Tuloy ang Laban Kontra Rates Increase

Budget Pangkalusugan Dagdagan

Isang makabuluhang araw ang Biyernes, Enero 5, 2007. Una, nagkaroon ng pangkalahatang pulong ang unyon kung saan mayoryang napagkasunduan ang isang kilos-protesta upang ikondena ang Memo #2006-131 na nagsasaad ng dagdag at bagong singilin sa serbisyo ng PGH. Ikalawa, ang dagliang pagpapalabas ng panibagong kautusan ng PGH Administration: Memo# 2007-05 na nag-uutos ng pansamantalang pagpapatigil ng dagdag na singil sa blue card (mula P7.00 naging P15.00) at planong O.R. fee sa charity (P1,500.00)

Sa pagtingin ng unyon, ginawa ito ng PGH admin upang mapigilan lamang ang nakatakdang kilos-protesta sa araw ng kanyang inagurasyon (Enero 8, 2007). Malinaw na ang usapin ng rates increase sa PGH ay hindi pa tapos sapagkat ang dagdag na singil sa blue card at ang bagong O.R. fee sa charity ay “ipinagpaliban lamang hanggang sa pag-uusap sa ika-9 ng Enero 2007.

Ang All U.P. Workers Union ay nananawagan sa ating mga kawani at mamamayan na patuloy nating tutulan ang isyu ng rates increase sa PGH, sapagkat isa lamang ito sa maraming hamon sa atin ng 2007. Bilang siyang pinakamalaking ospital ng bansa, ang anumang nangyayari sa PGH ay sumasalamin sa kalagayang pangkalusugan sa buong bansa.

Simula pa ng taong 1993 hanggang sa kasalukuyan, ang budget ng ospital na nagmumula sa Pambansang Pamahalaan para sa personnel at MOOE ay nakatali lamang sa isang bilyong piso (P1 Bilyon) samantalang ang kabuuang pangangailangan ng ospital ay umaabot na sa mahigit P2 bilyon. Sa tuwi-tuwina, ang pambansang pamahalaan lalo na ang Malakanyang ay nagsasabi na mayroong sapat na pondo para sa serbisyong panlipunan tulad ng kalusugan. Subalit kung ating susuriing mabuti ang mga pangyayari, hanggang bukang bibig lamang ang lahat.

Sa isang banda, nakikita natin ang bilyon-bilyong pisong napupunta lamang sa graft and corruption tulad ng Macapagal Boulevard, Fertilizer Scam, ang pagwawaldas sa GSIS at marami pang iba. Sa tuwi-tuwina din, nandidiyan ang pagtaas sa suweldo ng pulis at military at ang taon-taong pagtaas ng budget ng pulis at military. Kamakailan lamang ay nag-anunsiyo ang Malakanyang at AFP na bukod sa dagdag budget ay mayroong nakahiwalay na P10 bilyon ang military para sa modernization nito para sa 2007. Kung ating matandaan noong panahon ni Presidente Ramos, mayroong P40 bilyon para daw sa AFP Modernization subalit nawala lang ang P40 bilyon at ni isang bagong jetfighter at barko ay walang nabili, sa halip nakikita natin na ang lahat na mga matataas na opisyal ng AFP lalo na ang mga Comptroller nito ay naging mga milyonaryo.

Samakatuwid hindi ito usapin ng kakulangan ng pondo para sa serbisyo, ito ay usapin ng maling pamamalakad ng pamahalaan at prayoridad nito. Kaya’t nasa atin ang paggigiit na bigyang prayoridad ang serbisyong panlipunan tulad ng kalusugan at edukasyon.

Tutulan Ang Dagdag At Bagong Singilin Sa Serbisyo Sa PGH-Ang Ospital Ng Bayan! Magmalasakit Para Sa Mamamayang Pilipino; Paglingkuran Ang Sambayanan!

All U.P. Workers Union
Ika-8 ng Enero 2007

Rates Increase sa PGH, Di Makatarungan, Tutulan

Isang linggo bago ang Pasko, ginulantang tayo ng Memo mula sa Direktor kaugnay sa bago na namang yugto ng rates increase kasama na dito ang pagtaas ng blue card mula sa P7.00 ay magiging P15.00; at ang O.R. fee sa charity mula sa wala ay magkakaroon na ng P1,500.00 na paniningil. Hindi natin maunawaan ang motibo ng nasabing pagtaas at dagdag na singilin sa harap ng patuloy na pagtaas ng antas ng kahirapan. Nakakalungkot isipin na sa gitna ng pagdiriwang natin ng Pasko at bagong taon, ang anti-mamayang patakaran sa ngalan ng “end-user fee scheme” ay ipinapatupad mismo dito sa atin sa PGH na kilala bilang ospital ng bayan.

Ang All U.P. Workers Union ay kumukondena sa anumang uri ng pagtaas ng singilin sapagkat alam nating ang Sambayanang naghihirap ang lubos na tatamaan ng patakarang ito. Tayo ay naniniwala sa ilalim ng “parens patria” na konsepto ng pamahalaan ay dapat ang mga batayang karapatan tulad ng kalusugan ay pinapangalagaan ng pamahalaan. Kayat dapat bigyan ito ng sapat na budget at hindi iniaasa sa pagbabayad ng mga mamamayang nangangailangan nito, lalo na ng mga mahihirap.

Batay na rin sa pinakahuling survey ng SWS tinatayang may 3.3 milyong pamilya o halos 20 milyong indibidwal ang nakakaranas ng gutom na hindi bababa sa isang beses sa nakaraang tatlong buwan (bagong pinakamataas na record) at ayon na rin sa rekord ng ADB at sa HDI ng UN, mahigit otsenta porsiyento (↑80%) ng mga Pilipino ay nabubuhay lamang o mababa pa sa dalawang dolyar ($2.00) na kita kada araw. Batay sa ganitong datos, masasabi nating walang puso ang sinumang may pakana sa panibago na namang pagtaas na ito, lalo pa at sa loob ng nakaraang limang taon ay walang nadagdag sa suweldo nating mga kawani ng pamahalaan.

Tama na! Sobra na! Panahon na upang tayong lahat ay makialam sa nangyayaring ito sa ating mahal na ospital. Ngayong taong 2007, ipinagdiriwang natin ang ika-100 na taon ng pagkakatatag ng PGH; ito ay itinatag para sa pangangailang pangkalusugan ng nga mamamayan lalo na ng mga mahihirap, huwag natin itong hayaang maging “Private General Hospital.”

Bilang mga kawani ng Philippine General Hospital, marami sa atin ang patuloy at tapat na naninilbihan dahil alam nating tayo ay nakakatulong sa ating mamamayan lalo sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan. Kung ang lahat ng serbisyo ng PGH, kabilang na ang operasyong pang-charity ay mayroon nang bayad, marahil, marami sa atin ang magtatanong: Saan na patungo ang serbisyo ng PGH; ng patuloy na paninilbihan sa PGH? Huwag nating hayaan na ang ating pagseserbisyo ay maging isang negosyo!

TUTULAN ANG PANIBAGONG RATES INCREASE SA PGH – ANG OSPITAL NG BAYAN! PAGTIBAYIN ANG ATING HANAY AT MAGHANDA SA HAMON NG 2007 PARA SA SAMA-SAMANG PAGKILOS!

MAGMALASAKIT PARA SA MAMAMAYANG PILIPINO! PAGLINGKURAN ANG SAMBAYANAN!

All U.P. Workers Union
Ika-2 ng Enero 2007

National Council Meeting sa UP Tacloban Malaking Tagumpay

2006 P5,000.00 na Additional Incentive at P1,000.00 na Christmas Grocery Allowance Naaprobahan ng BOR dahil sa Sama-samang Pagkilos

Malaking tagumpay ang miting ng Pambansang Konseho (National Council) ng All U.P. Workers Union na ginanap mula ika-21 hanggang ika-23 ng Nobyembre 2006 sa Guest House ng U.P. Tacloban. Ito ay dinaluhan ng lahat na mga kasapi ng National Executive Board (NEB), at mga Presidente at BisePresidente ng mga chapter sa iba't-ibang campus ng U.P. sa buong bansa at ng limang (5) kasapi ng konseho na inihalal sa General Assembly. Sa mga nakatakdang dumalo, ang kinatawan ng U.P. Mindanao at Open University ang hindi nakarating dahil sa problema ng kanilang eskedyul sa trabaho.

Matatandaang ang orihinal na eskedyul ng miting ng konseho ay sa ika-29 ng Nobyembre hanggang ika 1 ng Disyembre 2006 pa sa U.P. Los Baños, subalit dahil sa walang katiyakang sagot ng Management Panel sa miting ng Union-Management Consultative Board (UMCB) noong Oktubre ay naipasya ng NEB na sundan ang miting ng U.P. Board of Regents (BOR) sa Palo, Leyte noong ika-24 ng Nobyembre 2006.

Sa miting ng konseho, naitakda ang mga gawain ng unyon sa taong 2007 kung saan matatapos na ang bisa ng ating Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) at panahon na rin ng General Assembly at paghalal ng panibagong mga chapter at pambansang opisyales. Naitakda rin ang ating pagtutol sa mga hindi makatarungang probisyon ng panukalang Government Classification and Compensation Act of 2006 o mas kilala sa tawag na SSL III.

Kaugnay sa CNA, ang unyon ay maghahain ng panibagong teksto para sa panibagong pag-uusap sa U.P. Management bago lumipas ang bisa ng kasalukuyang CNA - mayroon man o walang hamon ng panibagong Certification Election mula sa kabilang unyon. Ayon sa tradisyon, itinakda ang Pangkalahatang Asembleya sa unang linggo ng Disyembre 2007, ito ay gaganapin sa U.P. Los Baños. Magdaraos naman ang unyon ng kampanya laban sa SSL III at sasama sa mga pagkilos ng All G.E. Coalition kaugnay dito sa susunod na mga araw. Ang All G.E. Coalition at binubuo ng mga unyon sa ilalim ng Alliance of Concerned Teachers, COURAGE, Alliance of Health Workers at iba pang mga unyong tunay na kumakatawan ng mga kawaning rank-and-file sa gobyerno.

Sa miting ng BOR (ika-24 ng Nobyembre 2006) , sama-samang kumilos ang mga kawani ng U.P. Tacloban sa pangunguna ng All U.P. Workers Union at mga estudyante ng U.P. Tacloban at School of Health Sciences sa Palo, Leyte sa harap ng Mac Arthur Park Resort Hotel sa Palo. Ang kawni ay upang ipaglaban ang P5,000.00 na additional incentive at P1,000.00 na Christmas Grocery Allowance. Ang sa mga estudyante naman ay upang tutulan ang P250% na panukala ng U.P. Administration na pagtaas ng tuition fee. Iisang boses na sinang-ayunan ng BOR ang hiling ng mga kawani samantalang hindi pa pinag-usapan ang tuition fee increase.

Anim (6) ang mga delegado na nanggaling sa U.P. Manila. Ito ay sina: Elesio Estropigan - Pambansang Ingat-yaman; Belinda Jubilo Santos at Ernesto Ragudos - NC Members-at-large; Jossel Ebesate - Pambansang P.R.O. at Presidente ng Manila Chapter; Jesusa Besido - Bise-Presidente ng Chapter; at, Freddie Waje - Chapter Council Member.

Getting Real on the UP Tuition Hike - A Rejoinder from USC

We would like to make a public clarification and rebuttal on Mrs. Solita Monsod's "Get Real" column published in the Inquirer on Nov. 25, entitled 'Trapo'-like spins on UP tuition hikes. This is not the first time she has written a column to defend the tuition and other fees increase (TOFI) proposal in the University of the Philippines, and her continued publicity of the UP administration' s twisted truths and false argumentations only reveals the real "trapo" there could be.

First, she purposefully underestimated the crowd that joined the boycott of classes last Nov. 23 in UP to number only "from 200 to 400 people." Anyone who passed by the demonstration program last Thursday noon could easily disprove her. We also wonder where she got her "information from all colleges on campus" that "none were cancelled for lack of attendance." Majority of the colleges in UP Diliman were present at the rally and even carried banners of their college's unity against the proposed TOFI, not to mention that boycott and protest programs were also successful at the other UP units nationwide.

Monsod also attempted to give malice to the participants of the rally by questioning if "they were all from the UP community" or "were all UP students." Indeed they were not, for the protest against TOFI has been actively participated by many other sectors from the UP community including her colleagues in the faculty who know better, and has been supported by other groups outside UP who oppose the commercialization of education.

Clearly, Monsod and her cohorts can only delude themselves by trying to undermine the collective efforts of the growing opposition to TOFI in UP.

Monsod furthermore defends the UP admin by proclaiming that "in the spirit of academic freedom and freedom of speech, they (rallies) are allowed, defended, and even encouraged by UP authorities. " We can hardly recall the last time that the UP admin allowed us to rally, and she must not forget the admin's harsh dispersal of the UP community's picket in protest of the massive lay-off of janitors in the campus only a few months ago. Even our premier student publication, the Philippine Collegian, has not withstood such granting of "freedom" and has been shut down for three months now.

Monsod then proceeds to echo the UP admin's basic pro-TOFI reasonings. She says that one reason that students may have been "indifferent" is because the TOFI will only be imposed on incoming students. This is precisely the pacifying logic the admin uses to promote indifference among students in order to proceed more easily with their schemes. The admin also uses this argument to avoid consultation with the present students and members of UP community. Such argument only fools us for it is as if we have already escaped the present crisis of education we are in by not directly enduring the TOFI, and that the present and future generation of students do not have the same objective interests for more accessible and quality education.

Monsod then champions the concept of the STFAP or the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program to supposedly group students to how much one should pay depending on his income. But Monsod (on purpose) failed to mention that under the current STFAP, three out of the nine income groupings are given full subsidy for tuition, and with the current proposal, only the first of the five new income groupings will be fully freed from the tuition, which the UP admin targets to be no more than 10 percent of the students. We know very well that the STFAP was actually created to implement tuition increases and make it seemingly palatable. As what happened in 1989 when the STFAP was first implemented, UP tuition skyrocketed from P45 to P300 per unit, and now, 90 percent of students fall under the highest STFAP grouping which pay that full cost of tuition.

If we really look at the social strata that is unfamiliar to the STFAP and to the economics specialist who is Monsod, 60 percent of our youth could not enter college anymore mainly because of unaffordability, and 90 percent could not finish their college degrees. UP being a state university, in case Monsod and company have totally forgotten, should not even entertain bracketing of tuition payments because there should be no tuition fee at all in a supposed state-funded educational institution. Given the crisis in the youth's education that we face, it is still hard to imagine the concept of free education nowadays (which is actually implemented in some countries, from primary to tertiary education), thanks to the likes of Monsod who makes things appear to be not so bad at all.

If bannering and clamoring to uphold that education, as a right, should be more accessible to our youth and should serve the interests of the people displeases the likes of Monsod, our students will not hesitate to partake for more.

Juan Paolo Alfonso
Chairperson
UP Diliman University Student Council
Room 204, 2nd floor
Vinzons Hall
UP Diliman, Quezon City

Statement on the Charge of Rebellion

Francisco Nemenzo
Former President and Professor Emeritus University of the Philippines

If the attachments to the subpoena are all the evidence they can produce, the NBI and CIDG are wasting the time of the state prosecutors by including me in the rebellion case [NBI and CIDG vs. MGen. Renato Miranda, et al. IS No. 2006-1003].

They did such a sloppy job that they could not even get my name right. In the subpoena I am listed as "Prudencio Dodong Nemenzo." Everyone in UP knows my real name. A call to Diliman or a visit to UP Manila (the NBI's next door neighbor) would have spared them from this embarrassing error. I could have taken advantage of their carelessness to deny that I am one of the accused. But I do not want to get off the hook through technicality. I welcome this charge – no matter how silly and malicious – as an opportunity to reiterate the views that the Arroyo government seeks to suppress.

I choose to speak in my own voice instead of speaking through my lawyers to show that the oppositioncannot be cowed. The mass movement will not be intimidated. We shall continue to call for the ouster of an illegitimate, corrupt, incompetent, and repressive regime that has inflicted so much damage to our country. It is our patriotic duty to defend the area of freedom that people's power had carved out in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship.

The best way to defend freedom is to exercise it. Responsible citizens cannot watch in silence as the minions of Mrs. Arroyo make a mockery of our democratic rights.

Bases for the allegations

Before I go further, let me answer the specific charges. In some 150 pages of documentation, I am mentioned only twice: in the affidavits of Lt. Lawrence San Juan and Lt. Patricio Bumidang. My name does not appear in the letter of transmittal, the Lopez report, or the affidavits and transcripts of oral testimonies.

San Juan claims that I met a group of junior officers to discuss the Blueprint for a Viable Philippines. This I do not deny. What is wrong with discussing with soldiers the problems of our country and the policy options available? They, too, are citizens who are worried about our country's plunge to disaster.

I should emphasize, however, that I met San Juan before he escaped, before he became a fugitive. There was therefore nothing conspiratorial about the meeting. We also discussed the Blueprint with colleagues in academe, with journalists, religious communities, mass organizations, and even with Makati business executives.

This document is published and widely circulated. In fact, it is posted in the Internet and can be downloaded by anybody who cares about the future of this country.

In a separate affidavit Bumidang alleges that I visited him and other fugitives in the house of Renato Constantino, Jr. It is not unusual for me to visit RC Constantino because we are old friends. I have been to his house countless times; but never did I find soldiers among his guests.

Mr. Bumidang's story is inaccurate. In truth, I first saw Mr. Bumidang's face on television, when he and companions were paraded for public humiliation after their capture.

I hold no rancor toward San Juan and Bumidang. They have been kept in isolation and probably subjected to physical and mental torture. Having experienced solitary confinement myself, I know how vulnerable they are to intrigues and disinformation. It is not improbable that their tormentors put words into their mouths.

For this investigation to becredible to the intelligent public, I challenge Gen. Esperon to allow media, in the presence of bishops and other religious leaders, to interview San Juan and Bumidang. Release them from isolation and let them answer questions about their affidavits outside the intimidating atmosphere of an interrogation chamber. If indeed they are telling the truth, there is no reason to shield them from public grilling.

The legitimacy crisis

When citizens perceive the government as legitimate, they will obey even if they disagree with its policies; otherwise, they have to be forced to obey. The current political instability is rooted in this widespread perception that the president is a usurper who uses foul means to keep herself in power. All opinion surveys show that most people doubt the legitimacy of her accession in 2001 and her reelection in 2004.

When those who are supposed to protect her government and enforce her orders doubt her legitimacy as well, her position is precarious indeed. She is lucky that the protest movement has yet to reach the stage of rebellion. Rebellion properly so called involves the use of arms. A peaceful demonstration, no matter how massive, does not constitute a rebellion. Wishing for a coup is not rebellion. But Mrs. Arroyo's minions, by accusing us of what we have not done, provoke the angry multitude who may be less temperate to turn the fabricated scenario into a grim reality.

Dictators panic when they hear voices of dissent because when people gain the courage to defy, the effectiveness of state coercion is diminished. But a democratic government, confident of its own legitimacy, responds to such voices with equanimity.

I was never convinced of the legitimacy of Mrs. Arroyo's accession to power. Yet, as head of a state institution (as President of the University ofthe Philippines) I urged my constituents to accept her presidency as an accomplished fact and give her the benefit of the doubt. That was because I was painfully aware that a breakdown of civic order would prevent UP from catching up with the other premier universities in Asia.

It became increasingly clear, however, that Mrs. Arroyo does not deserve our qualified and tentative support. She continues to pursue the neo-liberal policies that have devastated the lives of the working people. She has incurred more public debts than her three predecessors put together. While waving the banner of a "strong republic," her government could not enforce the laws on influential malefactors. She blames external circumstances for our economic woes, but it is her policies that make the country vulnerable to the vagaries of the global market. In a sense, she is the No. 1 destabilizer.

She had a chance to legitimize her illegitimate regime by a convincing victory in the 2004 elections. But she squandered the chance. The indecent haste in her proclamation in the wee hours of the morning, and the stubborn refusal to open for scrutiny the certificates of canvass in contested provinces reinforced the suspicion of massive cheating. This worsened when her rabid supporters in the Lower House aborted the impeachment process, invoking flimsy arguments that could only persuade the blind and the brainless.

By depriving the Senate of the opportunity to evaluate and pass judgment on the authenticity and implications of the Garci tapes, they closed the last possibility of removing her through constitutional means. This prompted people, out of frustration, to explore of the extra-constitutional channels. As doubts of her legitimacy mount, Mrs. Arroyo and her minions are now resorting to systematic intimidation.

Since the much ballyhooed "all out war" miserably failed to crush the underground opposition, her minions have started running after the above ground opposition. The special target of the latest drive is the open mass movement. Peaceful rallies are violently dispersed. Some 800 grassroots activists have perished in extra-judicial executions. Lately they are threatening to replace elected opposition mayors withdocile partisans. Unrest in the armed services

This campaign of intimidation is the context of this and similar cases recently filed. Without being asked, I take up the cudgels for the active and retired military and police officers who are similarly accused, but who cannot speak freely because they are either detained or forced into hiding by a fabulous reward for their capture, dead or alive. Among them are the finest officers in the AFP and PNP.

These are not the stereotype soldiers who blindly follow orders from the chain of command. These are intelligent officers who dare to ask if the regime deserves the risk to their lives and the lives of the men under their command. With RSBS sponged dry, they also worry about the survival of the families they might leave behind. In a brazen display of hypocrisy, their star-spangled superiors invoke the doctrine of "political neutrality" to whip them into line.

But these soldiers have come to realize that "political neutrality" is a fiction. Many times in Philippine history, the AFP and PNP played a political role. They have been used to protect the elite from the outraged masses. They have also been used to thwart the people's will in fraudulent elections. These soldiers who now stand accused for violating "political neutrality" are in fact trying to redeem their profession from ignominy, by aligning themselves with the people. They seek to transform the armed services from a tool of elite rule and an instrument of deceitful politicians into a force for genuine democracy and social reforms.

Extrapolating from survey results, a coup to evict GMA would be the most popular coup in Philippine history. But there was no danger of that last February 24th. It is evident in the Lopez report and the affidavits and testimonies appended to the complaint against us that Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Col. Ariel Querubin did not plan to stage a coup. They just wanted to march with their troops to the EDSA shrine and join a civilian crowd in calling for withdrawal of support from an illegitimate and corrupt government. Real coup plotters do not ask permission from their superior officers, much less invite them to heed the clamor from below.

As a political science professor who specialized in the study of unconventional forms of political action, I have been a keen observer of military affairs. I therefore understand and sympathize with these disgruntledsoldiers, but I vehemently disclaim the charge that we conspired against the Filipino people.

STATEMENT OF THE U.P. FACULTY REGENT ON THE REBELLION RAPS AGAINST FORMER U.P. PRESIDENT FRANCISCO "DODONG" NEMENZO, ET AL

Press Statement
8 November 2006

I join the U.P. academic community in expressing solidarity and support to our faculty colleague and former University of the Philippines President Francisco "Dodong" Nemenzo, Jr., who is being charged with "rebellion"and "obstruction of justice". The charges are reminiscent of th 1950s when U.P. faculty members who were known to have progressive and nationalist views were witchhunted by the Congressional Committee on "Un-Filipino activities" and accused of being Communists and conspirators. Those hysterical and red-baiting hearings only exposed the intolerance of the Philippine oligarchy and their counterpart American Cold Warriors in the U.S. Embassy, towards peasant and worker unrest which had found sympathetic allies in the academe, especially among our faculty ranks.

The charges against our colleague Dodong Nemenzo only manifest the desperation of the illegal occupant in Malacanang who is now retaliating against leaders of the broad opposition. Dodong Nemenzo is the President of the Laban ng Masa, a coalition of NGOs and people's organizations, which has been actively questionning the legitimacy of the despot in Malacanang in the aftermath of the fraudulent 2004 Presidential elections. Even opposition mayors like Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati are being charged with all kinds of allegations, even while corrupt pro-administration politicians are being acquitted or protected.

The charges of rebellion against our U.P. colleague Nemenzo and 40 others are an attempt to crack down on dissent and to silence the legal opposition. I call on all our colleagues in the U.P. Academic Community to support the ideals and principles which our former University president stands for. Let us resist the violent attacks and harassments from despots who will soon be properly consigned to the dustbin of history.


Roland G. Simbulan
Professor and Faculty Regent
U.P. System

Ermita’s Assistant Secretary is Among Suspected Bombers?

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