PHILIPPINES: Sending 9-year-olds to jail is height of cruelty to poor (tags)
Members of Akbayan party-list together with child rights advocates today trooped to the House of Representatives to call on legislators to abandon plans to pass a proposed measure that would lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current 15 to 9 years old.
Philippines: Fast-track legislation to end hunger (tags)
Akbayan party-list today reiterated its call for the enactment of urgent reforms to address and stave off incidence of hunger across the country.
Philippines: Akbayan and Santiago file joint resolution to terminate VFA (tags)
Akbayan Representative Walden Bello and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago today close ranks as they call for the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) saying it is being used to shield US military personnel from Philippine laws for violations and criminal offenses done on Philippine soil.
Philippines: Lawmakers studying the filing of bill against hate crimes (tags)
A pair of reform-oriented lawmakers has expressed plans to file a critical measure that could curb hate-motivated crimes and violence directed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Philippines: Dismantling the Marcoses' "Empire of Memory" (tags)
Statement of Akbayan Chairperson Risa Hontiveros on the 42nd year commemoration of the declaration of Martial Law
Philippines: Charter change and foreign ownership of land not solution to development (tags)
As plenary debates on House Joint Congressional Resolution No. 1, amending the economic provisions of the 1986 Constitution, began today, Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello challenged proponents of the resolution to admit that foreign ownership of land is among the main objectives of the proposal.
Philippines: Vocal DAP critic Bayan Muna Neri Colmenares also got P25M from fund (tags)
MANILA, Philippines–One of the most vocal critics of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) in the House of Representatives was allocated the economic stimulus fund that the Supreme Court recently declared unconstitutional.
Philippine President told: Re-energize the campaign for reforms (tags)
Philippines: As President Benigno Simeon Aquino III prepares to deliver his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA), Akbayan Party-list urged him to "re-energize the campaign for reforms" by carrying out "deeper and broader institutional changes" in his last two years in office.
Philippine president signs law requiring tobacco companies to put graphic health warnings (tags)
President Benigno Aquino, a known smoker, signed the law that will require the scary warning label to cover 50% of the bottom of cigarette packs, front and back. Tens of thousands of people die each year from tobacco-related diseases in the Philippines.
Philippines: 5 Makabayan bloc legislators got P481M pork barrel (tags)
Documents from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last year showed that five congressmen belonging to the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives received a combined P481 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) since President Aquino assumed office in 2010.
Philippine Anti-Corruption Court called on to be decisive versus 3 Senators (tags)
Akbayan Partylist today called on the Sandiganbayan to “respond decisively” to the plunder charges formally filed against Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., by the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the P 10 billion PDAF scam.
Akbayan : Filipinas ' Nueva Izquierda en el 16 (tags)
Discurso de clausura de Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello en 16o Aniversario Evento de Akbayan , Buffet Cocina Internacional, Quezon City, 30 de enero 2014
Akbayan: the Philippines' New Left at 16 (tags)
Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello's closing remarks at Akbayan’s 16th Anniversary Event, Buffet International Cuisine, Quezon City, Jan 30, 2014
Philippines: Public urged not to be distracted from punishing pork plunderers (tags)
Amid the raging debate on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), Akbayan partylist today warned the public not to be swayed by efforts from some quarters to use the issue to deflect attention on the plunder charges filed against several lawmakers involved in the multi-billion Janet Lim-Napoles pork barrel scam.
Four hundred thousand join people’s march in the Philippines (tags)
Akbayan (Citizens Action Party) congratulates Luneta marchers, describes event as “Filipino Habagat (Monsoon)” vs. corruption
Pork barrel scam scandalizes the Philippines (tags)
Five senators who were linked to the scam are the following: Ramon Revilla, Jr. – P 1.017 billion, Juan Ponce Enrile – P 641.65 million, Jinggoy Estrada – P 585 million, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – P 100 million, Gregorio Honasan – P 15 million
Philippine Partylist Akbayan to President Aquino: Abolish the pork (tags)
Akbayan Party today called on President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to immediately and without conditions abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) following the shocking revelations in the recent COA audit on the heels of the P 10 Billion Napoles-pork barrel scam. The progressive-coalition partner of Aquino said that the pork barrel is "incompatible with the President's reform agenda."
Philippines: 25,000 Workers March to Mendiola on Labor Day (tags)
Chiding President Aquino’s pronouncement that Labor Day should be celebratory with both labor and capitalists greeting each other for “doing a good job” for the past year, workers renewed the call for government to create “not just jobs” but “more regular jobs with living wage.”
PHILIPPINES - Akbayan Celebrates Compensation Act to victims of Martial Law (tags)
Akbayan Party-list lauded the conclusion of the bicameral conference committee (bicam) on the Compensation Bill for victims of human rights violations during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, calling it a “victory of the Filipino people and of Philippine democracy” after a decades-long struggle of advocates and victims of Martial Law abuses for justice.
RH victory in Philippine Congress, a historic leap forward for women (tags)
Akbayan Party-list joins the Filipino people in celebrating our historic victory in the passage of the Reproductive Health bill in the second reading of the House of Representatives. Through Representatives Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao, Akbayan reiterated the voice of the people when it voted for life, choice, and reproductive health rights. We join the people in enjoying the fruit of more than a decade of struggle—a long and arduous journey towards the enactment of a law that will uphold and safeguard their right to a better future. Finally, after years of perseverance, the people have emerged triumphant.
Philippine campaign against high electricity rates snowballs (tags)
QUEZON CITY, Philippines – Thousands of electricity consumers from 55 cities and municipalities from 15 provinces and 10 regions are expected to stage a multi-form protest on November 22, dubbed as “National Day of Action against Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), high electricity rates and privatization of the power industry.”
PHILIPPINES: Akbayan pushes for institutional teaching of Martial Law atrocities (tags)
On the 40th year commemoration of the declaration of martial law, Akbayan Party filed a resolution urging the institutional teaching of the atrocities committed during martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in all levels of education.
Philippine Airline workers intensify protest actions (tags)
The Philippine Airlines Employees? Association (PALEA) today asserted that Philippine Airlines (PAL) President Jaime Bautista?s announcement that they no longer acknowledge Gerry Rivera and Bong Palad as union officers exposes union busting as the real aim of outsourcing. ?Truly a fish is caught by its mouth. Actually PAL is not just recognizing me and Palad as union officers but 62% of PALEA?s leadership and 70% of its membership who have been illegally lockout and terminated. Outsourcing thus is tantamount to union busting,? stated Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM - Labor Party).
Philippine Akbayan Party to seek life sentence for Arroyo (tags)
Even before newly appointed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales could step in her new office, anti-corruption advocates already have an important assignment for the new chief of the anti-corruption body.
Akbayan and the Struggle for a New Philippines (tags)
(Speech at the Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo Awards Event, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington State, July 2, 2011.)
No to Sabre-Rattling! A Negotiated Political Settlement to the Spratly Islands Dispute! (tags)
The Party of the Laboring Masses - Philippines condemns any actions that increase military tensions in the region and contribute to a regional military conflict, by countries that lay claim to the Spratly Islands. We are opposed to any sabre-rattling and stand for a negotiated, political settlement, of the disputed claims to the area. Therefore we deplore China?s strong-arm tactics and bullying, which undermines efforts towards a peaceful, political settlement, of the disputed claims.
PHILIPPINES: Keeping an eye on Aquino’s commitment to change (tags)
MANILA - The new administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III begins with an extremely high trust rating of 88 percent – higher than any of the post-dictatorship presidents. This is a measure of people’s belief in the commitment of the Aquino administration to reverse the anti-poor policies implemented during the regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
International Women's Day in the Philippines (tags)
In the Philippines poor children die at three times the rate of the children of the rich, according to latest UN data.
Filipino women demand justice for Nicole, speedy resolution of subic rape case (tags)
Women from Akbayan (Citizens Action Party) converged at the Welcome Rotonda today joining nationwide protests for the speedy resolution of the Subic rape case and to call for justice for Nicole.
To bury the truth, GMA killed Philippine democracy (tags)
25 February 2006 AKBAYAN Party today denounced anew GMA's declaration of a State of National Emergency, saying that the draconian measures that the government imposed yesterday completely exposed the despotic inclinations of the ruling regime. "Yesterday's events were the last of the jigsaw pieces that revealed in full GMA's intention to rule the country through a dictatorship. What she has done is an insult not only to the millions of Filipinos who risked their lives to peacefully dismantle the Marcos dictatorship, but also to a world that was moved and inspired by the strength of our love for democracy and freedom. The dark days of Martial Law have been resurrected and they will haunt us as long as President GMA is in power and as long as systemic changes and democratic reforms are not in place," AKBAYAN Rep. Mayong Aguja said. "Just so she could evade the truth behind the 'Hello Garci' controversy, the President is willing to destroy the already shaky democratic structures of the country."