BMP-NCRR rally at Shangri-La Hotel, re: anti-Sin Tax

BUKLURAN NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO

National Capital Region-Rizal (BMP-NCRR)

PRESS RELEASE

5 December 2012

Militants Warns the Public of the Imminent Horse-Trading 

by Lawmakers in the Bicam Conference

Militant labor group expressed its grave distrust at the bicameral conference committee because of the composition of the delegates from both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The group denounce the whole process and claimes that the bicameral conference shall only serve as a abysmal stamp pad of the Malacanang masterminded, Department of Finance designed tax measure.

According to Gie Relova, Secretary-General of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-National Capital Region and Rizal Chapter, "The lawmakers sent by their respective chambers are not looking to fulfill their mandates to the Filipino nation but only seek opportunities to fatten their bank accounts from the lobby groups of tobacco and alcohol corporations".

"Everyone knows that the major contention in the bicameral conference is the percentage of how much of the tax revenues shall be sourced from, either the tobacco or alcohol industries. Surely, the lawmakers expect that lobby money from major industry players shall flow from all directions and fraudulent tactics shall be employed" Relova said. 

Relova was also quick to add that "this monumental battle royal between corporate heavyweights such as Lucio Tan, Danding Cojuangco and new player, the British American Tobacco will be an exercise to secure their trillions of pesos in profits after the government has already secured its own interests at the expense of the country's marginalized sectors" 

The BMP believes that bicameral committee conference is just a lame ceremony to fulfill the legal requirements and the sin tax measure is already done deal, as far as the government is concerned. The militant labor group also denounced the politicians for their misplaced loyalty to the resident of Malacanang Palace in order to gain favors in the coming 2013 National Elections.

"The workers and our marginalized countrymen have everything to worry about. The credibility and track record of these lawmakers has been punctuated with their support for many anti-poor legislative measures. Just recently, their votes on the sin tax bill in their respective chambers is evident enough to earn our distrust in them and the whole process" the BMP leader concluded.

The militants vowed to make the lawmakers pay heavily in the coming elections by waging a nationwide negative campaign against those who supported the sin tax bill. 

Rali ng BMP-NCRR sa Shangri-La Hotel, re: anti-Sin Tax

BUKLURAN NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO

National Capital Region-Rizal (BMP-NCRR)

PRESS RELEASE

5 Disyembre 2012

Binalaan ng mga Militante ang Publiko Hinggil sa Nakaambang Horse-Trading ng mga Mambabatas sa Bicam

Ipinahayag ng isang militanteng grupo ng manggagawa ang kanilang matinding pagkadismaya sa bicameral committee conference dahil ang komposisyon ng mga delegado ay nanggagaling sa Senado at Mababang Kapulungan ng Kongreso. Kinondena ng grupo ang buong proseso at sinabing ang bicameral conference ay magsisilbing stamp pad lamang ng Malacanang at dinisenyo ng Departamento ng Pinansya.

Ayon kay Gie Relova, pangkalahatang kalihim ng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino – National Capital Region-Rizal (BMP-NCRR) chapter, “Ang mga mambabatas na itinalaga ng kani-kanilang kapulungan ay hindi nagtatangkang tuparin ang kanilang mandato sa mamamayan ng Pilipinas kundi naghahanap lamang ng oportunidad na patabain ang kanilang mga bulsa mula sa mga kampanyador ng mga korporasyon ng tabako at alak.”

“Alam ng lahat na ang mayor na kontensyon sa bicameral conference ay ang porsyento kung gaano kalaki ang kita sa buwis na manggagaling sa industriya ng tabako o alak. Tiyak, inaasahan ng mga mambabatas na babaha ng pera sa lahat ng direksyon mula sa mga mayor na mga manlalaro sa industriya” dagdag pa ni Relova.

Agad ding idinagdag ni Relova na ”ang matinding labanang ito sa pagitan ng mga bigatin sa korporasyon na tulad ni Lucio Tan, Danding Cojuangco at ang bagong manlalaro, ang British American Tobacco, ay isang gawaing magtitiyak ng trilyun-trilyong pisong tubo matapos tiyakin ng gobyerno ang sarili nitong interes na lalong kumawawa sa mga lugmok na sa hirap na mamamayan.”

Naniniwala ang BMP-NCRR na isang pilantod na seremonya lamang ang bicameral committee conference upang tuparin ang mga legal na rekisitos at ang patakarang sin tax ay kasunduang gawa na. Kinondena rin ng militanteng grupo ng manggagawa ang mga pulitiko dahil sa kanilang katapatan sa resident eng Malacanang upang magkaroon ng pabor sa parating na Pambansang Halalan ng 2013.

“Ang mga manggagawa at ang ating mga naghihirap na kababayan ay talagang nag-aalala. Ang kredibilidad at track record ng mga mambabatas na ito ang nagtuldok sa kanilang suporta sa anti-maralitang panukalang batas na ito. Ang kanilang boto sa panukalang sin tax sa kani-kanilang kapulungan ay sapat na patunay na di na sila dapat pagkatiwalaan at ang buong proseso” pagtatapos ng lider ng BMP-NCRR.

Nangako ang mga militante na magbabayad ng mabigat ang mga mambabatas na ito sa darating na halalan sa pamamagitan ng pambansang negatibong kampanya laban sa mga sumuporta sa panukalang sin tax.

pr - Indignant Workers Condemn New Regressive Sin Tax Law

PRESS RELEASE

21 November 2012

Indignant Workers Condemn the New Regressive Sin Tax Law, 

Vowed to Continue the Struggle 

WITHSTANDING the lopsided 15-2 vote of the Senators in the passage of the Sin Tax Reform Law, indignant workers trooped to the Senate to condemn the passage of a law that they claim to be blatantly anti-poor, regressive and unconstitutional.

The Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (PCART) reiterated that the country's poor composed of the millions of Filipino workers, farmers, the urban and rural poor shall be the sole bearers of the negative impacts of a pass-on tax while the politicians gain billions in tax revenues and the tobacco and alcohol capitalists continue to reap trillions in profit. The coalition claimed that the sin tax issue was one of the grandest schemes of collusion and compromise among the country's elite since Aquino came into power.

According to Gie Relova, Secretary-General of the National Capital Region and Rizal chapter of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP-NCRR),"The Senate has time and again shed its true colors, it has proven that the Senate as an institution will remain to be blind, deaf and mute to the interests of the toiling masses and at the same time it devotedly kisses the feet of the local elite and the multinational investors".

"With the passage of the sin tax law, the Senate played its role in the massacre of jobs and livelihoods of millions of workers and farmers by acting as the gravediggers that placed the final nail in the coffin as the Department of Finance acted as the butcher and Senator Franklin as their designated hitman and the President Aquino as the mastermind" the BMP leader alleged. 

For Rodel Atienza, Union President of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation, "As the senators wine and dine and congratulate each other, we pledge that the workers, the vendors, the farmers shall have the last laugh on the matter. We shall mobilize our numbers and networks to launch a massive negative campaign and make them pay heavily in the coming elections".

The BMP and its allied organizations vowed to continue the struggle to fight for a progressive system of taxation in the country.

pr - Pag-aprubado sa Sin Tax Law, Kinondena

PRESS RELEASE

21 November 2012

Tuloy ang laban! -- PCART

PAG-AAPRUBA NG SIN TAX LAW SA SENADO KINONDENA

KAMING mga mahihirap na manggagawa't magsasaka ang nagtanim, mga pulitiko at kapitalista ang aani! Ito ang pagkondena ng grupong Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation o PCART sa naging resulta ng botohan sa Senado hinggil sa isinulong na Sin Tax Reform Law kung saan 15 senador ang pumabor habang dalawa ang tumutol.

Giit ng PCART, milyong manggagawang Pilipino, magsasaka at maralitang taga-lungsod ang tanging papasan sa hirap na idudulot ng dagdag-buwis sa alak at sigarilyo habang ang mga pulitiko ang makikinabang sa bilyong makokolektang buwis at ang mga kapitalista naman ang magpapakasasa sa trilyong halaga ng tutubuin sa mga nasabing produkto.

Anila,  malinaw na may sabwatang naganap sa pagitan ng mga pulitiko at mayayamang negosyante kung saan ang pag-apruba sa Sin Tax Reform Law ang pinakamatindi kuntsabahan mula nang maupo sa puwesto si Pangulong Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Ayon kay Gie Relova, Secretary-General ng National Capital Region at Rizal chapter ng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP-NCRR), "Lumabas uli ang tunay na kulay ng Senado at pinatunayan lamang nila na bulag, pipi at bingi sila sa tunay na kalagayan at kapakanan ng taumbayan. Habang hinahalikan naman nila sa paa ng mga elitista at dayuhang kapitalista."

"Kasabay ng pag-apruba sa nasabing panukala, maraming trabaho at kabuhayan ang naging biktima ng masaker kung saan ang Senado ang nagsilbing sepulturero, ang Department of Finance ang berdugo habang nagsilbing hitman si Senator Franklin Drilon at ang mastermind walang iba kundi si Pagulong Aquino," dagdag pa ni Relova.

Ayon naman kay Rodel Atienza, pangulo ng unyon ng Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation, "Habang nagdiriwang at nagbabatian sa isa't isa ang mga senador, isinusumpa naming mga manggagawa, magsasaka at maralitang tagalungsod na sa amin pa rin ang huling halakhak."

"Tuloy ang laban, mas malaking puwersa ang nakahanda at sisiguraduhin  namin ang kampanya laban sa mga nagsabwatang pulitiko at kapitalista sa Sin Tax Reform Bill at pagbabayaran nila ito sa darating na eleksyon." ani Atienza.

Kaugnay nito, nangangako ang BMP at mga kaalyadong organisasyon nito na ipagpapatuloy nila ang laban tungo sa isang ganap na progresibong sistema ng pagbubuwis. 

pr - Militants Urge Senators to Quit Using the Peoples' Health to Justify a Sin Tax Law

PRESS RELEASE
20 November 2012

Militants Urge Senators to Quit Using the 

Peoples' Health to Justify a Sin Tax Law 

Five thousand workers and urban poor assaulted the Senate gates once again to reiterate their demand for the Senators to scrap the sin tax bill version of Senator Franklin Drilon because of the profound consequences on the lives and livelihoods of more than three million tobacco workers, planters and their families.

The contingent of workers and urban poor were affiliates of the anti-sin alliance, Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation or PCART. The coalition has consistently insisted that the Aquino regime is laying down a regressive system of taxation hiding behind its Universal Healthcare Program. PCART does not have any qualms with the government's universal healthcare program as long it will truly serve the poor majority of our countrymen. The sin tax bill is the opposite of such an objective.

The militant workers called out to the Senators but most specially to Senator Drilon to shed their questionable pro-health posturing and once and for all admit that it is the projected tax revenues from tobacco and alcohol products are what they are really salivating about.

According to Gie Relova, Secretary-General of the National Capital Region and Rizal chapter of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP-NCRR), "How did Drilon manage to become the number one health advocate in the Senate when he is a rabid promoter of shifting our public health services towards a profit orientation?".

Senator Drilon is the author of Senate Bill 3130 or the National Government Hospital Corporate Restructuring that gives fiscal autonomy to hospitals to raise income for its operations and in doing so, it cuts off its dependence on government subsidy. The bill intends to corporatize twenty-six public hospitals including the San Lazaro Hospital and the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, both in Manila.

"It has been reported already in the press that the tax collection from the sin products has already been included in the 2013 budget, 2013 being an election year. The budget of the government needs to be ballooned to accommodate financial requisites of the electoral campaign of its candidates. Its just a matter of connecting the dots," Relova explained.

"The soon to be victims of the sin tax bill are aware that no amount of propaganda spinning and cosmetic publicity shall ever be enough to cover-up the massacre of jobs and livelihoods by the fervent campaigners of the sin tax bill" Relova concluded.

The BMP urges that the Senate must focus its attention on issues that have definite and direct improvements in the lives of the Filipino workers. The Senate must tackle issues such as the plague of contractualization of labor, the housing crisis, the rising gap between the workers' wages and the prices of basic commodities and rising costs of utilities.

pr - Itigil ang Paggamit sa Isyu ng Kalusugan Upang Ipuslit ang SIn Tax Bill

PRESS RELEASE

20 November 2012

Itigil ang Paggamit sa Isyu ng Kalusugan ng Taumbayan upang Ipuslit ang Batas sa Sin Tax, Giit ng mga Militante 

HINDI usaping pangkalusugan kundi karagdagang kita mula sa buwis na maaaring gamitin sa darating na eleksiyon ang nasa likod ng isinusulong na bersiyon ng ipinapanukalang Sin Tax ni Senador Franklin Drilon.

Limang libong manggagawa at maralitang taga-lungsod ang muling sumugod sa Senado upang igiit ang pagbasura sa nasabing panukala na naglalagay sa alanganin sa kabuhayan ng mahigit sa tatlong milyong manggagawa at magsasaka ng tabako at kanilang mga pamilya.

Taliwas sa ipinamumukhang Universal Healthcare Program na paglalaanan umano ng makokolektang karagdagang buwis sa alak at sigarilyo, ibinulgar ng Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (PCART) na panibago na naman itong dagdag pa sa pasanin ng mahihirap.

Kaya patuloy ang kanilang panawagan sa mga senador lalo na kay Sen. Drilon na ilantad na sa taumbayan ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit sila gigil na gigil sa buwis na makukuha sa alak at sigarilyo.

Ayon kay Gie Relova, secretary-general ng National Capital Region at Rizal chapter ng Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP-NCRR), "Paanong magiging numero unong tagasuporta ng programa sa kalusugan si Drilon gayu'ng siya pa ang gumigiit sa pagsasapribado ng mga pampublikong ospital?"

Matatandaang si Sen. Drilon ang awtor ng Senate Bill 3130 o National Government Hospital Corporate Restructuring na nagbibigay kalayaan sa mga ospital na magtaas ng singil sa kanilang serbisyo.

Kaugnay nito, dalawampu't anim na pampublikong ospital kabilang ang San Lazaro Hospital at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, kapwa sa Maynila ang may ganito nang sistema.

Dagdag pa ni Relova, "Nailabas na sa media na naisama na ang nilulutong kuleksyon ng buwis mula sigarilyo't alak sa 2013 badyet na hindi na nagkataon nga lang ba election year."

"Kunsabagay, kailangan ng malaking pondo ang gobyerno para suportahan ang mga kandidato ng administrasyon. Madali naman pagdugtong-dugtongin ang mga kwento", ayon pa kay Relova.

Gayunman, sa mga mabibiktima ng Sin Tax, mulat na umano ang mga ito na walang anumang propaganda ang makapagtatago sa nakaambang masaker sa kabuhayan ng mga manggagawa't maralita. 

Iginiit ng BMP na kailangan tutukan na lamang ng Senado ang mga isyu na may depinidong at direktang mag-a-angat sa buhay at kabuhayan ng mga manggagawang Pilipino. Kailangan pagkunutan nang noo na lang mga Senador ang salot ng kontraktwalisasyon, krisis ng pabahay, ang lumalalang pagitan ng sahod ng manggagawa at ng presyo ng mga batayang pangangailangan at tumataas na presyo ng kuryente't tubig. 

ps - No Railroading of New Taxes!

PRESS STATEMENT

November 19, 2012

Leody de Guzman

National President

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)

No Railroading of New Taxes!

Review the Present Anti-Poor Tax System!

Reform towards a Progressive System of Taxation!

In the light of recent controversies involving taxes on gold and "sin" products, workers are calling on Congress and the Senate not to railroad the passage of new taxes.

Both Houses should prove institutional independence not only from Malacanang but also from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) especially with Christine Lagarde issuing a statement supporting new taxes including a levy on cellphone text messages.

Instead, we demand a status quo on taxes pending the review for an omnibus amendment of the entire taxation system. The current system relies more on sales taxes borne by consumers (through the EVAT) and on compulsory deduction of withholding taxes to wage-earners. It is not just anti-poor and regressive but also unconstitutional.

Article 6 Section 28 of the 1987 Constitution is clear: "The rule of taxation shall be uniform and equitable. The Congress shall evolve a progressive system of taxation".

But tax reform is not just a legal question but a matter of life and death for Filipino workers and their families.

Workers' take home pay is a mere pittance. Not only because wages are below the necessary costs for a decent life. Worse, it is further reduced by withholding taxes and contributions to social welfare. Not only are starvation wages subject to withholding taxes. More so, it is subject to the EVAT when we purchase our families' needs.

Those who have less in life bear more of the tax burden. Unlike the privileged elite who have their lawyers and accountants to disguise their crimes of tax evasion into innocent (and legal!) acts of "tax avoidance".

Hence, an overhaul of the current system towards progressive taxation, based on income and property, is a legal, moral, democratic and nationalist imperative. Tax the rich, not the poor! Resist the impositions of IMF and other foreign finance institutions!