Militants hit gov’t plan for consumers to bear Napocor settlement

Press Release

06 December 2014

Militants hit gov’t plan for consumers to bear Napocor settlement

“TOTALLY unacceptable!,” this was the reaction of militant labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) to the government’s plan to let the consumers bear the brunt of the Supreme Court-sanctioned  60.2 billion peso labor dispute settlement between Napocor and labor union, Napocor Drivers and Mechanics Association (NPC-DAMA).

Facing the Senate Committee on Energy the other day, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima proposed that the consumers will be the ones to pay the illegally dismissed workers their back wages.

In an emailed statement to the media, BMP accused Petilla of trying to hit two birds with one stone. First, he tries to blame the labor union for the power hike if ever the garnishment of Napocor assets will proceed and second for passing the workers’ claim to the consumers coupled with his patented blackmails of power outages. At both instances, Petilla is evading the issue of his liability and his  incompetence.

The labor group cited that Petilla’s incompetence streak was first manifested in the simultaneous maintenance shutdown of power plants causing a spike in electricity prices, the failed promise to electrify Tacloban before Christmas last year and just recently for his alarming statements that a power supply crisis is to take place next year and now with his proposal to implement grossly unjust policy. 

“Petiilla and Purisima have no sense of fairness or even logic to implement an unjust imposition. Firstly, the consumers had no participation whatsoever in the mismanagement of the Napocor assets for them to pass it on to the consumers? Moreover, there is no connection legal or otherwise between the consumers and the labor case of NPC- DAMA,” said Gie Relova of BMP.

“With the privatization of Napocor assets almost complete, the debt stock of Government has not been dented, it remains to be standing at 16 billion US Dollars from 2001 up to today, if that is not mismanagement then I don’t know what is,” he added.

The militants say that such a proposal may constitute as grave abuse of authority and will be consulting lawyers on its legality as well as the accountability of the PSALM officials.

“By all means, the dismissed workers must receive what is rightfully theirs. Same as us, they are but victims to the privatization schemes this government has been peddling for the past two decades but this must not be the burden of ordinary electricity consumers but by those accountable for such mismanagement, Relova clarified.

The BMP likewise echoed the call of the Freedom from Debt Coalition that those who benefitted from the EPIRA Law must be the ones that must shoulder the burden of compensating the claims of the workers and not the ordinary consumers who have long been bled dry by the deregulation of the power industry.

EPIRA to blame

“Time and again, this present dilemma can be easily rooted to the EPIRA. This is but another manifestation of the colossal failure of the EPIRA and the people shall continuously be haunted by until it is repealed,” Relova asserted. 

“To begin with, ordinary wage-earners were the most defiant opposition to the EPIRA law and the consequential privatization of the Napocor assets because we always knew that retrenchment was next step once it was enacted. Lo and behold, we were right. The oppositionists to EPIRA have been vindicated, the labor leader explained.

The BMP has long called for the junking of EPIRA and the nationalization of the power industry to veer away from the profit orientation it has taken.#

Militants welcome Ombudsman decision against corrupt labor arbiter, calls for "lifestyle checks" and "thorough cleansing" in NLRC

PRESS RELEASE

December 4, 2014

Militants welcome Ombudsman decision against corrupt labor arbiter, calls for "lifestyle checks" and "thorough cleansing" in NLRC

Socialist labor center Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), as part of the broad labor coalition Koalisyon Kontra Korupsyon (KKK), welcomes the indictment of labor arbiter Jesus Orlando Quinones by the Office of the Ombudsman for violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

According to the Ombudsman, “Records show that Quinones offered to facilitate the reversal of a decision rendered by the NLRC in a labor dispute in exchange for P2 million.”

Quinones’ act of “soliciting a fee in exchange for assistance in obtaining a reversal of a decision was unquestionably intimately connected with his official functions since he himself was its author.”

Ombudsman’s findings proved and verified KKK’s long-time campaign that indeed, corruption exists in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and true enough, corruption involves millions of pesos.

KKK has previously exposed the NLRC as a “millionaires' club” after the release of their 2013 Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), which show that all labor commissioners and arbiters have wealth accumulated wealth more than what they can accumulate based on their salaries.

Leody de Guzman, BMP president said, "The Ombudsman decision exposes the well-established modus operandi of unscrupulous arbiters at our labor courts. They act as devious fixers, auctioning their decisions to the highest bidder. Aggrieved workers, thus, suffer a double whammy of injustice - at the workplace and at the NLRC. Worse, the salaries of corrupt labor officials come from withholding taxes and value added taxes borne by salaried employees".

"The BMP is calling for lifestyle checks of NLRC arbiters and commissioners. A thorough cleansing is imperative if the commission wants to regain the trust and confidence of distressed workers, who regard the labor courts as the last resort against maltreatment from abusive employers," he concluded. #

House Joint Resolution 21 is Blatant Capitulation to the Whims and Caprices of Oligarchs in the Power Industry

Press Release
December 3, 2014

Profiteering at the expense of the already burdened Filipino consumers:

House Joint Resolution 21 is Blatant Capitulation
to the Whims and Caprices of Oligarchs in the Power Industry

DOZENS of militants from the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and other allied organizations staged a picket in front of Congress today to condemn the imminent passage of House Resolution 21, which will grant emergency powers to Pres. Noynoy Aquino in order to immediately address an alleged power shortage next year.

Hoax and Bogey

Leody de Guzman, BMP president said,  "The so-called pending crises in the country's power supply is a hoax contrived by the unholy alliance between the Energy Department, the Chief Executive and the oligarchs in the power industry".

"It is a bogey meant to force the public into accepting a seeming quick-fix that would bypass all safeguards against unjust profiteering in government transactions with private power producers", the labor leader added.

"Secretary Petilla of the Department of Energy (DOE) may have learned from Hitler's Goebbels in his monotonous warnings against a crisis in power supply, hoping that his lies may appear truthful as he untiringly repeats it like a broken record. Yet, his statements are refuted by a director from the DoE, who said before the House Committee on Energy, that we are only facing a shortage of 31MW in our reserves for the first two weeks of April," de Guzman expounded.

At the picket, the protesters carried placards that read: "Tutulan ang Emergency Power ni PNoy!", "Ibasura ang EPIRA!", "No to Coal-Fired Power Plants!".

Same Old, Same Old

The labor leader clarified, "The Philippines now has the highest electricity rate in Asia. Industrialists perennially complain against power costs as the primary deterrent to investments in the country".

"The economic cause of the problem is plain and obvious: the full privatization of the power industry. It is a sector that is not only primarily controlled and owned by oligarchs (Sy, Consunji, Aboitiz, Lopez, Ty, etc.). It is also characterized by 'regulatory capture', as government mechanisms for regulation are rendered inutile and ineffective by private capital. The legal basis of said problem is the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001," he explained.  

De Guzman asked, "But what is the answer of the Noynoy administration to high power costs caused by privatization? Not the reversal, repeal, or amendment of the 13-year EPIRA scourge. He wants more privatization! Noynoy is even asking emergency powers for more, unbridled, and unchecked transactions with private power producers".

The BMP declared that "House Joint Resolution 21 is a blatant capitulation to the whims and caprices of oligarchs in the power industry. It is unjust and immoral profiteering at the expense of the already burdened Filipino consumers.

Suspension of Environmental Laws for Coal Power Plants

With House Resolution 21, all government agencies - from national to local government units - will be authorized to suspend laws and regulations that would restrict initiatives to increase the power supply.

The BMP fears the "emergency powers" may lead to a wholesale suspension of environmental laws to favor the construction of coal-fired power plants. De Guzman said, "The world is now rejecting coal as an energy source because it is patently harmful to the environment and to human health. It is also a major contributor to carbon emissions and global warming, which is linked to the occurrence of super typhoons such as Haiyan (Yolanda). Noynoy may not know it but he is courting a disaster of epic proportions".

Uninterrupted Profit for Mall Owners

Meanwhile, the BMP criticized the "convoluted logic of the Uninterrupted Load Program" (ULP) of House Joint Resolution 21.

De Guzman said, "With the ULP, government funds would be used to pay capitalists such as mall owners who would use their generators during peak hours. The proponents say that this incentive would ensure a steady power supply for ordinary consumers who get their electricity from an unburdened National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). What convoluted logic this is! Public funds would be used entice the privileged few to use privately-owned utilities for private gain".

He averred, "Honestly, the ILP is nothing but an uninterrupted profit scheme for big capitalists, in particular, for mall owners. Who owns the malls and the NGCP? No other than Henry Sy - the richest man in the Philippines".

"When his mall complexes get their electricity directly the NGCP, he is merely transfering his profits from one pocket to another. When the shrewd Mister Sy would use his own generators, he is incurring a "cost". It is this expense that Noynoy and our crooked legislators want to be shouldered by the public through the ILP," he concluded. #

Labor Joins National Day of Action Against Aquino’s Emergency Powers

Labor Joins National Day of Action Against Aquino’s Emergency Powers

MILITANTS belonging to labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) held an early morning protest at Mendiola Bridge to jump start the nationally coordinated Day of Action against Aquino’s Emergency Powers organized by the Power to the People Coalition.

“The emergency powers granted by Congressional panel on Energy will not even make a dent on the power crisis ordinary folk like us wage-earners are painfully bearing for the past thirteen years,” Leody de Guzman chairman of BMP fearlessly forecasted. 

“Since the government has already erred in identifying the problem, whatever measures it will take borne out of the emergency powers shall miserably fail and will ultimately exacerbate and prolong the economic yoke the people have long been bearing,” he added. 

De Guzman was referring to the inception of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in 2001 which allowed the “entry and the establishment of an oligopoly” wherein a very limited of powerful industry players are competing in the market. 

Other vital provisions of EPIRA include the self-inflicted prohibition to participate in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the deregulation of the entire power industry. It likewise directed the disposal of all the assets of the state-run NAPOCOR. 

“Whether they call it a power reserve deficit or a power supply deficit does not matter much because this is not the real predicament we are facing. Whether the officials admit it or not, the crux of the matter is that, these are mere products of the broken promises of EPIRA,” the labor leader alleged. 

De Guzman further explained that, “despite the declared intents of EPIRA which were the reliability, quality, security and affordability of the supply of electric power, not one of these goals has been met in the span of thirteen years of implementing an oppressive decree”. 

“Besides the obvious excesses of private sector participation in the power industry, the EPIRA is also the prime culprit in the electricity price manipulations which occurred last year due to the suspiciously-timed maintenance schedules of several power plants,” he claimed. 

“The clamor to repeal EPIRA is already deafening but still the government chooses to listen only to its patrons and not the heavily-burdened majority of our people,” he likewise asserted. 

De Guzman likened President Noynoy Aquino, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla and the Energy Regulatory Commission chair Zenaida Ducut to the three monkeys that see, hear and speak of no evils of EPIRA, consciously acting in favor of the corporate interests of the Aboitiz, Lopez and San Miguel Corporation. 

The BMP believes that electricity should be treated as a basic necessity ergo, must be one of the social services of the state to its people and not allow opportunistic companies to impose predatory electricity rates. 

“Once the emergency powers of Aquino are granted, it will make ordinary consumers more susceptible to price hikes due to electricity price manipulations, collusion with corrupt officials, lopsided contracts with private entities to name a few. All these are on top of the environmental carnage the House Joint Resolution shall trigger with the suspension of environmental laws,” said another BMP leader Gie Relova. 

. 

“Not unless the government swerves away from the neo-liberal policies of deregulation and privatization which feeds the unbridled appetite for profit of power companies, the people shall eternally bleed and endure unreliable and expensive electricity rates,” Relova warned. 

The militants warn that continued failure to address the institutional injustice inflicted by EPIRA upon the people will only contribute heavily to the building of critical mass not only against the market-driven EPIRA or the oligopoly but also towards Aquino’s elitist and callous regime.

BMP on the anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan: To be resilient is to fight back

BMP on the anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan:

To be resilient is to fight back

A year ago today, Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan forcefully reminded us that our people can take no shelter from the storm for as long as we have a government for the elites rather than a government for our people; that we are at the mercy of the forces of nature for as long as our society remains organized to pursue profits rather than to care for each other.

We watched in horror as the Aquino government took its sweet time to attend to those who were left dying, cold, and starving in the aftermath of the super-typhoon.

We saw with our own disbelieving eyes how the state effectively abandoned our people to fend for themselves; how our officials utterly failed to mobilize the resources that we had empowered them to mobilize for these kinds of situations; how they refused to order privately-owned ships, buses, and other businesses to provide immediate relief to the desperate; how they would rather let people die of hunger than violate sacrosanct property rights.

Since then, the nightmare has refused to end: Over the past year, we saw how the government effectively prioritized the interests of large corporations, who have effectively been given free rein over the reconstruction process, over the needs of calamity victims. We saw how, instead of taking charge of providing direct services to our people, the government has instead chosen to turn relief and reconstruction into a profit-making or a tongpats-making opportunity, thereby allowing businesses and politicians to make money out of this terrible tragedy.

More horrifying than the super-typhoon itself has been the response of our own government to the super-typhoon; our people suffered not just from the disaster but from our disastrous government.

This criminal neglect, this apparent lack of compassion, could not just be attributed to some congenital ineptitude, to an innate cold-heartedness, or to some other personality trait of those who run our government. It reflects, rather, the class basis of our society: For under an inherently exploitative system such as ours — a system that forces people to prioritize profits over human welfare and needs, the bourgeois and other dominant classes who run our government could only see our people primarily as slaves who run the factories or who plow the fields, and who therefore keep the profits and the taxes coming — rather than as fellow human beings.

That we be better prepared, that we streamline the relief distribution processes and systems, that we increase the budget for disasters, and most, importantly, that we hold accountable and punish all those who were remiss in their duties, including President Aquino: all these would go a long way in lessening people’s suffering and building people’s resilience in the face of continuing disasters.

But only by overturning existing class relations, only by reorganizing our society so that we put people’s welfare over profits, only by establishing a government of, by, and for the people rather than a government of, by, and for elites — in short, only by fighting back and struggling against our ruling classes can we count on our government and on each other in the face of the most terrifying of storms.

This is not a pipe dream. The massive, spontaneous, and inspiring outpouring of solidarity that people from all walks of life extended to the victims of Haiyan and of our government after the typhoon proves one thing: that despite the inhumane conditions that many are forced to live in under capitalism, many of us are still capable of human compassion, and it is this compassion that fuels our resilience and drives our struggle for a better world. #

Groups Launch Resistance Movement vs. Noynoy Aquino

Joint Press Release

15 September 2014 

Reference: 

Gie Relova 0915-2862555

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino

Atty Aaron Pedrosa 0932-3643137

Sanlakas

Groups Launch Resistance Movement vs. Aquino’s Emergency Powers, Cha-Cha, Term Extension and Attacks vs Supreme Court

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.” Atty Aaron Pedrosa, SANLAKAS Secretary General borrows a quote from Thomas Jefferson, as various groups and sectoral organizations gathered to launch a movement dubbed as “All Resist Movement” (ARM the People!). 

Leaders of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP). SANLAKAS, Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita sa Lunsod (KPML), Aniban ng Magsasaka sa Agrikultura (AMA), Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Transportasyon (PMT), Metro Manila Vendors Alliance (MMVA) and Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) took turns in lambasting President Noynoy Aquino’s request for a Joint Resolution from Congress that would grant him emergency powers to address a purported energy crisis in 2015.

Leody de Guzman, BMP President, added, “Two presidents invoked and used Emergency Powers: Fidel Ramos, when he used it and locked-in the country in IPP contracts that to this day the Filipino people are paying for in high electricity rates; and Gloria Arroyo, when she wielded emergency powers to preserve her fraudulently acquired presidency in the 2004 elections. During both times, emergency powers did not serve the people’s interest and welfare at all.” 

“Why does he need Emergency Powers? The energy crisis is the result of EPIRA, a law that after over ten years of existence has proven to have failed in ensuring power supply and affordable electricity for the people, especially the masses. If Congress should act to resolve the crisis, it is should not be to give Noynoy emergency powers but to throw out EPIRA and pass a new law that gives back the control of the power industry to government.” decried Flora A. Santos of the Metro Manila Vendors Alliance.

“Connect the dots. From appropriating the powers of Congress to stop approved government projects, declaring these funds as “savings” in order to divert the funds into other projects, and the cross-border transfer of these funds to allies and prospective allies, his endorsement of ChaCha for the expressed purpose of clipping the powers of the Supreme Court, his innuendos towards term extension, and now, Aquino wants emergency powers. Doesn’t this smack of Marcosian rule?” Pedrosa pointed out. 

The groups also opposed the Economic ChaCha, .spearheaded by House Speaker Sonny Belmonte. Sonny Melencio, PLM Chairman, described the move to insert the phrase “and as provided by law” towards allowing 100% foreign ownership in the Philippines as “an attempt to give foreign corporate interest a free pass to ravage the nation’s natural and human resources without any guarantees that it will benefit the entire populace and not only the factories in export processing zones and the residences of the propertied classes”.

While Aquino and his allies give foreign corporate interest carte blanche rights to plunder our economy, PNoy is going on his 4-European Nation 8-day Tour on a Filipino labor-pimping mission.”, added Gie Relova of BMP”.

“All of the Heads of State and corporate bosses that Aquino will talk to will find out how dirt cheap Filipino labor is and how contractualization has breached all industries in the country and that once the constitution is amended, it will make it even more profitable for capitalists to invest here, Relova said.

The All Resist Movement (ARM the People) which they described as a peoples’ crusade in response to Noynoy Aquino’s plans to further plunder the economy and extend his term in office by amending the constitution and utilizing special provisions that will grant him emergency powers.

The ARM the People campaign, as the militants articulated “is also the peoples’ response and resistance to the crude political maneuvers of Aquino and allies to secure their political survival in the 2016 elections by the continued practice of the pork barrel system”.

Pedrosa argued that, “After the striking down of the impeachment charges before the House, this call to arms is the logical step forward for an aggrieved and victimized nation to redress the four-year epic failure of the presidency of Aquino and the unabated neglect and misery of our people”.

ARM the People will be launched this coming week from the 16th onward with a series of mass actions to bring to Noynoy’s doorstep in Malacanang, to Congress, to the Senate the resistance of a people who will not allow corruption, injustice or tyranny to prevail.

On September 21, ARM the People will hold simultaneous protest actions at the grassroots level in various cities and municipalities in Metro Manila, and in major city centers in Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, Davao City and Ozamiz City.#

All Resist Movement (ARM the People!), Inilunsad

Kuha ni Omeng Abunda ng Sanlakas, 091514

Joint Press Release

15 Setyembre 2014 

Reference: 

Gie Relova 0915-2862555

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino

Atty Aaron Pedrosa 0932-3643137

Sanlakas

Resistance Movement, Inilunsad ng iba’t ibang grupo laban sa Emergency Powers ni Aquino, Cha-Cha, Term Extension at Atake sa Korte Suprema

“Kapag naging batas ang inhustisya, tungkulin na nating makibaka.” Hiniram ni Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, Secretary General ng SANLAKAS, ang mga pananalitang ito kay Thomas Jefferson, habang nagtitipon ang iba’t ibang grupo at organisasyong sektoral sa paglulunsad ng isang kilusang tinawag nilang “All Resist Movement” (ARM the People!).

Kinutya ng mga lider ng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP). SANLAKAS, Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lunsod (KPML), Aniban ng Magsasaka sa Agrikultura (AMA), Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Transportasyon (PMT), Metro Manila Vendors Alliance (MMVA), at Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) ang kahilingan ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino sa kahilingan nitong Joint Resolution mula sa Kongreso na magbibigay sa kanya ng emergency power upang matugunan ang napipintong krisis sa enerhiya sa 2015.

Idinagdag pa ni Leody de Guzman, pangulo ng BMP, “Dalawang pangulo na ang naggiit at gumamit ng emergency power: si Fidel Ramos, nang ginamit niya ito at ipiniit ang bansa sa mga kontrata ng IPP na hanggang sa ngayon, nagbabayad ang mamamayang Pilipino ng napakataas na presyo ng kuryente; at si Gloria Arroyo, nang ginamit niya ang emergency power upang mapanatili sa kanyang nakuha-sa-dayang pangkapangulo noong halalang 2004. Sa dalawang panahong iyon, hindi nakapagsilbi sa kapakanan at kagalingan ng mamamayan ang emergency power.”

“Bakit niya kailangan ng emergency power? Ang krisis sa enerhiya ang resulta ng EPIRA, isang batas na makalipas ang mahigit sampung taon ay patunay ng pagkabigong matiyak ang suplay sa kuryente at abotkayang elektrisidad para sa mamamayan, lalo na sa mga maliliit. Kung kikios ang Kongreso para maresolba ang krisis, ito’y hindi ang bigyan ng emergency power si Noynoy kundi ibasura ang EPIRA at magpasa ng bagong batas na magbabalik sa pamahalaan ng kontrol sa industriya ng kuryente,” puna ni Flora A. Santos ng Metro Manila Vendors Alliance.

“Ikonekta natin ang mga tuldok. Mula sa paglalaan ng kapangyarihan ng Kongreso upang matigil ang mga aprubadong proyekto ng gobyerno, na idinedeklrarang “ipon” o “savings” ang mga pondong ito upang mailipat ang mga pondo sa ibang proyekto, at ang mga paglilipat ng mga pondong ito sa mga alyadao at inaasahang alyado, ang kanyang pag-endorso sa ChaCha para sa adhikain niyang mabawasan ang kapangyarihan ng Korte Suprema, ang mga pasaring niya sa pagpapalawig ng termino, at ngayon, nais ni Aquino ng emergency power. Hindi ba ito isang paggaya sa pamamahala ni Marcos?” pagdidiin pa ni Pedrosa.

Laban din ang mga nasabing grupo sa Economic ChaCha, na pinangungunahan ni House Speaker Sonny Belmonte. Inilarawan ni Sonny Melencio, pangulo ng PLM, ang kilos upang ipasok ang pariralang “and as provided by law” hinggil sa pagpayag sa 100% pag-aari ng dayuhan sa Pilipinas bilang “pagtatangkang bigyan ng libreng pases ang mga dayuhang korporasyon na was akin ang likas-yaman at lakas-paggawa ng bansa nang walang anumang katiyakan na ito’y magbibigay ng benepisyon sa buong mamamayan, at hindi lang sa mga pabrika sa export processing zones at sa mga tahanan ng uring maraming pag-aari”.

Habang binibigyan ni Aquino at kanyang mga alyado ang interes ng mga dayuhang korporasyon ng blangkong karapatang mandambong sa ating ekonomya, patungo naman si PNoy sa kanyang walong araw na pagdalaw sa apat na bansa sa Europa upang ibugaw ang manggagawang Pilipino.” Dagdag ni Gie Relova ng BMP.

“Lahat ng mga Pinuno ng Estado at mga boss na kapitalista na kinakausap ni Aquino ay malalaman kung gaano kamura ang lakas-paggawa ng manggagawang Pilipino, at paanong dumaragsa ang kontratwalisasyon sa lahat ng industriya sa bansa, at kapag naamyendahan ang konstitusyon, lalo pang magkakamal ng tubo ang mga kapitalistang magnenegosyo rito,” dagdag pa ni Relova.

Ang All Resist Movement (ARM the People) na inilarawan nilang krusada ng taumbayan bilang tugon sa plano ni Aquino na patuloy pang dambungin ang ekonomya at palawigin ang kanyang termino sa pwesto sa pamamagitan ng pag-amyenda sa konstitusyon at paggamit ng mga ispesyal na probisyon na magbibigay sa kanya ng mga emergency power.

Ang kampanyang ARM the People, na ipinaliliwanag ng mga militante “ang siya ring tugon ng sambayanan at paglaban sa baluktot na maniobrang pulitikal ni Aquino at ng kayang mga kaalyado upang matiyak ang kanilang pulitikal na pananatili sa halalang 2016 sa pamamagitan ng patuloy na paggamit ng sistemang pork barrel”.

Iginiit pa ni Pedrosa, “Matapos na mabasura ang mga impeachment charges sa Mababang Kapulungan, ang panawagang pag-aarmas na ito ang lohikal na hakbang pasulong para sa inapi’t biniktimang bansa upang tugunan ng apat-na-taong pagkabigo ng pagkapangulo ni Aquino at ang patuloy na pagbalewala at karukhaan ng ating mamamayan”.

Ilulunsad ang ARM the People sa susunod na linggo mula sa ika-16 sa pamamagitan ng serye ng mga aksyong masa upang madala sa tarangkahan ni Noynoy sa Malacañang, sa Kongreso, sa Senado ang pakikibaka ng taumbayang hindi pumapayag sa katiwalian, inhustisya o tiranya na manatili.

Sa Setyembre 21, maglulunsad ng sari-saring pagkilos sa antas ng masa ang ARM the People sa iba’t ibang lungsod at bayan sa Metro Manila, at sa mga mayor na sentrong lungsod sa Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, Lungsod ng Davao at Lungsod ng Ozamiz.#

Sigaw sa Mendiola at Luneta: Pork Abolition, Hindi Term Extension, Hindi ChaCha!

Sigaw sa Mendiola at Luneta: Pork Abolition, Hindi Term Extension, Hindi ChaCha!

Agosto 25, 2014 - Madaling araw pa lang ng Lunes ay nasa Mendiola na ang mga kasapi ng SANLAKAS, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng mga Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML), Metro Manila Vendors Alliance (MMVA), Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO), Piglas-Kabataan, at Teatro Proletaryo. Bandang ikapito ng umaga ay dumating naman ang Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), UP KAISA, at iba pa.

Sa saliw ng ChaCha, at ng awiting "Kung alam mo lang, Bayan" (rendisyon ng awiting "Kung Alam Mo Lang, Violy" ni Gary Granada), nagsayaw ang mga kasapi ng Teatro Proletaryo sa Mendiola, bandang ikaanim ng umaga. Ito'y bahagi ng kanilang protesta laban sa pork barrel at term extension na balak ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino kaya nais nitong magkaroon ng ChaCha o Charter Change.

Bandang ikasiyam ng umaga ay nagmartsa na sila patungo sa Quirino Grandstand upang makiisa sa mas malawak na pagtitipon ng sambayanan. Idinaos sa Luneta ang aktibidad na "Stand Up! Sign Up!" o "Manindigan at Lumagda" laban sa pakanang term extension ng pamahalaang Aquino.

Ulat at mga litrato ni Greg Bituin Jr.

Noynoy, Pinayuhang Tularan ang Bayaning si Ninoy, hindi ang diktador na si Marcos

Noynoy, Pinayuhang Tularan ang Bayaning si Ninoy, hindi ang diktador na si Marcos

Kasabay ng ika-31 anibersaryo ng pagpaslang kay dating Senador Ninoy Aquino, nag-alay ng bulaklak sa monumento ni Ninoy sa Quezon Avenue, corner Timog Ave., ang mga kasapi ng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), SANLAKAS, Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng mga Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML), Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), Piglas-Kabataan (PK), at Teatro Proletaryo. Dito'y pinuri nila ang kabayanihan ni Ninoy dahil sa kanyang malaking ambag laban sa diktaduryang Marcos. Kasabay nito'y kinutya naman ng nasabing mga grupo ang balak ng anak ni Ninoy na si Pangulong Noynoy Aquino na amyendahan ang Saligang Batas at palawigin ang kanyang termino sa pagkapangulo.

Nagpahayag naman ang dalawang beterano ng martial law na sina Tita Flor Santos ng Sanlakas, at Nick Elman ng Workers Alliance Against Corruption. Si Gie Relova, sec gen ng BMP-NCRR, ang siyang tagapagpadaloy ng programa. Inawit naman ng Teatro Proletaryo, na may saliw na sayaw, ang kanilang bersyon ng "Kung alam mo lang, Violy" ni Gary Granada, na pinamagatan nilang "Kung alam mo lang, Ninoy".

Matapos ang programa sa munumento ni Ninoy ay nagmartsa na ang nasabing mga grupo patungo sa Times Street, kung saan naroon ang bahay ni PNoy. May harang na sa kalsadang papasok ng Times Street kaya doon na lamang nagprograma ang nasabing mga grupo. At muli ay ipinalabas ng Teatro Proletaryo ang kanilang sayaw at awiting "Kung alam mo lang, Ninoy". Naging tagapagsalita sa programa sina Ka Ronnie Luna ng BMP, at Rasti Delizo ng Sanlakas.

Ulat at mga litrato ni Greg Bituin Jr.