The challenges of building a united resistance in Duterte’s Philippines (tags)
Three decades after the People Power revolution ended the bloody regime of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, Asia’s oldest republic is at a crossroads. Since Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines in June 2016, he has led an extrajudicial killing campaign that has taken over 12,000 lives. Officially cloaked as an anti-crime policy, his “war against drugs” has nevertheless failed to address the genuine roots of the country’s narcotics crisis. It has instead only worsened the situation by victimizing the urban poor at a staggering rate.
The Philippines’ New Strongman (tags)
Rodrigo Duterte’s authoritarian neoliberalism isn’t the answer to poverty and political abuse in the Philippines.
Philippines: Lumads to AFP, NPA: Leave us alone (tags)
MANILA, Philippines — A group claiming to represent 33 lumad (indigenous people) tribes in Mindanao on Friday urged the military and the rebel group New People's Army (NPA) to stop dragging them into their conflict and to respect their human rights and ancestral domain.
Philippine President Aquino no longer deserves any support from workers and trade unions (tags)
THE workers and the trade unions throughout the world mark today the International Labor Day – 125th anniversary globally and 112th celebration here in the Philippines. This historic and revered day has been an enduring and stirring symbol for the working class despite serious setbacks caused by multipronged and systematic neoliberal attacks against the workers, the masses and their organizations, which have seriously threatened to dilute if not totally wipe out the hard-fought sociopolitical gains achieved by the labor movement in the past hundred years or so.
Inequality and Liberal Democracy: A Disturbing Association (tags)
How do we bring fundamental reforms about at a time when organized minorities and disorganized, quiescent majorities appear to be the norm in both the North and the South?
Filipino solidarity activists call for genuine peace and democratization in Burma (tags)
Manila, Philippines – One hundred (100) solidarity activists belonging to the Free Burma Coalition – Philippines (FBCP) today held a symbolic action in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to press for Burmese people’s demands in the second day of Burmese President Thein Sein’s visit to the Philippines. An open letter addressed to President Thein Sein and President Benigno Aquino III was handed over to the representatives of the DFA, to urge the two ASEAN leaders to include in their ongoing bilateral agenda the urgent need to uphold and advance Burma’s (Myanmar) transition to real peace and democracy now.
AJLPP CONDEMN THE FASCIST BRUTALITIES VS URBAN SETTLERS IN METRO MANILA (tags)
The Alliance Philippines vehemently condemn in the strongest terms the violent dispersal of informal settlers and urban poor communities in Paranaque by the Philippine National Police (PNP) last April 23. The violent dispersal of April 23 is characterized by violent fascist police tactics and deadly shooting is a carry-over of the fascist policies of dictator Marcos and GMA that cause the death of one person and the wounding of more than 30 others. Scores of people who resisted the brutal suppression were arrested by the PNP.
Former Philippine President Arroyo charged with electoral fraud (tags)
MANILA: The former Philippine president Gloria Arroyo has been charged with electoral fraud in a move that could pave the way for her arrest, after the government rushed the case to a regional court to keep her from leaving the country.
Julie and I wish to convey our most heartfelt condolences to the daughters and entire family of Comrade Gregorio Rosal, Ka Roger, and to all cadres and members of the Communist Party of the Philippines, all the Red commanders and fighters of the New People?s Army, all adherents of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the broad masses of the Filipino people.
Jose Maria Sison: On the Commemoration of Sept 21. (tags)
More than a year before, he had staged the dress rehearsal for the declaration of martial law by proclaiming the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus on August 21, 1971 when without evidence he blamed the Communist Party of the Philippines and Benigno S. Aquino for the Plaza Miranda bombing immediately after it happened.
Peasant offensives in Southern Tagalog Despite AFP Militarization (tags)
The Pesante NEWS based in Los Angeles reported today that the peasant movement in Southern Tagalog is gaining ground despite AFP militaization in that region. The PESANTE NEWS also learned that the impoverished masses in the Southern Tagalog (ST) countryside are now organized under a peasant movement with a strong regional center. Provincial chapters have begun to rise anew from the surviving 54 chapters in various levels found in areas with existing cases of agrarian disputes and where the peasant masses are being threatened with eviction. Chapters continue to expand and new ones built on varying levels.
BINATIKOS ANG PAHAYAG NI AQUINO III (tags)
-Ayon sa grupong tagapamalita ng ALLIANCE NEWS na nakabase sa Los Angeles, Ipinahayag ngayon ng rebolusyonaryong kilusan sa Pilipinas na pawang kasinungalingan at panakip-butas ang laman ng talumpati ni Benigno Aquino III sa pagbubukas ng reaksyunaryong kongreso noong Hulyo 25. Pilit niyang pinalalabas na gumaganda na ang kalagayan ng bansa at patuloy ang mga pagbabago. Tinangka niyang ibalik ang tiwala ng mamamayan sa reaksyunaryong gubyerno. Pero sa desperasyon niyang takpan ang katotohanan, lalo lamang niyang ihiniwalay ang kanyang rehimen sa mamamayan. Dinagdagan lamang ni Aquino ang kawalan ng tiwala at pag-asa ng bayan sa naghaharing sistema.
Thousands of militant workers march for higher pay in the Philippines (tags)
Manila, Philippines - Thousands of workers led by the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and its allied organizations converged in key cities on Labor Day to reiterate their demand for better wages, improved economy, jobs, security of tenure for workers and an end to demolition of squatter shanties.
AFP VIOLATES OWN CEASEFIRE DURING PEACE TALKS (tags)
The PESANTE BULETIN, the news service of PESANTE-USA bassed in the United States reported today that the Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) is violating the mutually-declared ceasefire which began on 15 February 2011 and will end on 21 February 2011 by conducting military operations in the guise of “civil-military operations” (CMO), “Peace and Development Teams” (PDTs) or “Community Organizer for Peace and Development” (COPD) in many barangays in all provinces of Mindanao. According to Jorge MAdlos of the NDF-Mindanao, fully-armed AFP-PNP-CAFGU units enter barrios or communities in platoon or company formations under the guise of promoting “peace and development” in a desperate attempt to “win over” the people through deceit and intimidation, taking advantage of the NPA reciprocal ceasefire. They break into two groups, whereby one takes charge of psy-war operations in barrio or community centers, while another does the security clearing operations.
imperialism
NDF-GRP Panels Held Preliminary Talks in Norway:Talks to Resume in February (tags)
The ALLIANCE NEWS, the news service of the Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) based in the United States reported today that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panels held preliminary talks last 14-18 January 2011 in Oslo, Norway and agreed to resume formal peace talks. Formal talks could not be held for six years during the regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo because of the latter’s conspiracy with the US to put the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and the NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison on the US terrorist list and its refusal to resolve the socio-economic roots of the armed conflict.
‘Free the 43’ FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! (tags)
resident Benigno Aquino III is concerned over the detention for the past 15 years of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, a democracy icon like his late mother, former President Corazon C. Aquino. Last Oct. 28, while attending the Asean Summit in Hanoi, he urged Burma’s Prime Minister Thein Sein to free Suu Kyi, but predictably, the latter made no clear commitment. But while Mr. Aquino seems to be passionate in working for the release of Suu Kyi, he does not seem to be very concerned about the detention for the past nine months by government forces of 43 health workers, the so-called “Morong 43.” Last Oct. 14 Mr. Aquino said the case of the 43 detainees would have to be decided by the court that is trying them for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Prof. Jose Maria Sison: On the Commemoration of September 21 (tags)
PHILIPPINES: Ferdinand Marcos himself designated September 21, 1972 as the date for Presidential Proclamation 1081, declaring martial law. In previous days, he had set in motion the imposition of fascist dictatorship on the people, including the mobilization of his armed minions, the murder of a whistle blower in his own intelligence agency, the fake ambush on his defense secretary and the mass arrest of his opponents and critics.
By continuing Oplan Bantay Laya, Aquino shows he is no different from Arroyo (tags)
The PESANTE BULETIN based in Los Angeles gathered that the National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today assailed the announcement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on extending its Oplan Bantay Laya campaign until January 2011 as proving that Benigno Aquino III is no different from his predecessor. From the news sources in the Philippines, PESANTE BULETIN also learned that While the world commemorates International Humanitarian Law Month today, the AFP will be continuing its campaign that has led to many killings of social activists and other civilians," said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas.
Philippine Situation After the 2010 Elections (tags)
We are here today because Benigno Aquino III was elected president of the Philippines. He has promised to bring CHANGE to the Philippine government, eliminate corruption, fix the education system, improve health care, improve the economy and provide housing for all Filipinos. He has said that he is the president because the people believed in HOPE. Does this sound familiar? The Reality of the history in the Islands: Economic Crisis The Reality of the Philippines is that the islands are still ruled by US imperialism, and run by its Filipino puppets. Aquino has assembled an economic team from the same breed of pro-imperialist pro neoliberlization economists who have dominated economic policy-making in the Philippines for the past three decades. Some of whom have even served the US arroyo regime.
Philippine President-elect Aquino dared to reverse mom’s neo-liberal policies (tags)
MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan party-list Representative Walden Bello on Tuesday dared President-elect Benigno Aquino III to reverse his mother’s neo-liberal policies that he said have killed Philippine agriculture and industry.
Pagsisiyasat sa automated elections, iginigiit (tags)
Napagalaman ng PESANTE BULETIN kahapon, Hunyo 21, 2010 na kahit pa igiit ng COMELEC nasaradong usapin na ang kredibilidad ng nagdaang eleksyon, hindi nito maitanggi ang kabi-kabilang mga katanungan at pagdududa sa isinagawa nitong kauna-unahang automated o de-kompyuter na bilangan ng mga boto noong Mayo 10. Ayon pa rin sa PESANTE dahil sa ang pagiging lehitimo ng mga resulta nito, naging tampok sa mga usapin ang panghihimasok ng US sa proseso. Iba't ibang mga organisasyon at institusyon ang humihinging ipagpatuloy ang mga pagsisiyasat sa itinakbo ng automated na eleksyon.
THE TALES OF TWO FAMILIES; PAKISTAN AND THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
It is interesting to study the tale of two political families in Asia. One in Pakistan. The other is the Philippines. The present president of Pakistan is the husband of martyr president Benazir Bhutto- Asif Ali Zardani while in the Philippines, the upcoming president is the son of the former president, Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
Commemorate the 112th Independence Day, Continue on the People's Struggle for Systemic Ch (tags)
-As we commemorate the 112th anniversary of the proclamation of the Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898 , we will witness a new era. That is the assumption to power of a new president coming from an old political dynasty and the exit of a despised leader who still cast a giant shadow on the new dispensation. We celebrate this short lived independence with bittersweet pride and with the unwavering aspirations of the Filipino people for real change and genuine independence. The Phillippines was the first bourgeois republic in Asia and the first Asian country to free itself from the stranglehold of colonialism.We were also the first colony of US Imperialism in this part of the world.
Commemorate the 112th Independence Day, Continue on the People's Struggle for Systemic Cha (tags)
Commemorate the 112th Independence Day, Continue on the People's Struggle for Systemic Change
Philipine rebels will start talks (tags)
New government will talk with them too
Fearless Forecast: A Shaky Aquino Presidency Seen in the Philippines (tags)
Despite the election of Benigno Aquino III as the presumptive president of the Philippines, the political scene in the Philippines for the next six years is far from being an orderly and a stable nation. While Aquino got the executive post, the legislative and the judicial positions including the Supreme Court are his problems as well as the control of regional, provincial and mayoral positions that are in the control of his perceived enemies. In Congress, at the house of representatives, LP bet for Speaker , Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte is confident of becoming Speaker. He said that he would get the support of not only some 30 Lakas “originals” but also of party-list, Nacionalista Party (NP) and Nationalist People’s Coalition contingents in the House. The LP has only 37 elected members.Belmonte said he had even talked to the NP president, Sen. Manuel Villar,
Leading the Philippine armed revolution astray (tags)
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP-Maoist) has spent a tremendous amount of manpower, financial and materials resources in the electoral campaign, in the process forging a tactical alliance with the landlord-bureaucrat capitalist Manuel Villar, the Nacionalista Party--and indirectly with the family of the late fascist puppet dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
MILITARY TORTURE AND STATE TERRORISM IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
Despite the election of Benigno Aquino III to succeed the corrupt brutal Arroyo, 43 healthworkers continue to suffer military torture. Five are confined to the military camp alleged as self-confessed New People's Army guerillas, while 38 were transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, notorious for the massacre of Moro suspects. The five persons on which the fascist generals are concentrating their torture are: VALENTINO PAULINO, CHERRYLYN TAWAGON, ELLEN CARANDANG, JENNYLYN PIZZARO, & JOHN MARK BARRIENTOS. Carandang's children were taken from their home by the military," according to KARAPATAN, human rights monitor. Their relatives are threatened or offered bribes coercively to side with the military and incriminate themselves or their kin. We appeal to the international community to denounce this barbaric treatment and demand the immediate release of the Morong 43.
PHILIPPINES: Sabotaging the path to the strategic stalemate (tags)
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has spent a tremendous amount of manpower, financial and materials resources in the electoral campaign, in the process forging a tactical alliance with the landlord-bureaucrat capitalist Manuel Villar, the Nacionalista Party--and indirectly with the family of the late fascist puppet dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
TALES OF CHEATING: A COMELEC/PPCRV CONSPIRACY? (tags)
Now it is coming out,Is this a dejavu of the 1992 presidential elections where there was computer cheating? In 1992, the computer geeks at the COMELEC and NAMFREL made Ramos win by switching the votes of Mitra and Cojuanco to Santiago. This is the reason why Filipinos resisted automated elections because it was easier to cheat. BANTAY PILIPINAS today reported that the prime newspaper in the Philippines- the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) said that while “ winners celebrate, tales of electoral fraud seem to get wilder.
GEN DANNY LIM; Esperon, Senga Involved in ’06 plot (tags)
PESANTE NEWS today learned by media sources that now it can be told—again. This time straight from the horse’s mouth as it were. Detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, a candidate for senator, on Friday claimed that the then Armed Forces Chief Gen. Generoso Senga and Army Chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. were his accomplices in the failed February 2006 coup plot. Lim, who appeared to be acknowledging for the first time his leadership role in the Feb. 23, 2006, coup plot, claimed that Senga and Esperon had betrayed him and his fellow plotters for what he described as “political enticements” from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “These people are turncoats and rabid opportunists. Durin
PHILIPPINES: Bureaucrat-capitalist Villar not from ranks of dirt poor (tags)
IT WAS ALMOST LIKE HEARING Pol Pot talking when Apo Alvarez, formerly of Anakbayan, wrote that the May 10 elections would symbolize a “clash of classes”—Benigno Aquino III of the elite, and Manuel Villar of the impoverished. (Inquirer, 4/12/10)
FASCIST MILITARY VIOLENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
The arrest and torture of 43 medical and health professionals in the Philippines by the Arroyo military and police seeks to obscure the ongoing Ampatuwan-Arroyo trial and rehearse emergency martial-law schemes to prolong the Arroyo regime's corrupt and brutal domination. US citizens: will you allow millions of your tax-dollars to support Arroyo's military-police in fascist abuses?
PHILIPPINES: Palace happy Villar is not hitting Arroyo (tags)
MANILA, Philippines—The rumored “hidden candidate” of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) got a boost Tuesday from Malacañang.
MY EXPERIENCE OF IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE (tags)
I have been informed that the International Action Committee Stuttgart, an organization in which Turkish, Palestinian and German people work together, is holding this forum to commemorate Political Prisoners Day. Thus, I have been invited to speak on my experience of imprisonment and torture in the Philippines, together with two other former political prisoners who shall speak about their own experiences in Turkey-Kurdistan and Palestine. I thank the organizers for inviting me. And I wish to express my warmest greetings of solidarity to all those who are present and to all the people in organizations that are represented here. I have strongly wished to be with you tonight. But unfortunately, the Dutch authorities do not issue travel papers to me for attending this forum. We have to resort therefore to the audio-visual techniques that are available to us. As instructed by the organizers, particularly by Ms. Elsbeth Sureau, I intend to present to you the following: 1. a summary of my imprisonment and torture, 2. the reasons for imprisonment and the political situation then obtaining in my country, 3. the protest and resistance within and outside prison, and 4. the perspectives. I shall use 15 minutes to speak and let the German translation run for another 15 minutes. I shall answer your questions in the open forum.
The First Quarter Storm Network (FQSN) on the 24th Year of the Aquino Assassination, Augus (tags)
“ Different times, different tunes, Different crowds, different songs.” This situation characterized the twenty fourth-year commemoration of the martyrdom of former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr, today August 21, 2007. On August 21, 1983, Benigno Aquino Jr. was murdered by the armed forces of the US-Marcos Dictatorship right after being arrested inside the jet plane that brought him back to the Philippines.
REPORT ON THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
Interview of Filipino Activist Intellectual E. SAN JUAN, Jr.
Political Fiefdoms Dig In (tags)
A look at the election outcome in some of the political turfs would show whether the geopolitical balance of power has changed without necessarily shaking the infrastructures of political dynasties in those areas. The clan of Macapagal-Arroyo has been in power for 58 years, broken only by the Marcos dictatorship. Even if the clan has spun out its political presence in Camarines Sur and Negros, it has a lot of damage control coming up what with the province of Pampanga - considered Mrs. Arroyo's bailiwick and father Diosdado's birthplace - going to a new governor,
US lauds ratification of Philippines' anti-terrorism bill (tags)
The US Embassy lauded yesterday the House of Representatives’ ratification of the anti-terrorism bill and the approval of the bicameral conference committee report on the bill. "For us, it is a very good and positive step (for the Philippines). The Philippine law enforcement and judicial authorities should have this kind of tools that are needed to counter terrorism," press attaché Matthew Lussenhop said. He also said the US government was not disappointed with the delay in the passage of the anti-terror measure, pointing out that "we respect Philippine democracy and its legislative consultative process and it takes time."
THIS morning, I received a text message from a friend based in Baguio City. I'm translating the text: "Update from those who visited Chandu. He's OK now. Can communicate. Hope he'll pull through." That was the uplifting part, but the text ended: "Alice's burial on Friday." Chandu is Dr. Constancio Claver, a physician working in the Cordilleras and chair of the Bayan Muna party-list group in Kalinga province. Last Monday, his family was ambushed by armed men on board two vans. Chandu and a bystander suffered gunshot wounds and both are now recovering. Sandy, their 7-year-old daughter, was in the van and was spared but suffers from shock. Alice, Chandu's wife, died from her wounds.