlos Manuel, Spokesperson
Efren Martires Command
New People’s Army-Eastern Visasyas
The people’s ordeal is fast worsening. They continue to suffer under the grave political and economic crisis. It is not only the common people who cry out against such harsh exploitation and oppression, but even the middle classes and the small business people. This has come about because of the inhumane and anti-Filipino way that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo runs the government. Instead of the interest of the Filipino people, it prioritizes and protects the interest of the big landlords, comprador bourgeoisie, and the foreigners led by US imperialism.
Arroyo has completely abandoned her honeyed promises to the masses of the people when she was just jockeying to be in power. Whatever grievances, criticisms and calls of the people for genuine reforms have only been met with the grimness of fascism and militarization.
Today the people suffer the brunt of state terrorism that is comparable to or even worse than Marcos-era martial law. Military authority overshadows civilian supremacy. Fascist laws that are being churned out disregard democratic processes and trample on basic human rights. The blind and reckless “anti-terrorism” campaign of the Arroyo government gives license to grave military abuses.
The choice of the “Butcher of Mindoro”, Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan, as the new commanding general of the 8th ID PA is unsurprising. The Arroyo regime believes that the likes of Palparan – a master of abductions and extra-judicial killings – will be able to silence the legal opposition and subdue the revolutionary movement. This is one of the many desperate measures of the Arroyo regime to forestall the people’s resistance and to remain in power. Palparan quickly strutted his stuff as Arroyo’s favorite butcher. After publicly announcingthat he would subdue the opposition within six months, there has been continuing killings of leaders of militant groups,especially Bayan Muna.
Abductions and wholesale harassment were also extensive. Military campaigns in the barrios intensified, resulting in grave military abuses. They do not realize that through such means, they are pushing the people to the wall and convincing them, who have long been hungry and desperate, to bear arms and wage revolution.
The military’s grave human rights violations are inseparable from Arroyo’s general counter-insurgency program that is anchored on her support of Bush’s “war on terrorism” throughout the world. The cases of human rights violations in the country have been increasing since Arroyo declared support for the “war on terror” of Bush, which prods the Arroyo government to launch militarist and fascist attacks on the people who have done nothing but stand up for genuine freedom and democracy.
In this situation, the Efren Martires Command of the NPA-EasternVisayas calls on those who love genuine democracy and freedom to stand up and be fearless in the face of the terrorism of the present state. Let us struggle to defend our civil liberties and democratic rights. Let us be unafraid of struggling against the abuses of the military led by Palparan. Let us launch a powerful protest movement to unseat the inhumane and anti-Filipino Arroyo regime.//
NDF-EV Media Liaison Office
Karlos Manuel, Spokesperson
Efren Martires Command
New People’s Army-Eastern Visasyas
The people’s ordeal is fast worsening. They continue to suffer under the grave political and economic crisis. It is not only the common people who cry out against such harsh exploitation and oppression, but even the middle classes and the small business people. This has come about because of the inhumane and anti-Filipino way that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo runs the government. Instead of the interest of the Filipino people, it prioritizes and protects the interest of the big landlords, comprador bourgeoisie, and the foreigners led by US imperialism.
Arroyo has completely abandoned her honeyed promises to the masses of the people when she was just jockeying to be in power. Whatever grievances, criticisms and calls of the people for genuine reforms have only been met with the grimness of fascism and militarization.
Today the people suffer the brunt of state terrorism that is comparable to or even worse than Marcos-era martial law. Military authority overshadows civilian supremacy. Fascist laws that are being churned out disregard democratic processes and trample on basic human rights. The blind and reckless “anti-terrorism” campaign of the Arroyo government gives license to grave military abuses.
The choice of the “Butcher of Mindoro”, Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan, as the new commanding general of the 8th ID PA is unsurprising. The Arroyo regime believes that the likes of Palparan – a master of abductions and extra-judicial killings – will be able to silence the legal opposition and subdue the revolutionary movement. This is one of the many desperate measures of the Arroyo regime to forestall the people’s resistance and to remain in power. Palparan quickly strutted his stuff as Arroyo’s favorite butcher. After publicly announcingthat he would subdue the opposition within six months, there has been continuing killings of leaders of militant groups,especially Bayan Muna.
Abductions and wholesale harassment were also extensive. Military campaigns in the barrios intensified, resulting in grave military abuses. They do not realize that through such means, they are pushing the people to the wall and convincing them, who have long been hungry and desperate, to bear arms and wage revolution.
The military’s grave human rights violations are inseparable from Arroyo’s general counter-insurgency program that is anchored on her support of Bush’s “war on terrorism” throughout the world. The cases of human rights violations in the country have been increasing since Arroyo declared support for the “war on terror” of Bush, which prods the Arroyo government to launch militarist and fascist attacks on the people who have done nothing but stand up for genuine freedom and democracy.
In this situation, the Efren Martires Command of the NPA-EasternVisayas calls on those who love genuine democracy and freedom to stand up and be fearless in the face of the terrorism of the present state. Let us struggle to defend our civil liberties and democratic rights. Let us be unafraid of struggling against the abuses of the military led by Palparan. Let us launch a powerful protest movement to unseat the inhumane and anti-Filipino Arroyo regime.//
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Taxes Under GMA Administration Becoming More Regressive
Press Release/April 19, 2005
Reference: Mr. Paul Quintos, Executive Director, EILER, Inc.
Office Number: 02 9130326
Mobile Number: 09178867286
"The tax policy of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is becoming more and more regressive. The ordinary wage-earners are being taxed more compared to local and foreign big business and is clearly geared against the poor of this country."
This was according to Mr. Paul Quintos, Executive Director of the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, Incorporated or EILER, Inc. Based on the data gathered by EILER, Inc., the ordinary Filipino bears the burden of paying more taxes.
"Since President Arroyo assumed power in 2001, the ordinary wage-earners are increasingly being taxed more compared to the business sector. In the year 2001, P75.19B came from wage-earners, while P147.3B came from the business sector," added Quintos. "But in 2003, contributions from wage-earners increase to P121B or an increase of 61% from the previous level, while contributions from the business sector decreased by 17%."
Comparison Between Individual Income and Business Taxes (in PhP Millions)
Income Tax on Business
2001 - 147,334
2002 - 110,800
2003 - 122,101
Income Tax on Individual
2001 - 75,195
2002 - 102,300
2003 - 121,077
Source: Basic data from the NSCB "National Accounts"
"The divide further widens when we compare the percentage of taxes paid by ordinary Filipinos to big multi-national corporations (MNC) which enjoy generous tax breaks and other incentives from the government," opined Quintos.
Based on the EILER research, Fujitsu Philippines, a Japanese electronics company, pays a measly .6% of their gross income in 2001, while Toshiba Information Equipment, paid an even lower amount of .05% of their gross income in the same year.
"While in 2001, an average of 8.2% of the gross income of ordinary Filipinos are being eaten away by taxes, this big MNC's are not even paying 1%," asserted Quintos. "Those who earn less paid more, while those earning billions paid less. Now that is what we call a regressive tax policy."
In 2003 alone, the government's foregone revenues due to VAT exemptions – which benefit big corporations most of all – amounted to P195 billion or more than twice the expected additional revenues to be raised by increasing the VAT rate to 12%.
Mr. Quintos added that such a dire situation for ordinary taxpayers, are bound to go from bad to worse when the additional VAT is implemented. ##
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