Philippine Collegian Tomo 95 Issue 21-22

GH

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

OPISYAL NA LINGGUHANG PAHAYAGAN NG MGA MAG-AARAL NG UNIBERSIDAD NG PILIPINAS DILIMAN BIYERNES JUNE 22, 2018 TOMO 95 ISYU 21-22

ATTACKS ON CAVITE FARMERS PERSIST 2 BALITA

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL 7 LATHALAIN

LAYA PARA SA PAGLAYA 8-9

KULTURA

ATTACKS ON CAVITE FARMERS PERSIST PAMELA ADRIANO

FARMERS FROM KATIPUNAN NG mga Lehitimong Magsasaka at Mamamayan sa Lupang Ramos (KASAMA-LR) who are asserting their land rights have been experiencing series of harassments since May 28 from real estate agents who claim ownership over the land.

Real estate agents Rudy Herrera and Nestor Pangilinan, together with the hired goons, tried to keep the farmers off from the Lupang Ramos in Cavite, which the peasants have cultivated for decades.

Two members of KASAMA-LR were injured on June 2 after an assault involving at least 40 armed goons with bolos and batons allegedly hired by the camp of Herrera and Pangilinan. Rosalinda Atienza, 62, was hit on the head, while Romeo Aledia, 47, was smashed with a golf club on his back.

Harassment on farmers heightened on June 4 after seven gunshots were fired near the Lupang Ramos.

“Naireport agad ang insidente sa Dasmariñas City police kaso dahil gabi na at natatakot ang mga pulis dahil hindi rin sila pamilyar sa lugar, kinaumagahan na pinuntahan ‘yung lugar kung saan nga may nagpaputok ng baril,” Jun Reyes from Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK) said.

The 372-hectare land now called “Lupang Ramos” was first occupied by the farmers’ ancestors during the American period. The farmland has been fought for by the farmers for almost five decades.

However, when Emerito Ramos asserted his ownership over the land on 1965, these farmers started to work as tenants and workers.

The farmers’ fight “Layunin ng kampanya ng KASAMALR na bawiin ang lupang matagal nang kinamkam sa kanila. Sa mahabang panahon, kontrolado lamang ng iilang pamilya, ng ilang indibidwal ang Lupang Ramos,” Reyes said, adding that the

farmers’ plea for the longest time has been the redistribution of the 372-hectare land not only to the farmers but also to the people of Cavite.

Reyes explained that KASAMALR’s Bungkalan campaign, which started on September 26 last year, aims for the sustainability of their supply of food and the productivity of the land. He added that most of the farmers are already getting their income from cultivating crops in Lupang Ramos. Approximately 50 hectares of the land were already planted with root crops, banana trees, and vegetables.

If the Ramos family did not claim the land to be already a subdivision, Lupang Ramos would have been covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) during Corazon Aquino’s term, where it can be given out and distributed to the farmers. But the Supreme Court on 2011 decided to exempt Lupang Ramos from CARP. Some members of the KASAMALR were former members of Nestor Pangilinan’s group Tunay na Buklod ng Magsasaka (Buklod), which resorted to selling parcels of land to people outside the organization.

“Nang natalo ang Buklod sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema, pumasok na ang pamunuan ng organisasyon sa pagaahente. Binenta na nila ang mga sakop na lupa. ‘Yung mga miyembro, sila na rin ang nag-aahente para maibenta sa mga taong may pera ang pwesto,” said Bayani Tapawan, a former Buklod member and now a KASAMA-LR member.

Land-grabbing cases Aside from the issue on the eviction of farmers from Lupang Ramos, another land-grabbing case was recorded in Cavite with the involvement of other real estate agents. Reyes claims that the family of Enrile has claimed ownership over the 155-hectare land in Kapdula, Dasmariñas, Cavite. The group of Enrile, together with the South Cavite Land, had an initial

development on the 30 hectares.

However, Reyes says that until now, no house was built on the area, when it was stated in DAR’s 2003 order that the 155-hectare land should be fully developed within five years. “Ang ginawa kasing pamamaraan ng South Cavite Land para maangkin nila ang lupa ay nilinlang nila ang mga magsasaka sa pamamagitan ng joint venture agreement,” Reyes said.

He added that the farmers were forced to conform to the agreement as they were promised to benefit from the land.

DAR’s silence A dialogue was held between the

Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Region IV-Provincial Agrarian Reform Office and the farmers on June 4. However, Reyes revealed that as of press time, there are still no reports released by the department since the provincial office has conducted an ocular investigation on the issue.

He added that DAR are only on the side of the developers. “Sa mahabang panahon ng pakikipag-dayalogo sa kanila, nagiging mabagal ang paglabas ng mga ulat at order.

Bagama’t may order na ang DAR central na pabilisin ang pagpapalabas ng resolusyon hinggil sa isyu sa Lupang Ramos, hanggang ngayon, wala pa ring report,” Reyes said.

Various organizations including Anakpawis Partylist, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Anakbayan, and League of Filipino Students have showed their concern on the issue and have sent immediate help to the farmers. Students from UP Diliman and UP Los Baños also stood in solidarity with the farmers.

“Sana ay makita ng kabataan ang tunay na kalagayan namin dito para maipaliwanag namin sa kanila ang kahalagahan ng lupa at kung paano ito pagyamanin para sa ikabubuhay ng mga maralitang magsasaka,” Tapawan said.

Police arrests labor leader over trumped-up charges PAMELA ADRIANO

AUTHORITIES NABBED A long-time labor leader in Quezon City over illegal possession of firearms and an alleged arson case committed in Agusan del Sur. Five men in civilian clothing arrested Juan Alexander Reyes on June 2. Reyes represents labor group Sandigan ng Manggagawasa Quezon City (SMQC) and is also a staff member of government workers’ association Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE).

Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNPCIDG) released on June 4 mugshots and photos of Reyes’ “actual arrest” in Agusan

del Sur for committing arson and his illegal possession of unlicensed firearms and explosives which included a .38 caliber pistol and ammunition.

Labor groups meanwhile asserted that all the reports from the authorities are plain fake accusations and that Reyes was innocent. Human rights group Karapatan slammed Reyes’s arrest over trumped-up charges. Illegal possession of firearms is one of the most common suits filed against activists.

"The firearms found in Reyes's possession were just planted", said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

Reyes was with fellow labor organizer Francisco Garcia when he was nabbed

BATA, BATA, PAANO KA PINATAY?*

by the five men, one of whom even pointed a gun at Reyes’ head while being forciblyhandcuffed, according to reports.

Both Reyes and Garcia were forced inside an SUV, but the latter was “released” on their way to the precinct and was dropped at an LBC outlet in Muñoz area.

Reyes was then brought to the CIDGNational Capital Region at Camp Crame, where his warrant of arrest was only served.

Prior to the incident, Reyes led a strike vote election of the workers of Pearl Island Commercial Corporation on May 31 in Manresa, Quezon City. Workers for the company unanimously voted "yes" to strike after the dismissal of 12 contractual workers.

SHERNIELYN DELA CRUZ

Independence Day protester arrested PAMELA ADRIANO

A PROTESTER WHO DISRUPTED President Rodrigo Duterte’s first Independence Day rites was arrested, despite a maximum tolerance order to the police from the President.

Overseas workers alliance Migrante member Francis Rafael, 20, interrupted Duterte’s speech by shouting “Huwad na Kalayaan” as the president was about to start his rites during the commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the proclamation of the Philippine Independence Day on June 12 in Kawit, Cavite.

Rafael was arrested by the Cavite Police Mobile Force Company (CPMFC) for violating Article 153 of the Revised Penal Code which prevents “tumult and other disturbances of public order.” Police was able to obtain a placard from Rafael

BA LI TA

2

BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

which read, “KAPAYAPAAN PARA SA LAHAT AT LAHAT PARA SA KAPAYAPAAN NG BAYAN.” Rafael was with nine other protesters who called Duterte a “traitor” and regarded June 12 as “fake Independence Day,” but he was the only one who was not able to escape from the cops. Rafael’s arrest took place despite an order for maximum tolerance and assurance of “freedom of assembly and of expression” from the speech of the President. Duterte even reportedly told the crowd to just let the protest go on, as it is an exercise of freedom of speech.

Chief Insp. Mark Jason Gatdula, Kawit police chief said in an interview that Rafael was detained at the Kawit police station and that his offense is bailable.

Rafael is still under the police custody as of press time.

A series of protest action was launched on June 12 in time for Independence Day to denounce the the spate of killings and human rights violations in the country as well as the government’s inaction over China’s claims over Philippine Seas.

Nagpapahayag ng pangamba sa programa sa Liwasang Bonifacio, Hunyo 12, ang aktres na si Mae Paner dahil isisilang sa panahon diumano ng tiraniya ang kaniyang anak na si Kinabukasan. Sa tala ng grupong Children's Legal Rights and Development Center, nasa 74 na menor-de-edad ang naging biktima ng giyera kontra droga ng administrasyong Rodrigo Duterte mula Hulyo 2016 hanggang Disyembre 2017. Isa rito ang limang taong gulang na si Danica May Garcia na tinamaan ng ligaw na bala habang nag-aayos papasok ng eskwela noong Agosto 2016. Dagdag pa, isa ang 19-anyos na si Obello Bay-ao, mag-aaral ng Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanogon Community Center, sa kabuuang 33 Lumad na namatay sa patuloy na pag-iral ng batas militar sa Mindanao, ayon sa tala ng grupong Barug Katungod Mindanao. *pasintabi kay Lualhati Bautista.

Church, rights groups demand justice for slain Nueva Ecija priest JOSE MARTIN SINGH

CHURCH FORMATION AND HUMAN rights groups seek justice for the recent killing of a Catholic priest in Nueva Ecija in light of the spate in killings and attacks against the church since President Rodrigo Duterte took office.

Fr. Richmond Nilo of the Diocese of Cabanatuan was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on June 10, Sunday, as he was about to preside over a mass. He was the third priest to be killed in the past seven months.

Two motorcycle-riding assailants shot at Nilo seven times through the window of the chapel of Brgy. Mayamot, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. Four bullets struck and killed him on the spot.

Authorities are currently looking into the case and have pointed the possibility of his death being connected to his teachings against the religious sect Iglesia Ni Cristo, as well as the help he gave to farmers affected by land disputes and victims of rape.

An altar boy present during the shooting of Nilo was able to identify a primary suspect. Adell Roll Milan was arrested at 6:30PM in Malapit village, San Isidro town, Nueva Ecija on June 14, by the Philippine National Police (PNP). The PNP is now on the lookout for five other possible suspects.

Call for Justice Human rights lawyers’ alliance National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) expressed a certain doubt in the said proceedings. “The problem with the police is credibility. They have not shown any improvements in their investigative skills and capabilities,” said NUPL Secretary General Atty. Ephraim Cortez.

“There is still doubt if they really caught the killer and [if they] are on the right track in conducting their investigation,” he said.

Three attacks against priests were recorded since December 2017, prior to Nilo’s case.

Jaen, Nueva Ecija parish priest Fr. Marcelito Paez, 72, was killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen on December 4, 2017. Another priest, Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura, 37, was killed by two motorcycleriding gunmen after he presided over a Mass in barangay Piña in Gattaran Town, Tuguegarao on April 29 this year.

Paez was an activist since the time of President Ferdinand Marcos’s Martial Law and was said to have helped in releasing a political prisoner before his death, while Ventura was a long-time anti-mining advocate.

The most recent attack against church workers was recorded days before Nilo was killed. Fr. Rey Urmeneta, 64, former Philippine National Police chaplain was ambushed on the morning of June 6 by men riding in tandem in Calamba, Laguna. He survived the shooting but still sustained wounds.

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Cabanatuan condemned the recent killings and emphasized the unethicality of such acts of violence. “No priest or human being deserves to be killed with utter brutality, disrespect, and impunity… To kill a priest for whatever motive or cause is not only un-Christian and inhuman, it is also un-Filipino,” Bishop of Cabanatuan Rev. Sofronio Bancud, SSS, DD said in a statement.

The Diocese of Cubao in Quezon City also issued a statement, expressing solidarity on the spate of priest killings. “Still reeling from the shock and grief over the murder of the two priests [Paez and Ventura] recently, we now again mourn another brutal killing…

[Nilo] died while fulfilling his ministry. But his death would not be in vain as the Church will continue to proclaim the Gospel amidst persecution and violent attacks,” Bishop of Cubao Rev. Honesto Ongtioco, DD said.

“Let us not stop making noise until our cry for justice and truth is heard. Let the killings stop,” said Ongtioco.

Meanwhile, human rights group Karapatan slammed the intensifying

impunity brought about by the most recent cases of killings including Nilo’s. “[We] condemn the recent murders of a Catholic priest, a journalist, and a prosecutor as clear signs of a thriving climate of impunity in the Philippines, where killings have been normalized by the government while perpetrators are rarely prosecuted and not punished,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

Scathing Relations President Rodrigo Duterte has been letting out tirades against the Catholic Church since he took office and has continued to do so in the event of priest killings. He related Ventura’s death to illicit affairs, which is seen by church officials as a malicious attempt to veer away from the main possibility which is Ventura’s anti-mining advocacies.

The Church continues to be subject to the spite of Duterte due to their staunch criticism of the government’s perpetration and justification of killings. Duterte launched another tirade on June 13, Wednesday where he lamented the seeming double standard used by Church leaders when criticizing him and his government. “Ang problema ng mga buwang na ito, santo lahat. Gobyerno, military, police, puro demonyo na,” Duterte reportedly said.

However, some officials from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the collegial body of church leaders, expressed the need to create a peaceful dialogue between church and government authorities in order to properly address such issues as the killings, instead of throwing criticisms and waging a war over the media which has always been the case.

Mirror of Country's State NUPL said the recent spate of priest killings reflected the many other killings happening in the Philippines. “The brazenness by which the priest killings were

SAHOD, DAGDAGAN

Ibinahagi ni Sherill Sedillo, 28, ang kanyang karanasan bilang isang manggagawang kontraktwal sa isang stall sa loob ng UP Diliman, Hunyo 14. Magtatatlong taon nang tindera ng Shawarma sa Area 2 si Sedillo ngunit tumatanggap lamang siya ng P450 kada araw na sahod, dagdag na P50 kada oras kapag overtime, at walang benipisyong pang-medikal. Kaugnay nito, isinusulong sa Kongreso ang House Bill 7787 na bubuwag sa Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards at magtatalaga ng isang pambansang minimum wage.

carried out mirrors the state of impunity in the country,” said Cortez.

“The perpetrators are very sure that they will not be identified, investigated, and prosecuted,” he said. “It also shows the inability of the enforcement agencies, either due to incompetence or deliberate intention to bungle the investigations, to solve the killings. Either way, it shows the culpability

of the government for failure to protect its citizens,” he added.

“The government should really investigate these killings and prosecute the perpetrators, not to coddle them,” Cortez added, citing the cases of General Jovito Palparan Jr. and other military officers who were given priority and high ranking positions despite alleged human rights violations.

DOJ rules against Sister Fox visa revocation JUAN GREGORIO LINA THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) has ruled on June 18 against the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) decision to revoke the visa of Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox, citing such a move by the BI to be unlawful.

“Our existing immigration laws outline what the BI can do to foreigners and their papers - including visas - when they commit certain acts within Philippine territory,” explained Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a statement.

Meanwhile, a DOJ resolution on the issue explained the department’s rationale behind overruling the BI’s decision.

“This office cannot sanction the BI’s resort to a visa forfeiture procedure, and the [BI’s] orders against [Fox] which result therefrom. To hold otherwise will legitimize the [BI’s] assertion of a power that does not exist in our laws,” the resolution read.

A Legal Gray Area Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, on the other hand, clarified that Sister Fox is not in the clear yet, adding that Fox may still be booted out of the country should a pending deportation proceeding validate allegations of her local political involvement.

However, the legality of such activity remains unclear. Fox and her legal counsel from the National Union of People’s Lawyers argue that the Constitution itself guarantees the right to political expression even to aliens.

“The Bill of Rights recognizes freedom of expression and to peaceably assemble. The Bill of Rights, again, does not distinguish between a foreigner and a citizen, a permanent resident or a sojourner. It applies to all who are physically within the Philippine territory under the government’s jurisdiction,” Fox argued.

The missionary’s legal defense also pointed to the International Bill of Human Rights of which the Philippines is a signatory to.

For almost 24 hours, the BI held Sister Patricia Fox in detention last April 16 at its main office in Intramuros, Manila. The Australian missionary’s arrest came after a directive issued by President Rodrigo Duterte to have Fox investigated amid accusations of her participation in demonstrations and factfinding initiatives.

The move was met with much criticism, with many highlighting its irony in the face of the missionary’s long history of charitable service.

“A 72-year old president with no respect for human rights and who’s facing

accusations of crimes against humanity is far far more dangerous than a 71year old nun who has been fighting for 27 years for the rights of the poor and marginalized,” said former College of Mass Communication dean Luis V. Teodoro in a social media post. Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also appealed to the President to allow the nun to stay.

The provincial superior of the Our Lady of Sion Sisters, Fox has been in the Philippines since 1990 where her missionary work has centered on studying the situations of marginalized communities in order to identify how to best provide them with assistance. The nun, on the other hand, stressed that her congregation’s activities are duly sanctioned by the Catholic Church.

“As a matter of fact, It was the CBCP who endorsed my application to convert my temporary visitor’s visa to missionary visa,” Fox noted.

Silencing Dissent The president later clarified that he did not intend to have the nun held in custody, taking full responsibility for her apprehension. He, nonetheless, warned the nun to be wary of reprisal from the government should she speak out against them.

“I assure you: if you begin to malign, defame government in any of those rallies there, I will order your arrest,” Duterte said in earlier reports, adding that “the only reason why she was released was she was not caught in flagrante delicto. Meaning to say she was not caught during her berating the government.”

The arrest and continuing scrutiny of Sister Fox places her among the ranks of those who have been subject to the government’s crackdown on dissenters.

On February 21, the DOJ filed a petition in a Manila court that listed more than 600 individuals as being affiliated with “terrorist organizations.” Among the names contained in the petition were left-wing activists and UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz.

While Fox has admitted coming into contact with left-wing groups, she has denied engaging in partisan politics.

"We work with organized groups who are working for social justice. Often, groups working for justice are labeled Left. Like if you want, land rights, you're Left. But to me it's just basic human social justice issue... it's very consistent with the teaching of the church," she said in earlier reports.

BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

3

BA LI TA

SUMATOTAL: Burned out EXPOSING THE PLIGHT OF THE WORKERS’ SECTOR IN THE COUNTRY BEATRICE P. PUENTE WHILE PRICES OF BASIC GOODS AND other commodities continue to increase, the salary that laborers earn, on the other hand, remain at a steady low rate. With the meager income they receive, minimum wage earners could barely provide for their family’s needs, given the costly products brought about by various economic factors and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

Moreover, contractualization and other unfavorable working conditions only further exacerbate the problem of the workers’ sector. With all the unwarranted burden that laborers carry, the compensation they currently get will never be enough and this could hardly help them make ends meet.

Cost of decent living A minimum wage worker in NCR earning P512 a day cannot possibly provide for a family of six which needs at least P1,168, the ideal living wage, according to independent research group Ibon Foundation.

On the other hand, workers in other regions who receive lower minimum wage are faced with even greater difficulty. Those in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Ilocos Region, for instance, only receive a measly minimum wage rate of P280.

(1) Daily Minimum Wage Rates As a response to the huge gap between minimum wages earned per region, lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc filed House Bill (HB) 7787, which seeks to establish a national minimum wage worth P750. Even if this amount still falls short from the daily family living wage, the higher salary these workers would receive could highly benefit them.

Minimum wage rates largely vary in every region, as determined by regional wage boards. Once HB 7787 is passed, the basic pay earned across all regions in the country is set to increase by as much as 63 percent, as in the case of Ilocos Region and ARMM where the lowest wage rate is recorded. % increase in Daily Minimum Wage Rates under HB 7787

Minimum Wage Rates

Region

NCR CAR I

P475-512 P270-300

60%

P243-280

63%

P300-340

55%

III

P264-380

49%

IVA

P303-400

V VI

2. Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards are necessary to determine the minimum wage in each region.

2. Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards will be abolished.

3. The National Wages and Productivity Commission under the Department of Labor and Employment is established.

3. The National Wages Productivity Commission be abolished.

4. Those who will not follow the minimum wage set by the regional boards will be punished with a fine ranging from P25,000 to P100,000; and/or two- to four-year imprisonment.

The employer should also double the amount of benefits he will give to the employees. However, this will not free him from any criminal liability.

4. Those who will not follow the mandated national minimum wage and the succeeding increases will pay the full wage due to the workers.

The amount will be multiplied by the number of working days the wage is unpaid; and/or the violator will be imprisoned for three to five years.

The employer also needs to pay each employee with a P50,000 fee for moral damages. An additional amount worth double the unpaid benefits shall also be provided to the workers.

If the violation will be repeated for the second time, the business of the violators will be suspended for one to three years. The business permit will be cancelled, if the same company commits the same violation for the third time.

P247-290

61%

P280-290

61%

P271.50-323.50 P288-366

NCR

P245-285

62%

IX

P267-296

61%

X

P304-338

55%

XI

P325-340

55%

XII

P290-311

59%

P290

2010

ARMM P222

20 Aug 2010

61%

P232 21 Sept 2012

63%

(5) Philippine inflation rate Inflation rate hit a five-year high in May at 4.6 percent, subsequently causing products to get even more costly. Inflation is the rate by which the prices of goods and services increase, which in turn, causes the decreasing purchasing power of a country’s currency. With its increasing trend over the past month, the cost of different commodities likewise increased.

(6) Price hike due to excise tax Prices, primarily, of fuel products and sweetened beverages drastically increased due to TRAIN law. Due to the high excise tax on fuel necessary for transportation of goods, prices of other products likewise increased. With the tax system’s continued implementation, the imposed taxes are set to further increase in the succeeding years.

MARCH 2017

MARCH 2018 P1,168

P1,111

FAMILY of SIX

P491

P512 P973

P925

FAMILY of FIVE

P512

P491

highest minimum wage family living wage

2.5

2.4

June 2017

July

2.6

Aug

3.4

3.0

3.1

3.0

2.9

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Fuel Products

3.8

Jan

Feb

4.3

Mar

4.5

4.6

Apr

May 2018

Old Tax Code (per liter/kg)

2018

2019

2020

LPG

P0.00

P1.00

P2.00

P3.00

DIESEL

P0.00

P2.50

P4.50

P6.00

UNLEADED GAS

P4.35

P7.00

P9.00 P10.00

KEROSENE

P0.00

P3.00

P4.00

Estimated price increase sweetened beverages

P5.00

8 oz.

1.5 Liters

2 Liters

SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE (SRP WITH VAT)

P8.00

P47.00

P53.00

SRP WITHOUT VAT

P7.14

P41.96

P47.32

EXCISE TAX (P10.00/L)

P2.37

P15.00

P20.00

NEW SRP

P9.51

P56.96

P67.32

12% VAT

P1.14

P6.84

P8.08

FINAL SRP

P10.65

P63.80

P75.40

RATE OF PRICE INCREASE DUE TO TRAIN LAW

33.18 %

35.74 %

42.26 %

1 Nov 2012

P466 1 Jan 2014

P250 1 Feb 2014

P481 4 Jan 2015

P265 1 Mar 2016

P491 2 June 2016

P512 Oct 2017

P280 P270-280

(4) Living wage Minimum wage rates across all regions can hardly make up for the ideal wage necessary for a family to live decently, with a gap of as much as 56 percent in NCR. The ideal family living wage is periodically adjusted, taking on an increasing trend due to the rising inflation rate in the country and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

v

57% 51%

and will

(3) Minimum wage rate increase in NCR and ARMM since 2012 Although there are existing laws that provide for the yearly hike of wages in each region, the minimal increment of about P10 to P20 on workers’ salary deals no significant benefit to each family.

47%

VIII

ARMM

HB 7787 1. A national minimum wage worth P750 will be legislated for all kinds of industries.

P456

VII

XIII

RA 6727 1.

Minimum wages in each region vary. Different industries, provinces, and localities entail different wage rates.

32%

II

IVB

(2) Key differences between the existing law and the proposed bill Significant changes will be made once the Minimum Wage Bill is passed. Aside from providing for a nationalized minimum wage, this would also abolish institutions like the National Wages and Productivity Commission and the regional wage boards created by the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989.

23 Apr 2018

2018

Hostile conditions Receiving low compensation is but one of the numerous issues that workers deal with. Problems on contractualization, hostile working conditions, and lack of benefits continue to hound millions of laborers in the country.

(1) Eighth worst country for workers The International Trade Union Confederation listed the Philippines among the ten worst countries for workers in 2018. The international workers alliance cited the series of violence and intimidation launched against labor unions as the primary reason why the country was included in the list. Workers in these countries do not have access to their rights provided for by existing laws.

1. ALGERIA

2. BANGLADESH

3. CAMBODIA

4. COLOMBIA

5. EGYPT

6. GUATEMALA

7. KAZAKHSTAN

8. PHILIPPINES

BEATRICE P. PUENTE

9. SAUDI ARABIA

10. TURKEY

(2) Unemployment Rate in Southeast Asia The problem does not end in the unjust working conditions that workers suffer from. More than two million Filipinos do not even have a job in the first place.

The 5.7 percent unemployment rate in the country recorded in 2017 is significantly lower compared to the 7.1 percent rate tallied in 2013, but the Philippines remains to be the second country in Southeast Asia with the highest unemployment rate, next to oil-rich Brunei, where the high number of low-skilled workers is blamed for unemployment.

8.0 Brunei 6.0

Philippines Indonesia

Myanmar

4.0

Timor Leste Malaysia Vietnam Singapore

2.0

Thailand Laos Cambodia

0

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

(3) Labor force participation in the country (as of January 2018) All Filipinos aged 15 to 65 years old who are able to contribute to the production of goods and services, whether employed or unemployed, are considered part of the country’s labor force. Even if more than two million individuals are added to the labor force in 2018 compared to the previous year, the government should provide more jobs and ensure that its people are highly-skilled for these jobs in order to surpass the current labor force participation rate of 62.2%.

JANUARY 2017

JANUARY 2018

15 YEARS AND ABOVE

69,414,000

70,897,000

LABOR FORCE

42,109,000

44,075,000

60.7 %

62.2 %

39,347,000

41,755,000

93.4 %

94.7 %

2,761,000

2,320,000

6.6 %*

5.3 %

6,398,000

7,498,000

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT RATE

UNEMPLOYMENT

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

UNDEREMPLOYMENT

UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE

16.3 %

18.0 %

*The 6.6% unemployment rate is only for January 2017, while the 5.7% rating shown in the previous infographic is the average for the entire year.

Sources: Republic Act 6727 – Wage Rationalization Act, House Bill 7787 – National Minimum Wage Bill, National Wages and Productivity Commission – Department of Labor and Employment, National Tax Research Center – Department of Finance, Philippine Statistics Authority, International Trade Union Confederation, Trading Economics, Ibon Foundation and the Department of Labor and Employment

Bill seeking P750 national minimum wage filed

PAGE DESIGN AND INFOGRAPHICS BY ADRIAN KENNETH GUTLAY

MORE THAN THREE MILLION workers earning the minimum wage today can expect a higher take-home pay once House Bill (HB) 7787 or the minimum wage bill is signed into law. However, the bill, filed on May 28 by solons from Makabayan bloc, is still pending for review at the Committee on Labor and Employment.

Office clerks, construction workers, employees of private educational institutions, farm workers, among other minimum wage earners are set to receive a P750-basic pay when HB 7787 becomes a law.

“Napapanahon, makatwiran, at makatarungan na maghain ng panukalang batas sa usapin ng pagpapatupad ng pambansang minimum na sahod …

Malayong-malayo ang agwat ng itinakdang disenteng family living wage sa kasalukuyang tinatanggap na sahod ng mga manggagawa,” said Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Ariel Casilao, one of the bill’s proponents.

Insufficient wages Independent research institution Ibon Foundation pegs P1,168 to be needed by a family of six to get through a day. A family of five meanwhile needs at least P973, according to the think tank. The P512 NCR minimum wage does not even meet half of the said amount.

Meanwhile, labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) sees that setting P750 as the national minimum wage can help people to at least cope with the high prices of products sold in the market.

Prices of different commodities drastically increased starting January this year, following the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which adds an excise tax primary on fuel products and sweetened beverages.

Since fuel is necessary to transport goods from farms to markets, the excise tax imposed on diesel and gasoline worth P2.50 and P7.00 respectively, became a huge factor in the price surge of different products.

While increasing the minimum wage is a great leap toward a more decent living, the proposed amount still cannot suffice for the needs of a family, KMU secretary-general Jerome Adonis said. National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Ernesto Pernia even stated in earlier reports that a family of five needs to earn P42,000 per month in order to get past the poverty line.

Wide gap In the current system, minimum wage rates in every region vary, depending on the order of each Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board. Laborers from National Capital Region (NCR) earn the highest minimum wage worth P512, while workers from Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) receive the lowest at P280 (see related infographic on page 2-3).

But in HB 7787, regional wage boards will be abolished, given that it will no longer serve any function.

Having the same amount of minimum wage across the country, however, is not new. A national minimum wage worth P89 was previously set in 1989. It was then superseded the Wage Rationalization Act or Republic Act (RA) 6727, which paved the way for having different wages per region and per sector – essentially putting workers at a greater disadvantage.

Minimum wage rates for each industry vary because of the difference in cost of living, varying socio-economic factors, and development plans per region, according to the second section of the Wage Rationalization Act. Such provisions are the reasons why agriculture workers in Eastern Visayas get the lowest minimum wage ranging from only P245 to P251, based on Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) April 2018 data.

While agriculture workers suffer from receiving meager income, agribusiness companies earn billions by exporting fruits and vegetables at a costly price, according to a statement of labor group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA).

“These corporations and all other agribusiness companies could very well regularize their workers and pay them P750 per day without even significantly reducing their multi-billion profits,” UMA added.

Ease for the sector Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, on the other hand, said in a press briefing on May 28 that having a basic pay of P750 in the whole country is “legally impossible” because the Congress would need to repeal the existing law on minimum wage before this bill gets forwarded. KMU refuted this, adding that having a national minimum wage is the state’s moral responsibility. “[HB 7787] sets forth concrete grounds and steps for abolishing the anti-worker, arbitrary, and irrational regional wage system. It lays out the path for amending the Labor Code and establishing a [minimum wage] that meets living standards,” according to KMU in a statement.

Aside from getting low wages, issues like contractualization, workers’ safety, and harassment also plague the labor sector.

Philippines is also currently considered to be among the ten worst countries in the world for workers, according to the study of International Trade Union Confederation (see related infographic on pp. 2-3).

Although the bill is still at the committee level, it has already gained staunch disapproval from government officials and businessmen, but the Makabayan bloc vows to continue pushing for the passage of HB 7787. They consider this bill as a huge step forward in advancing the rights of laborers in the country.

“Mahigpit at kagyat ang ating panawagan. Hindi tayo papayag na bibigyan at tutugunan lamang ito ng gobyerno ng piso-piso na pagtaas [ng sahod],” Casilao said, adding that people’s support is necessary to urge the Congress to discuss and later approve the bill.

BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

5

BA LI TA

BEATRICE PUENTE THE PROPOSED NATIONAL ID system that seeks to facilitate smoother transactions in public and private institutions has been approved by both houses of Congress and now only waits for the president’s signature to finally become a law. However, several lawmakers expressed concerns that the system may actually pose threats to one’s privacy and even be used as a tool for further repression.

A total of P25 billion is needed for the fiveyear completion of the project, according to National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). Currently, a P2 billion budget has already been allotted for the design of the system, even if the bill is still a step away from becoming a law.

Similar bills have been previously proposed even in the 1980s, but privacy and security issues hampered their passage. The same concerns are being raised by progressive lawmakers regarding the proposed Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act. “Sa isang administrasyon na tinatrato na kriminal ang nangangahas na magsalita, ang tumutol at magbigay ng pahayag hinggil sa mga patakarang nagpapahirap sa masang Pilipino, ang national ID system ay magiging dagdag bala para atakihin at gipitin ang lahat ng vocal dissenters,” said Kabataan Partylist representative Sarah Elago.

Security Issues In the approved version of House Bill 6221 and Senate Bill 1738, each citizen and resident alien will be assigned with a unique PhilSys number, which is necessary to streamline all

transactions for faster services.

The ID card would only contain a total of 13 basic information including the person's name, sex, address, birthday, birthplace, blood type, and marital status, along with a photo.

Although the provided information seems harmless, having this kind of system is dangerous because it could jeopardize the privacy of individuals, BAYAN secretarygeneral Renato Reyes said. “Pwede nilang gamitin ‘yan to monitor movements, or pwedeng ma-hack at mapunta sa third party [institutions],” he added.

But the National Privacy Commission assured that in implementing the project, the government will adhere to the provisions of the Data Privacy Act to ensure that no data breach will occur.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is the primary institution assigned to implement the national ID system. PSA systems are being operated by foreign information technology firm Unisys Corporation.

Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson encouraged the people not to fear the system, as the information contained in the national ID are essentially the same information already indicated in other government-issued cards.

However progressive groups cite that more than the threat it poses on people’s security, having this kind of system is actually more dangerous than it seems.

Oppressive Tool Elago, moreover, sees that having a national ID could subject marginalized

sectors to further oppression. “Sa pagkakaroon ng national ID, para tayong binalik sa panahon na sinakop tayo ng mga Kastila [kung saan] kapag wala kang ID o pagkakakilanlan, ikaw na agad ay pagsususpetyahan ng kung anu-anong mga bagay,” Elago said.

Just this first quarter of 2018, a total of 24 individuals were illegally arrested and detained while 37 more were illegally arrested without detention. If the national ID will be used for surveillance purposes, higher cases of rights violations are expected.

Around 7,000 bystanders were also arrested for loitering at night, even if there are no clear guidelines that policemen follow in conducting the arrests.

However, lawmakers supporting the passage of the bill maintained that the system will not be used as a tool against any individual or group. The proposed ID system is geared to give people ease through an efficient and transparent way of delivering services, which in turn would reduce corruption, as stated in the second section of SB 1738.

But in order to truly serve the people with their needs, Elago pointed out that the government should think of ways on how their services could reach far-flung areas instead of proposing a national ID system.

“Ang katotohanan, di naman kailangan ng mga kababayan natin [ang national ID]. Mas kailangan ang dagdag na ospital, eskwelahan, at social sevice center kung saan makakamit nila yung mga karapatan na dapat nilang natatamasa,” Elago said.

STRIKE BACK

FLASH NEWS

FLASH NEWS

Ombudsman prosecutor stabbed to death in broad daylight PAMELA ADRIANO AN ASSISTANT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR for the Office of the Ombudsman was stabbed to death in broad daylight on Monday, June 4, in Quezon City.

Ombudsman assistant special prosecutor Madonna Joy Ednaco-Tayag had just attended a court hearing at the Sandiganbayan when she was murdered in an alleged robbery incident around 11AM in front of a lottery outlet along Visayas Avenue in Barangay Vasra, Quezon City.

Tayag obtained three stab wounds which eventually led to her death.

The 33-year old prosecutor was also an alumna of UP Manila (UPM) and a former staffer of Manila Collegian, the official student publication of the university.

The initial investigation by the police claimed that the victim had to stop at Visayas Avenue after the hearing to buy something. After being shot, Tayag was said to be brought to East Avenue Medical

WANTED

National ID feared to risk security, intensify attacks on groups

Center by Barangay Kagawad Oliver Pascacio and Segundo Antenor, according to police reports.

Tayag was known for handling graft cases including the Malampaya fund scam where she became one of the prosecutors who took charge of the case, which involved the former budget secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and former agrarian reform chief Nasser Pangandaman. Other high-profile cases handled by Tayag involved former city mayors including the former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay.

Meanwhile, aside from Tayag’s case, there have been at least six other documented cases of killings of prosecutors in 2017 alone. The most recent case prior to Tayag’s was the murder of Quezon City Prosecutor Rogelio Velasquez, who was shot multiple times on May 11.

WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Umakyat lang sa Vinzons 401 at magdala ng bluebook.

LAURA ISABELLE C. DELA TORRE

Journalist shot dead in broad daylight in Davao PAMELA ADRIANO A DAVAO-BASED COMMUNITY journalist was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants around 1PM on June 7. This is the 11th recorded case of killings of journalists since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office, according to media alliance National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

Dennis Denora, a publisher of a community paper and former contributor of a publication in Davao, was shot twice in the head by unknown gunmen while seated at the passenger seat of his Hyundai Elantra parked at the national highway in Barangay New Pandan, Panabo City, Davao del Norte.

Prior to the incident, Denora attended a meeting of Davao Multimedia Group in Tagum City. He was with his driver, Mayonito Rivera, who survived the attack by running away but still sustained wounds on his right hand.

Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered three bullet shells and one .45 caliber pistol from the crime scene.

Panabo city police Officer-in-Charge Chief Inspector Frederic Deles said that Denora’s murder can be caused by his work in the media as a journalist. Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Joel Egco

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BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

in earlier reports said that a very influential politician could be behind Denora’s killing.

It was found out that Denora’s past articles were all criticizing Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who, according to him, promised P3 million pesos for each barangay during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections campaign period last month.

However, Alvarez strongly denied in a media interview any allegations of him causing the death of the veteran Davao journalist. He said he is not into killing people who are critical of him.

Recent reports say that authorities are now looking at five individuals who are possibly behind the murder of Denora. As of press time, investigators have yet to establish the identities of the suspects in the journalist’s murder case, according to Panabo City Police Station Commander Supt. Rimas Lambert.

Denora’s case was among the last of the more than 85 cases of recorded attacks against the media since Duterte became president.

Among the most recent cases of media killings recorded under the Duterte administration involved the radio broadcaster Edmund Sestoso who was shot also by motorcycleriding gunmen two days before the celebration of World Press Freedom Day.

Angelo*, 25, shows the injuries he sustained when police forces violently dispersed NutriAsia workers holding the picket line near the factory in Marilao Bulacan, June 19. NutriAsia workers have been calling for their regularization in the condiment-production facility, some of whom have spent years working as contractuals in the factory under poor working conditions. *Not his real name

The Personal is Political

How Women’s Narratives Reformed the Irish Constitution Article: Iya Gozum Page Design: Mark Verndick A. Cabading Illustration: Isaac Ramos

O N E of the most controversial issues the women are facing is abortion.

For many, it is a conversation best not opened up. Women around the world experience the same ordeal—the discrimination, internalized guilt and shame, and the institutionalized inaccessibility of abortion. Irish women are no exception. In Ireland, their law impedes the right of women to avail of abortion, resulting to deaths, health crises and economic immobility.

But now, the women of Ireland are fighting back.

The Irish people mobilized from the grassroots to make the necessary change in the Constitution. Members of the Citizens’ Assembly took part in discussions led by experts.

Groups and community organizers clarified misconceptions on abortion and circulated the harrowing stories of women with abortion. Active campaigning translated to an active and progressive voting participation.

On May 25, the people of Ireland voted to repeal the 8th Amendment which prohibits abortion in all cases. Women’s protest had won over the delay caused by Irish politicians to decide on the matter. Consequently, the protest also opened many opportunities for progressive reform.

Starting the Conversation Repealing the 8th Amendment in the Constitution of Ireland was a great feat for women’s struggle for liberation. After being held back by non-exclusion with the abortion act of Great Britain, and the heavy influence of the Church, they succeeded in campaigning for one of the most controversial issues that beset Irish women.

In 1983, the 8th Amendment was included to institutionalize the same, equal rights of the mother and the unborn child. The equal right of the unborn child had made all forms of abortion, and almost all reasons for abortion, unconstitutional and illegal.

The historic move was a big step forward which opened a lot of taboo and contended dialogues on the women’s struggles.

Becca Bor, activist from People Before Profit, a socialist political party in Ireland, observed, “The shame, stigma and secrecy that shroud thousands of women is being broken down through the Repeal campaign. An entire society is discussing abortion, choice and women’s health care.”

Opening these dialogues had created momentum for Ireland’s women’s movement. These dialogues had enjoined both men and women, democratic institutions, and the rest of the world. It sparked “accidental” activists—people who never imagined themselves meddling in political affairs.

These accidental activists are living proofs of the truth of the old feminist slogan, “The personal is political.” Their stories are what shaped and gave heart to the Repeal the 8th Movement. Being heard, receiving space and platform, and incurring change through the personal narratives of women, is an exercise of democracy at best, a characteristic of the power of the feminist movement.

Dialogue of the Deaf Ireland’s deliberative democracy—capacitating the people to deliberate of sensitive and important matters such as a change in the Constitution— had rightfully served the interests of the women’s movement. Part of the goal to capacitate people are grassroots organizing and door-to-door campaigning which were initiated by various groups to make people decide on an informed vote.

This is in contrast with the process in Brexit where the parliament, supposedly representing the people, voted to leave the European Union. In Ireland, the stories of women matter. Women are treated with hostility in public hospitals. Women are forced to keep the unborn child despite of rape. These are the stories that laid foundation for genuine participation, and paved way to the repeal of the 8th Amendment.

In the Philippines, the numbers show the same cases, if not worse. According to the Philippine Safe Abortion and Advocacy Network (Pinsan), in 2012, more than 100,000 women were hospitalized, and more than 1,000 women die each year due to unsafe abortions.

Despite these prevalent injustices and violations against women’s right to choose, the Philippines posed a deafening silence on the issue of abortion.

Director of UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UP CWGS) Nathalie Africa-Verceles lamented, “We are still not ready to talk about abortion.” Verceles cited instances in community work when they tiptoe around the topic, and even the word itself, because people had already conjured a gruesome image of abortion.

Even the country’s seeming greatest achievement in the broad campaign for women’s reproductive rights had fallen short when it comes to abortion. The passed Reproductive Health (RH) Law did not prescribe abortion, instead, it proscribed it. The RH Law “recognizes that abortion is illegal and punishable by law,” perpetuating the stigmatized attitude and the criminalization of abortion.

Activists and advocate groups had already fought tooth and nail to pass a watered-down RH Law, battling the Church, conservative politicians and groups. The campaign for safe and legal abortion is expecting many more contending factions before its realization.

Breaking the Silence The initial success of the feminist movement and deliberative democracy in Ireland brings hope to women’s movements across the world, even in our own conservative country.

Yet this will not prove an easy task, especially under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. His dismissal of comfort women, the coercion of kissing women during presidential events, his remarks against women in the government, and the support of his followers, show that any legislative efforts may be deemed immoral, and even wrong.

But in a distorted way, Verceles said that having a misogynist president had actually sparked the debate again regarding controversial women issues. And it is with starting the dialogue that the campaign can enjoin potential advocates and “accidental” activists.

From talking about specific issues such as abortion, to the whole patriarchal system, the conversation can run free.

She stressed the importance of Gender Sensitivity Trainings. “We need to understand at the very basic, unequal gender relations. Everything emanates from that. Only then will you be able to appreciate the need for women to have control over their bodies and their lives.”

Simultaneous with raising critical awareness, there is a continuous effort to engage legislative bodies to decriminalize abortion in the Philippines. Groups such as EnGendeRights utilize impact litigation to effect change and policies pertaining to accessibility to safe and legal abortion.

The Ireland referendum may be a far-fetched dream in an impoverished and conservative country. But if there is one thing that the referendum imparted to the world, it is that the women’s movement’s agenda—however specific— challenges the patriarchal system to its core. The laws of the land, the standing religious beliefs that influence political ideologies, are tested by the more progressive and more democratic feminist outlook.

If the Ireland referendum taught us anything, it is that real democracy can create progressive waves. Real, from their experience, means enabling and rightly informing the people, and trusting them to decide on matters that will affect them.

With this pushing forward legalization of abortion, marriage equality, decent and equal wages, are much more possible. Through genuine democracy, the feminist agenda wins: an egalitarian and more humane environment, where the woman holds full autonomy of her body and her participation in societal matters.

BIYERNES 22 HUNYO2018

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LAT H LAT HA LAIN

Kinabukasan nasa kamay mo* MARVIN ANG

PALAGI KO SIYANG NAKIKITA SA MGA rali, pati na rin sa mga klasrum, naglilibot at nag-iimbita sa mga gaganaping pagkilos.

Minsan ko na rin siyang nakita sa TV, nagpupuyos ang damdamin sa pagsigaw ng panawagan laban sa batas militar sa Mindanao habang marahas na kinakaladkad ng mga guwardiya palabas ng plenaryo.

Ito na ang imaheng namuo sa utak ko tungkol kay Randy**, kaya’t laking gulat ko nang makausap ko siya at malamang malumanay naman pala siyang magsalita.

Bagaman marahan, mababakas sa kaniyang boses ang tapang at sikhay ng ilang taon nang aktibistang handang ialay ang kaniyang lakas sa bayan.

Ngunit sa likod ng matapang at matalinong aktibista ay isang kabataang pinupuspos ng labis na kontradiksyon. Hindi katulad natin, lansangan ang kaniyang silid-aralan, pader ang pisara, at kaniyang guro ang kasaysayan. Kamag-aral niya ang bawat taong nakakasalamuha, at ang kaniyang pagsusulit ay desisyong magpatuloy sa ginagawa– at nasa kaniya ang desisyon kung papasa o hindi.

Kung may mapapalad na aktibistang tanggap ng mga magulang ang piniling landas, hindi siya isa sa mga iyon. Kaarawan ng tatay niya nang aminin niyang wala na siyang interes sa pag-aaral at plano na niyang maging “full time” na aktibista. Sinubukan man siyang pigilin, wala na ring nagawa ang pamilya niya.

At totoo namang hindi madaling desisyon ang piliing magpatuloy. Araw-araw mo itong gagawin sa kabila ng marahas na lipunang binabansagang subersibo o walang mararating sa buhay ang mga kabataang katulad niya. Ngunit kung siya ang tatanungin kung ano ang inspirasyon niya sa pagpapatuloy, isa lang ang kaniyang sagot– ang masa.

Elementarya pa lamang, isinususog na sa ating isipang malaki ang maiaambag natin sa lipunan kung mag-

KUL TU RA

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BIYERNES 23 PEBRERO 2017

aaral tayo nang mabuti. Kaya nga isinusubsob ang mga estudyante sa sandamakmak na libro at maya’t mayang pagsusulit, sa pagaakalang natatago sa pagitan ng mga libro ang hiyas ng edukasyon.

Ngunit itinuturo rin sa atin na hindi lamang nakukulong sa loob ng paaralan ang pagkatuto. Ayon nga kay Paulo Fraire, labis na nawawalan ng potensyal ang mga mag-aaral bilang tagapaghatid ng pagbabago sa daigdig kung tanggap lamang sila ng tanggap nang walang aksyon.

Kung gayon, malaki ang kahingiang basagin ang mitong tagasalok lamang ng impormasyon ang kabataan. Mahalaga ang mahigpit na pagkakabigkis ng teorya at pagsasapraktika nito.

Kailangan din nating matutunang sa lansangan nililikha at iginuguhit ang kasaysayan, hindi sa masisikip na espasyo ng silid-aralan. Kaya’t hamon ni Randy sa bawat kabataan ang lumabas at kumilos para sa panlipunang pagbabago. “Ang kinakailangan ay basagin ang pagtingin na sapat nang malaman nila kung anong nagaganap sa lipunan natin. Ang pinakamahalaga talaga ay kumilos... dahil mayroon siyang malaking potensyal para isagawa ang mga pagkilos na ito.”

Kaya sa tuwing nakikita ko siya, lagi’t lagi akong dinadalaw ng aking mga agamagam kung paano nga ba mababago ng mga kabataang katulad niya ang bulok na sistema.

Totoo nga ba ang sinabi ni Mao Zedong na ang pag-asa ng sangkatauhan ay nasa balikat ng mga kabataan?

Saka ko napagtanto, bata rin ang ating mga bayani nang inumpisahan nila ang rebolusyon; 26 lamang si Rizal nang isulat niya ang Noli Me Tangere at 30 si Bonifacio nang itatag niya ang Katipunan. Kaya’t kampante akong kabataan pa rin ang babago sa bayan. * pasintabi sa Alay Sining ** hindi tunay na pangalan

Natapos na ang lahat*

Sablay ng Tagumpay

SHEILA ABARRA

MARVIN ANG

NANDITO PA RIN SA DORM ANG LAHAT ng mga gamit mo pero desidido ka nang umuwi. Nagmamadali, marami kang naiwan, nakayukong maglakad, nag-deactivate ka’t di na mag-oonline. Pagkauwi, umiiwas sa bawat tingin, tuluy-tuloy sa kwarto, masusundan ka pa kaya hanggang dito? Mapapaupo, alam mong di ka makakapagtago, di makakatakbo, pwera na lang kung mayroon kang spaceship, pwera na lang kung mayroon kang magic.

Pero wala. Hindi ka mamartsa ngayong taon. Kaya gagapangin ka na lang ng mga dahilan: kinulang sa pera, panahon, motibasyon, pasensya. Sa lahat ng kulang, higit pa rito ang dahilan at epekto ng pagka-delay.

Pwede kang magsimula sa pagkwestiyon, tutal ay marami ka na namang panahon—isa pang taon, siguro.

Kung saan mo ibinatay ang iyong planong mula rito sa iyong pag-gradweyt hanggang sa bawat maliit na bagay tulad ng saan ka maghahapunan mamaya, hindi ikaw ang makakasagot. Pwede nating tanungin sa nagtakda ng pamantayan—dapat kang mag-aral hanggang kolehiyo, magtrabaho, magpamilya, at mamatay.

Kung paano nabuo ang istandardisadong pamumuhay, isa sa mga pangunahing tanong kaugnay nito ay para saan. Pwedeng para sa’yo, at sa paglaya mo sa bawat yugto ng buhay na plakado na sa listahan ng tamang pamumuhay.

Kung gayon, ang lohika ng pagpaplano ay isang kompromiso; hindi malaya, nangungutya.

Kumbakit di mo natupad ang iyong pinlanong bilang ng taong itatagal sa unibersidad, ito’y dahil wala ka namang kapangyarihang planuhin ang mga sabjek na iyong kukunin sa bawat semestre, gawing libre ang matrikula, makapasok sa mga dormitoryo ng pamantasan para mura.

Malinaw na hindi mo kontrolado ang kondisyon sa paligid mo, kung gayon, kailangan mong bawiin ang kontrol, hindi magpaanod dito. At kung ganito na ang sitwasyon, ang kompromiso sa pagpaplano ay dapat maibaling papunta sayo.

Ito ang iyong panibagong plano. Hindi na ito bago sa iba, tulad no’ng kaklase mong hindi na pumasok para magrali o mamundok; doon siya dinala ng kaniyang plano. Ngayong

magbabago na ng akademikong taon, pwedeng-pwede mong ipagpatuloy ang iyong planong magtapos.

Nasa dorm pa rin naman ang mga gamit mo at 'pag Sabado o Linggo ay pwede ka namang umuwi. Huwag magmadali dahil sa bawat hakbang ay palagi ka namang may maiiwan.

Patuloy lang ang paglalakad, at pag-scroll sa iyong Facebook saka magbigay ng pagbati sa mga kakilala mong nagtagumpay sa pagsablay.

Hindi mo kailangang umiwas ng tingin, dahil marami ka pang kailangang harapin. Sa panahong lumalala ang sitwasyon sa loob at labas ng pamantasan, mas dapat kang maging matatag, mas dapat kang magpaka-Iskolar ng Bayan.

Tuluy-tuloy at sulong hanggang magtagpo kayo sa gitna ng entablado. Magkakasandig ang balikat, iisa ang winiwika, nakataas ang kamao, pati ba naman dito? Sasagutin ito ng inyong mga panawagan sa akademikong pagtatapos; silang naka-sablay, at ikaw na matibay.

Magagalak, epektibo ang ganitong balak.

Balang-araw, ikaw naman ang sasablay, o ‘di kaya, sa lansangan o kung saan patuloy na makikibaka. Balang-araw, wala nang hihiling sumakay sa spaceship para lumayo, yuyuko, tutulala sa mundo. *pasintabi sa Hale

NAPAKIBIT-BALIKAT NA LANG SI REGIE, sabay sindi ng yosi. Wala na naman ang pangalan niya sa listahan ng mga nakapasa sa removals, at isa lang ang ibig sabihin nito – kukunin na naman niya sa pang-apat na pagkakataon ang subject na ‘yon. Tila hindi na sapat ang paglaklak ng kopiko 78 at gabigabing pagpupuyat para mairaos ang acads niya. Kaya nang tanungin ko kung ayos lang ba siya, kumibitbalikat lang ulit siya, sabay buga ng usok.

Kuwento ng roommate niya sa dorm, lasing na lasing siyang umuwi at nakatulala lang. Hindi naman niya magawang umuwi sa kanila, dahil hindi niya rin alam kung papaano ipapaliwanag sa pinakasimpleng paraan ang sitwasyon niya sa kaniyang pamilya.

Kapareho ng sitwasyon ni Regie ang isa pa naming kaibigang si Daisy. Graduating na sana siya ngayong sem, pero labas-masok siya sa ospital nitong mga nakaraang buwan at hingalin man siya’y hindi niya na maihahabol ang mga papel at iba pang mga rekisito sa klase.

Dalawang mukha lamang ito ng kasalukuyang nararanasan ng mga mag-aaral sa loob ng UP. Kung nakakapagsalita lamang ang mga pader ng gusali, kaya nitong magkuwento ng isang libo’t isang salaysay ng patago at pigil na hikbi, pagkapagal, at paulit-ulit na pagbangon. Lahat, sa ngalan ng kapirasong papel na diploma, at ang karangalang maisabit sa balikat ang sablay ng tagumpay.

Pero para saan? Pangarap ng bawat kabataang Pilipino, mayaman man o mahirap, na makapag-aral sa

LAYA PARA SA PAGLAYA

UP. Nakagawian na ngang biro ang “UP and others,” na para bang UP lang ang natatanging unibersidad sa buong bansa. Kaya nga noong nakaraang taon, napabalita ang mag-amang magsasaka mula sa Samar na tumungo pa sa Tacloban para kumuha ng pagsusulit, sa pag-aakalang walk-in exam ang UPCAT. Dahil espesyal at piling-pili lamang ang nakakapasok, wala raw lugar ang unibersidad para sa mga itinuturing na “mediocre.” Kamakailan lamang, lumikha ng ingay ang pagpapahayag ng isang mag-aaral ng UP ng kaniyang saloobin hinggil sa mga estudyanteng “pumapasa” lang.

Diumano, nag-aaksaya lang at hindi dapat pinupuri ang ganitong mga mag-aaral.

Kung kilala lang sana niya si Regie at Daisy, at iba pang kabataang napagkaitan ng pagkakataong makapagaral sa UP, malalaman niyang ang di-pagkakapantay pantay sa lipunan ang tunay na may sala, hindi ang mga estudyante. Dahil dito, hindi rin pantay-pantay ang pagkakataong makapasok sa unibersidad, maging ang mismong mga mag-aaral nito.

Sa katotohanan, unti-unti nang nawawala ang pagiging pambansang pamantasan ng UP. Naging eksklusibo ang pag-aaral dito para sa mga may kakayanang magbayad, at ang pagiging “makamasa” at pampublikong institusyon nito ay unti-unti na ring nawawala. Pinapaniwala nito na ang layunin lamang ng edukasyon ay ihanda ang mag-aaral sa pagpasok niya sa “tunay na mundo”—ang pagpain sa sarili sa mga malalaking kompanya para sa kakarampot na sahod.

Kaya para saan ang tagumpay kung sablay naman sa tunay na layunin ng pagiging iskolar ng bayan?

Nananatiling hamon sa unibersidad ang pagbasag sa sariling-likhang toreng garing, at pangatawanan ang mandatong maging tunay na “pamantasan ng bayan.”

Dahil higit pa sa matataas na grado, ang tunay na tatakUP ay ang kakayahang makapagsilbi sa sambayanang pinagkakautangan niya ng edukasyon.

Tapos na ang semestre, at unti-unti nang namumukadkad ang mga mirasol sa kahabaan ng University Avenue. Nasa ulirat na ulit si Regie at ayos na rin ang lagay ng kalusugan ni Daisy. Baka mapagpasyahan na rin naming mag-selfie kasama si Oble. Ano pa ba’ng mawawala sa amin?

Aalis tayo sa tunay na mundo* SANNY BOY D. AFABLE NAGALIT ANG NANAY NANG PUMASOK kang gusot ang kuwelyo. Pinatawag ka ng guro nang hindi itim ang suot mong medyas. Binagsak ka ng propesor dahil nahuli ka sa pagpasa ng papel sa klase. Hindi ka pa rin sigurado kung bakit ngunit iisa ang lagi nilang dahilan—hindi ganito ang tamang asal sa labas ng tahanan at paaralan, sa tunay na mundo.

Puspos ang bawat pagtatapos ng napakaraming posibilidad at mga pangarap. Kung ipapaguhit ang kinabukasang naghihintay sayo, marahil ay ilalarawan mo ang isang malamig na opisina, kung saan ka naka-dekwatrong nagkakape katabi ng samu’t saring papeles. Plantsado ang iyong magarang Amerikana o bestida, tama ang kulay ng iyong medyas, at maaga mong matatapos ang trabaho. Lahat ng ito habang ikaw ay nakangiti.

Bakit hindi? Higit isang dekada kang sinanay sa paaralan para sa tamang etika sa totoong mundo. Inoorasan ang bawat pagsusulit dahil inaasahan kang mag-isip nang mabilis—"to work under pressure” ang madalas nilang bukambibig.

Sa paaralan, batayan ng iyong pagkatao ang iyong gawi sa loob ng klasrum—markado sa report card ang dami ng beses na ikaw ay lumiban, na-late, o naging pasaway, dahil kung ikaw ay nasa pabrika tulad ng NutriAsia, may umento sa sahod ang bawat pagkakamali.

Maiksi ang pasensya ng totoong mundo. Dogeat-dog world, ika nga, kung kaya isinabong ka ng iyong mga magulang para manalong first honor sa klase. De-numero ang lipunang iyong ginagalawan, kaya ang tanging batayan ng kahusayan ay ang dami ng uno na iyong natamo.

Masikip at nakasasakal kung iisipin, subalit ganito ka hinubog sa loob ng tahanan at paaralan;

hindi para baguhin ang mundo, kundi tanggapin kung ano ito—propesyunal, pinatatakbo ng kapital, at pinagmamay-arian ng iilang indibidwal.

Tinawag itong “capitalist realism” ng kritikong si Mark Fisher. Ayon kay Fisher, ito ang paniniwalang wala nang ibang alternatibo sa sistemang pinaiikot ng kita at kapital, kung kaya maging ang edukasyon ay itinuturing bilang isang negosyo, isang “investment” gaya ng madalas nilang sabihin. Dahil tinuruan tayong tanggapin ang ideolohiyang ito, ang tanging rekurso ay kompetisyon para manatili sa “tunay” na mundo.

Samakatuwid, batay sa ideolohiyang ito, mas madali pang isipin ang katapusan ng mundo tulad sa mga pelikula kaysa sa pagwawakas ng kapitalismo, ayon kay Fisher. Dagdag niya, may seryosong implikasyon ang capitalist realism sa indibidwal nating buhay, tulad ng kung paanong “pribatisado” na maging ang depresyon o stress sa trabaho—at hindi resulta ng diskriminasyon o pananamantala.

Katangian ng capitalist realism na palabasing katawa-tawa o hunghang ang anumang tangkang baguhin ang lipunan sa pamamagitan ng kolektibong pagkilos. Kung kaya may ibang halaga ang paulit-ulit na panawagan sa bawat magsisipagtapos—paglingkuran ang sambayanan.

Sa kabila ng nagbabagong karakter ng UP, laging hinahamon ang mga mag-aaral nito na maging kritikal sa umiiral na realidad, at makisangkot sa pagbabago ng mundo.

Dahil kung ilalarawan mo ang kinabukasang naghihintay sayo, kahihiyan ang manatili lamang sa malamig at komportableng opisina, nakadekuwatrong hinihintay ang katapusan ng mundo. * pasintabi sa Mayonnaise

MATAPOS LUMAYA SA UNIBERSIDAD, ang paglaya ng bayan naman ang iyong pagpupuyatan, iiyakan at higit, igigiit; kasama ng iyong pamilya, ng mga manggagawa, magsasaka at lahat ng kagaya mong nakakulong pa rin sa mapaniil na sistema.

Kung hindi ka kabilang sa sasablay ngayong taon, hindi ka naman mauubusan ng pagkakataon--bumawi, magmuni-muni at magsuri.

DIBUHO NI JOHN KENNETH ZAPATA DISENYO NG PAHINA NI RICHARD CORNELIO

Bida ang Kita!

THE POWERFUL ARE NOW TREMBLING at the increasing number of Filipino workers coming out of the dirtiest, harshest, and most concealed areas of production.

The Philippine Collegian stands in solidarity with the workers of Middleby Phils., Inc. in Binan, Laguna; Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction in Subic, Zambales; Coca-Cola Femsa Phils., Inc. in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Uni-Pak Sardines in Navotas City; Pepsi Cola Phils.

Products, Inc. in Muntinlupa City; NutriAsia, Inc. in Marilao, Bulacan; Nissin Monde Corporation; Jollibee Foods Corporation; and other companies nationwide.

MJ PAEZ-EVORA & MARK VERNDICK CABADING

MAAGA ANG SIMULA NG BAWAT araw ni Manuel*. Bumabangon siya bago mag-alas sais upang maghanda sa kanyang araw-araw na trabaho bilang isang dry picker. Maghapon siyang nagbubuhat ng mga kahon ng sari-saring sangkap na ipinapadala sa iba’t-ibang panig ng bansa.

Sa kabila ng buong araw niyang pagbabanat ng buto, hindi sapat ang kinikita ni Manuel upang buhayin ang kanyang pamilya. Mayroon siyang anak na pinag-aaral sa kolehiyo at ang isa namang anak ay naabutan ng K-12.

Maliban pa rito, walang benepisyong nakukuha si Manuel mula sa kumpanyang pinagtatrabahuan gawa ng kanyang estado bilang manggagawang kontraktwal.

“Nakakalungkot isipin iyong mga manggagawa na haligi ng ekonomiya ay siyang salat sa benepisyo [at] hindi makatugon kahit man lang sa mga batayang pangangailangan,” ani Manuel.

Isa lamang si Manuel sa 400 na manggagawang kontraktwal sa Jollibee Food Worldwide Logistics (JFWL), ang pinakamalaking bodega ng mga sangkap at produkto ng Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC). Ngunit gaano man kalaki ang papel ng mga gaya ni Manuel sa pang-araw-araw na operasyon ng JFC, hindi nila ramdam ang ibinibidang saya ng pagiging isang regular na empleyado.

Dagdag pasanin rin sa mga kontraktwal na gaya ni Manuel ang hindi pagsagot ng JFC sa mga gastusing hinihingi ng trabaho gaya ng uniporme. Maging ang mga delivery boy ng Jollibee ay nagbabayad para sa gamit sa motorsiklo at gasolina.

Sa tala ng Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) noong Abril, may utang ang JFC na P464,012 sa 47 empleyado nito bilang refund sa mga nirentahang motorsiklo.

“Anumang pangangailangan ng mga manggagawa, provided dapat lahat ng mga employer pero nakakadismaya na hindi pino-provide [ng Jollibee] itong mga batayang pangangailangan ng mga manggagawa para magampanan ang trabaho,” ani Ed Cubelo, Pangedukasyong Opisyal ng Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Laban sa Kontraktwalisasyon (AlMaKon).

Bukod pa rito, napag-alaman din ng DOLE na may isinasagawang mga ilegal na koleksyon ang JFC sa porma ng mga kooperatiba at paluwagan na umaabot sa P15 milyon. Sa pananaw ni Adonis, nangyayari ang mga anomalyang ito dahil alam ng JFC na hindi tatanggi ang mga aplikanteng malaki ang pangangailangan sa trabaho. “Kapag kontraktwal ka, hindi ka pwedeng magreklamo. Kapag nagreklamo, madali lang sa kanilang tanggalin ka,” ani Adonis.

#KwentongJollibee Isa ang Jollibee sa mga pinakamayamang kumpanya sa buong bansa. Mayroong mahigit 1,000 Jollibee stores hindi lamang sa loob ng bansa kundi maging sa Vietnam, Hong Kong, Kuwait, at Estados Unidos. JFC rin ang humahawak ng malalaking fast food chains gaya ng Chowking, Greenwich, at Mang Inasal.

Ngunit sa kabila ng higanteng kitá ng JFC, nananatiling kontraktwal ang kalakhan sa mga empleyado nito.

Ayon sa Secretary-General ng Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) na si Jerome Adonis, paraan ng mga kumpanya ang kontraktwalisasyon upang magkamal ng mas malaki pang tubó. Sa hindi pagturing ng kumpanya sa mga manggagawang kontraktwal bilang sariling empleyado, nakakaiwas ang mga kumpanyang kagaya ng JFC mula sa tungkuling magkaloob ng mga benepisyong dapat ay responsibilidad nila sa mga empleyado.

Si Manuel ay isang kontraktwal mula sa ahensyang Toplis Solution Incorporated. Sumasahod lamang siya ng minimum wage o P512 kada araw.

Malayo ito sa nakabubuhay na sahod na tinatayang nasa P978 kada araw ayon sa Ibon Foundation, isang malayang institusyon sa pananaliksik. Ayon kay Manuel, madalas nilang isinasangla ang kanilang mga ATM card para lamang makaraos araw-araw.

Dama ang Paghihirap Para kay Manuel, nagpapatuloy ang kontraktwalisasyon gawa ng iskema ng sabwatan ng kumpanya, ahensya, at gobyerno. Nagsisilbing instrumento ang mga ahensya upang putulin ang direktang ugnayan ng mga manggagawa sa kumpanya.

Sa kasalukuyang Batas Paggawa, makikita sa Artikulo 106 ang pagkilala sa mga responsibilidad ng kinokontratang ahensya. Kinakailangang nakarehistro ito sa DOLE, may kakayahang bayaran ang mga manggagawa, at kayang patakbuhin ang buong ahensya.

Ayon kay Adonis, ang nakikitang suliranin dito ay tinutulungan nitong pagmukhaing regular ang mga manggagawa sa pamamagitan ng pagiging regular sa ahensya kahit wala silang benepisyo mula sa kanilang kumpanya. Wala pa rin silang karapatang magtayo ng unyon at lumikha ng Collective Bargaining Agreement, isang kasunduan sa pagitan ng kumpanya at mga manggagawa hinggil sa sahod at benepisyo.

Bilang tugon sa problema, nilagdaan ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ang Department Order 174 at Executive Order 51 na naglalayong wakasan ang kontraktwal na paggawa. Subalit hindi pa rin nito tinuturol ang ugat ng problema sa kawalan ng employer-employee

LAT HA LAIN

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BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2017

In these business enclaves thrive narratives that reflect the growing resistance of workers against inhumane labor conditions and policies in the country.

The capitalists’ brazen indifference to the legitimate demands of protesting workers, if not the outright use of brute force to muzzle dissent, should thus be decried in strongest terms. Violence, often state-sanctioned, precludes necessary engagement in the laborers’ struggle to free themselves of their shackles.

End contractualization now! Support our workers!

Blood in Our Condiments*

Labor Exploitation at NutriAsia's Production Line

RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

TO MAKE LECHON SAUCE, YOU need not only pork liver, bread crumbs, sugar, and spices, but someone oppressed to mix them. Arnel* knew this, rising before sunup to slave over tanks full of sauce to be packed into at least 91,200 bottles of Mang Tomas.

For 12 to 16 hours every working day, he had stuck it out as a contractual for 15 years — until the morning he realized he no longer had to.

On June 2, an hour before dawn, Arnel joined more than 500 workers of NutriAsia in Marilao, Bulacan to cobble together slabs of timber and sawn-off bamboos in front of the factory’s gates.

By the time the security guards were about to let out the trucks bearing perishable goods, the barricades had been raised, a picket line stationed, and the operations of a multibillion-peso corporation paralyzed.

The protesters stood unfazed on the frontlines, even when, twelve days later, some of them nursed bloodied heads, contused arms, and burst lips in the face of police brutality. They knew that in their defiance they could lose everything but would gain nothing better than their paltry wages should they stay on in NutriAsia.

For while operation risks are shifted away from NutriAsia via flexible job arrangements, the workers have to contend with a string of expiring contracts and mechanisms of merely making do. “Masarap, masaya, basta NutriAsia,” touts the company in its advertisements, but the stories behind the production line beg to differ.

relationship at panawagan para gawing illegal ang iskema ng kontraktwalisasyon.

Sa katunayan, nagamit pa ng JFC ang DO 174 upang umapela sa utos ng DOLE na kailangan na nitong iregularisa ang kanyang 6,482 na manggagawang kontraktwal. Nakasaad sa DO 174 na maaaring maging regular ang mga manggagawa sa kani-kanilang ahensya.

Dahil dito, maaaring ipasa ng JFC ang regularisasyon ng mga manggagawa sa mga ahensyang gaya ng Toplis.

Gayunpaman, hindi rin sapat ang utos ng DOLE sapagkat sa tala ng Defend Job Philippines, mahigit kumulang 29,000 pa rin ang kontraktwal sa JFC. Mula Noon, Hanggang Ngayon Hindi natatapos sa regularisasyon ng ilang manggagawa ang laban ng mga kagaya ni Manuel. Patunay lamang sila sa mahigpit na pangangailangan sa batas na magsisiguro sa trabaho at benepisyo ng mga manggagawa.

Ayon sa mga unyon gaya ng KMU, patuloy sila sa pag-akda ng mga panukalang batas na magwawakas sa anumang anyo ng kontraktwalisasyon mula noong mailuklok sa pwesto si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.

Gayunpaman, patuloy pa rin ang umiiral na iskema ng kontaktwalisasyon sa bansa sa kabila ng mga pangako ng pangulo na wakasan ito.

Itinuturing naman ni Manuel ang laban kontra kontraktwalisasyon bilang laban kontra neoliberalismo. Gawa ng kontraktwalisasyon kung saan sa halip na naipamamahagi ang kita sa mga trabahador sa anyo ng benepisyo, nagkakaroon ng kalayaan ang mga kumpanya upang kumita ng mas malaki na siyang nagiging batayan ng pag-unlad.

Nasasalamin ang ganitong pagturing sa pag-unlad sa ideya ng neoliberalismo, ayon sa sosyolohistang si Jane Collins.

Hindi lamang sa JFC namamayani ang ganitong sistema. Dahil sa sistemang ekonomiko na umiiral sa buong mundo, patuloy ang mga kumpanya sa paghahanap ng murang paggawa na nagsisiguro ng mas mataas na kita.

“Inililigaw nila ang mga manggagawa, kasi gusto nilang ipalabas na endo lang [ang kontraktwalisasyon] kahit napakarami ang porma [nito]. Hindi nila sinasapul ang kahalagahan ng employeeemployer relationship na nawawala dahil sa kontrakwalisasyon,” ani Manuel.

Sa kasalukuyan, patuloy sina Manuel sa kampanya para sa regularisasyon ng lahat ng mga kontraktwal ng JFC. Matitikman lamang nina Manuel ang sayang ipinagmamalaki ng Jollibee kapag tuluyan nang naibahagi sa kanila ang nararapat na benepisyong natatamasa ng bawat regular na manggagawa.

Top of the Food Chain The workers knew they were facing off with a giant. Reaching P16.8 billion in total assets in 2015, NutriAsia, Inc. is well-known for such brands as Mang Tomas, Datu Puti, UFC, and Happy Fiesta. It is owned by Filipino-Chinese mogul Joselito Campos, Jr., who is also the CEO of Del Monte Foods, Inc. and a director of San Miguel Corporation, one of the largest local conglomerates.

In order to run 35 production lines in Bulacan, NutriAsia contracts over 1,400 workers from agencies like B-Mirk Enterprises, which was among those that DOLE found engaged in labor-only contracting in February. NutriAsia failed to comply with DOLE’s order to regularize 914 contractuals, most of whom had been working there for over a decade, and instead fired 75 more in May. “Sa pagpapanatili na maliit lang ang bilang ng mga regular, nakokontrol ni Campos ang mga instrumento ng produksyon – ang mga manggagawa na kaya niyang gutumin at kulangan ng sahod at benepisyo," said Elmer

*hindi tunay na pangalan DIBUHO NI PATRICIA LOUISE POBRE DISENYO NG PAHINA NI RICHARD C. CORNELIO

Labog, Chairperson of national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

Contractualization, thus, not only widens income inequality but also undermines legal protection for collective bargaining and labor rights.

For each day that the picket upsets the plant’s operations, NutriAsia loses P27 million, said Jessie Gerola, president of Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng NutriAsia, Inc. (NMNAI), the union that led the strike.

“Hindi ko alam hanggang kailan kami rito. Kung isang buwan kaming ayaw kausapin ng management, isang buwan din kami rito,” said Arnel, 44, who had slept in one of the makeshift tents set up near the barricade for consecutive nights, making sure the products they had belabored would not slip past the gates.

Dirty Kitchen NutriAsia contractuals are often told they are replaceable, despite the hard knocks they endure on the job.

The only good thing he got here, Arnel said, was his wife Lea whom he met in NutriAsia in 2003.

She slapped product labels on the bottles into which the sauce he cooked was poured. They stole glances at each other at work and small talk during their 25-minute breaks. Together, they strove to meet the target quota and finish yet another quota till the end of their shift.

Overworked and underpaid, Lea eventually decided to quit. Fifteen years later, Arnel still earned a meager P380-daily wage, with few benefits. For example, the P450-health insurance he paid for monthly covered only checkups. He knew one colleague who got her arm squeezed between two rollers and had to pay P60,000 to remunerate NutriAsia’s expenses for her treatment.

NutriAsia boasts of a zero-accident workplace. Yet, given insufficient protective gear, Arnel once got scalded by Mang Tomas boiled at 110-degree Celsius. "In-interview ako ng supervisor,” he said. “Ang sabi sa’kin, 'Pre, anong nangyari d’yan? Ba't di ka nag-iingat? Matatanggal ka sa ginagawa mong 'yan, e.'”

Apart from occupational health and safety hazards, contractuals also suffer from wage freezes and pay-cuts, say, for their coveralls and their Christmas party.

These concerns figured in Arnel’s decision to join NMNAI, which was registered at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on April 13. But in a move that could amount to union-busting per the Labor Code, the management dismissed five of the union leaders.

The reaction was as swift as it was fierce. At first one, then another, then

almost everyone on the production floor was applauding and whooping to show solidarity with the dismissed workers. It lasted only 30 seconds, Arnel recounted, but it was enough to register their dissent.

Cooking up a Storm That the assertion of the workers’ rights was soon met with violence demonstrates the collusion between big businesses and state forces to repudiate legitimate demands.

At least 300 police personnel came on the 12th day of strike to breach the 50-meter distance from the picket line.

They collapsed the camps where the strikers stayed to stave off rain. Whose interests the police meant to serve and protect became ever clearer as they went on to maul with truncheons the workers who huddled together on the flooded ground to shield their ranks.

A senior-high student covering the dispersal was beat and dragged off into a police car. He and 22 others, including protesters and a paralegal, were taken to police stations, while four were rushed to the hospital.

NutriAsia management, in a statement, described the clash as “regrettable” and blamed the B-Mirk group for illegal labor practices. It is in this instance that arms-length labor contracting, besides maximizing profits, further distances NutriAsia from accusations of rights violations.

Moreover, KMU slammed the government’s complicity in victimizing workers due to its inaction, through DOLE, to hold exploitative companies like NutriAsia accountable and to end all forms of contractualization as vowed by the president at the outset.

“Lalong lalo na sa kalagayan ngayon na rumaragasa na ang TRAIN law sa kabuhayan ng manggagawa, kagyat din ang pangagailangan na itaas sa P750 'yung sahod nila,” said Labog.

Unless the administration begins to view labor issues in light of the uneven development in rural and urban spaces, unjust working conditions will persist, Labog added. National industrialization should, then, complement the push for workers’ protection to create stable jobs for the growing populace and ultimately alleviate social precarity.

After all, to make any industry efficient, you need not only warehouses, machineries, and equipment, but a worker who does not have to join a picket to be heard, who does not have to get burnt cooking a product that delights all but its makers. * Apologies to Joan Didion ** Not their real names BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

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LAT HA LAIN

BANTAY-SALAKAY Pulitika ng Espasyo sa Kilusang Occupy Pabahay SANNY BOY D. AFABLE

NANG GANAPIN ANG MISS Universe sa Pilipinas noong 1974, nagtatayugang mga pader ang ipinatayo ni Imelda Marcos para takpan ang daang-libong mga “iskwater” sa Maynila. Animo’y dumi kung ikubli at ikahiya ang mga maralitang taga-lungsod, tulad ng pagtago noon ng administrasyong Benigno Aquino III sa mga palaboy upang maging mas presentable ang bansa sa mga dayuhang mamumuhunan.

Habang pinagsisiksikan ang tagibang na pag-unlad sa kapital ng bansa, patuloy na hinahanap ng higit apat na milyong iskwater at libulibong pamilyang walang tirahan ang kanilang espasyo sa lungsod. Kung kaya napataas ng kilay ang ilan at nasindak ang pamahalaan nang samasamang okupahan ng mga miyembro ng Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) ang mga nakatiwangwang na yunit ng pabahay ng National Housing Authority (NHA).

Ang okupasyon sa Rodriguez, Rizal ang pinakabago sa mga “pagsalakay” ng Kadamay, kung gagamitin ang paglalarawang ginamit sa mga balita.

Tinawag ng estado na anarkismo ang kilusang Occupy Pabahay, inakusahang kriminal at magnanakaw ang Kadamay, at inilarawang parang bandido’t terorista ang mga miyembro nito.

Panlulusob, pananalakay, pananakop — anuman ang gamiting paglalarawan, natatangi sa buong mundo ang matagumpay na Occupy Pabahay bilang pagkilos ng mga literal na isinasantabing sektor sa kalunsuran, upang igiit hindi lamang ang kanilang karapatan sa pabahay, kundi maging ang kanilang pulitikal na espasyo sa paghuhugis ng lungsod.

Lunan ng Tunggalian Marso 8, 2017 nang unang magokupa, sa pangunguna ng Kadamay, ang higit limang libong indibidwal sa higit 5,000 yunit ng nakatiwangwang na pabahay sa Pandi, Bulacan. Sa taya mismo ng NHA, higit 50,000 yunit ng pabahay ang hindi pa nagagamit, sa kabila ng katotohanang ang

KUL TU RA

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BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

Kamaynilaan ang lungsod na may pinakamalaking populasyon na walang matirhan sa buong mundo.

Tatlong milyon o sangkapat ng populasyon sa Metro Manila ang nakatira sa mga “informal settlements.”

Lumubha ang nagpapatuloy na krisis sa lupa at pabahay sa Kamaynilaan matapos ang Ikalawang Digmaang pandaigdig. Nang muling buhayin at i-sentro ang mga pabrika at komersyo sa Maynila, libu-libo ang nakipagsapalaran sa lungsod at nagtayo ng mga pamayanan tulad sa Tondo at Intramuros. Mula 46,000 noong 1946, lumobo sa 1.6 milyon noong 1981 ang bilang ng mga iskwater sa Metro Manila at katabing pook sub-urban.

S a kasaysayan, umusbong ang mga lungsod tulad ng Maynila dahil sa konsentrasyon ng “surplus” o labis na produkto na nasa kontrol ng iilang makapangyarihan, ayon sa heograpong si David Harvey.

Samakatuwid, ang lungsod ay isang

DIBUHO NI JOHN KENNETH ZAPATA DISENYO NG PAHINA NI RICHARD CORNELIO

“class phenomenon”—produkto ito ng patuloy na tunggalian sa pagitan ng mga uri, ng malalaking negosyanteng nagmamay-ari ng lupa at kapital at ng mga manggagawang walang disenteng tirahan.

Subalit may partikular na katangian ang urbanisasyon sa Maynila. Hindi lamang kawalan ng oportunidad, kundi malawakang pangangamkam ng mga lupain at bigong repormang agraryo ang pangunahing nagtutulak sa mga Pilipino sa kanayunan upang magtungo sa sentro, para lamang sapitin ang parehong karanasan sa mga demolisyon at proyekto ng gobyerno.

Inilantad ng pagkilos ng Kadamay hindi lamang ang malubhang krisis sa pabahay, kundi ang mismong lungsod bilang espasyong pulitikal at lunduyan ng mga kontradiksyon— at nasa mahusay na opensiba na ngayon ang mga iskwater at maralitang taga-lungsod.

Opensa bilang depensa Laganap ang krisis sa lupa at pabahay kahit sa mga pinakatanyag at pinakamayamang lungsod sa buong mundo. Halimbawa, tinatayang humigitkumulang 8,000 mamamayan ang natutulog sa malalamig na lansangan ng London City.

Samantala, 77,000 indibidwal ang walang tirahan sa kabila ng ipinagmamalaking kislap ng New York City — ang pinakamalaking bilang sa Estados Unidos.

Isang anyo ng pananamantala ang apropriasyon ng mga makapangyarihan sa espasyo ng lungsod at sa mismong tirahan ng mga manggagawang-uri, ayon sa mga pilosopong sina Karl Marx at Friedrich Engels. Manipestasyon nito ang pagkukubli, demolisyon, at relokasyon sa mga iskwater at pagtataboy sa mga walang tirahan upang bigyang-daan ang pagpapatayo ng mahal na mga pabahay at condominium, halimbawa, at siguruhin ang daloy ng kapital.

Kahit ang sistemang relokasyon ay ginagamit upang gawing lehitimo ang marahas na serye ng mga demolisyon, dahilan upang lalong igiit ng mga maralitang taga-lungsod ang kanilang karapatan sa lupa.

Marahas ang konotasyon ng salitang “pagsalakay” upang ilarawan ang Occupy Pabahay at mga katulad na pagkilos, at paulit-ulit itong binibigyang-diin sa midya.

Subalit mas marahas ang mismong pag-iral ng estado—ang walang pakundangang demolisyon at ‘di makataong relokasyon. Kung pagbabatayan ang kritikong si Slavoj Zizek, anumang “karahasan” ng Kadamay laban sa naghaharing-uri ay anyo ng pagdepensa laban sa tuluyang pagsasanormal ng mas matinding karahasan ng estado.

Madali para sa iilang may komportableng tirahan na paratangang ilegal at kriminal ang Kadamay dahil ang kanilang pagkilos ay tuwirang pagsagasa sa konsepto ng pagaari. Subalit ano ang moral na batayan ng dambuhalang mga negosyo at panginoong may-lupa—na wala ang mga maralitang manggagawa—upang pagmay-arian at kontrolin ang lungsod?

Pagbawi sa lungsod Hindi ito ang unang beses na nag-organisa ang mga mahihirap para sa karapatan sa pabahay. Noong dekada ‘70, binuo ng mga maralita ng Tondo ang Zone One Tondo Organization, ang pinakaunang samahan ng mga iskwater sa bansa, upang tutulan ang mga tangkang demolisyon.

Sa kasalukuyan, patuloy ang pagdepensa ng mga samahang maralita sa San Roque, Quezon City laban sa itatayong business district ng pamahalaang lungsod. Ngunit natatangi ang kilusang Occupy ng Kadamay dahil hindi pagdepensa kundi “pagsalakay” ang paraan upang igiit ang kanilang karapatan.

Ibinatay ang Occupy Pabahay sa popular na kilusang ‘Occupy’ na sinimulan sa Estados Unidos noong 2011, ang mapayapang okupasyon sa mga lansangan bilang anyo ng protesta sa malalaking korporasyon at sa estado. Espesyal ang Occupy Pabahay dahil hindi lamang simbolikal ang okupasyon, kundi tuwiran itong pagbawi ng masang walangwala sa kanilang espasyo kahit pa sa katabing sub-urban ng lungsod.

Ang ideya ng libreng pabahay para sa mga maralitang taga-lungsod ay bagay na salungat sa nais ng estado at sa sensibilidad ng gitnanguri. Ayon kay Harvey, kalakip ng “pag-unlad” sa lungsod ang pag-aalis sa mamamayan ng kanilang “right to the city”—ang karapatan hindi lamang sa espasyo, kundi sa mismong paglikha nito, ang karapatang baguhin ang ‘di pagkakapantay-pantay sa lungsod.

May malaking potensyal ang Kadamay hindi lamang upang igiit ang makamasang pabahay, kundi upang maging kritikal na puwersa sa lungsod ang mga maralitang pilit na tinatanggalan ng boses sa diskurso at espasyong pulitikal, na handang sumuong at sumalakay.

Sa ganitong pagtanaw, walang pader ang maaaring magkubli sa pagkilos ng mga maralita’t walang tirahan. Sa ganitong pagkakataon, mismong dumi ng mga makapangyarihan ang mailalantad.

PUNLAAN NG PAG-ASA LUCKY DELA ROSA

PARA SA MGA MAGSASAKANG katulad ni Mermalina Mendoza, 77 na taong gulang, biyaya ang hatid ng kabukiran ng Lupang Ramos (LR) sa Dasmariñas, Cavite. Sa humigit-kumulang limang dekadang pagsasaka, hindi na alintana ni Mendoza ang init sa pagbubungkal sa hindi patag na lupaing kung tawagin nila ay “tagilid.” Kalauna’y nagbago ang mukha ng LR sa mga magsasaka nang pumasok ang pamilya Ramos.

Dating kilala ang LR bilang “Lupang Kano.” Ayon sa Batas Komonwelt, ito ay pampublikong lupain at bukas sa sinumang residente ng Dasmariñas, Cavite na nagnanais magtanim sa lupain. Ngunit noong 1965, bigla na lamang kinamkam ng negosyanteng si Emirito Ramos ang 372-ektaryang bukirin ng LR mula sa higit 300 pamilyang magsasaka.

“Yung mga magulang ko doon sa tagilid, bago sila [paalisin], alam mo anong binayad? Isang pepsi at isang tela lang,” ani Mendoza.

Ang dati nilang maisan at palayan ay tinamnan ng tubó upang hindi mapabilang sa lupang dapat ipamahagi sa mga magsasaka alinsunod sa Presidential Decree 27 noong Batas Militar. Ayon dito, lahat ng lupaing tinataniman ng mais at palay ay dapat ipamahagi sa mga magsasaka.

Natakasan din ng mga panginoong maylupa ang libreng distribusyon ng lupa sa ilalim ng Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) ng administrasyong Corazon Aquino noong 1988 sa kadahilanang ang LR ay hindi umano lupang agrikultural kundi industriyal.

Sa kabila nito, nanindigan ang mga

magsasaka ng LR laban sa pananamantala sa kanila ng pamilya Ramos. Noong 1990, sinimulan nilang bungkalin ang mismong kapatagan ng LR upang tamnan ito ng mais, palay at iba pang mga gulay. Dahil dito, nagpakalat ang pamilya Ramos ng mga “goons” upang takutin ang mga magsasaka.

Nagpatuloy ang pandarahas sa loob ng higit 20 taon. Subalit noong Setyembre 2017, sa pangunguna ng Katipunan ng mga Lehitimong Magsasaka at Mamamayan sa Lupang Ramos (KASAMA-LR), nagsagawa ang mga magsasaka ng pangalawang bungkalan upang isulong ang kanilang karapatan tungo sa tunay na repormang agraryo.

Ngunit dahil sa panggugulo ng grupo nina Rody Herrera, Arnel Mendoza, Nestor Pangilinan at Angelito Tolentino na pawang kinakasangkapan ng pamilya Ramos, hindi makapagtanim nang maayos ang mga magsasaka.

“Hindi kami makapagpatuloy magtanim. Hinaharang kami at pinipigilan,” ani Mendoza. At noong Hunyo 4, pitong magsasaka ang pinagbabaril ng grupo nina Herrera.

Sa kabila ng lahat, patuloy pa rin ang paninindigan at pagsulong ng mga magsasaka sa kanilang karapatan tungo sa makatarungan at prinsipyadong pamamahagi ng lupa. Higit pa rito, ang kanilang paghihirap ay repleksiyon ng huwad na patakarang agrikultural sa Pilipinas na nakakiling sa interes ng iilan kung kaya't kinakailangan ang pagsulong sa Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill na siyang kikilala sa karapatan ng mga magsasaka sa lupa.

DISENYO NG PAHINA NI ADRIAN KENNETH GUTLAY

AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE SANNY BOY D. AFABLE

The US leaving the human rights council is a remorseless admission of its many crimes against humanity.

MY COUSIN JANINE* HAS given up her stable and high-paying job to take care of her first son, a decision which could last forever. It is a familiar scenario among many Filipino women, save for the fact that her decision was not hers at all — but

by Jim,* her American husband.

The setup is rather complicated. Jim, a guy of her age who she first met online, sends financial support from the US, on the condition that Janine stops working, regularly changes their son’s diaper, and details her expenses to him every day. Jim and his family insisted against her mom’s kind offer to instead raise the kid and let her daughter work. Janine is promised, more so compelled, to move to the US a year later and stay there for good.

The decision was hard, Janine said, but she still holds on to the American dream. Unlike how she was raised in a poor and broken family, her son could get a more comfortable life there in a foreign soil. But I fear Janine is mistaken.

I cannot help but think of her and her son’s future in the US given how a different level of inhumanity has become an official policy today under Donald Trump’s administration. A few days ago, footages of children caged in Texas was rightfully met with public outcry. Immigrant parents who illegally crossed the US-Mexico border were forcibly

separated by the police from their children, who were together hemmed in wire structures—leaving serious and irreparable damage to them.

The Trump administration, as in its many blunders and violations, quickly defended the ruthless policy and its “zero tolerance.” The US, which until now purports itself as a free nation and defender of liberty, has already separated and detained at least 2,000 children in six weeks—a basic realization of Trump’s campaign promise to build walls, a metaphor for his insecure, white supremacist rule.

The policy was strongly condemned by nation-members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), to which Trump’s team responded by shamelessly pulling out the US from the council. US Ambassador Nikki Haley justified this by calling out UNHRC for its “bias” against Israel, another violent regime massively backed by the US. This is not the first time the US threatened to leave the council.

George Bush’s administration, marked by rampant human rights violations, also decried UNHRC’s “bias” for pretty much the same justification. This is not the first time, too, that the US government separated children from their families. In fact, this state-sanctioned domestic abuse has been going on for quite a long time; African American

parents were sold as slaves and separated from their children; Native Americans were forcibly relocated from their lands, keeping them away from their children.

The US leaving the human rights council is a remorseless admission of its many crimes against humanity.

US-backed counterinsurgency efforts in Mindanao continue to displace thousands of Lumad children from their schools and communities; their parents were not only separated but were also mutilated in broad daylight—in front of their children.

But Janine now readies herself.

She and her son may legally transfer to US, but their future is bleak. She will be raising her son in a nation that does not treat its own women and children right. She, too, is also in danger of discrimination and deportation. But she still holds on to the American dream anyway, like millions of Americans who were promised to make America great again. *not their real names

95

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

SANNY BOY AFABLE

PUNONG PATNUGOT

ALDRIN VILLEGAS

KAPATNUGOT

SHEILA ANN ABARRA

TAGAPAMAHALANG PATNUGOT

JOHN DANIEL BOONE

PATNUGOT SA BALITA

ROSETTE ABOGADO ADRIAN KENNETH GUTLAY

PATNUGOT SA GRAPIX

JOHN KENNETH ZAPATA

KAWANI

AMELYN DAGA

PINANSIYA

GARY GABALES

TAGAPAMAHALA SA SIRKULASYON

A MAN WAKES UP TO FIND out he has transformed into a cockroach. Another man, equally dull and obtuse, turns into a ghost that hounds unwitting pedestrians at night to rob them of their cloaks. Though these transformations verge on the fantastic, both men are as mundane as can be, grinding away at jobs that are, for all intents and purposes, mechanical in nature, that is, structured by routine and precise methodology.

The thing with routine is that it can lull you into conformity. A timetable is called thus because it arrays your days into hours that form a regular pattern of practices and systems that you can easily settle into.

In a society where the first motto any kid can memorize and trot out is “Time is gold,” you aim to pack as much activity into each day, to be “productive,” in a manner of saying.

As a rule, you are made to feel guilty, say, having spent an hour on Netf lix, slept in way past lunchtime, accommodated unplanned socialization, turned in something that looks less like a draft or a paper than an old man's rambling. At the back of your head, there is always a nagging sense that you are never doing enough, never working fast enough, never passing muster, even despite evidence to the contrary.

O PIN YON

14

BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

In this tedium, every one of us thrives. Otherwise, you might just find yourself having sprouted spindly, hairy legs and a huge chitinous shell, altered beyond recognition.

This is the fate of anyone that subsumes herself under the dictates of a late capitalist society, with its unwritten tenet that says a productive member of the society has to work herself to exhaustion, go through the motions of capital accumulation, be aggressive if not competitive, drift purposelessly, unthinkingly through life like flotsam.

Deviate from this course and you are no different from a parasite, a vermin, a disgusting dreg in the system. Follow this course like a good lackey and you will be thanked with “a job well done,” a pat on the head, a rub on your shoulder, maybe a promotion to go along with a menial pay upgrade and a circuitously confusing job title. Feel good about yourself.

Some days, like in a young adult or Nicholas Sparks movie, it will hit you that there must be more to life than this, and by "this," you look around your house as though for something you can blame your blues on.

Seek professional help. The irony that your therapist feels the same way you do about work will not escape you, but you go in and lie down on the couch and rant and weep and pay him for listening to you rant and weep, anyway.

Online, you may find interesting diagnoses. The word depression rings true but somehow does not sit well with you. Another word, commodification, sounds German and scary and possibly cancerous.

Read on. A guy named Marx is more reliable than Wikipedia.

If you feel commodified, then that is because you are, your labor power reduced to a paycheck at every fifteenth and thirtieth of the month, your worth measured by the output churned out by the hour against a target quota that feels irrationally, annoyingly infinite.

You are what you do, they will tell you. So, your work begins to define you, though you know that it is not yo-u, god forbid. Your work does not even belong to you, for crying out loud.

You are not alone in this strife, passionless or directionless as it might seem. Million others like you wake up to the same quotidian.

You may try to make peace with "this" being a fact of life. You may even try to find meaning, nay, happiness, in your daily exertions.

Know that this is bound to be futile.

Unless you dare to deviate from the course, you might find yourself dead, hounding unwitting pedestrians at night to rob them of anything that can lend you dignity. * Upon reading Nikolai Gogol and Franz Kafka

AMELITO JAENA OMAR OMAMALIN

SIRKULASYON

DEAD SOULS AND MONSTROUS V E R M I N S* RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

TRINIDAD GABALES GINA VILLAS

KATUWANG NA KAWANI

KASAPI UP SYSTEMWIDE ALLIANCE OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS AND WRITERS’ ORGANIZATIONS (SOLIDARIDAD)

COLLEGE EDITORS GUILD OF THE PHILIPPINES (CEGP) PAMUHATAN SILID 401 BULWAGANG VINZONS, UNIBERSIDAD NG PILIPINAS, DILIMAN, LUNGSOD QUEZON TELEFAX 981-8500 LOKAL 4522

Your labor power is reduced to a paycheck at every fifteenth and thirtieth of the month, your worth measured by the output churned out by the hour against a target quota that feels irrationally, annoyingly infinite.

ONLINE kule1516@gmail.com www.philippinecollegian.org fb.com/philippinecollegian twitter.com/phkule instagram.com/phkule issuu.com/philippinecollegian pinterest.com/phkule

      

UKOL SA PABALAT

DIBUHO NI CHESTER HIGUIT

MELTING POINT

SIPAT

ADRIAN KENNETH GUTLAY

WARREN RAGASA

PARA KAY JEOFFREY NAAALALA KITA SA MGA BALITA: SA LOOB NG LIMANG araw, higit 7,000 indibidwal na ang inaresto ng mga pulis. Ang kanilang krimen: pagtambay.

Dahil tambay ka rin nang madawit ka sa engkwentro. Wala kang damit pang-itaas, nakatsinelas, at humihithit pa ng yosi nang matiyempuhan ka ng pulisya, at ang kanilang hatol: kabilang ka sa mga tulak ng droga. Naniwala ako nang sabihin mong hindi ka kailanman gagamit ng ipinagbabawal na droga dahil kilala kita.

Lumaki ka sa ‘di buong pamilya kaya itinuring kitang parang kapatid. Wala ka pang muwang nang mamatay sa sakit ang iyong ina; kinse anyos ka naman nang bawian ng buhay ang iyong ama.

Hindi mo na tinapos ang hayskul mula noon at mag-isa kang kumayod para sa naulila mong mga kapatid.

Laking tuwa mo pa nang pumasa ako sa UP. Magiging busy na ang tropa mo sa DOTA, sabi mo. Bisyo mo ang yosi, ang computer games, ang pagtambay, pero hindi kailanman ang droga. Kung kaya kahungkagan ang sinasabi ng pangulo— maaari raw magsampa ng kaso sa pulis na aabuso sa karapatan ng mga inaresto.

Pawang kasinungalingan, dahil walang warrant nang ikaw ay hulihin noong nakaraang taon, at tanging saklolo ang narinig sayo nang nakaluhod ka’t nakataas ang mga kamay, at matapos ay dalawang beses na pinaputukan sa ulo.

Sa isang iglap, nawala ang isa kong kababata at ang lahat ay nilamon ng alingawngaw ng sirena. Nilimot ka na ng mga bilang. 12,000; 20,000—ano na nga ang huling tansya?

Ipinagsasabong tayong mga walang kapangyarihan: ang barangay laban sa mga tulad mong tambay, ang bansa laban sa mga pinaghihinalaang tulak ng droga (kabilang ang mga bata), at ang mga mahihirap laban sa kapwa nila mahihirap. Nasa kamay na ng pulisya ang hustisya, at sinumang aarestuhin ay agad na kalaban ng estado.

Dinalaw ko ang puntod mo noong nakaraang araw nang malaman kong hinuli na rin ng pulisya ang ilan nating kaibigan na tulad mo ay tambay din. Nagtirik ako ng kandila, sabay hithit ng yosi. Unti-unti nila tayong inuubos.

STATUS QUOTES  Menchani Tilendo @menchongdee

Para sa mga delayed, mayroong kanya-kanyang mabigat na dahilan kung bakit di tayo grumaduate noon at di pa rin magmamartsa ngayon.

May inalpasang personal na problema, trauma, walang pambayad sa tuition, etc. Kapit lang, hindi ito karera.

Maraming aral sa labas ng klasrum. :) 5:10 AM - 20 Jun 2018

Stop warmongering, resume peace talks — KMU to Duterte NATIONAL L ABOR CENTER Kilusang Mayo Uno joins in the widespread condemnation of the Duterte administration’s unilateral decision to suspend, once again, the peace talks bet ween the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). “ We condemn the cancellation of peace talks and Duterte’s escalation of his fascist war against the people, especially the intense militarization of Mindanao which has led to massive harassment of workers and violations of labor rights in the region,” said K MU chair Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog.

According to K MU, Filipino workers are particularly invested in the success of peace talks, which aim to tack le major labor concerns and the crucial issues of other marginalized sectors, including peasants, indigenous peoples, and women, among others.

K MU reiterated its support for the continuing efforts of the NDFP to return to negotiating table and forge agreements on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ARR D) and

National Industrialization and Economic Development (NIED).

“Duterte must free all political prisoners as a f irst step in rebuilding the trust which he has squandered by repeated attempts to sabotage the peace process,” said Labog, in reference to Duterte’s unilateral decision to stop the peace talks last year, and to the ongoing militarization campaigns of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against Filipino workers and people.

There are currently 503 political prisoners under the Duterte regime, including labor leader and NDFP consultant Rafael “Raff y” Baylosis, as well as PISTON organizer Maojo Maga and K MU organizer A lexander “Bob” Reyes.

“The best proof of sincerit y of the Duterte government in the peace talks is the willingness to address the roots of the armed conf lict,” Labog said. “Duterte must heed the calls of the labor sector for regular jobs and living wages.”

K MU on the other hand commended the NDFP for its willingness to keep negotiating with Duterte regime, despite

 Audrey Antoniano @Dhlfbloodprince

the disappointing postponement of the talks which were supposed to begin this June. The NDFP has released a statement indicating its openness to the continuation of talks on September, following a “three month review” of documents pertaining to the peace talks, as requested by the Duterte administration. “ We support all efforts to ensure the resumption of peace talks on September, and call on other workers and labor organizations to persist in pressuring the Duterte government to address the issues of the Filipino people and build a just and lasting peace,” said Labog.

References: Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, K MU Chairperson — 0908-163-6597 Neil A mbion, K MU Public Information Department — 0928-235-9733

 Jose Maria Sison @JoseMariaSison

'Pag mga maralita yung nagokupa ng mga pabahay, "anarkiya".

'Pag mga kapitalista't dayuhan yung nangamkam ng lupa natin, "business venture". Para kanino ba talaga yung gobyernong ito?

The political swindler and butcher Duterte is willfuly and maliciously killing the peace negotiations by breaking the standing GRP-NDFP agreement on foreign neutral venue and dismissing the third party facilitator.

3:01 AM - 14 Jun 2018

5:38 AM - 18 Jun 2018 BIYERNES 22 HUNYO 2018

15

COM MUN ITY

FA L S E PROMISES PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 95

EDITORIAL

,,

It is clear that the administration is still all too keen to the illusions of progress under Chinese auspices, despite years of colonial practices and imperialism that only stunted the nation’s development.

GIVE A MAN A FISH, HE WILL EAT for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will receive noodles from China.

This is not a proverb nor a joke, but a reality faced by Filipino fishermen.

In exchange for noodles and cigarettes, Chinese coast guard personnel confiscated the catch of our fisherfolk in Panatag Shoal.

China has been occupying the shoal since April 2012, when Beijing surveillance ships prevented the Philippine Navy from arresting Chinese poachers who had harvested endangered marine species.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte emboldens the Chinese to violate the rights and freedom of Filipino fishers to sail in our traditional fishing grounds. His defeatist stand on the sea row proves his subservience to China, even jesting that the Philippines should be a province of the economic giant.

Such rash banter negates our country’s diplomatic attempts to assert sovereignty over the contested area. In 2016, the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal ruled that the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea. Yet, China’s incursion into Philippine territorial waters continues, as the Duterte administration keeps silent on the maritime dispute in exchange for supposed Chinese trade concessions, aid, and investment.

China has even pledged $15 million to support President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez also said that foreign aid from China amounted to around $9 billion, while its private commercial deals with the Philippines amounted to around $15 billion.

The catch: Duterte’s bias for China, at the expense of the Filipino people.

Consequently, the economic giant has benefitted more from its trade with the Philippines—our country has only earned $6.4 billion from exports, while it had to pay $15.6 billion in imports from China in 2016. The $9.2 billion trade deficit puts the

Philippines at a disadvantage, particularly our iron and steel companies, which had to stop their manufacturing operations because of competing Chinese companies subsidized by their government.

This trade imbalance also occurs in China-Africa relations, dubbed as new colonialism, where China finances Africa through foreign aid in exchange for the exploitation of its natural resources.

The Philippines likewise cannot expect China to hold good its promises of large investment, as the latter’s actual pledge in many cases was up to five times larger than what it actually delivered.

Filipinos have had enough of false promises—both from China and President Duterte. Yet, it is clear that the administration is still all too keen to the illusions of progress under Chinese auspices, despite years of colonial practices and imperialism that only stunted the nation’s development.

This condition thus imparts a lesson to the Philippines: it is teaching a nation to fight and it will regain its sovereignty.

The country has been able to win its arbitration case, and therefore has the means to file a diplomatic protest over China’s incursion into Philippines territorial waters. The only stumbling block to win this battle is the Duterte administration—a government in collusion with China in killing poor Filipinos with the war on drugs, a president in cahoots with another strongman in curtailing a nation’s freedom and democracy.

It is thus the people who are capable of breaking free from false promises and face the reality. When Chinese men have the gall to search and seize the catch of Filipino fishers in Philippine waters, that is control. When there is Chinese presence and occupation in Panatag Shoal, that is occupation.

The Duterte administration may say otherwise, but the Filipino people won’t be played like a fool.