TOMO IV / BLG V-VI / Biyernes, 14 Disyembre 2018 email: phkule@gmail.com
EDITORIAL
Chartered plight
The path to perdition might be just one chartered ride away — hijacked by a regime hell-bent on railroading constitutional revisions, running over democratic norms, and jettisoning public interest in the name of greed and global capital. The treachery of this trajectory cannot be overstated. The approval of the draft federal charter, forwarded as Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 15, in the lower parliament this week demonstrated yet again President Rodrigo Duterte’s chokehold on the supermajority, which he can galvanize into action out of mutual benefaction. That 224 out of 249 solons present voted in favor of the bill would have been shocking had it not been a foregone conclusion. This is all too expected of a Congress crammed with oligarchs, sycophants, and traditional politicians who carry out their duties without any modicum of respect or rumination. Decorum fell by the wayside when, during the plenary debate on the resolution last week, only 40 lawmakers were on the floor but still went on to holler their complicity in the president’s project of dividing and conquering the nation. How much reminding is necessary? Duterte rode to victory the waves of the electorate’s disillusion. The rhetoric he has employed to justify the turn to federalism taps into the grievances of millions of Filipinos outside “imperial Manila” who sense a liberal minority conspiring against their interests. Yet multiple provisions of the proposed federal charter have all but the greater public in mind. RBH 15 lifts certain constitutional limits and so grants the state the discretion, among others, to pass on to corporations the provision of social services like housing and healthcare; to render workers even more vulnerable to wage insecurity and inhumane labor conditions; and to peddle natural resources and public utilities to foreign businesses for more systemic plunder. No amount of hoodwinking can also depict the proposed deletion of congressional term limits as
beneficial to the people. The lower house even went so far as to reject the prohibition of political dynasties. This sets the stage for patronage to thrive even more in federated states, for the same families and landed elite to trade wealth and functions among themselves at all levels of governance. There is no reason, then, to believe the draft charter prizes the people’s interests above all else, especially when the document barters our rights for the fulfillment of our duties to the state. The Marcos dictatorship exploited similar legal instruments in the 1973 Constitution to criminalize dissent deemed inimical to peace and order, to relax grounds for martial law, and to make human rights violations seem like clockwork. The passage of RBH 15 is indeed a referendum not on a much-needed reform but on the insistence of a cabal of the president’s lapdogs to doom the people to all manner of misery. While Duterte did not author the draft constitution himself, such an attempt to dismantle legal safeguards did not just leap out of a vacuum. This betrayal of national patrimony has come after his displayed enthusiasm for dictatorial departures. This sellout of the country’s future has come after the president ’s contempt
for civil-society institutions, for checks and balances, for the longstanding structures of constitutional democracy that now bode collapse. Really, no one can be much surprised by the audacity of a man whose second instinct, next to butchering the poor into subservience, is to tighten his grip on office. Yet Duterte did not usher in but merely continued efforts at consolidating power begun by his predecessors, one of whom now serves as House Speaker and, exceeding bounds of vulgarity, has penned RBH 15 herself. Recalling Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s lust for power gives both context and caution. To date, she is the only president to have exhausted all means to amend the 1987 Constitution, from trying to steamroll a plebiscite to calling for a
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NEWS /
Public school teachers call for wage hike, denounce teaching woes
NEWS /
Debt, dearth, and death: Unmasking the politics of Chinese aid and deals
FEATS /
Oil-rigged: Probing the Prospects of the Philippine Oil Industry
constituent assembly and a constitutional convention. This woman’s tenacity to cling to authority is not to be underestimated. But neither is the people’s defiance, which in itself is a force to reckon with. After all, though the resolution is now for the Senate to deliberate on, the task of thwarting it and all other forces that spurn our democratic values remains ours to realize. It will require that we recognize the imperatives of collective resistance and refuse once more to be taken for a ride bound for disaster.
This sellout ofthe country’s future has come after the president’s contempt for civil-society institutions, for checks and balances, for the longstanding structures of constitutional democracy that now bode collapse.
ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN KENNETH ZAPATA
I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A ! I PA S A PA G K A BA S A !
REBELKULÊ
ANG PAHAYAGAN NG MGA MAG-AARAL NG UNIBERSIDAD NG PILIPINAS DILIMAN
REBEL KULÊ
2
14 DECEMBER 2018 FRIDAY
NEWS
Public school teachers call for wage hike, denounce teaching woes
SIDEBAR 02. BUDGET ALLOTMENT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
YEAR
Public school teachers in the country have long suffered from the taxing demands of their profession. From being given tons of written reports up to providing for the allowance of some students, Diane Facun, an elementary school teacher in Tarlac for seven years, has experienced it all. Teacher Diane is just one among the 700,000 public school teachers who suffer from all these difficulties amid receiving a measly salary. Although Facun earns roughly about P26,000 monthly – more than twice as much as the minimum wage in Region III – this amount could barely suffice for the needs of her family, as she needs to shoulder additional expenses to buy equipment which the government fails to provide, such as printer and projector.
Asserting for livable wage Calls for a just and livable minimum wage have been ongoing since Gloria Arroyo’s administration. Through the continuous campaigns launched by progressive groups, the salary increase of public school teachers took effect in 2016, upon the signing of the Salary Standardization Law (see sidebar 1). “Isa siyang tagumpay pero maliit pa rin ang halagang ito lalo na sa ngayon dahil sa [pagtaas ng presyo bunsod ng] Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law,” said Jolly Lugod, a public school teacher who is also a member of the ACT National Secretariat. Despite being exempted from paying tax, the take-home pay of
SIDEBAR 01. SALARY EARNED BY TEACHERS OVER THE YEARS
teachers and other professionals remain measly, given the steep rate of inflation and high consumption taxes due to TRAIN law. “Hindi naman kami humihingi ng labis eh, gusto lang namin ng sapat at nakabubuhay na sweldo,” Lugod said. In order to address the economic struggles of teachers, the ACT Partylist filed House Bill (HB) 7211 last February, which seeks to increase the minimum monthly salary of teachers to P30,000. The bill is in the Committee of Appropriations up to date. Implementing this salary hike, however, might be far from reality, given that a total of P44.87 billion will be slashed from the budget of the Department of Education, based on the 2019 budget proposal. “Ang mga guro ay malaki ang tungkulin sa lipunan sa paghuhubog ng kabataan at opinyong publiko… Ang pambubusabos sa budget at sistema ng edukasyon ay taktika ng pamahalaan para panatilihin yung busabos nating kalagayan,” Lugod stressed.
2015
₱367.1B
2016
₱436.5B
2017
₱543.2B
2018
₱553.3B
2019
₱528.8B
SIDEBAR 03. MINIMUM BASE PAY OF ENTRY-LEVEL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
While public school teachers continue to suffer from meager wages, the salary of police and military officers, on the other hand, has significantly increased by as much as P15,284, following the approval of the Joint Resolution No. 1 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last January (see sidebar 2). Arduous tasks Besides earning insufficient salary, teachers are also forced to work beyond the prescribed six-hour workday in the National Capital Region, as they are compelled to accomplish paper works for the Resultsbased Performance Management System (RPMS). DepEd has been using RPMS since 2015 to measure the performance of teachers based on the forms they have to submit including lesson plans and documentation of their demonstration teaching. But the RPMS only adds burden to public school teachers, Lugod noted. The RPMS fails to assess other aspects necessary to bare the real state of the country’s
₱309.5B
BEFORE JOINT RESOL. NO. 1
AFTER JOINT RESOL. NO. 1
CANDIDATE SOLDIERS
₱11,265
₱18,587
POLICE OFFICER 1
₱14,384
₱29,668
RANK AND FILE
₱10,510
₱10,510
TEACHERS
₱21,179
-
educational system including the lack of facilities and equipment in most public schools nationwide, he explained. “Hindi lang si teacher ‘yung factor kung bakit hindi nakakapagdeliver nang maayos na [kalidad ng] edukasyon, kasalanan din yan ng pamahalaan,” Lugod added. Aside from these problems, some teachers are also given non-teaching tasks due to the lack of educational support personnel. “Kapag walang tao sa canteen, guard, o librarian,
si teacher ang mag-aasikaso… mina-maximize talaga kami,” said Lugod. But despite the government’s inaction on their just demands, public school teachers vow to continue asserting for their rights. “Bagaman yung education sector ang may pinakamalaking budget sa lahat ng social services, hindi pa rin ‘yon nasasapat para sa sektor. Hangga’t hindi pa naipapasa [‘yung HB 7211], tuloy-tuloy lang ang paglaban ng mga guro,” Lugod said.
SALARY GRADE
2012 SALARY
2017 SALARY
2018 SALARY
Teacher I
11
₱18,549
₱19,620
₱20,179
Teacher II
12
₱19,940
₱21,387
₱22,149
Teacher III
13
₱21,436
₱23,257
₱24,224
Master Teacher I / Principal I
18
₱31,351
₱35,693
₱38,085
Master Teacher II / Principal II
19
₱33,859
₱39,151
₱42,099
Master Teacher III / Principal III
20
₱36,567
₱43,250
₱47,037
Master Teacher IV / Principal IV
21
₱39,493
₱47,779
₱52,554
POSITION
SOURCES: Department of Budget and Management, Department of Education
SOURCE: Joint Resolution no. 1, series of 2018
“’Yung salary, okay naman sana kaso ang nangyayari, maraming demands ang school na wala namang libreng supply. Kaya napipilitan kaming mag-loan kasi [kulang ang kita]. Paano naman ‘yung [pangangailangan ng] mga anak namin,” Facun said in an online interview with Rebel Kulê. In light of these concerns, public school teachers in different parts of the country held a sit-down strike last November 29 where they gave their students a lecture on the struggles that teachers experience, as they call for a just and livable minimum wage. “Hindi tayo matatakot [na lumaban para sa mas mataas na sahod] dahil ito ay ating mga batayang karapatan. Sinong kikilos sa hanay natin kundi tayong mga teachers din,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) National Chairperson Joselyn Martinez in previous reports.
2014
SOURCES: General Appropriations Act 2014-2018, National Expenditures Program 2019
/ CATHRYNE ENRIQUEZ
BUDGET
#UPTHEREV
BA L I TA
@phkule
Year-end incentive for non-UP contractuals remains in limbo
/ TOF JIPOS
The continued clamor of labor groups in the university urging the UP administration to release the year-end bonus of non-UP contractuals seems to fall on deaf ears. Up to now, non-UP contractuals are still unsure if they will be receiving any incentives for the year. A total of 13,000 employees are considered non-UP contractuals, according to the latest data from the Alliance of Contractual Employees in UP (ACE UP). Non-UP contractuals do not enjoy an employer-employee relationship with the administration and their length of stay in the university is not fixed. Given this kind of set-up, the university does not provide them with any benefits in the form of 13th month bonus and paid leave, among others. But since 2014, non-UP contractuals have been receiving incentives amounting to P2,500, which increased to P7,000 in 2015, further rising to P10,000 in 2016. However, in 2017, while some employees received a measly P2,500 bonus, there were others who did not receive any at all, according to Stephanie Andaya, secretary-general of ACE UP. ACE UP sent a letter to UP President Danilo Concepcion on November 29, reiterating their calls for the release of the yearend incentives, as the university’s financial documents reflect that UP can provide bonuses not only to university employees, but as well as to non-UP contractuals. UP has accumulated a total savings worth P4.13 billion as stated in the Financial Accountability Report (FAR) No. 1-A 2018, which is enough to provide for the P25,000 Collective Negotiating Agreement (CNA) incentive for UP employees, including the yearend incentive of non-UP contractuals. “Legal naman kasi yung P25,000, tapos may batayan, merong financial data. Hindi naman namin gawa-gawa, hindi siya survey, hindi haka-haka,” said All UP Academic Employees Union Diliman Chapter President Perlita Rana, adding that there must
be no obstacles in providing the incentive to UP workers. However, the problem with yearend bonuses is not the only difficulty that non-UP contractuals face. Christian*, a project-based research assistant who has been working in the university for more than a year already, may be earning P16,000 per month, but receiving this salary at a delayed time has become normal for him. “Noong unang tatlong buwan ko sa UP, hindi ako sumahod at nakaasa ako noon sa girlfriend ko para sa pang-araw-araw na pagkain,” Christian said in an online interview with Rebel Kulê. Another non-UP contractual is Amy*, a faculty lecturer who started working in 2012. She took her master’s degree at the same time she got hired, thinking that her education is going to be funded by the university, but it was not. On top of this, Amy could not even borrow books from the library. “Bawal ako manghiram ng libro kasi [sinasabihan akong] ‘lecturer ka lang’,” Amy lamented, adding that she has been exerting the same effort as a regular instructor, yet she has been stripped of with this simple benefit. “Panahon na para kilalanin ang malaking ambag ng mga kontraktwal sa Unibersidad. Ang pinangakong conversion ng nonUP tungong UP contractual ay hindi sapat; regularisasyon pa rin [ang kailangan],” Andaya said, stressing that regularization is the key toward achieving equal rights for all workers in the university.
*not their real names. Christian and Amy were granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, which might negatively affect their jobs.
DEFEND HUMAN RIGHTS / SHERNIELYN DELA CRUZ Ipinanawagan ng iba’t ibang mga progresibong grupo ang pagtigil sa mga atake sa karapatang-pantao sa isang protesta sa Mendiola sa Pandaigdigang Araw ng Karapatang-Pantao, Disyembre 10. Nanawagan din ang mga nagkilos-protesta na wakasan ang batas militar sa Mindanao, at hustisya para sa mga pinaslang ng giyera kontra-droga ng administrasyong Duterte.
3
Mga manggagawa ng Sumifru, tutol sa pagpapatigil ng welga
/ MARVIN JOSEPH ANG
Higit 300 manggagawa ng Sumifru ang naglakbay mula Compostela Valley patungong Maynila upang tuligsain ang ibinabang assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) ni Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III na naglalayong ipatigil ang welga ng mga manggagawa. Sa nasabing order ng DOLE noong Oktubre 5, ginamit ni Sec. Bello ang AJ upang makahanap ng alternatibong paraan para maresolba ang “labor dispute” sa pagitan ng administrasyon ng Sumifru at mga manggagawa nito nang hindi humahantong sa pagwewelga. “Kasi nga malaki raw ‘yung buwis na iniaambag ng kumpanya sa pangkalahatan…pero siyempre, kung AJ ang sinasabi, hindi naman saklaw [ang Sumifru] kasi hindi naman nakakaapekto sa pangkalahatang ekonomiya ng bansa ang ginagawang welga,” ani Paul John Dizon, tagapangulo ng unyong Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Sumifru Farms (NAMASUFA). Umabot sa P38 milyon ang naitalang lugi ng Sumifru sa unang 10 araw ng piket, kaya upang mapigil ang higit pang paglobo nito, agad na ipinag-utos ng DOLE ang pagbalik ng mga manggagawa sa kanilang trabaho at ang pagsailalim ng dalawang partido sa compulsory arbitration o negosasyong pangungunahan ng National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). Malaon nang ginagamit ang AJ upang ibaon ang
lehitimong panawagan ng mga manggagawa, ayon sa pahayag ng Center for Trade Union and Human Rights. At madalas, humahantong ito sa karahasan, katulad ng madugong masaker sa Hacienda Luisita noong 2004, nang mag-isyu rin si dating DOLE Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas ng AJ. Sa kaso ng mga manggagawa ng Sumifru, winasak ng AFP at PNP ang lima sa pitong kampuhan ng NAMASUFA. “Tinupad namin ang lahat ng proseso para maging ligal ang aming welga. Pero ang ginawa ni Bello, kahit na tinupad ang lahat ng proseso, siya pa mismo ang pumirma ng assumption of jurisdiction,” ani Elizar Diayon, pangalawang pangulo ng NAMASUFA. Matagal nang kinilala ng Korte Suprema ang karapatan ng mga manggagawa ng Sumifru, nang iutos nito ang pagreregularisa at opisyal na pagkilala sa NAMASUFA bilang lehitimong unyon ng mga manggagawa. Ngunit patuloy na nilabag ng Sumifru ang naging desisyon ng Korte Suprema at ng DOLE noong 2010 na sinasabing may karapatan ang mga
manggagawang pumasok sa isang collective bargaining agreement. Noong Oktubre 3, nagsampa ang Sumifru ng temporary restraining order laban sa mga nagwewelgang manggagawa na agad ding ibinasura ng Regional Trial Court Branch 56 noong Oktubre 10. Tumulak naman papuntang DOLE ang mga manggagawa ng Sumifru noong Disyembre 7 upang humiling ng dayalogo kay Secretary Bello, subalit bigo silang makaharap ito dahil nasa Senado ang kalihim para sa budget hearing ng ahensya. Ngunit patuloy pa rin ang pagkalampag ng mga manggagawa sa opisina ng DOLE, embahada ng Japan, at sa main office ng Sumifru sa Makati. Nangako naman ang mga NGO na nakabase sa Japan ng tulong sa mga manggagawa upang makapagdayalogo sila sa Sumitomo, ang mother company ng Sumifru. “Tapos na kasi ang kaso, panalo na ang mga manggagawa, so dapat ang DOLE i-pressure ang kumpanya na makipagtawaran sa mga manggagawa para sa benepisyo at seguridad sa trabaho,” ani Dizon.
REBEL KULÊ
REBEL KULÊ
4
14 DECEMBER 2018 FRIDAY
NEWS
Crises and convictions Each month of the year brought nothing but another burden on the Filipino people. The different policies approved by the government—from the implementation of TRAIN law up to another extension of martial law in Mindanao—only made the people’s lives worse. The situation in the university, meanwhile, is no better, what with administrative assaults on students’ democratic rights at the outset and fraternity-related controversies wracking the tail-end of the semester. Yet these junctures brought out the most undaunted displays of dissidence in the face of clashing contradictions. JANUARY
The Duterte administration welcomed the new year with the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which reduced personal income tax while imposing higher excise tax on fuel and sugar-sweetened beverages. Consumer groups would later blame TRAIN for faster inflation and elevated oil prices. In the university, the Philippine Collegian and the University Student Council had to rely on previously collected funds from students to support their operations, as both institutions lacked funding following the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. Meanwhile in Cagayan State University, a student was found dead in his boarding house on January 16 after he was barred from enrolling because of unpaid tuition fees from the previous semester.
FEBRUARY
/ PAGE DESIGN BY JOHN RECZON CALAY
At least 450 students in UPD still had to pay tuition and other school fees for the second semester of A.Y. 20172018 due to exemptions in the free tertiary education law.
At the national level, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the martial law extension in Mindanao for another year, despite reports of human rights violations allegedly perpetuated by military officers in the region.
MARCH UP Cebu Mass Communication graduate Myles Albasin and five others were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, after they were captured in an alleged firefight with the military in Mabinay, Negros Oriental on March 3. The military further accused the group of being members of the New People’s Army, which the National Democratic Front of the Philippines denied.
Five days later, a fire hit the 43-year-old Shopping Center in UPD, displacing business owners and leaving P500,000 worth of damages. Until now, the building has yet to undergo rehabilitation.
JUNE Workers protesting the unfair labor practices of NutriAsia were violently dispersed by over 200 cops outside the factory in Marilao, Bulacan. The police hit them with truncheons and rattan sticks. Nineteen individuals including students and paralegals were arrested.
JULY Another dispersal of the NutriAsia workers’ picket occurred, with some of the 300 workers and supporters in the area mauled by policemen and guards after an ecumenical mass. The dispersal further sparked nationwide condemnation after a picture of an old woman protester, whose face was covered in blood, circulated online.
2018 NEWS
R UNDUP / EULA CABILING and DOMINIQUE SANTIAGO SEPTEMBER Contesting the administration’s discriminatory editor selection in May, former members of UPD’s official student publication release the first issue of Rebel Kule. The paper which first emerged to condemn the atrocities of the Marcos regime now sought to defend the autonomy of student publications, contrary to the first issue produced by the UP admininstalled Collegian.
OCTOBER The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board hiked the minimum fare in commuter jeepneys to P10, based on the petition of five transport groups. Jeepney drivers had complained about higher prices of fuel and the effects of TRAIN.
DECEMBER
APRIL The Bureau of Immigration (BI) revoked Sister Patricia Fox’s missionary visa, on the grounds of her alleged involvement in the destabilization plot against the President. The BI demanded she leave within 30 days upon receipt of the order.
MAY In a vote of 8-6, the Supreme Court ousted Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice through a quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor-General Jose Calida. Sereno previously faced impeachment raps before the lower house over her alleged violations of requirements on the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. Back in the university, the Board of Judges for the annual Collegian editorial exam barred two Collegian writers from participating in the selection process over their graduating status, even if it was allowed in previous years. The board, chaired by CMC Dean Elena Pernia, would then hail law student Jayson Edward San Juan as the Collegian’s editor-in-chief.
At the end of the month, authorities arrested former Bayan Muna congressman Satur Ocampo and ACT Teacher Representative France Castro in Davao del Norte on counts of human trafficking and kidnapping. Ocampo and Castro’s camp said they were rescuing students and teachers from Lumad schools in the province. The Makabayan bloc condemned their arrest, saying these were trumped up charges meant to silence the government’s critics.
AUGUST Human rights groups commemorated the first death anniversary of 17-year old Kian Loyd delos Santos, who was killed by the Caloocan police. Three cops would later be found guilty of Kian’s slay and be sentenced up to 40 years in prison in November, marking the first conviction of abusive cops under Duterte’s deadly drug war.
The Philippine Statistics Authority would later report that inflation steadied at its nine-year peak in October at 6.7 percent, due to the rising costs of food, transportation, and utilities.
NOVEMBER USC leaders who are members of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity were forced to resign after the infamous LonsiLeaks, which revealed Facebook conversations by alleged members of the fraternity containing homophobic, misogynistic, racist, pro-Marcos, and pro-Duterte remarks. The student body demanded accountability from UP President Danilo Concepcion, himself a member of the fraternity, but actual investigations and concrete steps have yet to be taken by the university.
The Senate faced delays in approving the 2019 General Appropriations Act, saying the president isn’t likely to sign the proposed P3.757-billion national budget until February next year. The government would have to use a reenacted budget for the first two months of 2019, giving rise to speculations of presidential pork barrel since the executive department will have the final say on where spending goes. As Duterte’s allies moved to tighten its grip on the government, the House of Representatives, voting 224-22-3, approved on third reading the resolution that looks to shift the country’s form of government to federalism. The approval came just a week after it had been passed on second reading amid protests from some lawmakers. The resolution sponsored by Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will remove the anti-political dynasty provision, lift term limits of lawmakers, and impose a two-party system, among others. The next day, both chambers of the congress voted to approve Duterte’s third request for an extension until the end of 2019 of martial law in Mindanao, which was implemented in May 2017.
#UPTHEREV
DEBT, DEARTH, AND DEATH:
Unmasking the politics of Chinese aid and deals
Wholesale / Bulk of the signed deals during Xi Jinping’s recent visit is highlighted by 17 infrastructure projects alloted a total of P764.7 billion. This, however, is just the tip of what China wants to achieve. As a rising imperialist power, China enters projects in the communications and energy sectors to establish its influence in the Asia Pacific region. While these 29 projects might lure some into thinking these are beneficial, the repercussions these projects would create, contrary to their prospects, would be detrimental to the country. For in the long run, it is the Filipinos who would bear the brunt of paying such heavy debt to China.
FOREIGN AID FROM CHINA PER YEAR
₱1.5 M
2016
₱63.5 M 2017
₱124 M* 2018
/ RICHARD CORNELIO, SHERNIELYN DELA CRUZ CATHRYNE ENRIQUEZ, JOSE MARTIN SINGH
Shortchanged / Since Duterte’s trip to China in October 2016 until a two-day visit to Beijing of delegates from the Cabinet in January 2017, there have been 27 documented deals signed between the Philippine and Chinese governments. Overall, the letters of investment and memoranda of understanding and agreement amounted to about P473 billion in loans and P789 billion in promised investments. Earlier bilateral talks between Duterte and Xi were optimistic of a “new stage of the practical cooperation between the two countries,” in the words of Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin. As a growing industrial power, however, China wields greater surplus capital to buy its economy sway over disadvantaged nations like the Philippines into which the former can pour billions of dollars as leverage in transnational transactions. China’s appetite for cheap labor and natural resources could very well mean the dearth of assets the people can benefit from in the years to come.
Agreement
1 square = ₱1M Total aid to be given by China is P6B, a size equivalent to the size of the page to scale
*Only for the first half of the year 2018
FOR ENERGY
Value
MOA for steel plant
₱31.6B
MOU for cabling manufacturing facilities
₱157.9B
Letter of intent for a manufacturing facility
₱15.8B
Strategic cooperation for steel plant
₱10.5B
AGREEMENT
VALUE
MOA for 300-megawatt Pulangui V HEPP
P52.6B
MOU for renewable energy
P5.1B
MOU for joint development projects in renewable energy, infrastructure, and real estate
P5.3B
Total
P63B
FOR MANUFACTURING
TOTAL ₱216B
SOURCE: IBON Foundation
FOR TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Costs of 23 of the 29 deals between the Philippines and China during Xi’s visit PROJECT
COST
10 bridge projects
₱387B
3 rail projects
₱304B
4 water projects
₱78B
4 expressway projects
₱73.7B
1 power project
₱48.5B
1 communications project
₱19.7B
The most expensive big-ticket Philippines-China projects
AGREEMENT
VALUE
AGREEMENT
VALUE
MOU for Cebu International and Bulk Terminal Project
₱17.3B
COST
The Ambal Simuay Sub-river basin flood control project
₱17.1B
PROJECT
Philippine National Railway South Long Haul
₱168B
Nationwide island provinces link bridges
₱42.1B
MOU for the Manila EDSA Bus transportation project
₱5.3B
MOU for Manila Harbor Center Reclamation Project
₱7.8B
Panay-GuimarasNegros Inter-island Bridge
₱94.8B
Bohol-Leyte Link Bridge
₱68.5B
SOURCE: IBON Foundation
REBEL KULÊ
MOU for Davao coastline ₱41.1B port development project MOU between MVP ₱131.6B Global and China Railway Engineering Corp MOU for bridges across ₱31.6B Pasig and Marikina Rivers and Manggahan Floodway
MOU for joint development ₱5.4B projects in renewable energy, infrastructure, and real estate
TOTAL ₱299.3B
SOURCE: Data compiled by Kenneth Cardenas for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in 2017
/ PAGE DESIGN BY ADRIAN KENNETH GUTLAY
The recent state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Manila last November 20 and 21 saw the inking of some 29 deals between the Philippines and China that chiefly promise to abet the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) infrastructure program. Other agreements also assure of a partnership between the two nations in various fields including agriculture, education, and even the country’s interests in natural resources in the West Philippine Sea. China’s extension of assistance, however, is deception cloaked in largesse. The loans and other agreements the nation has willingly acquiesced to might not just mean saddling the coffers to billions of dollars of debt, but also putting up our sovereignty as payment to the Chinese. Selling out / The government has looked to official development assistance (ODA) from China to provide the majority of funds necessary to complete these initiatives. Chinese aid, however, has come at higher interest rates of around two to three percent than that of offers from Japan, which ranges from 0.25 to 0.75 percent. Choosing Chinese over Japanese aid was due to the latter’s slow processing of projects, said National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Ernesto Pernia in earlier reports. The country, however, may end up entangled in China’s “debttrap diplomacy,” a scheme that has victimized poorer nations into incurring massive debt to China from ODA. Countries have defaulted on these debts because of high interest rates and been later compelled to turn over their resources and other assets to China as collateral. While the total ODA received from China has so far been less than that from countries like Japan, IBON notes that aid from China has increased by 80 times in the last two years. Meanwhile, of the P8.4 trillion needed to fund BBB, 73 percent will come from Chinese ODA, while only 26 percent will be sourced from state funds under the General Appropriations Act.
5
NEWS
@phkule
REBEL KULÊ
6-7
Slaves of destiny* The discomforting narratives of the Philippine ‘comfort women’
/ RICHARD CORNELIO and ADRIAN KENNETH GUTLAY
A shower of mortar rained down upon the rooftops as the day’s first rays of sunshine raced to the sleepy town of Mapaniqui, Bulacan. When the dust settled, members of the Imperial Japanese Army, 600 soldiers all in all, stormed the village, destroying houses, murdering men, and corralling women to be used as sexual slaves overnight. Lita Vinuya, eight years old that day on November 23, 1944 in the middle of the second world war, was one of them. More than seven decades have passed. The drums of war have long laid silent. Lola Lita, now 82, recalls the fate she and her sister Emilia, 11 years old at the time, suffered when they were taken as comfort women by Japanese soldiers.
Down memory lane / Her father was the teniente del barrio or the barangay captain of Macapilapil, Bulacan where she was from originally. Upon learning that the Japanese were coming, he planned to send his two daughters away to hide in the mountains. He sold the family carabao to buy supplies for his children, but the market was closed. The sisters instead went to Mapaniqui, a mere four kilometers away, to stay with their father’s compadre. Lola Lita recalls sleeping that night and waking up to the sound of bombs. “Nung lumiliwanag na, panay na ang bagsak ng mortar. Nung huminto yung pagbagsak ng mga mortar na yun, ang Hapon, pinasok na ang barangay,” Lola Lita said. The men and women were separated into two groups. Houses were looted. Anything of value was taken. The soldiers fired with
machine-guns on the men who were bound and tied up. Their corpses were doused with gasoline, dumped in the school building, and burnt. When every corner of the town was pillaged, everything else was set ablaze, leaving nothing but ash and 37 smoking corpses. “Matapos, ang mga babae naman ang hinarap nila.” Mothers, daughters, and all the women from Mapaniqui were forced to carry the loot to the infamous Bahay na Pula or Red House which the soldiers used as a garrison. Owned by Don Ramon Ilosorio, the Red House, a worn-down wooden building that was once a symbol of excess and opulence, now serves as a gravestone for the atrocities committed in its haunted halls. The building was partially demolished in August 2016, and now only the façade and beams remain. Once there, the Japanese soldiers took turns and forced
themselves upo “Kanya-kanyang kanyang lugar,” sa Other kids lik spared as well. “ nilang inulit-ulit y yun.” The women to the smoldering barangay the next a hundred women homes, no families nothing but a blea In the 1990 Japanese wa disclosed the savagery, how th than 200,000 co over the world Around a thousan Filipinas rounded in by force durin occupation of the In Lola Lita’s b of over 100 victim Many are now be for redress long d
n the women. pwesto, kanyaaid Lola Lita. ke her were not “Maraming beses yung kabastusang n were sent back g remains of their t morning. Around n were left with no s to return to, with ak future. 0s, archives of ar documents Imperial Army’s hey took on more omfort women all during the war. nd of these were d up and taken ng the Japanese e country. barangay, only 29 ms are still alive. edridden, waiting denied them and
F E AT U R E S The Legal Struggle of Lola Lita and other “comfort women” from Mapaniqui, Pampanga In the 1990s: Filed a suit for reparations in the Japanese courts, which dismissed the claims due to absence of a legal personality to sue under international law, as well as the lack of sponsorship from the PH government.
In 2004: Filed a suit in the PH Supreme court to urge the state to sponsor their claims for compensation from the Japanese government. In 2010: The Supreme court dismissed the case in view of the San Francisco Peace Pact, which supposedly
foreswears any further claims for reparations from Japan. In 2014: The motion for reconsideration filed by the group was once again dismissed by the Supreme Court, which decided that the case should be handled not by the judiciary but by the executive branch.
/ PHOTOS AND PAGE DESIGN BY DYLAN REYES other comfort women who did not live to see justice served. Moving forward / Recounting the violence inflicted upon them, Lola Lita could not but lament the pointlessness of war—where to be a woman, to be poor, and to be Filipino were to be triply vulnerable to abuse at the hands of the Japanese military. The functional use of comfort women not only sated the male soldiers’ craving but motivated them into furthering Japan’s militarist and imperial project. More than internalized feelings of guilt and self-blame, the survivors from Mapaniqui had until the late 1990s opted to blot the fact of their suffering out of village memory, and for a long while even from their husbands and relatives, due to fear that their stories would find no audience. Especially in a country
where a woman’s worth is still largely predicated on her “purity,” their silence for over half a century lends momentum to their act of finally speaking out in 1997. However, more than 20 years since coming forward, Lola Lita and others have yet to receive apologies from the Japanese government and adequate financial compensation for them and their families. In both international and local courts, their allegations of rape have been met with denialism of the perpetrators. This owes to difficulties of meeting the burden of proof required and other such legalities that tend to waive the state’s duty to probe war crimes against the civilian population. The Philippine government’s lukewarm support and its initial whitewash of the entire issue may be attributed to its fear of compromising important Japanese deals and having to renegotiate initial monetary reparations from Japan after wartime. The removal of the comfort women statue in Roxas Boulevard, coincidentally after a Japanese minister expressed displeasure over it, likewise bespeaks the kind of historical revisionism that translates into institutional neglect. And so, even to this day, the nation’s collective memory of the comfort women remains contingent on survivor testimony, with minimal juridical backing and no authoritative admission of the reality of such an atrocity. For Lola Lita, such an inadequate
Bakit di nila kami tulungan para mabigyan kami ng hustisya? Katulad ngayon, iilan na lang kaming buhay.
response from the government and its refusal to act on their legitimate demands are yet another betrayal they could no longer just suffer. “Bakit di nila kami tulungan para mabigyan kami ng hustisya, ng ligal na kabayaran?” asked Lola Lita. “Katulad ngayon, iilan na lang kaming buhay.” They worry that the persistence of their struggle would wear out along with the deterioration of their bodies. Their voices may be feeble and their numbers dwindling, but they who have survived violence and inhumanity will go on rallying new voices and warm bodies who will continue their fight and write their narratives of resistance into cultural memory.
*with reference to Rosa Henson’s autobiography
REBEL KULÊ
8
F E AT U R E S
G L IG I O R ED
/ PAGE DESIGN BY KARLA FAITH SANTAMARIA
PROBING THE PROSPECTS OF THE PHILIPPINE OIL INDUSTRY With the oil prices soaring, Raul Zaraga, 48, brings home nothing but sorry to his two kids—no more ChickenJoy and new dresses, only meager earnings after over 17 hours plying the UP Ikot route everyday. “Ang byahe naman, talagang patayan na,” he said. Just recently, he paid P610 for a new fare matrix on TRAIN-induced fare hikes, which only got revoked after two weeks due to fuel price cuts. While Mang Raul can maneuver his jeepney on congested roads, he has no control over the circuitous calculus of the dues of his daily grind amid sharp oil price fluctuations. The government, however, believes that the drivers and the commuting public will soon break free from the agony of the oil problem. Supposedly to alleviate oil price shocks, President Rodrigo Duterte inked a memorandum of understanding during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Manila for an oil and gas development in the disputed West Philippine Sea. Even before this, he had granted the first Petroleum Service Contract (PSC) under his term—a seven-year exploration deal that permits the Israeli firm Ratio Petroleum Ltd. to explore waters east of Palawan. The government has engaged in these transnational negotiations, realizing that the Philippine oil industry stands on troubled waters because of its incapacity to explore, mine, and refine oil. Yet these efforts to address concerns with the country’s energy security only show the predominance of and utter reliance on foreign capital at the expense of the national interest. Greasing the skids / With only five wells being drilled annually on average, per the Department of Energy (DOE), the Philippines still lags behind its neighboring countries in upstream petroleum activities despite explorations as early as 1896. The country has since welcomed such activities especially when the Petroleum Act of 1949 was signed into law, awarding concessions to independent contractors. In the 1970s, however, the Philippines suffered from an oil crisis
that prompted consumer price inflation and wage stagnation. Then President Ferdinand Marcos inked Presidential Decree (PD) 87 or the “Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1972,” which opened the country up to more offshore explorations with incentives like tax exemptions, reimbursement of operating expenses incurred, and the unrestricted determination of crude oil prices by the corporations. The ambition to supply the country’s oil requirements and promote more development of local resources paved the way for the opening of the Malampaya natural gas project. It has had the highest production rate among local oil reserves, but its generating capacity of 3,211 megawatts constitutes only 30 percent of the country’s power generation requirements, according to the DOE. Additionally, the state owns only 10 percent of the Malampaya, while the rest is shared with the private sector, between Shell and Chevron. The domination of these transnational companies (TNCs) along with Petron, which are collectively called the Big Three, has persisted since 1983 when they began to acquire other, smaller oil companies. Over a barrel / Oil exploration efforts remain futile, indeed, as long as only a few companies dominate the industry from refining through distribution to retail. Making up a cartel, they make it harder to regulate oil price fluctuations. “Ngayon mababa ang presyo, pero ilang araw kaya ‘yan? Ilang linggo, pagkatapos nitong December, bubulusok na naman ‘yan, apektado na naman ang pamasahe,” Mang Raul said. Attempts to institute a competitive system of awarding PSCs, however, do not resolve such problems in the downstream industry as oil price hikes. The local oil companies are, after all, only subsidiaries of giant TNCs—such as Royal Dutch for Shell, Saudi Aramco for Petron, and Chevron Texaco for Caltex—all of which have the capacity to process crude oil given their pipelines, refineries, and depots abroad.
/ ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN KENNETH ZAPATA
Oil prices can only be moderated by reducing the dependence on foreign firms, said Sonny Africa, executive director of the independent think-tank IBON Foundation. The public cannot likewise blame cost surges on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a multilateral group of oil-producing countries supposedly coordinating oil price negotiations. Its mandate is limited only at the extraction stage. The remainder of the pump price of petroleum products is set by the TNCs, which in turn resort to monopolistic schemes. Through one such practice, transfer pricing, the prices are bloated as the product is being transferred through various units of the same oil-processing TNC down to the endconsumer. These super profits are reaped also via other stunts by TNCs, such as inducing artificial oil scarcity, wherein production is downsized despite actual minimum capacity just to aggravate market demand for oil. In the Philippines, the slim differences in oil prices set by the Big Three and the delayed rollbacks speak of the oil cartel’s manipulative tactics, which laws of supply and demand cannot simply explain away. Breaking ground / The monopoly of TNCs is abetted by a government that also rakes in profit from spoils in the form of additional taxes on already exorbitantly priced oil products.
14 DECEMBER 2018 FRIDAY
/ REX MENARD CERVALES
In 1998, for instance, to comply with one of the conditions attached to the $650 million loan from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, then President Fidel Ramos ceased the government’s direct intervention in downstream oil operations. The Oil Deregulation Law was supposed to promote competition among different players, but has in reality only let big oil companies adjust prices at their own whim. In the face of decades of domination by TNCs, the government should opt to reclaim the oil industry. “Ang direct engagement ay hindi magagawa overnight,” said Africa. “Pwedeng magsimula sa maliliit na companies, then ang Petron i-renationalize siya.” Only through such an industrial overhaul can the country go on to ensure full benefit from its own resource-rich waters. “Ang bottomline kasi ay [may] dalawang kailangang gawin ng Pilipinas para kumawala sa dependence sa imported oil. Una, dapat i-develop ang sariling kakayahan nito to exploit ang oil and gas resources natin,” Africa said. This entails a repeal of PD 87, which at present
allows foreign businesses like Ratio Petroleum Ltd. and governments like China to enjoy maximum perks on the country’s reserves. “Ikalawa, kailangang may longterm na pag-shift talaga mula doon sa fossil fuels to renewable energies,” Africa added. Pollutive oildependent energy sources shall be replaced with renewable energies like solar energy. Though this initiative will not be realized immediately, the government must now already work on a strategic vision for rational energy policy. “Unfortunately, sa dalawang punto na ‘yan, walang ginagawa ang Duterte administration,” said Africa. A collection of transnational exploration deals indeed pays no heed to the clamor of the jeepney drivers and the commuting public, who bear the brunt of the oil problem. At the end of the day, it is the state’s duty to fix an industry rigged to privilege corporate interests, to guarantee that folks like Mang Raul will bring home nothing less than what his family deserves–the rightful rewards of his daily grind.
#UPTHEREV
A
K U LT U R A
@phkule
ng mga goons, pulis at mga militar. Ayon kay Ate Jodilyn, handa man silang magpasailalim sa ligalidad ng pag-uunyon, hindi rin naman ito nirerespeto. Kaya’t ginagawa ng kumpanya ang lahat–binubuwag ang piket ng mga manggagawa ng piket, dinarahas ang mga manggagawa at nire-redtag ang kanilang unyon. Ang pinagtagpi-tagping kawayan at tela ay mabilis na nagpapaalala ng sabsaban ng sanggol na Hesus. Iniluwal siya ni Maria sa kuwadra sapagkat wala nang iba pang lugar na bukas siyang tatanggapin. Si Ate Jodilyn ay umalis din ng kanyang bahay, iniwan ang kumbensyunal na buhay ng isang maybahay at tumangan ng responsibilidad sa kanilang unyon.
Patunay ang hakbangin ni Ate Jodilyn na hindi hiwalay ang laban ng mga manggagawa sa laban ng kababaihan. Ang magprotesta at magwelga para sa kanyang karapatan ay hindi lamang bilang manggagawa, kundi bilang babae rin. Gayundin, pinatutunayan lamang nito na ang kaaway at mapang-api, sa anumang sektor at pagkakataon, ay iisa. Sa ilalim ng mga kawayan at tela, siya at ang mga kasamang manggagawa ay magluluwal ng pag-asa sa paglaya. Sa bawat aral at diskusyon sa pangangalaga ng unyon, mahuhubog ang wastong praktika para sa kanilang mga manggagawa. Sa kanilang mga kamay nakasalalay ang pag-aalay para sa hustisya, ang kamaong itataas sa bawat pagkilos, bawat protesta.
ilaw ng
Kampuhan / SAM DEL CASTILLO
Kumukuti-kutitap ang bawat pagkakataong magkakaroon ng panahong tingnan ang mga dekorasyon sa kalsada ngayong panahon ng kapaskuhan. Kung minsa’y nakakaantig, ngunit madalas, gaya ngayon, nakakasilaw–ang kwento sa likod ng mga trapal sa Mendiola, ang kwento sa loob ng mala-warehouse na pabrika, lumuluha. Sundan ang mga ilaw, sunduin ang mga lumuluwas, nag-aaklas.
/ POLYNNE DIRA
S
a pagkakataong ito, tahimik na isinilang ang rebolusyon. Sa gitna ng ingay ng kabikabilang aklasan, may katahimikang bumabalot sa paglabas na magbabago sa takbo ng mundo. Walang ingay ang kilos ng bawat tao, ngunit sa loob ay puno ng nagpupuyos na damdamin, ng pagaasam na makawala sa nagbabagang impyerno, at pabagsakin ang mga Herodes. Sa Brgy. Pateros, Pasig, isinilang ang digmaan ng mga manggagawa laban sa mga haring sakim sa sariling interes. Bago mabuo ang Unyon ng mga Manggagawa ng Regent Foods Corp. (UM-RFC), nagkaroon na ng tatlong protesta ang mga manggagawa laban sa kompanya dahil sa kontraktwalisasyon,
pahirap na kondisyon, at ilang iregularidad sa sistema tulad ng pagtatago sa mga manggagawa sa Tipas kung saan idineklarang warehouse lamang ito. Dalaga pa si ate Tita Cudiamat, 41, nang magsimula siyang magtrabaho sa kompanya bilang taga-repack ng mga sitsirya. Bawat pakete na kanyang matatapos ay may halagang pitong piso, at sa loob ng 21 taon, ni isang kusing ay hindi tumaas ang kanyang sweldo; sa halip ay bumaba pa ng apat na piso. Upang maitawid ang mga pangangailangan, nagmimistulang makina sina ate Tita araw-araw dahil sa sistemang pakyawan. Bukod pa rito, inilarawan pa ni ate Tita na malabartolina ang pabrikang kanilang pinagtatrabahuhan.
Sa pagnanais na makuha ang karapatan, sahod na ayon sa kanilang pinagpapaguran, at makataong pagtrato, napagkasunduang bumuo ng mga manggagawa ng unyon. Isa sa mga unang hakbang nito ay ang silent protest—nagsuot sila ng mga pin at armband na may panawagan. Gayunman, kahit ang mapayapang protesta na ito ay inalmahan ng bayolenteng paghablot sa mga armband at pin ng mga miyembro— patunay na ang sagot ng mga kapitalista sa kolektibong lakas ng manggagawa ay mas masahol pang pagtrato sa kanila. Ang kapangyarihan ng manggagawa ay mas naoorganisa at napapalakas ng unyon upang tumugon sa pangunahin nilang problemang pang-ekonomiko. Ang pagkakaroon ng silent protest sa halip na kompletong pagtigil sa produksyon ay nagpapakita ng limitasyon sa pagkilos ng mga manggagawa sa isang unyon dahil hindi sila makawala sa pangangailangan na kumita. Bagaman limitado ang unyon, mahalaga pa rin ito sa mga hakbangin sa tunay na kalayaan ng mga manggagawa mula sa kapital. Ito ang nagsisilbing mga unang hakbang— ang nag-oorganisa, nagpapaalala sa karapatan ng mga manggagawa. Ngayon, ipagdiriwang ng UM-RFC ang Pasko ng pagkasilang ng kanilang unyon. Bagaman ang pagluwal sa aklasang ito ay may kalakip na pasakit at kahirapan, tulad ng pagsilang sa Emmanuel, ito ay katuparan sa hindi malayong tagumpay.
/ DISENYO NG PAHINA NI KARLA FAITH SANTAMARIA
Silent night
REBEL KULÊ
/ DIBUHO NI JOHN KENNETH ZAPATA
ng babae ang tanging nilalang na may kakayahang magluwal. Sa kaniyang sinapupunan nagmumula ang mga babago at huhubog ng mundo. Ngunit lampas pa rito ang pagdakila sa babae–dahil kung ang rebolusyon ay panganganak, siya ang bawat dugong dumadanak. Siya ay bukod tangi dahil siya ang ina ng rebolusyon. Ang kamay ng isang inang humahagod sa pagod na katawan ng anak ay isa sa mga kamay na nagtataguyod sa plantasyon ng Sumifru. Doon, sa piket ng mga manggagawa sa Mendiola, makikilala si Jodilyn Buco, 23 taong gulang. Bahagi si Ate Jodilyn ng Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Sumifru Farms (NAMASUFA), ang unyong binagtas ang landas patungong Maynila upang ipanawagan ang karapatan nilang manggagawa. Sila ay nagtayo ng piket sa labas ng Sumifru noong Oktubre 1 ngunit marahas itong binuwag ng mga militar noong Oktubre 11 at pinaratangang iligal. Sa plantang ito sa Compostela Valley, hindi sapat ang isang araw dahil lumalagpas sa normal na walong oras ang produksyon–sasagarin ang lakas para sa kakarampot na kitang barya kung ituturing sa higit 19 milyong kinikita ng kumpanya. Bukod pa sa pagiging kontraktwal at kawalan ng benepisyo, kalunos-lunos na maging babae sa pagawaang ito–isang linggong maternity leave na wala pang bayad para sa mga kapapanganak lang. Sa kanilang lugar, sila ay tinatakot at inaakusahang rebelde
9
What if God was one of us?
10 O P I N Y O N UKAY-UKAY
ni Alana Dineros
Kape pa / Kung ilang oras ang tulog mo, iyon din ang grade mo. Kaya nang pumatak sa limang oras ang tulog ko, di pa man nagsisimula ang eksam, tanggap ko na ang mainit-init na singko. Sa tinagal-tagal ko sa UP, nakagawa na ako ng database para sa pananatiling gising. Syempre, nangunguna talaga ang mainit-init na kape. Kung hindi 3-in-1 instant coffee, kape sa 7-11 ang iniinom ko. Ganiyan lang—wala naman akong pera para sa iba’t ibang klase. Iyong sa mga coffee shops na may pa-planner, para bang mayayaman lang ang may karapatang magplano sa buhay. Kung kaya siguro, ang UP, kung magplano, sa mayayaman lang sumasangguni. Nagulat na lang ako nang makita kong may 7-11 na sa may tapat ng Bahay ng Alumni. Isa lamang ito sa bahagi ng master development plan ng unibersidad na naglalayong magpasok ng mga pribadong kompanya. Kabalintunaan sa pampublikong karakter ng pamantasan. Mapapatanong ka na lang talaga kung ano ang plano ng administrasyon sa UP. Sa hanggang ngayon ay nakatiwangwang na espasyong tinirikan ng mga nasunog na Faculty Center, Shopping Center at CASAA, 7-11 ang tugon ng admin. Pumapatak ang bawat pondo ng UP sa pamumuhunan na ayos lamang kung sa pagpapanatili ng kulturang peyups; pero hindi. Ang pinakaepektibong plano para sa unibersidad ay hindi nakasalalay sa mga pribadong kompanya kundi sa bawat likaw ng karakter ng UP. May sariling tindahan ng batayang pangangailangan ang UP, at kilala ko ito, kasama ng lahat ng inabo ng kasaysayan ng pagbabago. Bilang hindi ko naman maihihiwalay ang sarili sa kasalukuyang sistema, bubunuin ko na lang at susulitin ang bawat huling patak ng kapeng bibilhin ko sa 7-11 para magising at magkaplanner. Baka makatulong din ito sa pagsasaayos ng mga iskedyul at malikhaing mainis sa tuwing hindi ito matutupad; maaaring ihampas sa sarili para manatiling gising. /
A star hovers like crystal in the dark sky and shines on a manger where the smell of refuse pervades the air, where hay mixes with dirt, and where a child sleeps in swaddling clothes. Shepherds, cattle, and scholars from the East surround the newborn nestled in the arms of his tired yet, in this moment, happy parents. Joseph and Mary went through difficulties before arriving in Bethlehem. For one, the knowledge of Mary’s conception of Jesus Christ threatened her being stoned to death since Jewish law banned the bearing of a child outside of wedlock. So, the young couple travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, with Mary suffering pangs in her womb and Joseph pleading to the host of a lodging, who pointed them to a stable nearby. Their struggle only continued with the new order from the tetrarch of Judea, Herod the Great, to slaughter all newborns. And so a bloodbath ensued throughout the land because Herod feared that this child, prophesied to be the King of the Jews, would usurp his throne.
Soldiers scoured the cities for the newborn child, and Joseph and Mary were forced to flee with Jesus to a faraway land as refugees. The coming of Jesus was feared by despots as it began the revolution of a loving God, who before had smitten sinners and foiled their cities. Many Jews expected a similar almighty savior, one to take “the government upon his shoulders,” as foretold by the prophet Isaiah. But Jesus came, humbly and quietly, to make justice and love manifest among men. In his public ministry, he restored the sight of the blind, healed the sick, dined with sinners, and fed the hungry. He lived a life of selflessness, of service to others, for he thought it is the way for love and justice to prevail. If Jesus were among us today, indeed, he would speak out against the injustices besetting the people. Looking back at how this year has fared, one might be hard pressed to find hope amid all abuses and killings in a senseless and brutal war against the poor, all violated rights, all threats and absurdities
coming from the president’s mouth. Lots continue to suffer from unjust wages and dangerous working and living conditions. Lots eke out their days in abject hunger and indigence and will do so even in the holidays ahead. There are many dispossessed despite God’s supposed presence in our communities. Though Jesus came to conquer evil, there still remains so much suffering, so much of evil’s workings
If Jesus were among us today, he would speak out against the injustices besetting the people
JOSE MARTIN SINGH in the world. In the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, evil is the “privation of being,” a lack in an individual or society’s humanity. Yet Jesus proved that love can prevail despite the odds. He came to uplift those who were abused and trampled upon by inhumane and dehumanizing systems. Isaiah, in his prophecy, described the coming savior as the Prince of Peace, and Jesus has rightly been so. Today, peace can perhaps reign when we know our responsibility to one another. The reality of the times plants seeds that sprout into love or die into hate. The chief apostle of Christ, Peter once admonished the community: “Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.” Love crushes evil and make ripples from individual to society, for it always seeks for the good of others and perseveres in spite of the worst. We have always retreated to our caves of indifference and found nothing but darkness. Let us go out and walk in the light of love.
Buhay peyups Isang semestre na naman ang lumipas. Sa graduating na estudyanteng gaya ko, isa lang ito sa maraming dumaan. Pero para sa mga freshie na nakakasalamuha, isa ito sa mga hindi malilimutan. Noong unang araw ko sa pamantasan: nakagayak ako ng simpleng t-shirt at pantalon, at habang papunta sa Freshie Welcoming Assembly, bitbit ko ang mga bilin ng magulang--huwag magiging aktibista, ateista, o miyembro ng sorority. Mag-aral lang daw nang mabuti nang makatulong sa pamilya pagkatapos. Doon ko sila unang nakita: ang mga aktibista o “tibak”. Bukod sa kanilang pulang t-shirt ay ang bitbit nilang plakard, at mga pahayag na hindi pa malaya ang bansa sa kontrol ng iilang makapangyarihang tao, pagigiit ng mga demokratikong karapatan tulad ng tunay na libreng edukasyon. Maraming klase ng aktibista: may mga hindi gaanong nagsasagawa ng kilos-protesta, may gustong itigil ang pandarahas sa kababaihan, may isinusulong ang pagkakapantay
PUNONG PATNUGOT Sheila Ann Abarra
SHERNIELYN DELA CRUZ
ng kasarian, may pinoprotektahan ang kalikasan mula sa pagkasira, at iba pa. Mayroong mga pakulo gaya ng pa-signature campaign, propaganda sa internet, dayalogo sa kasangkot na pulitiko o kumpanya, pagtatanghal, at iba pa. Iba-iba man ang isinusulong, tiyak, prinsipyado ang kanilang paglaban. Natakot man, pero sumali pa rin ako sa pagpapanawagang ipagtanggol
Sa pagbabaliktanaw ko sa buhaypeyups, naisip kong napakarami nang nagbago, ngunit marami ring nanatili
TAGAPAMAHALANG PATNUGOT SA KAMPANYA Richard Cornelio
MGA PATNUGOT SA BALITA Juan Gregorio Lina Beatrice Puente
TAGAPAMAHALANG PATNUGOT SA OPERASYON Marvin Joseph Ang
PATNUGOT SA GRAPIX John Kenneth Zapata
ang kalayaan sa pamamahayag. Gayunman, ipinaliwanag din sa’min ang mga isyung kinahaharap ng mga mag-aaral, gaya ng freshie recruitment ban. Hindi raw kami pwedeng sumali sa anumang organisasyon sa unang semestre para makapag-adjust sa buhay-kolehiyo. Wala itong lohika dahil hindi naman bago ang mga club noong elementarya at hayskul. Kung mas naging matapang nga lang ako, freshie pa lang, sumali na agad akong Kule dahil bakit hindi? Habang naglalakad sa academic oval, nalula ako sa laki ng Diliman. Buti may mga dyip na umalalay para makabisado ko paano pumunta sa aking mga klase. Ngayon, halos wala nang namamasadang Toki jeeps. Magkakapareho na rin ang mga ruta ng dyip para raw mabawasan ang usok ng sasakyan sa campus; ngunit wala pa ring kongkretong plano ang administrasyon sa nabawas na kita at tsuper. Ganito rin ang epekto ng “Oplan Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok” ng LTFRB. Kaunti na lang din siguro ang iintindihing gastos ng mga mag-aaral
MGA PANAUHING PATNUGOT Sanny Boy Afable John Reczon Calay Chester Higuit Adrian Kenneth Gutlay Jiru Nikko Rada
ngayon: napatupad na ang Free Tuition Policy (FTP). Pero matrikula pa lamang iyon, labas pa ang ibang bayarin. Wala ring nakasaad na probisyon patungkol sa mga institusyong pang-estudyante, gaya na lamang ng konseho ng mag-aaral. Nagsitaasan din ang mga presyo ng petrolyo, pagkain, at mga bilihin dulot sa TRAIN law! Siguradong hindi na sasapat ang P150 na pamasahe at pangkain ko noon–isang estudyanteng uwian mula Valenzuela at Diliman–ngayon. Sa pagbabaliktanaw ko sa buhaypeyups, naisip kong napakarami nang nagbago, ngunit marami ring nanatili. Marami mang nami-miss at gustong balikan, ang bawat freshie ay magiging senior din. Tulad ko, na kung dati’y takot makisangkot, at sa haba ng itinagal sa UP ay pinanday ng iba’t ibang isyu sa loob at labas ng pamantasan, ay dumating din sa punto ng pangingialam. Hindi na lang ako pumapasok para tumulong sa pamilya; sinikap ko nang mag-aral upang magmulat, at umambag sa paglutas, sa mga suliraning panlipunan.
MGA KAWANI Shernielyn Dela Cruz Fernando Montejo Patrica Louise Pobre Karla Faith Santamaria Jose Martin Singh
KASAPI UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP)
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES / Vinzons Hall, May 2018
Persistence of Protest
FINANCIAL STATEMENT First Semester, AY 18-19
A year-end update on the state of Rebel Kulê Since the start of the school year, the publication has been carrying out its operations sans support from the university administration and now finds itself struggling to secure funding and office space. Compared to the 15,000 copies the regular Collegian would produce per issue, Rebel Kulê can only afford to publish 2,000 to 3,000 copies, costing between P19,000 and P20,000, due to its meager budget generated only through the magnanimity of its readers. Meanwhile, this dearth of funding has also been the reason for the scaledback frequency of releases, from weekly to a strictly monthly basis. The lack of office space, on the other hand, has given rise to new challenges for Rebel Kulê’s presswork. In the absence of a venue to call its own, the publication has been primarily relying on public areas such as cafés, libraries, and designated study spaces within campus. Such logistics are infeasible, however, as these locations tend to be occupied by other persons and are susceptible to inconveniences
that ultimately disrupt the work that must be done. With this fifth and final issue of Rebel Kulê for the year, the publication would again like to appeal to the community it has always counted on for donations as another year approaches. Amid a political climate wracked by pressing issues–from martial law in Mindanao, a statesanctioned crackdown on activists, to a railroaded resolution for charter change–Rebel Kulê’s readership can count on the publication to continue delivering its brand of competent and critical reportage. Fulfilling this mandate would not have been possible without the continuous support of the student body, including student publications, organizations, and university and various local councils. Despite all difficulties entailed by the series of
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protests launched, the studentry has remained firm in standing by the campaign of Rebel Kulê for recognizing the autonomy of a student-led publication devoid of admin intervention, which it has called into question since the beginning. Our struggles are negligible when persevered in the name of serving the oppressed and the dispossessed. These battles have indeed been much less daunting when waged alongside a larger community of altruistic and principled men and women, who have provided an arsenal of much-needed motivation to the publication’s staffers. No gesture can adequately express Rebel Kulê’s gratitude for the invaluable support it has received, but we can only promise to continue to be of service to the truth and to the people come what may.
Rebel Kulê would like to extend its sincerest gratitude to these people, and to the professors, students, and various individuals who donated anonymously or during room-to-room discussions and mass mobilizations. With your incessant and overwhelming support, Rebel Kulê has now released two regular issues and two double issues in a span of four months.
Abiog, Voltaire Aliposa, Ruth Danielle Arao, Danilo Capili, Wendell Chan, Kira
₱76,500.00 Donations donations ₱11,514.00 Room-to-room campaign Competition Prizes ₱10,000.00 ₱98,014.00 TOTAL Printing ₱25,500.00 Issue 1 ₱19,300.00 Issue 2 ₱18,900.00 Issue 3-4 ₱18,900.00 Issue 5-6 ₱83,000.00 SUBTOTAL Logistical Expenses Food Travel Boosting of online content SUBTOTAL TOTAL EXPENSES CASH ON HAND
Cristobal, Maye Cruz, Conchitina Dela Cruz, Johnry Diaz, Glenn Macalalad, Karen Ann
₱1,350.00 ₱3,824.00 ₱1,000.00 ₱6,174.00
₱89,174.00 ₱8,840.00
Martinez, Nina Omanio, Glenn Ragaza, Jan Marcel Shappit, Raymond Salanga, Elyrah
Taguiwalo, Judy Taguiwalo, June Robin, Marvin Jay Vargas, Joshua Villarete, Nico
REBEL KULÊ
KULT U R A /
REBEL KULÊ / 14 DECEMBER 2018 / FRIDAY
Tous Ensemble!
Rage and Revolution in the Gilets Jaunes Movement
La France d’en bas The lower class of France / Created on Facebook, the Gilets Jaunes movement has been organized as a reaction to Macron’s imposition of the new fuel tax. The French government sees the policy as a pro-environment measure to limit public dependence on fossil fuel, in compliance to the 2015 agreement on climate change signed in the very city of Paris. Gilets Jaunes’ reaction to the fuel tax reflects the kind of growing resistance against neoliberalism, the global order that favors market “freedom” and big businesses over social services and government spending, and now espoused by the likes of Macron. It is a system in which only 100 companies are accountable for 71 percent of global carbon emissions in the past three decades,
according to the Carbon Majors Report, but the greater public is made to carry the burden of mitigating the effects of climate change. For all its promises of “tricklingdown” growth, neoliberalism has inevitably resulted in the growing gap between the rich and the poor. In his book ‘Capital in the 21st Century,’ French economist Thomas Picketty detailed the spike in inequality in several nations including France, with the wealth of the world’s richest 0.1 percent amounting to nearly 20 percent of the global wealth today. Hence, it comes as no surprise that workers from rural and suburban areas in France comprise the Gilets Jaunes— the population alienated by Macron’s pro-business and “elitist” reforms. The Gilets Jaunes movement particularly exemplifies the nature of mass demonstrations as “protests of innocence” in the words of art critic John Berger: it has no leadership and claims to be influenced by no ideology. In this respect, mass demonstrations like that of Gilets Jaunes become “rehearsals for revolution”— challenging “what is given by the mere fact of its coming together.” But, paraphrasing Berger, the challenge to the Gilets Jaunes movement is whether it can transcend this “rehearsal” for the actual performance, and not suffer the same fate as its predecessors. Soyez réalistes, demandez l’impossible Be realistic, demand the impossible / The French people are no stranger to protests and revolutions. The
Gilets Jaunes movement banks on the same French anger which once beheaded their king and changed their society forever. The latest series of mass action in France has been the largest and most intense in the 50 years since the Paris uprising in May 1968, which was led by university students and later attracted 10 million warm bodies in a matter of weeks. But while the May 1968 uprising is touted as a turning point in French and much of the western world’s social and cultural order, all the anger of the youth failed to upset the French political establishment. In fact, sociologists Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello believe that following the dissolution of the movement, the May 1968 movement’s critique of the oppressiveness and rigidity of capitalism did not mean the collapse of the latter, but was later instrumental to the emergence of the “softened,” “new spirit of capitalism”—characterized by more subtle forms of exploitation such as employee initiative and relative work freedom. The 21st century has also seen the waning of similar, initially strong mass actions. The historic Arab Spring protests beginning in 2010 made important strides
in the pro-democracy struggle in the Middle East, but they failed to sustain their momentum necessary to create a true, lasting impact in the region. Meanwhile, New York’s popular Occupy Wall Street movement lacked the organization it needed to concretely challenge global inequality. While the power and successes of these broad, cathartic social movements should not be dismissed, their weakness lies “more in the nature of outbursts of desperation and vengeance than of struggle,” to use the words of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. Based on his work ‘What Is to Be Done?,’ this struggle demands awakening the political consciousness of the working class, through the formation of a political party or vanguard of revolutionaries necessary to “ensure the stability of the movement as a whole.” Mapping and expanding the common sites of struggle of the diverse Gilets Jaunes, while ensuring the continuity of the radical movement, are a daunting task that the Left in France and in other nations must undertake and own if they are to offer a legitimate opposition to the prevailing order—lest the enemy steal the whole show. Qui n’avance pas, recule Who does not move forward, recedes / The yellow vests have become a symbol of resistance not only in France but also in other nations, where the movement has already spread but in different contexts. For one, Iraqi protesters wore the
same yellow vests to demand basic social services from their government like water and electricity. But “ideology-less” as the Gilets Jaunes movement claims to be, it has also been co-opted by several right-winged groups and populists in France and other parts of Europe. In the United Kingdom, yellow-vested demonstrators took to the streets their support for the country’s withdrawal from the European Union dubbed as the Brexit. Ironically, no major union confederations or political parties in France have openly supported the workers’ protests despite overwhelming approval among the French population. Clearly, neoliberal globalization has spurred much insecurity and discontent in many countries, but this frustration has not been tapped into by Europe’s disorganized Left as effectively as authoritarian populists have so far done. Activist and writer Naomi Klein describes the rise of Donald Trump as “a logical culmination of the current neoliberal system”; this also applies to democraticallyelected fascists like Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. France may now be witnessing a major backlash against neoliberalism, but there is no illusion that this will instantly topple the system that Macron represents.Building a clear alternative to the system entails engaging, consolidating, and organizing the angry mob, and turning this movement into a radical front imperative in achieving the revolution. For now, the Gilets Jaunes have been realistic by demanding the impossible. In this historic rehearsal of revolution, the rest of the world can no longer just be spectators.
/ ILLUSTRATION BY CHESTER HIGUIT
The Eiffel Tower is dim in comparison to the Gilets jaunes or the yellow vests that have filled the streets of France for four weeks now. All romance has left Paris. There is only rage in the torching of cars and buildings, in the defacement of the city’s landmarks and structures, and in the marching of 282,000 French protesters who live on the country’s margins. In response, the French government led by President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the deployment of 90,000 police men, the arrest of almost 3,000 protesters, and the suspension of the fuel tax—the policy which ignited the series of mass demonstrations this year. And yet, as the government is threatened to be brought to a standstill, the protest continues with an uncertain future. But, as history would tell, rage alone is not enough to bring about genuine change. A clear alternative— more than great feelings of liberty— must lead the people.
/ SANNY BOY AFABLE