Have you ever seen the sun set upon the sea, the migrating birds fly in formation proud? Have you ever seen the mighty forest and heard the birds sing clear and loud? Have you seen the flowers in the meadows and the fields that provide the nectar for the bee, That gives the honey in the hive hanging from the tree? Have you ever seen the dolphins race across the ocean wave, The mighty whales that swim the oceans strong and brave? A breathless sight of beauty you will ever see If we will just allow them to live and to be.
The increase in unemployment rate in the recent Labor Force Survey (LFS) shows the Duterte administration’s neoliberal agenda and failed economic policies further worsened the labor situation amid the pandemic, according to a labor NGO.
The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) said that while the imposition of stricter lockdowns during the previous quarter is seen as the immediate cause, the government’s neglect of local industries and its dependence on foreign businesses is the primary reason for the rising unemployment and precarious working conditions.
The LFS released by the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) for April 2021 shows the unemployment rate rose to 8.7% from 7.1% last March. That translates to 4.14 million unemployed Filipinos. Underemployment rose to 17.2% or 7.45 million from 16.2% last March.
Noong Marso ay ipinakita natin sa Woke D Talk 2021 series ang ating hangarin, na #SanaAllDapatAll Pantay at Patas. Noong Buwan naman ng Abril, ipinakita natin na kahit sino ay may kayang gawin dahil nagmamahal at nagmamalasakit, ika nga #HRDpetmalu para sa kapwa, sa kalikasan at sa bayan.
Buwan ng Mayo, ay ipapakita naman natin kung ano at paano ang dapat gawin upang makamit ang ating #SanaAllDapatAll, bilang mga #HRDpetmalu sa pamamagitan ng pagbotong may pagmamalasakit.
Decision to take back hazard pay of contractual airport workers, unjust
A Labor NGO expresses dismay over the state auditor’s order to recover the hazard pay amounting to P54.36 million given to contractual workers of the Manila International Airport Authority last year. As per the memo released by the service contractor, the retracted hazard pay shall be deducted from workers’ monthly salaries.
The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) said that the decision is unjust and shows indifference to the plight of contractual workers who are on the frontlines. EILER also added that all workers deserve hazard pay given the risks they face while at work amid the pandemic.
Historical Distortionism is the Destruction of the Nation’s Foundation
This is a response with Lito B. Zulueta’s Aguinaldo in a fairer light. I do have some serious reservations, not only to the tenor of his questionable narration but also firmly dispute the veracity and truthfulness of the very core of his views.
Mr Zulueta stated that:
Independence Day is less than a month away, so it is auspicious that the man who declared it on June 12, 1898, often vilified for having allegedly assassinated Andres Bonifacio and “Heneral Luna,” if not independence itself, is getting a fair shake from a Philippine historian with no mean international reputation.
Comment:
He talked about Independence Day, the question there is that, had he read the whole document of the said proclamation? According to that auspicious document:
And having as witness to the rectitude of our intentions the Supreme Judge of the Universe, and under the protection of our Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, The United States of America, we do hereby proclaim and declare solemnly in the name by authority of the people of these Philippine Islands,
Nearly a decade ago, the Star Malaysia published my article on Mother’s day. As I’ve stated then:
My personal life is a bit complicated, coming as I do from two different social classes. My father is a bit well to do, by virtue of him coming from the bourgeois class, while my mother came from the proletarian class. I deem myself a mixed product of heaven and hell, so to speak! Though, I love my father, I love my mother more. Why? Because she taught me all the laws of life and the mysteries of existence from a very young age.
I believe that what she transmitted and bequeathed to me is far more superior and undeniably more substantive tan all things money can buy.
Material things come and go, but virtue, responsibility, character and wisdom can never be bought, and no one can ever take these away from you.
Juan Ponce Enrile was Rodrigo Duterte’s special guest in the latter’s regular public address on May 17, 2021 and they spent a one hour and 10-minute of scratching each other’s back, flattering each other like toddlers.
President Duterte, who vowed to eradicate corruption until the end of his term, designated as his honorable guest last Wednesday former Marcos architect Enrile who is still facing one plunder and 15 graft charges because of the reported misuse of his priority development assistance fund (PDAF). Allegedly, Enrile endorsed the phony NGO owned by Janet Lim Napoles in exchange for bribes. Enrile’s chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, is still incarcerated at Camp Bagong Diwa for her alleged role in said scam. According to reports your old man Johnny and Gigi are lovers. Just this January, Reyes filed a motion for her temporary release citing that the corona virus might spread inside the prison facility. The Sandigangbayan instantly denied her bid.
The Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte -Philippinen (AMP) and its member organizations express their deep concern about the recent human rights developments in the Philippines and especially about the arrest of human rights defender and United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) Pastor Dan Balucioon May 2, 2021.
UCCP Pastor Dan Balucioisa dedicated and well-known human rights activist, community organizer and coordinator of Andurog Mayon, an Ecumenical Disaster Response and Management Committee in Albay Province. In this function he lately coordinated the ongoing humanitarian response in communities affected by the typhoons Rolly and Ulysees. Through his humanitarian activities in the Philippines, he ispart of the civil society movement that facilitates the governments humanitarian response to disasters such as typhoons. He is committed to serve the poor and vocal in his criticism of the current administration under President Duterte. Pastor Dan Balucio is also a member of the South Bicol Conference (SBC) which has a close partnership with the Protestant Churches in Germany.
makabagbag-damdamin ang tinugon ni Miss India ah, talaga namang ako’y napahanga talaga ipinaliwanag ang karapatang magprotesta at kalayaang magpahayag ay mahahalaga
Inaanyayahan natin ang lahat na makibahagi ika-23 ng Mayo, sa pagkakaisa ng mga riders, siklista, motorista at mga komyuters sa huling araw ng UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK.
Huling araw na maghuhudyat ng simula ng mas malawak na pagkilos para sa kaligtasan sa kalsada. Tayo po ay naniniwala at positibo na malaki ang ang bilang na maililigtas nating buhay ng mga kabataan at iba pa kung magbabawas tayo bilis ng ating mga sasakyan. Nangyari na ito sa ibang bansa, nang itakda nila ang bilis ng mga sasakyan sa 30kph speed limit sa mga mga mataong kalsada kaya hindi ito imposible sa atin. Lalu pa at may batas na tayo hinggil dito. Ang kailangan lang ay seryosohin ang implementasyon at maipabatid ito sa lahat ng mga gumagamit ng kalsada.
Mariing kinokondena ng Moro Human Rights Defender (MHRDNet) ang patuloy na garapalang pag-atake ng bansang Israel sa Occupied Palestinian Territory, partikular sa East Jerusalem at sa Gaza Strip. Ang walang habas na pamboboma ng Israel na target ang mga pook ng sibilyan ay patuloy na pumapatay at pumipinsala sa mga inosenteng buhay lalong lalo na sa mga kababaihan, matatanda at walang muwang na mga paslit.
Malinaw na ang pananalakay ng Israel sa mamamayan ng Palestina ay tahasang pagyurak sa mga International Laws partikular na sa mga Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws na karapatdapat kondenahin at singilin ng buong Mundo.
Nanawagan ang MHRDNet ng pakikiisa ng lahat lalo na sa Bangsamoro para suportahan ang panawagang itigil ng Israel ang Kriminal na pananalakay at panlulupig nito sa Palestina. Ganundin sumasabay ang MHRDNet sa malawakang panawagan upang umakto na ang United Nations Security Council para mamagitan at mapatigil ang walang pakundangang karahasan.
Natapos ang third quarter nang walang dumating na printed modules
Ngayong araw magtatapos ang Third Quarter para sa School Year 2020-2021 at magsisimula ang Fourth Quarter sa Lunes, Mayo 17, 2021.
Kung tutuusin ay halos patapos na ang kasalukuyang school year at papasok na uli tayo sa susunod na taong-pampaaralan, ang SY 2021-2022 na maagap na itinakda ng DepEd sa Agosto 23, 2021. Inaasahang distance learning muli ang sistema ng susunod na school year dahil na rin sa sitwasyon ng COVID sa ating bansa. At habang lubos ang suporta ng mga guro sa edukasyon sa ilalim ng pandemya, hindi naman maaaring pikitan natin ang mga pagkukulang ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon (DepEd) upang maihatid ang ipinangakong serbisyo para sa ating mga mag-aaral at mamamayan. Ang mga pagkukulang kasi na ito, bandang huli ay mga guro ang siyang magpupuno at mahihirapan.
Tama, natapos na ang third quarter pero hanggang ngayon ay marami pang mga paaralan sa halos lahat ng mga dibisyon- probinsiya at lungsod sa bansa ang wala pa ring printed modules. Kung mayroon man ay kulang na kulang ito o kaya’y soft copy lamang na ida-download ng mga guro ang ibinigay sa kanila.
Groups: Protect Human Health and the Environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
Environmental health groups today urged national and local authorities to give priority to zero waste strategies that prevent and reduce the generation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), a class of highly hazardous synthetic chemicals.
The EcoWaste Coalition, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) and Mother Earth Foundation (MEF) together made the call in observance of the 17th anniversary of the entry into force of the Stockholm Convention on POPs last May 17, 2004.
The treaty, which counts on the Philippines among its state parties, seeks to protect human health and the environment from POPs through a range of measures aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating their releases to the environment. Among these POPs are unintentionally produced pollutants such as dioxins and furans resulting from combustion and industrial processes, including the open burning of trash, the incineration of municipal, medical and hazardous wastes, and cement kilns firing hazardous waste.
The World Must Come Together to Stand with Palestinian People: In Defense of Humanity
I am writing this letter not merely as a Filipino but as a citizen of the world. I believe that the time now has come that the world must come together to stand with the Palestinian people in their perennial fight for their honor, their identity, their homes, and their right to self-determination. In a word, their right to exist.
It’s been a week now that the state of Israel is bombing Gaza indiscriminately. The bombings are sophisticated and on a massive scale without due consideration to the civilian population. They are doing it to a besieged nation without an army, navy, and air force. There is no shadow of a doubt that this criminal act is an act of ethnic cleansing, indeed, a genocide.
The world must now stand as one to condemn the state of Israel for Nakba, for their continuing brutal colonialization, to call for an end to their occupation of the land that they did not own, to end their state-sponsored and policy of aggression.
Workers’ Coalition Slams House Urgent Call for Chacha
The biggest labor coalition in the country slams the House leadership’s “hell-bent” effort to amend restrictive economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution amid the raging fight against CoVID 19 pandemic.
Instead of resuming plenary debates and deliberations on the proposed constitutional amendments in his Resolution of Both House No. 2 (RBH 2) when sessions resume this week, NAGKAISA holds that Speaker Lord Allan Velasco needs to prioritize the passage of the Bayanihan 3 and other measures to help displaced workers and to ease the burden of the CoVID 19 pandemic.
NAGKAISA said it before and will repeat it again that this is not the time for charter change. The money for the charter change campaign should be appropriated for “ayudang sapat para sa mga manggagawang nalaglag sa trabaho o kung may trabaho man ay di nakakapasok sa trabaho.”
First, on procedure, the alleged political “consensus” in the House has no counterpart support in the Senate. Under Article XVII of the Constitution, without the uppet chamber, such initiative is already dead on its track before moving an inch.
Non-Partisan Youth Coalition for Voters Registration and Education to launch in Bacolod
BACOLOD CITY — A non-partisan coalition of youth organizations from various causes and sectors are uniting to launch Bacolod Youth Coalition for Democracy (BaCoD) on May 15, 9AM at Saint John Mary Vianney Hall, San Sebastian Cathedral to push for youth voters registration, education, and empowerment.
The launching event entitled “Bangon, Pamatan-on!” aims to introduce BaCoD to the public, and to get youth leaders to sign a manifesto of support for the coalition which is composed of student councils, campus-based organizations, the Sangguniang Kabataan, and the youth arms of civil society organizations.
OCEANA’s MINING PERMIT RENEWAL – 25 more years of violence and destruction
LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights) believes that President Duterte’s impending renewal of the mining agreement of OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI) for another 25 years presents clear and present danger – not just to the Tuwali people in Brgy. Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, but to other rural and indigenous communities in the country.
The renewal of OGPI’s Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) assures another 25 years of violence, harassment, destruction of the environment, loss of livelihood, and the deterioration of health which will affect not only the people of Didipio, but the whole province of Nueva Vizcaya. These are the very reasons that for more than 25 years, the Tuwali community has been consistently opposing the Australian-Canadian mining corporation even before it has been granted its FTAA in 1994.
Identified CARP Beneficiaries’ homes demolished amid pandemic
Hermosa Bataan – Members of the the Samahang Nagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Barangay Sumalo (SANAMABASU) urgently calls the national government through the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to intervene to suspend the ejectment/demolition orders issued by the Dinalupihan Regional Trial Court, for humanitarian reasons amid the threats posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. This was after several houses were demolished by property developer Riverforest Development Corporation (RDC) last Wednesday, May 5, 2021.
The said decision will also affect more than 50 prospective Comprehensive Agrarian Reform (CARP) beneficiaries, 18 of whom are slated for ejectment in the coming weeks. This ejectment order proceeded despite an appeal already filed by SANAMABASU in the Court of Appeals.
Hinggil sa harassment ng PNP sa pagkilos ngayong Mayo Uno 2021
KINOKONDENA ng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) – kasama ang iba’t ibang samahan ng manggagawa na ngangalsada sa Dakilang Araw ng Paggawa – ang ginawang pagharang ng kapulisan sa planong pagmartsa sa kahabaan ng Espana Avenue patungong Mendiola.
Ang ginawang harassment ng PNP ay paglabag sa lehitimong ehersisyo ng mga karapatan sa pagpapahayag at pagtitipon para iparating ang karaingan hindi pa sa rehimeng Duterte kundi sa malawak na publiko.
EILER’s Labor Day Statement: Filipino workers suffer the most but struggle the hardest amid the pandemic and economic crisis
We celebrate Labor Day during very trying times. The working class continue to suffer the brunt of the deteriorating health system, and economic crisis due to years of neoliberal impositions further worsened by the pandemic.
One of the most vulnerable sectors to COVID-19 is the working class. The regions with the most concentration of workers are reported to have the highest rate of infection. Workers are forced to go to work without mass testing, effective contact-tracing, and the absence of vaccination.
A year into the pandemic, Philippine economy has not recovered. Yet, despite a -9.6%, GDP growth, workers are still able to create P17.9 trillion in GDP.
Ang pandaigdigang araw ng mga manggagawa ay mahigpit naming niyayakap bilang mga araw din ng mahigit sa 90% mananakay ng motorsiklo.
Kami ay mga manggagawa din!
Bahagi kami ng mahigit apat na milyong walang trabaho o natanggal sa trabaho dahil sa pandemya. Bahagi rin kami ng mahigit anim na milyon na walang maayos o permanenteng mapapasukang trabaho. Katulad ng mga manggagawa at mga maralita, pumipila din kami para makakuha ng kakarampot na ayuda at pumipila din kami sa mga community pantries upang kahit paano ay may maipakain sa aming pamilya.
Katulad nila umasa din kami na mawawala na ang endo endo sa ilalim ng administrasyong ito, dahil karamihan din sa amin ay mga kontraktwal. Kaso binola lang pala tayo ng palpak na presidenteng ito at vineto niya ang batas na magwawakas sana sa endo.
The Scourge of Covid-19 and Malaria Rages On Fr. Shay Cullen
The horrific scenes in Brazil and India show people dying in the streets from the lack of preparation by government for the protection of its citizens against the surge of Covid-19. They failed to impose control of mass gatherings and election rallies and now they reap the tragic results- a massive wave of infections. In India, 314,835 infections were recorded and as many 3,000 died in one day and every day. It still rages on.
The government has failed to provide oxygen to the hospitals and see that there are enough beds in response to a catastrophic calamity. Television shows people dying at the gates of the hospitals. The hospital wards are crowded with relatives, for sure they will be infected and many will soon follow their relatives to the grave. There is no way to save them with the lack of medicines and oxygen. The vicious virus attacks the lungs and racks the body with fever. It is a terrible disease and hundreds of thousands are dying around the world.
A broad coalition of solidarity groups and non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs) advocating for the full-inclusion of NMIP rights in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has expressed its opposition to the extension of
Bangsamoro Transition process.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) provided for a three-year transition process from 2019-2022, after which the first regular election for the Bangsamoro Government under this Organic Law shall be held and synchronized with the 2022 national elections. There are proposals however in both Houses of Congress calling to postpone the conduct of the BARMM elections.
“The extension could have ramifications for the more than 127,000 Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs), living in 208,258 hectares of ancestral domains that overlap with the Bangsamoro territory given the number of killings and massive displacement from their ancestral lands since the start of the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” LOYUKAN said in their statement.
Registrations are still open for the WE THE FUTURE PH: National Youth Assembly. Take part in this momentous gathering of young people advocating for human rights, freedom, and democracy happening on May 9, Sunday, 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM via Zoom.
As the one-year countdown before the 2022 National Elections begins, now more than ever, we, the Filipino youth, must come together to respond to the challenges of our times and to reimagine and wield a better future for our nation. In solidarity with our fellow youth from different parts of the country, let us develop a Youth Agenda for Rights-Based Democratic Governance at the local and national levels and take part in crafting strategic actions and campaigns that will create meaningful change in our communities and society.
May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. Please join us in an online discussion on the biggest challenges confronting our community. This is open to media practitioners, campus journalists, and members of the academe and civil society organizations. The program will also be livestreamed on social media.
EcoWaste Coalition Fights for Waste Workers’ Occupational Safety and Health as COVID-19 Cases Breach One Million Mark
As COVID-19 cases in the country breached the one million mark, a waste and pollution watchdog group called attention to the necessity of segregating waste at source to promote and protect the occupational safety and health of waste workers.
In a statement issued on the eve of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28, the EcoWaste Coalition emphasized the need to separate COVID-19 waste and other pathogenic waste from recyclable and compostable materials to keep waste workers, especially the informal recyclers, safe from harm caused by exposure to the novel coronavirus and other pathogens.
“We reiterate our plea to all waste generators to separate discarded materials at the point of generation to keep our environmental frontliners such as the waste workers safe from COVID-19 and other diseases,” stated Jove Benosa, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
Isang mainit na pagbati. Marahil hanggang ngayon ay binabagabag ka ng iyong loob at labis na nalulumbay gawa ng insidenteng naganap nitong nakaraang pagtatayo mo ng community pantry upang isabay sa pagdiriwang ng iyong kaarawan.
Ayoko nang ulitin pa ang detalye ng nakalulungkot na nangyari, sapagkat batid na naman ito ng lahat at nakadalawang beses ka nang humingi ng patawad at ng patuloy na pang-unawa. Hindi mo alam, ngunit, labis-labis mo akong pinahanga sa iyong pagpapakumbaba at pag-ako sa responsibilidad, kahit pa nga, sa aking tingin ay wala ka namang sagutin ukol doon.
Ipinakita din ng iyong akto kung paano ka wastong pinalaki ng iyong mga magulang. Napakatatag at lalim ng konsepto mo, kapatid ng responsibilidad, tungkulin at pananagutan. Mga katangian, nakalulungkot na hindi mo makita ni madama sa mga walang silbi at walang kuwentang kinatawan daw at trapo ng ating bansa.
Lifting ban on new mining projects: another incompetent COVID-19 response from the government
Executive Order 130 only serves the business interests of few, not the Filipino people
Quezon City — Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) partners and members were devastated by the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 130 lifting the ban on new mining projects. The group stated in a press conference that the order is another incompetent COVID-19 response from the Duterte administration only serving the business interests of few in power, not the Filipino people.
One week before Earth Day, President Duterte issued EO130 citing the “significant economic benefits” of opening the country to new mining agreements. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) identified mining and river dredging as primary economic drivers of post-pandemic recovery.
New synergies to reduce torture and ill-treatment in police custody in South East Asia
The Association for Prevention of Torture (APT), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) in Malaysia, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) in Thailand are launching a three and a half year cooperation, to foster national and regional synergies to prevent incommunicado detention and forced confession in the three countries. The European Union supports this cooperation.
Torture and ill-treatment are more likely to happen in the first hours of detention. This was confirmed by the independent research commissioned by the APT, “Does Torture Prevention Work”, published in 2016. Forced confession and incommunicado detention have been prevalent in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, for many years. According to thematic reports issued by SUARAM, TFDP and CrCF, these illegal practices continue due to several enabling factors: the gap between existing laws and practice; the on-going trends and culture in policing; and the persuasive narrative that supports these practices in the name of public security and safety.
The Philippines’ COVID-19 Response: Securitising the Pandemic and Disciplining the Pasaway by Karl Hapal
It was the third week of April 2020, five weeks since Metro Manila and other provinces were put under “enhanced community quarantine” (ECQ). Under ECQ, school and university classes were suspended, mass gatherings were prohibited, government offices were run with a skeletal workforce, businesses were closed except for those providing essential goods and services, mass transportation was restricted, and people were ordered to observe social distancing measures and to stay at home. At that time, the Philippines had 6,456 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) confirmed cases, 426 deaths, and 612 recoveries. Quarantine rules specified that only one person was authorized to go out and buy essential goods for the rest of their family. As the designated “authorized person outside of residence” (APOR), I was given a “quarantine pass,” a document issued by the barangay. With my quarantine pass securely kept in my bag, I went out to buy food and medicine in a nearby market. Without any public transportation, I walked for nearly thirty minutes to get to the market. The street leading to the market was relatively empty. Apart from people who were, like me, walking towards the market, very few vehicles plied the road. Occasionally, an ambulance would pass by as well as illegal motorcycle taxis. As I neared the market, I saw slow-moving vehicles occupying the street. It was as if I had gone back to the “old normal.” Soon I saw police vehicles. I also saw several buses where people were being loaded. I thought the buses were there to transport frontline workers. I was later told that the buses were there to transport people apprehended for violating quarantine guidelines. My brief encounter with the government’s campaign to apprehend violators of quarantine guidelines is hardly an aberration. Elsewhere in the greater Metro Manila area, the joint forces of the police and the military cracked down on erring individuals.
Minsan na bang sumagi sa isipan mo 🧠 na gusto mong mapunta ka sa another world? 🌏
What if this can happen in real life? 🤔💭 Paano kung may isang alitaptap na maaaring magdala sayo sa panibagong mundo? 😱✨
Will you take this chance? 🏃🏼♂️🏃🏼♀️
However, in this world you might discover things you have never thought of before — things that might possibly change your life forever. 💫 Will you be grateful for it? 🥰
LAWYERS URGE THE SUPREME COURT FOR REFORMS IN THE ISSUANCE OF SEARCH WARRANTS: Express concern over the use of court processes as cover to attack activists and dissenters 22 March 2021
More than a hundred lawyers, law deans and legal luminaries today formally urged the Supreme Court, through a letter, to institute reforms in the issuance of search warrants, concerned that court processes have possibly been resorted to as false legal cover to attack activists and dissenters.
The letter, prompted by the number of deaths and arrests in the course of the implementation of search warrants, include, among others, the following proposals:
Emerging stronger: New NUJP leaders call on fellow journalists to unite, resist attacks March 22, 2021
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has weathered a storm alongside colleagues in the profession but we still face rough seas ahead, if not rougher.
The systematic red-tagging of the NUJP, media outlets, and journalists has intensified in the past five years, endangering the lives of members of the press toiling hard to keep the people informed. Aside from being branded as enemies of the state, journalists have reported receiving threats telling them to stop being critical of government or be silenced.
This amid other attacks on press freedom including threats of closure and other forms of harassment that our colleagues from Rappler, ABS-CBN, and alternative media outfits have faced under the Duterte administration.
CHR pushes for passage of bill protecting human-rights workers
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has called for the passage of a bill that seeks to protect human-rights workers in view of recent attacks on activists and members of progressive organizations.
According to CHR, House Bill No. 9199 or the Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Protection Bill should be considered a high-priority legislation especially in light of various reports that rights workers and other activists are either being harassed or targeted.
Whether in times of pandemic or not, held elsewhere or right here in Occidental Mindoro, the “Run, Sara, Run” motorcade is a nasty manifestation and display of usual theatrics in pushing forward a phenomenon called political dynasty which is part and parcel of the dreaded traditional politics.
Traditional politics and political dynasty are the two deadliest pandemic in our country’s socio-political history. Traditional politics and political dynasty are cradles of weathervane politicians and butterflies, the bootlickers and their hardcore flatterers disguised as “concerned netizens”, the local politicians who hope to catch manna before 2022 from public gods upstairs and coagulate with them both in financial and organizational terms.
TDC, muling nanawagan sa DEPED na istriktong ipatupad ang work from home scheme sa mga guro
Matapos ang muling pagtaas ng kaso ng COVID-19 sa bansa at ang pagsasailalim ng Metro Manila at mga karatig-lalawigan sa mas mahigpit quarantine rules, muling nanawagan ang TDC sa pamunuan ng DepEd na ipatupad ang alternative work arrangement (AWA) partikular ang work-from-home scheme.
“Expose na expose po ang mga guro natin sa virus dahil sa iba’t ibang mga gawain gaya ng face to seminars at meetings na puwede naman sanang gawing virtual. Mayroon ding ilang nire-require for home visitation maliban pa sa distribution at retrieval ng modules,” pahayag ni Benjo Basas, Pambansang Tagapangulo ng TDC.
Saving the Forests is Saving the Planet Shay Cullen 21 March 2021
The International Day of Forest is today, 21 March. Forests are of vital importance to the well-being of all creatures, the natural world, and especially humankind. They absorb most of the damaging CO2 that causes climate change. Their protection and restoration should be of the highest national priority of each nation to hold back global warming from rising above 1.5 degrees celsius and avert the catastrophe that is to come.
Forests are vital for retaining and releasing water the whole year-round, preventing draught and providing clean water and protection from landslides and soil erosion in the typhoon season. In the Philippines and other nations that have suffered deforestation, there is severe low crop yield that causes food insecurity due to massive rains and typhoons because of soil erosion. In some provinces, 50 percent of the rich topsoil has been washed away and more to come. There are no more forests to hold the water back. The Philippines, once self-sufficient in rice, now imports most of its rice.
Hindi kailangang ibabad sa isang linggong virtual inset ang mga guro (Sagot ng TDC sa opisyal na pahayag ng DepEd ngayong araw, Marso 16, 2021)
Sa kabila ng malawak na pagtutol mula sa hanay ng kaguruan, ipinilit pa rin ng DepEd Central Office ang paglulunsad ng in-service training (INSET) sa pamamagitan pagpapanood lamang sa YouTube Live sa lahat ng guro.
Malinaw ang intensiyon ng memorandum na nilagdaan ni Undersecretary Alain Pascua noong Marso 4, 2021 (DepEd OUA MEMO 00-03-21-0063), ito ay para sa lahat ng mga guro, hindi boluntaryo at panonoorin ng live sa iisang platform, ang YouTube.
Philippines: Rights organisations call for release of activist Teresita Naul on her first anniversary in detention
Ahead of human rights defender Teresita Naul’s first anniversary in detention on 15 March 2021, civil society alliance CIVICUS and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) call for her immediate release.
Teresita Naul was arrested on 15 March 2020 in Lanao del Sur, on the southern island of Mindanao, by the national police and the Philippines Army (AFP) on fabricated charges of “kidnapping”, “destructive arson” and “serious illegal detention”. Police claim she is a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), an armed Communist rebel group responsible for an attack on the military in Agusan del Sur in December 2018, although there is evidence proving that she was in another part of the country on that day.
A year under lockdown: workers’ condition worse than before — labor NGO
The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) is dismayed at the government’s failed pandemic response and for leaving the workers behind, a year after implementing the Enhanced Community Quarantine or ECQ.
Recent government data showed an increase in the annual unemployment rate up to 10.3 per cent, the highest recorded annual unemployment in 15 years (2020 Annual Preliminary Estimates of LFS). Before this, the unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 17.7% in April of 2020.
Responding to the brutal killings of nine activists last March 7, environmental advocates pressed the government to ensure that the lives and liberties of those peacefully exercising their constitutionally-guaranteed rights are upheld and protected.
“As the fight for Mother Earth is a fight for her children too, the EcoWaste Coalition condemns the spate of politically-linked killings that have claimed the lives of activists working for and with the marginalized sectors,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition, including the nine activists who perished from the bloodbath last Sunday following joint police-military operations in CALABARZON.
Profiling of lawyers is an assault to the administration of justice
On March 12, 2021, a certain Police Lieutenant Fernando G. Calabria, Jr., Chief Intelligence Officer of Calbayog City Police Station wrote a letter to the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Calbayog City Hall of Justice “requesting” a list of lawyers representing supposed communist-terrorist group (CTG) personalities in court. The letter shows that the request is supposedly in compliance with the order of “PNP higher offices” to which the data will be submitted. Attached to the letter is a table of the data being requested from the clerk of court, to wit: “Legal Personality, Affiliations, Client (CTG Personality), Mode of Neutralization, Case Filed, and Status”.
AMRSP solidarity statement for Mayor Aquino’s death, Otto de Vries, bloody Sunday, and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines
From AMRSP FB page
We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’ – Jeremiah 8:15
What is happening in our land?
Violence continues to spiral uncontrollably and with such impunity in our beloved land. So much pain and anguish, hatred and division have afflicted our peoples and nation that we seem indifferent to these deadly events happening in our midst.
WELCOME PO SA WOKE D’ TALK 2021 EPISODE 1Ang title po ng Episode natin ay #SanaAllDapatAll PANTAY AT PATASAng mga topic po ng usapan ay iinog sa usaping Diskriminasyon at ang International Women’s DayAng Episode po na ito ay LIVE-STREAMED nitong March 6.
Congress OK’s bill na ang mga drug suspects ay guilty until proven innocent! Ayon kay Speaker of the house Lord Allan Velasco baka daw maitulak na ang Cha-Cha sa Mayo.
Duterte walang imik sa sunod-sunod na pagpaslang sa mga abugado sa bansa. At iba pang mga balita!
Sa ating Kamusta Ka, makipagkumustahan tungkol sa mga usaping pangkabaaihan at kasarian kasama ang Coalition Against Traffickin In Women- Asia Pacific (CATWAP), Moro women, GALANG (Philippines), KAISA KA, Nagkaisa-Women, at Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau – WLB.
Makibalita sa Balitang Birus para sa latest CoViD news tungkol sa mga bakuna, testing, at iba pang balitang pang-health!
Alamin ang reak nga mga pare at mare sa tanong na
“Anong papel ang ginagampanan ng kababaihan sa pagtugon sa krisis ng pandemya?” sa ating PAREAK, MAREAK.
Makibahagi sa ating Hiling Habilin, at malaman ang patuloy na mga panawagan at pagkilos para sa kababaihan at para sa pagtatanggol ng karapatang pantao.
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