Wednesday, April 30, 2008

RP labor movement weak, no longer militant

By Isagani de Castro, Jr.
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=116722

The Philippine labor movement has weakened considerably and its militancy has softened. This trend isn’t likely to change in the coming years unless there’s a major economic policy shift, labor analysts said.
"The labor movement, like it or not, its future is linked to a strong, solid agro-industrial base. If you do not address that, it will continue to be weak," Dr. Rene Ofrene
o, former dean of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations of UP and executive director of the Fair Trade Alliance, told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
"Decent wages require decent jobs. Decent jobs require decent industry. Decent industry will prosper only in a well-managed economy. So it’s intertwined," he said.
Membership in labor organizations, including unions, is one barometer of a strong labor movement. Unionized workers, especially those with collective bargaining agreements, often have better pay and working conditions than non-unionized labor.
On these scores, the Philippine situation is worrisome.
Official labor statistics and surveys show that despite increasing population (88 million) and labor force (36 million), membership in labor organizatio
ns has declined from over 3 million in the mid-1990s to 1.8 million in 2006.
(See table: http://www.bles.dole.gov.ph/2007%20Publications/2007YLS/STATISTICAL%20TABLES/Chap16/Tab16-2.xls)

The number of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in the private sector has also fallen from a peak of 4,500 in 1992 to 1,742 in 2006. (See table: http://www.bles.dole.gov.ph/2007%20Publications/2007YLS/STATISTICAL%20TABLES/Chap17/Tab17-1.xls
STICAL%20TABLES/Chap17/Tab17-1.xls)

In addition, there are now less workers covered by CBAs. In recent years, only half a million workers, out of around 16 million wage and salary earners, were
covered by CBAs. In 2006, those covered by CBAs declined even further to 250,000 workers.
(Photo below:
ANGRY AND HUNGRY. Militant workers wore rice sacks bearing slogans as they assembled at Liwasang Bonifacio for their Labor Day march to Chino Roces Bridge in Manila to demand higher wages. The government however said it will take a few more weeks before regional wage boards can finish deliberations on wage petitions. Photo by Roger Talan; http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-05-02&sec=1&aid=58173)
No longer as militant
The weakness in numbers is also accompanied by a softening of labor militancy.
Rene Magtubo, former representative of the workers party, Partido Manggagawa, told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak many workers and unions "have become conservative in their actions."
"They have this sentiment that nothing happens if you struggle. Things don’t change because of the weak labor movement," he said.

One problem is the negative attitude of many owners of enterprises toward unionism.
"There’s this stigma: if they unionize, they risk losing their jobs--even if they win their labor cases at the labor department," Magtubo said. "Workers are afraid to unionize."

From over 1,000 strike notices filed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the number of strike notices filed fell to 353 in 2006. This is about the same level during the middle years of martial law.
The drop in number of strikes is even more dramatic.
From a peak of 581 in 1986, the year
democracy was restored, the number of strikes/lockouts dropped to below 100 starting in 1994. And in 2006, there were only 12 strikes/lockouts, the lowest number ever recorded.
(See table: http://www.bles.dole.gov.ph/2007%20Publications/2007YLS/STATISTICAL%20TABLES/Chap19/Tab19-1.xls)
Magtubo said many problems faced by workers can only addressed by the government. Going on strike in factories will not help them attain these demands.
"The problems are socio-economic policies. Before it was per factory. Now, it’s the economic policies which affect everyone, especially our homegrown in
dustries," he said.

Flexibility

One of the biggest problems of the labor movement is the expanding use of non-regular workers such as casuals and contractual workers.
"The most common is hiring through agencies. Another is outsourcing, where you don’t bother whether the workers of the agency are regular," Ofreneo said.
As early as the 1990s, data from the labor department already showed an upward trend in non-regular workers.
The number of casual workers went up steadily from 95,000 in 1991 to 134,000 in 1997.
The number of contractual workers increased from 161,000 in 1991 to 401,000 in 1997.
(See table: http://www.bles.dole.gov.ph/2007%20Publications/2007%20PIYB/Employment%20of%20Specific%20Groups%20of%20Workers/SSGW_1977PSICALL.xls)

Ofreneo said non-regular workers may already reach 50% of the workers in the formal economy, if outsourced workers and those hired through manpower agencies are included.
He noted though that the Philippines is not alone in this trend toward "flexibilization" of labor.

"It’s happening all over the world. The term the
y use is non-standard, like part-time. There’s a lowering of labor standards," he said. Some developed countries, however, such as Australia and New Zealand, are trying to reverse this trend.
Shift in policies
Is there hope for the Philippine labor movement?
Ofreneo said the government and the business sector must adopt policies that would "transform industry and make them capable of paying higher wages and providing better benefits and good working conditions."

Among the key measures that must be adopted: sufficient protection against smuggling, which is killing local industries; protection against unfair trade practices such as dumping; a trade regime where the playing field is fair; more investments in infrastructure and technology.
"The problem of the Philippines is, low productivity is associated with the lack of investments. So when they say declining or stagnant labor productivity, it has more to do with failure of industry to invest in modern machinery, modern processes, modern facilities, training, on better work harmonization," Ofreneo said. "Unfortunately, the incentive to invest is eroded by the weak enabling environment for business."

Related Story:

Ex-gov't officials say Arroyo is anti-labor Written by Carmela Fonbuena http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4523&Itemid=88889051

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Family Access Card, panggaGAGO sa mga Pilipino

Sa walang puknat na pagtaas ng bilihin at pagkain, DOLEOUT at SUBSIDYO ang tangang solusyon ng Malakanyang. Matapos pumapel sa distribution side at importasyon ng bigas ang Dept of Agriculture (DA) at NFA, papasok na sa eksena ang isa pang gagong ahensya ng gubyerno, ang DSWD at LGUs. Sa anyo, sa pamamaraan at sa pamamahagi ng family ACCESS CARDS para sa mahihirap na Pilipino na matatagpuan daw sa dalawampung (20 poorest provinces) naghihikahos na probinsya sa bansa. P5.0 bilyon piso ang nakalaang budget para sa 300,000 mahihirap sa buong kapuluan ang siyang sentro ng programa. Nasimulan na raw ito sa probinsya ng Agusan, Misamis Occ, Surigao del Sur, Abra at sa lunsod ng Kamaynilaan. Mayroon na namang sasagpangin ang mga KURAKOT na pulitiko-LGUs at Malakanyang.

Sa programang Ahon Pamilyang Pilipino (APP), isang "kondisyunal na cash transfer na nagkakahalaga raw ng P500.00 buwanang welfare subsidy plus P300.00 sa bawat anak na batang (3) nag-aaral ang matatanggap ng bawat maralitang pamilyang Pilipino . Ang suma total, maksimum na subsidyong nagkakahalaga ng P1,400.00 kada buwan na ihahatag mula sa Land Bank of the Philippines (LDP) bilang “tulong sa mga kapuspalad na maralita.“ Ang sistema ng distribusyon ay sa pamamagitan ng pamamahagi ng Access Card, isang dokumentong papel na ibibigay ng DSWD sa bawat mahirap na Pinoy para tiyakan daw at masigurong sa mahihirap na pamilya nga mapupunta ang ganansya.

Una; sa datos pa lang ng DSWD, mali agad. Hindi totoong nasa 300,000 lamang ang mahihirap na pamilyang Pinoy. Sa totoo lang, 1/3 ng populasyon ng bansa (lalo na sa kanayunan) ay mahihirap, sila ang kumikita lamang ng P100.00/kada araw at dumadanas ng masidhing kagutuman. Kung Kalakhang Manila lamang ang pag-uusapan, nasa mahigit kumulang na isang milyon (1.0 milyon) ang mga nangangailangan ng agapay na ACCESS CARD ng DSWD-LGUs. Dapat mabatid ng Malakanyang na may karapatan ang lahat ng Pilipino na maka-avail ng murang bigas, sa palengke man ito o sa NFA.

Ang pagbubukud-bukud o ang selection process, ang pamimili't paghihiwalay sa mayayaman, middle class o mahihirap ay isang panggagago na sa Pilipino. Sinong mayaman ang matyayagang pipila, kakain ng GMO (genetic modified) na bigas na galing US at NFA? Kahit nga middle class (lower), hinahatak pababa sa karalitaan, pagkakaitan n'yo pa ng karapatan sa NFA rice dahil lamang sa hindi sila nakatira sa mga iskwater? Ang malapit na katotohanan, ang mga ACCESS CARD na binabanggit ay walang dudang mapapasakamay lamang sa mga bata-bata, sa mga political at electoral base maibabagsak at sa mga kakilala't koneksyon ng mga pulitiko.

Pangalawa, bukud sa palyatibo at band aid solution, paano AAHON ang PAMILYANG PINOY kung patuloy itong nakasandig sa pulitiko't buwitre. Imbis na pagtrabahuin ang mga tao, kahit sa anyo man lang o sa pamamagitan ng pagpapa-attend ng seminar (livelihood-micro finance, environmentalism, seminar tungkol sa voter's education, etc..) o ang sistemang “food for work,” kung saan "bayanihang" pagtatrabahuin ang mga tao sa kumunidad (hal sa pagtulong ng pangongolekta ng basura, clean and green, infra project) kapalit na (doleout) ihahatag na murang bigas ng NFA. Sa sistemang buluk ng DSWD at LGUs, lalo lamang "magiging pala-asa, maging tamad, lalong mayuyurakan ang dignidad at lalo lamang mapapariwara sa kulturang karalitaan at mendicancy ang mamamayang Pilipino." Kung baga sa biblia, kung gusto mong makatulong sa mangingisda, "bigyan mo ng lambat hindi pagkain." (Editorial Cartoon: http://www.abante.com.ph/issue/apr2908/op_edit.htm)

Maganda man ang intensyon ng Malakanyang, trahedya't masama naman ang magiging epekto. Ang dapat sentruhan sana ng Malakanyang ay ang “long term solution,” ang pagpapalakas ng produksyong pang-agrikultura't kaunlaran sa kanayunan, ayudang subsidy para sa mga magsasaka na siyang nagbubungkal ng lupa at empleyo't pagtaas ng purchasing power ng tao.

Pangatlo, ang kutub ng marami, tulad nung 2002 at 2005 (2 years before election 2004 at 2007) hindi malayong paniwalaang maagang pamumulitika na naman ito, maagang “vote buying” at "paghahanda ng makinarya para sa 2010 presidential election." Bukud sa sinasamantala ng Malakanyang ang “krisis sa bigas” upang makapanglinlang, makapag-papogi points, makatabla sa pulitika at maisigurong mailatag ang pagpapatuloy sa kapangyarihan lagpas sa 2010 election, ginagawang GAGO ang mga maralitang Pilipino.

Doy
April 27, 2008

Related Story:
Editorial / Working to eat
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:08:00 04/29/2008

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20080429-133283/Working-to-eat
DSWD's P5-B aid for poor prone to Palace graft – Lacson
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/92085/DSWDs-P5-B-aid-for-poor-prone-to-Palace-graft--Lacson
Editorial / Wala talaga sa ayos!
http://www.abante.com.ph/issue/apr2908/op_edit.htm

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Ang ISSUE, kabulukan ng electoral process at Comelec

Ang Comelec ang pinaka-unpopular, pinakahindi-mapagkakatiwalaan, distrusted at discredited na democratic institution sa bansa. "Maisakatuparan man o hindi ang automation ng ARMM election (Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao) sa darating na August, isang "matinong" Justice Melo man ang iupo sa Comelec, manatiling magulo, madugo, hindi kapani-paniwala at marumi ang kahihinatnan ng 2010 national election sa bansa. Ang kasaysayan ang makapagpapatunay ng lahat."

May dalawampung (20) artikulo na siguro ang aking naisulat sa blogs patungkol sa kabulukan ng election at pulitika. Tulad ng mga naunang mga pahayag, hayagan at paulit-ulit nating sinasabi na hindi "election modernization o Automated Counting Machine (ACM)" ang solusyon sa nalalapit na election sa ARMM. Bukud sa may makikinabang na naman sa procurement, "walang ibubuga ang ACM sa mga mersenaryong mga operador at TRAPO, wa epek ito sa VOTE BUYING, kasal binyag libing, Philhealth card, cell card, insurance card, scholarship at ibang innovation sa vote buying." Walang magagawa ang ACM sa iligal na operasyon ng "electoral machineries," bilyong piso't sobrang gastos sa election.

Ang talamak na dayaan ay nagsisimulang maganap sa yugto ng "preperasyon bago ang campaign period, sa campaign period, sa bisperas ng election, sa post election, transitting at canvassing period hanggang sa proklamasyon." Bagamat may tulong ng kaunti, ang ACM ay mapapakinabangan lamang sa loob ng "dalawang (2) oras, samantalang iba't-ibang klase ng dayaan ang nagaganap sa isa't kalahating (1 - 1/2 years) taong election period (pre-election and post election) at proseso."

Mas ang inaasahan at tanong ng marami, "kailan io-overhaul ang Comelec at ire-reporma ang buluk na sistemang elektoral sa bansa?" Mangyayari't aasa pa ba tayo sa natitirang isa't kalahating taon ng termino ni Ate Glo na isa-priority ang Bill patungkol sa pag-ooverhaul ng buong institution? Sapagkat, kahit sinong mahusay na ipalit na puno ng Comelec, kung nakatanim, nakabaon at nainstitusyunalisa na sa ahensya ang dayaan, ang maraming Atty Lintang Bedol, ang mga tulad ni Atty Somalipao, Boy Macarambon at Magbutay, mga batalyong operador at kahalintulad ni GARCI, ang mga katulad na political warlord na si Ampatuan mula Abra hanggang Jolo, magpapatuloy ang maraming Maguindanao incidence, ang patayan at dayaan sa buong Pilipinas.

Ang kahinaan ng kasalukuyang batas Omnibus Election Code, ang political patronage, ang casique politics- OLIGARKIYA at wardlordismong larawan ng pulitika sa bansa ang magdidikta ng masidhing pangangailangan ng isang electoral reform sa bansa. Habang namamayagpag ang kalunus-lunos na lagay ng pulitika sa bansa, suntuk sa buwang magkakaroon ng clean, honest, credible at peaceful 2010 election. Kung walang seryosong electoral at political reform, "tulad sa karanasan at kinasapitan ng bansang Kenya sa Africa, inaasahang mas hihigitan pa, mas titindi pa ang dayaan, kaguluhan at patayan sa 2010 presidential election."

Doy Cinco
April 25, 2008

Related Story:
PPCRV prepares voters education for ARMM election
MANILA, April 30, 2008—The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a Church-backed election watchdog, is preparing to formulate its strategy for voters education in view of the election in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in August.
http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/2391

Failure to automate ARMM polls to affect 2010 elections
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=116252
ARMM election questions by Mon Casiple
http://moncasiple.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/armm-election-questions/

Friday, April 25, 2008

IraqRoll'd: The John McCain Rickroll



Never Gonna Give You Up

We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm, thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy.

Refrain 1:
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand.

Chorus:
(Never gonna) give you up, (never gonna) let you down
(Never gonna) run around and desert you
(Never gonna) make you cry, (never gonna) say goodbye
(Never gonna) tell a lie and hurt you.

We've known each other, for so long
Your heart's been aching but, you're too shy to say it, baby
Inside we both know what's been, going on...
You know the game and we're, gonna play it.

Refrain 2:
And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too, blind to see.

Repeat Chorus (3x)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

'Rice price crisis, not food crisis'

"Mukhang walang krisis sa bigas. Pinagloloko lamang tayo," ang bukang bibig ng marami. Sa katunayan, kahit saan ka magpunta, ang daming supply ng bigas sa palengke, sa tindahan, supermarket at boom ang ani ng mga magsasaka sa Central Luzon, Northern Luzon, Visaya at Kamindanaoan. Kaya lang, mahal ang presyo, may kumita na naman. Sabi ng kakilala kong taga Gapan, Nueva Ecija, “hindi totoong may krisis sa bigas,” dagdag pa niya, “ang daming inani at supply ngayon, umaapaw ang mga bodega / kamalig.” (Editorial Cartoon: www.kingdomofjesuschrist.org/2/publication/pi...)

Mula sa total denial noong nakaraang buwan, itinatangging may krisis sa bigas, biglang nag-iba ang posisyon, nagbaligtaran ang mga galamay ni Ate Glo. Ang hinala ng marami, ginagamit ang krisis sa bigas sa kapakinabangan (propagandang iniuugnay sa global crisis) ng administrasyong Arroyo. Ang malungkot, ang krisis sa bigas ang pampa-POGI ng Malakanyang upang makapagmaniubra sa pulitika, kung makaka-tiempo, bigyang katwiran ang diklerasyon ng “emergency power,” kastiguhin ang kaaway/oposisyon, muling buhayin ang CHA CHA, siguruhing maililibing ang sistemang presidential tungo sa PARLIAMENTARYO at magtagal sa pwesto lagpas sa 2010 si Ate Glo.

Ang KATOTOHANAN, gamumo na lamang ang PURCHASING POWER, kawalan
ng trabaho't kawalang pambili ng mamamayang Pinoy. Ang nagdudumilat na katotohanan, nagpapatuloy ang talamak na katiwalian, pangungurakot (NFA, DA, NIA) sa administrasyong Arroyo at isa pang totoo, kailanma'y hindi umunlad (7.3% GDP growth rate) ang ekonomya ng bansa. - doy

GLOBAL PROBLEM
RP: 'Rice price crisis, not food crisis'

By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquire

First Posted 00:40:00 04/12/2008






LOS BAÑOS, Laguna--The Philippines is calling on the international community to start focusing on solutions to what is being described as a "rice price crisis" in countries worldwide.
At a press briefin
g Friday, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap quoted M. Syeduzzaman, chair of BOC Bangladesh Ltd., Bangladesh Rice Foundation, as saying that "global rice prices will not abate within the next 18 to 24 months." (Photo: www.irrawaddy.org/articlefiles/10963-19mar_2.jpg; www.everyculture.com/images/ctc_03_img0875.jpg; a.abcnews.com/images/International/d8c06d9e-5...; www.newsflash.org/2004/02/pictures/00004667.jpg ; newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44576000/jpg/_...)

Yap pointed out that "we're grappling [with] the same situation." He said it was the "common consensus" of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) board members that "we're looking at firm prices within the next 18 to 24 months."
But he declined to say whether prices would firm up to current levels or would further increase within the period. He said it would be speculative on his part to give "price forecasts."

"We don't have a food crisis but, rather, a rice price crisis," Yap said. "All of us are looking for innovative solutions in our countries--how to address not only the issue of supply but also the issue of prices, how to [ensure] that poor families can eat." (Photo: Mahabang pila sa Commonweath Av, "Rice crisis worsening" http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/apr1108/index.htm)
Yap quoted IRRI director general Robert Zeigler as saying that "in no way should farmers be blamed for the current rice situation."
"What we want to do is encourage Filipino farmers to produce more, and you don't do that by imposing an artificial pricing mechanism to control their profit. You have to give them a signal that it pays to produce food," Zeigler said.

Related Story:
What rice crisis? by Honesto General
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:28:00 04/23/2008
http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20080423-132112/What-rice-crisis

RP's rice supply remains 'comfortable' by Carmela Fonbuena
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=115832

Price control at emergency power
http://doycinco.blogspot.com/2008/04/price-control-at-emergency-power.html
Palay farmgate prices going down as traders stop buying by Amy R. Remo
April 23, 2008 21:45:00
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/riceproblem/view.php?db=1&article=20080423-132267

Monday, April 21, 2008

Capitalism harms planet - Morales

Ang konteksto ng Pilipinas, Bolivia at iba pang Umuunlad na bansa ay maaaring tama't isang malinaw na halimbawa. Kaya lang, noong panahon ng cold war, maski ang tinatawag na socialist bloc sa Eastern Europe ay nanggahasa rin ng kalikasan. Wala ring pakundangan ang China, yung kailugan at hanging sinusinghut ng mga tao ay nalagay na rin sa malubhang kalagayan. Tungkol kay Evo Morales, sana man lang may ganitong klaseng pinuno ang Pilipinas, astig, pumapalag, may buto sa gulugud at interest ng mamamayan ang pinangangalagaan. - doy (Photo: http://www.alternet.org/)

Capitalism harms planet - Morales
By Laura Trevelyan
BBC UN correspondent, in New York
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7359880.stm

Bolivian President Evo Morales has told a UN forum that capitalism should be scrapped if the planet is to be saved from the effects of climate change. "If we want to save our planet earth, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system," he said. (Photo: Mr Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous president)
Opening an UN meeting in New York on the rights of indigenous people, he also said the development of biofuels harmed the world's poorest people.
The forum's theme is the global impact of climate change on native people. Mr Morales gave the keynote address at the opening of the seventh session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Duty bound
As a descendent of the Aymara people, he is Bolivia's first indigenous president. Bolivia's left-wing president said unbridled industrial development was responsible for the pillaging of natural resources.

Speaking through an interpreter at the UN headquarters in New York, he had this uncompromising message: "If we want to save our planet earth, to save life, to save mankind, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system."

Mr Morales also argued against biofuels, crops which are used to produce alternative energy rather than food. Biofuels resulted in poverty and hunger he said, and were very harmful to the poorest people in the world.
In a side swipe at Brazil, major manufacturers of the biofuel ethanol, he said some presidents were putting cars ahead of people.

Related Story:
Eight Reasons Our Changing World Will Turn You Into an Environmentalist, Like It or Not
AlterNet Staff, AlterNet
Posted April 22, 2008

The challenges our society faces with depleted energy resources, water shortages, soaring food costs all point to environmental solutions.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/83057/

Bike to work, bike to school, bike to play, bike today!

May ilang dekada ng ina-advocate ng maraming environmentalist group ang bisekleta; bukud sa Earth Day bukas, taon-taon, ang daming iba't-ibang pakulo, bongga, patok at dinudumog ng mga siklista ang “Tour of the Fireflies,” “The World Car-Free Day” at iba pang kahalintuld na aktibidad. Tulad na lamang ng panawagang “Bike to work, bike to school, bike to play, bike today,” nakakalungkot isiping “hanggang panawagan na lamang ang adhikaing ito!” Mukhang hindi kaya ng mga Pilipino na tapatan ang tradisyon ng Amsterdam, Netherlands, Scandinavian countries, Europa at Beijing, China sa larangan ng pagtangkilik sa pagbibisekleta.
Ano kaya ang dahilan, "dahil ba sa NAKAKAHIYANG mag-bike, muka kang TANGA, baka kantyawan ng iba o dahil ba sa mainit, humid ang klima, lubhang delikado at maalikabok ang kalagayan sa Pilipinas?"
(Photo above: Earth day --- Libu-libong bikers ang nakiisa sa taunang ‘tour of fireflies’ kung saan inikot ng mga bikers ang pitong lungsod sa Metro Manila bilang bahagi ng selebrasyon ng Earth Day (AFP) , http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/apr2108/index.htm)

Pero, sa kabila ng mga matitinding advocacy work, bonggang aktibidad ng mga NGOs, parang stagnant, walang dating sa masa, parang bingi't walang epekto sa mamamayan, lalo na sa middle class ang
“bike to work, bike to school, bike to play, bike today.” Nananatiling mas dominant (mayayabang) na mentalidad, tradisyon o kasabihan sa mga Pilipino na ang "ang palatandaan, ang sukatan ng kaunlaran at pag-asenso ng bawat pamilyang Pinoy ay ang pagkakaroon ng sasakyan, lalo na kung ito'y SUV." Kung paliitan ng sasakyan (compact, mini sizes, hunchback) sa bansang Europa, aba dito sa atin baligtad, palakihan, SUV ang popular.

Kahit P45.0/litro na ang presyo ng gasolina, kahit lumalala't matindi ang TRAFFIC sa Kamaynilaan, patuloy na lumalakas ang bentahan at pagtangkilik sa mga SUV, sa paggamit ng sasakyan (20.0% growth sale, 2007). Ang malungkot, mukhang nakagawian ng sumakay ng Jee
p o tricycle ang mga Pilipino kahit isang kilometro (walang nangangahas maglakad) lamang ang layo ng kanyang pupuntahan.

Kung magkakaroon ng patakaran ang gubyerno at MMDA na isulong ang paggamit ng bisekleta, mangangailangan ito ng bilyong pisong ayuda, suporta't inprastruktura. Tulad ng pagkakaroon ng insentibo sa sinumang tatangkilik ng paggamit ng bike, paglalagay ng ligtas at kaika-ikayang bicycle lane sa lahat ng lansangan, paglalagay ng mga plaza, mga inbakan at paradahan (parking area) ng bisikleta sa bawat mga instasyon ng LRT, MRT, Mega Train at mga establisyimento (pribado't gubyerno) sa Makati o sa Kalakhang Manila. Makakatulong din siguro ang pagdi-discourage sa mga tao na bumili ng sasakyan, taasan, triplihin ang sinisingil na buwis sa mga luxurious na SUV at awtomobil at singilin ng malaking halaga sa parking fee ang mga sasakyan. (Photo above: ... parking facility in Amsterdam 400 x 267 - 44k - jpg bikecommutetips.blogspot.com)

Sa ngayo'y pabago-bago, taas-baba ang presyo ng langis sa world market, nung nakaraang buwan, nasa $98.0-100.0 / barrel, ngayon nasa $117.0 / barrel ang presyo, baka bukas, umakyat ng $120-130.0 / barrels? Minsan, "kahit sablay, naisip kong parang okey na rin na itaas ng sagad sa buto ang presyo ng krudo't gasolina, kahit umabot ng $200.0/barrel o katumbas ng P65.0 / litro sa bansa, kahit sinasabing maapektuhan ang produksyon at ekonomya ng bansa." Baka sa paraang ito, magbago ang mga maluluho at mayayabang na Pinoy.
Ewan ko, pero dahil kahit paano, baka siguro matauhan na ang mga Pilipino, baka ito na ang hudyat para maipalaganap ang paggamit ng alternative means of transportation, tulad ng bisikleta, hindi lamang mura, efficient, environmentally sensible at nakabubuti pa sa kalusugan. Isang radical shift o pagbabago ng mentalidad, values at attitude ng ating lipunan o ng ating mga sarili.

Naalala ko tuloy ang sumikat na panawagan ni Ariel Ureta, isang TV host at comedian, nung idineklara ang Martial Law, “sa ikauulnad ng bayan, bisekleta ang kailangan.” - Doy

Related Story:
How New Energy Order Will Dramatically Change our Daily Lives
Michael T. Klare, Tomdispatch.com.
April 16, 2008.

Get ready for a new world order in which energy will govern what we eat, where we live, and if and when we travel.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/82476/
Oil prices hit new high
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/oil-prices-hit-new-high-812848.html
Oil prices reached a new high above 117 US dollars a barrel today amid further fears over supply.
Environment has a way to get back at plunderers
http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/2153

Friday, April 18, 2008

Erap ule sa 2010?

Mukhang nasa "electoral mode" na ang political opposition. Habang ang ilang grupong militante ay nagbabalak ng malawakang kilos protesta at "FOOD RIOT," isang milyong signature campaign para sa 2010 naman ang ipinoporma ng mga galamay ni Erap. Sa kabila ng patuloy na hindi humuhupang krisis pang-ekonomya, pulitikal / political uncertainty, dinagdagan pa ng panibagong krisis at taas ng presyo ng bigas at bilihin, mukhang ang “tulay na sinasabi ni Erap na underconstruction para sa 2010,” bukud sa kakatayin, hindi ito makakalusot sa Supreme Court na hawak sa leeg ni Ate Glo, wawasakin ito ng pwersa ng Malakanyang.
(Photo:
Former President Joseph Estrada opens the party caucus of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan yesterday. - Photo By BOY SANTOS, http://www.philstar.com/)

"Ang moral authority na nabawi ni Erap itong mga nagdaang panahon" ay muling mailalagay lamang sa kumunoy ng kahihiyan, sa political suicide kung ito'y mauutong tumakbo sa 2010. Batay sa mga insider, wala na talagang balak bumalik sa pulitika si Erap sa 2010. Ang hinala ng marami, mas si Sen Jinggoy (Vice President) at si Mayor JB Ejercito (Senator) pa ang pinatatampok, pino-float para sa 2010 at decoy lamang si Erap. Kaya lang, para sa mga sipsip na nasa paligid ni Erap na nangbubuyong muling tumakbo ito sa 2010 presidential election, sa totoo lang, "sila ang mga tunay na mga kaaway sa pulitika at tatraydor kay Erap."


Batid ni Erap ang talamak na dayaan sa election sa Pilipinas, sapagkat ultimo ang yumao at matalik nitong kaibigang si FPJ ay naging biktima nito. Kaya't sa tingin ko, ang pinakamagandang iiwang LEGACY at papel ng dating Presidenteng si Erap ay "lumahok pa rin sa darating na 2010 presidential election hindi bilang kandidato bagkus bilang ahente ng reporma, umastang aktibista't tumulong sa pababago ng sistema ng politika sa bansa."

Tumulong si Erap na palakasin, pagkaisahin ang mga Political Party ng opposition at itakwil ang mga political opportunism, baligtarin, nangurakot at higit sa lahat mga TRAPO. Magkaroon ng malinaw at patingkarin ang plataporma at alternatibong people's agenda ang partido at hindi ang nakagawiang personality oriented, showbiz at elitismo. Itakwil ang political clan, oligarkiya, kasal binyag libing at guns gold at goons, ang ugat kung bakit napapariwara't nababastos ang eleksyon sa Pilipinas.

Dahil wala tayong maasahan sa bagong talagang si Justice Melo sa Comelec
at dahil sa UNREFORMED ELECTORAL SYSTEM at BULUK na COMELEC, tulad ng dati, inaasahang mas magiging madugo, madaya, magastos at hindi kapani-paniwala ang 2010 election. Mas kapani-paniwala pang magiging masahol pa sa 2004 at 2007 ang kahihinatnan ng 2010 election. Mas nasa maayos na pwesto kung pangunahan ni Erap Estrada ang kampanya sa political maturity, kampanyang VOTER’S EDUCATION, ilantad ang TRAPO POLITICS at i-advocate ang matagal ng panawagang political at electoral reform sa bansa. - Doy

Related Story:
Erap tells Palace to stop ‘paranoia,’ says no plan to run in 2010 - By Jose Rodel Clapano And Aurea Calica
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080419121

Binay: Erap is ‘last option’ of opposition in 2010 by ASHZEL HACHERO
http://www.malaya.com.ph/apr22/news6.htm

Comments:

4a1978
The one major catalyst of change in Russia was Gorvachev. Once a very powerful insider. One who was part of the system. Russia is now moving forward because of him. Erap has the opportunity to take a similar role. Now is the time keep reforms moving so that when 2010 election comes people are well informed. Whilst corruption and food crisis has tremendous impact in the hearts and minds of the people Erap should push on to be known as the man of goodwill. Hopefully history will judge him based his remaining years pushing for reforms to eliminate poverty. If he miss this boat there will be no second wind. Erap open your sail and take the wind of change. Filipino people all over the world will sail with you. Let's get out of the safe harbour. Let's get rid of the bliss of ignorance and face the world. We only live once. - rene

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

How Hunger Could Topple Regimes

Noong dekada 90s, naranasan ng mundo ang kalupitan ng krisis pang-ekonomya, magkakasabay na bumigay ang mga ekonomiya ng mundo lalo na sa Asia; mula sa mga delubyo't pananalanta ng tagtuyot, baha, mga sunog dulot ng El Nino weather patterns; sinabayan pa ito ng malulupit, anti-mamamayan at istriktong austerity plan na idinikta ng Interntional Monetary Funds (IMF) at mga pandaigdigang bangko sa mga bansang umuunlad o developing countries.

Nagresulta ito ng kapighatian at karukhaan sa bahagi ng mamamayan, pagtaas ng pangunahing bilihin, binansot na sahod ng manggagawa, kakulangan ng resources, lumiliit na supply ng pagkain at sikmurang kumakalam. Dahil sa ganitong penomenom, kaliwa't kanang FOOD RIOT ang yumanig sa maraming mga Umuunlad na bansa, tulad na lamang sa Indonesia, India, Mexico at Brazil. Karaniwan sa mga FOOD RIOT ay ang paglulunsad ng mga LOOTING, pagransak ng mga supermarket / groceries, fast food restaurants, paglusob sa mga kamalig- bodega, pagbabarikada sa mga lugar na pinanggagalingan ng supply at pagbibiyahe ng truck at pagpoprotesta sa mga sentrong bayan-lunsod na nagresulta ng mga labanan.
(Photo above: t
housands of people have rioted on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi; it is the country's latest outbreak of unrest over rising prices and economic turmoil, news.bbc.co.uk/.../images/_58411_trroops150.jpg)

Ang mga ganitong kaganapan ay repleksyon lamang ng matinding kabiguan at galit ng mamamayan laban sa mapang-api't 'di makataong paggugubyerno at pandaigdigang globalisasyong na sa tingin ng marami ay hawak ng mga dambuhala't mayayaman ruling elite.


Hindi totoong "ALIEN, wala sa kalendaryo o wala sa ugali ng mga Pilipino ang FOOD RIOTING, " tulad ng mga alarmistang pahayag nila PNPChief Gen Razon at Sec Gilbert Teodoro ng DND. Isang patunay ay ang LOOTING ng KADIWA (People's Store) sa Manila noong panahon at bago naibagsak ang diktadurang Marcos (1980s). Ang "aklasang bayang" pinangunahan ng mga Guerilyang mamamayan laban sa Hapon o HUKBALAHAP kasama ang malawak na naghihirap at nagugutom na mamamayan (noong 1930-40s, WW 2) ay isang malinw rin na katibayan. Ang looting ng mga kamalig-bodega, panununog ng mga taniman, kumpiskasyon ng pagkain sa mga mayayamang komprador at pagkontrol ng pagkain ang inilunsad at isinagawang pagkilos ng mamamayan kasama't suporta ng mga gerilyang bayan nung panahon na yaon, "bumango't naging popular sa masa ang mga guerilyang mga Pilipino."

Kaya lang, mukhang 'di sapat na maresolba lamang ang krisis sa bigas o ang isyu ng food shortages. Sabihin man nating may supply tayo ng pagkain sa palengke, sa groceries at suspermarket, ang problema'y kung 'di kaya namang bilhin ng mga tao, wala rin! Ang isyu ng unemployment at PURCHASING POWER ng mga manggagawa ay sabayan at kailangang ding maresolba't mabalanse. Kung mataas ang mga batayang presyo ng produkto't mga bilihin sa merkado, mataas ang singil sa pamasahe, kuryente, mataas na matrikula, gamot, babayaring tubig, upa sa pabahay at hindi maitataas ang standard of living, wa epek din!!

Kung kakarampo't bansot ang sweldo't minimum wage ng mga mangaggawa, kung ang 50-70% ng kanilang pang-arawang kinikita ay halos nailalaan lamang sa pagkain, WALA RIN!!

Dapat unawain na sa mga mauunlad na bansa, halos mababa pa sa 2 - 5% lamang ng kanilang kinikita ang naigugugol sa pagkain. Lilinawin din natin na kailanma'y hindi isyu rito ang lumalaking populasyon ng bansa (out of the question) na siyang isang dahilan ng food crisis. Sapagkat,
kung uunlad lamang ang ekonomiya, agricultural at industrial production (walang kurakot at well distributed at 'di naka-concentrate sa iilan ang yaman (500 super rich na pamilya) ng bansa, kahit magmultiply ng tatlong beses ang populasyon, kayang pakainin ang mahigit 200.0 milyong populasyong mga Pilipino. - Doy

----------------------


How Hunger Could Topple Regimes
Friday, Apr. 11, 2008 By TONY KARON
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1730107,00.html

The idea of the starving masses driven by their desperation to take to the streets and overthrow the ancien regime has seemed impossibly quaint since capitalism triumphed so decisively in the Cold War. Since then, the spectacle of hunger sparking revolutionary violence has been the stuff of Broadway musicals rather than the real world of politics. And yet, the headlines of the past month suggest that skyrocketing food prices are threatening the stability of a growing number of governments around the world. Ironically, it may be the very success of capitalism in transforming regions previously restrained by various forms of socialism that has helped create the new crisis. (Photo: U.N. peacekeepers patrol in an armored vehicle during protests on a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Eduardo Munoz / Reuters)

Haiti is in flames as food riots have turned into a violent challenge to the vulnerable government; Egypt's authoritarian regime faces a mounting political threat over its inability to maintain a steady supply of heavily subsidized bread to its impoverished citizens; Cote D'Ivoire, Cameroon, Mozambique, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Indonesia are among the countries that have recently seen violent food riots or demonstrations. World Bank president Robert Zoellick noted last week that world food prices had risen 80% over the past three years, and warned that at least 33 countries face social unrest as a result.

The sociology of the food riot is pretty straightforward: The usually impoverished majority of citizens may acquiesce to the rule of detested corrupt and repressive regimes when they are preoccupied with the daily struggle to feed their children and themselves, but when circumstances render it impossible to feed their hungry children, normally passive citizens can very quickly become militants with nothing to lose. That's especially true when the source of their hunger is not the absence of food supplies but their inability to afford to buy the available food supplies. And that's precisely what we're seeing in the current wave of global food-price inflation. As Josette Sheeran of the U.N. World Food Program put it last month, "We are seeing food on the shelves but people being unable to afford it."

When all that stands between hungry people and a warehouse full of rice and beans is a couple of padlocks and a riot policeman (who may be the neighbor of those who're trying to get past him, and whose own family may be hungry too), the invisible barricade of private-property laws can be easily ignored. Doing whatever it takes to feed oneself and a hungry child, after all, is a primal human instinct. So, with prices of basic foods skyrocketing to the point that even the global aid agencies — whose function is to provide emergency food supplies to those in need — are unable, for financial reasons, to sustain their current commitments to the growing army of the hungry, brittle regimes around the world have plenty of reason for anxiety.

The hunger has historically been an instigator of revolutions and civil wars, it is not a sufficient condition for such violence. For a mass outpouring of rage spurred by hunger to translate into a credible challenge to an established order requires an organized political leadership ready to harness that anger against the state. It may not be all that surprising, then, that Haiti has been one of the major flashpoints of the new wave of hunger-generated political crises; the outpouring of rage there has been channeled into preexisting furrows of political discontent. And that's why there may be greater reason for concern in Egypt, where the bread crisis comes on top of a mounting challenge to the regime's legitimacy by a range of opposition groups.

The social theories of Karl Marx were long ago discarded as of little value, even to revolutionaries. But he did warn that capitalism had a tendency to generate its own crises. Indeed, the spread of capitalism, and its accelerated industrialization and wealth-creation, may have fomented the food-inflation crisis — by dramatically accelerating competition for scarce resources. The rapid industrialization of China and India over the past two decades — and the resultant growth of a new middle class fast approaching the size of America's — has driven demand for oil toward the limits of global supply capacity. That has pushed oil prices to levels five times what they were in the mid 1990s, which has also raised pressure on food prices by driving up agricultural costs and by prompting the substitution of biofuel crops for edible ones on scarce farmland. Moreover, those new middle class people are eating a lot better than their parents did — particularly more meat. Producing a single calorie of beef can, by some estimates, require eight or more calories of grain feed, and expanded meat consumption therefore has a multiplier effect on demand for grains. Throw in climate disasters such as the Australian drought and recent rice crop failures, and you have food inflation spiraling so fast that even the U.N. agency created to feed people in emergencies is warning that it lacks the funds to fulfill its mandate.

The reason officials such as Zoellick are sounding the alarm may be that the food crisis, and its attendant political risks, are not likely to be resolved or contained by the laissez-faire operation of capitalism's market forces. Government intervention on behalf of the poor — so out of fashion during globalization's roaring '90s and the current decade — may be about to make a comeback.

Related Story:

Corruption, not population, blamed for poverty
http://www.malaya.com.ph/apr19/news5.htm

Analysis: Regime survival tops gov’t agenda by Amando Doronila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080416-130629/Regime-survival-tops-govt-agenda
..........The Philippines is not far removed from this scenario of civil unrest, a contingency that has rattled the government and has driven it to avert an outbreak of violence. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made highly publicized visits to NFA warehouses to show they are filled with rice. But it’s not the visible rice stockpile that reassures. As one FAO official has pointed out, the hungry and the poor see the food stocks on the shelves but it’s the high prices that’s driving them to the streets. It’s their rebellion against food prices.

IMF warning: Food shortages can overthrow governments
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/90198/IMF-warning-Food-shortages-can-overthrow-governments
PARIS - The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Friday that soaring world food prices can have dire consequences, such as toppling governments and even triggering wars.
---------------------------

Monday, April 14, 2008

Price control at emergency power

Kung ang “emergency power (EP)” ang kahit paano'y lulutas sa krisis ng pagkain, magpapasigla ng rice production at rural development, kukumpiska ng libu-libong ektaryang nakatiwang-wang na lupaing pansaka na pag-aari ng mga mayayaman (casique, ng mga warlords, panginoong may lupa at political clan, oligarkiya), ayos lang. Kung ang “emergency power” ang magtataas ng kabuhayan (standard of living) ng mga magsasaka, ang sasawata (crackdown) sa mga mapagsamantalang Traders, mga rice cartels, smugglers, sa mga katiwalian sa loob NFA, NIA (National Irrigation Authority) at DA-Quidancor, walang problema. Kung ang “EP” ang daan upang palakasin ang RICE SUBSIDY ng mga magsasaka at magbubukid, ayos lang. Kung ito'y gagamitin upang ma-ifacilitate ang "moratorium sa gadambuhalang utang panlabas ng bansa at mairechannel ito sa produksyon," walang problema!

Ang kutub ng marami, ang "EP" ay malamang gamitin sa propaganda at panlilinlang, na ang palalaganaping kadahilanan ng krisis ay "walang krisis" at panlabas na salik (global) ang ugat ng krisis at hindi panloob (crisis of governance). Gagamitin ang "EP" upang maipag-patuloy ang patakarang pag-iimport ng bigas na ngayo'y itinuturing pumapangalawang importer ng bigas ang Pilipinas sa buong mundo. (Photo: Mahabang pila sa Commonweath Av, "Rice crisis worsening" http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/apr1108/index.htm, BUHAY POBREAraw-araw na ganito ang buhay ng mga mahihirap nating kababayan. Ilang oras na nakapila para makabili ng murang NFA rice, ulanin man o mabilad sa araw. (Art Son)

Tulad ng dati, malamang na itutuon ang "EP" sa mga kalaban, sa mga maralitang nag-aalburuto, mga kaaway sa pulitika ng Malakanyang, political survival at matiyak ang latag tungo sa inaasam-asam na pananagumpay sa 2010 presidential election. Ang isa pang nakakatakot, baka ituon ang EP upang sawatain ang namimintong FOOD RIOT (kaso ng Haiti ay iba pang bang mga bansa nagpu-food riot sa mundo), kilos protesta at disgusto ng mamamayan laban sa inutil at tunay na may kagagawan ng rice crisis sa bansa.

Price Control sa immediate at agri-industrial production sa pangmatagalan ang kailangan ng bansa para malabanan ang paglubha ng karalitaan, kagutuman at self-sufficient sa pagkain. Sa ayudang P43.7 bilyon, bukud sa bubusugin lamang nito ang mga patron- pulitiko, susuportahan ang magsasaka ng Vietnam at Thailand, ipagpapatuloy lamang nito ang mga dati, buluk, luma at napatunayan ng SABLAY na mga patakarang pang-agrikultura.

Sa sinasabing P43.2 bilyon, malabong ma-agapayan nito ang sariling magsasaka, pasiglahin ang pagsasaka at kaunlarang pangkayunan (rural development) at sa maiksing panahon ay makapagproduce ng mahigit tatlong milyong metriko toneladang bigas ang bansa.

Sa kasalukuyan, tanging ang Price Control ang immediate na makakatugon sa krisis na pagkain sa bansa. Ang PRICE CONTROL sa panahon ng kagipitan ay napatunayang wasto, ipinatupad ni Pres Cory Aquino at iba pang mga bansang mahihirap sa mundo. Ang price control ay palatandaan na may gubyernong nag-eexist at kumakalinga sa mamamayan. Siya rin ang nagpapatunay na may ESTADONG handang ipagtanggol ang interest ng mamamayan. Sa totoo lang, hindi na mangangailangan ng isang “emergency power,” sapagkat tanging ang PRICE CONTROL o isang executive order (EO) lamang, isang “pro-active na patakarang aaresto sa pagsasamantala at patuloy na pagbulusok ng presyo ng bilihin ang itutugon. Ang price control ang depensa ng mamamayan sa lumalalang INFLATION RATE ng mga pangunahing bilihin at patuloy na pang-aabuso ng mga tiwaling negosyante. - Doy / April 14, 2008

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Church has to be an agent of social change, says CBCP head

http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/1862

MANILA, April 9, 2008—The Philippine Church needs to become an instrument of social transformation and evangelization, said Jaro Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Social change is a component and consequence of the work of evangelization, without the former, the latter is incomplete. “If our struggle to build the Kingdom of God and our striving is to authentically follow the Jesus of the Gospel, then it must be a journey towards social transformation, towards truth and justice, love and peace, a journey towards the fullness of life,” he said.
(Photo: Bishop Lagdameo, http://www.fabc.org/img/ArchLagdameo.jpg )


“If the Philippine Church is to become a community of communities of the disciple of Jesus, an embodiment of solidarity and communities of compassion, it must have interdependence as a moral category and solidarity as a moral and social virtue. Underlying the call to lay evangelization and social transformation is the call to interpersonal leadership,” the archbishop said today.

Lagdameo was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute (SAIDI), held at the Manila Hotel.
In order to achieve interpersonal leadership, both individual and group must move out of the paradigm of dependence into the paradigm of independence and interdependence, the CBCP head stressed.
ocial responsibility for development is not an individual duty and isolated effort at the expense of others, and then development becomes exaggerate
d and misdirected. What is called for is the collaboration in social development involving all, the prelate said.
“Working for social transformation means recognizing the truth that we are created for interdependence, fellowship, dialogue, collaboration, creative cooperation and community of families,” he said.

Interdependence and interpersonal leadership is behind the approach of Jesus in sending the 12 apostles and 72 disciples two by two. Marked by a common vision and common mission, they could combine their talents and abilities and create something greater together, 67-year old Lagdameo said.
Interdependence is a methodology—“the team approach to evangelizing”—that demands the emergence of a new type of leadership that will animate, facilitate and coordinate team efforts, activate charisms and maximize participation, he said.
The prelate explained that interdependence leadership is a partnership, which shifts the interaction from vertical to horizontal and being partners in results as well as in operation.
“’Communities of disciples’ is the antidote to our ‘chronic, almost compulsive, dividedness,’ group loyalties, obsessions and jealousies, and destructive fragmentedness,” Lagdameo said.
Establishing “community of disciples” and “communion of communities” may appear almost an impossible task. However, with God’s grace, everything is possible, he said.
The spirituality of social change deman
ds a properly formed social conscience, the lack of which in many Filipinos is a major tragedy, the prelate added.
“Through interdependent and interpersonal leadership we will achieve the social transformation that renewed evangelization envisions to achieve, a leadership that in our present critical situation demands transparency, accountability, commitment to truth and justice, the sum total of which is credibility,” the CBCP head said. (Santosh Digal)

-------------

Sa aming film showing na “BRINGING DOWN A DICTATOR,” kagabi, isang pelikulang nakapatungkol sa people power at kung paano naibagsak ng mga mamamayan ang diktadurang Slobodam Milosevic ng Serbia, ang dating Yugoslavia sa Europe. Matapos ang palabas ng pelikula, naging mainit ang talakayan at diskurso. Kung saan-saan umabot ang usapan, mula sa konteksto at pagkukumpara ng Serbia sa kaso ng Pilipinas, mula sa arena of struggle, debate sa “non violent at electoral politics,” uri't sistema ng lipunan hanggang sa class struggle. Sa dinami-dami ng kwento, ang sabi ko na lang, hanggang “political at electoral reform” ang kaya kong maibabhagi.

Patungkol sa artikulo sa itaas, kung ating aanalisahin ang pahayag ni Bishop Lagdameo, kung ano man ang interpretation at kahulugan, kung ano man ang ibig sabihin ng social change, ang mahalaga at ang punto, "naniniwala si Lagdameo ng social change" at malamang, bilang sa daliri ang may ganitong pananaw sa hanay ng simbahan.

Para sa akin, sa maiksing pagdidiskurso, "isang klase ba ito ng lipunang kung saan ang demokrasya ay monopolyo, tinatamasa lamang at kontrolado ng mga makapangyarihan at mayayaman? Na ang demokrasya ay para lamang sa OLIGARKIYA at sa malalaking mga pampulitikang ANGKAN, na ang SISTEMANG PADRINO ang siyang kalakaran at siyang nakapangyayari, na ang nagdudumilat na katotohanang walang tunay na demokratikong representasyon ang maliliit at ang mamamayan? Na ang buluk na pulitika ang siyang lumalabas na pangunahing industriya sa Plipinas, na siyang dahilan kung bakit lugmuk at nagkakaganito ang ating bayan, na ang ganitong buluk na sistema ang siyang canal na pinagbubuhatan at sanhi ng (lamok) ng political uncertainty, pangungurakot, katiwalian, inhustiya, karalitaan, na siya namang tinatapatan ng rebelyon, kudeta at insureksyon."

Walang kaduda-dudang isa lamang moro-moro
ang election sa Pilipinas. Ang pampulitikang makinarya ng TRAPO ang siyang mapagpasya't nakapangyayari sa mga election. Ang tinatawag na "democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people" ay isa na lamang guni-guni, bangungut at haka-haka. -Doy

Related Story:
Out with political dynasties - analyst
By Jenny Lynne G. Aguilar / Abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=114583
What Freedom? What Democracy?
http://doycinco.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-freedom-what-democracy.html
KAMPI - Lakas, ang BUMABOY sa pulitika ng Pilipinas
http://doycinco.blogspot.com/2008/03/lakas-kampi-ang-bababoy-sa-pulitika-ng.html

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Beijing Olympic Flame Relay, kinuyog ng mga aktibista

Mukhang naka-karma, pinagbabayaran na ng China ang mga sablay na patakarang nagawa nito. Wala man tayo sa rutang dadaanan (natakot at hindi isinali ang Pilipinas) ng Olympic Torch relay, nakikiisa tayo sa pandaigdigang protesta laban sa patakaran ng gubyernong China hinggil sa Tibet, sa sarili nitong mamamayan, pagsuporta nito sa malulupit at mapang-aping estadong tulad ng Burma, Sudan, North Korea, kay Macapagal Arroyo at pangbu-bully sa mga bansang maliliit tulad ng Pilipinas (Spratlys, ZTE broadband, Cyber Ed scam) .

(Photo below:
London police were out in force as protesters tried to extinguish the Olympic flame [GALLO/GETTY], French police scuffled with pro-Tibet activists during the Olympic torch relay in Paris on Monday [AFP], Golde Gate in San Francisco, Olympic flame snuffed out in Paris, The international leg of the Olympic torch relay may be scrapped in future after protests in London and Paris disrupted the flame's route to Beijing; http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/7335996.stm, China has expressed disgust at the torch protests in London.






Dahil sa kawalan ng venues para maiparating ang suporta sa Tibetan People, dahil sa kawalan ng legal na pamamaraan ng mga Tibetan people na maipahayag sa mapayapang pamamaraan ang hustisya't karaingang lumaya at magsarili (self determination) at maipakita ang katotohanan, kahit sa paanong paraan, ang “flame of shame” ng Olympic Torch relay ang siyang pinagtuunan at diniskaril ng mga aktibista ng mundo.

Kaya lang, mukhang nananaig ang kasinungalingan at censorship sa loob ng China, sukat akalain ba namang i-news block out / hindi ipinapakita ang totoong nangyayari sa crack down sa Tibet at Olympic Torch relay sa London, Paris at San Francisco, maging ang panimulang programa ng Olympic Torch handling sa Athens, Greece ay sinensored. Gusto pang palabasing na kagagawan ito ng mga Tibetan SEPERATIST movement at ni Dalai Lama? Iba na talaga ang “one party proletarian dictatorship daw,” one big political machinery, ultimo INTERNET,(google, BLOGs) ay pinagkokontrol, kasabwat ang
state-run news agency Xinhua, China Daily at local television (CCTV) sa cover-up, propaganda at malawakang panlilinlang.

Kung titindi ang sitwasyon, baka lumaki ang simpatya't suporta ng mundo sa Tibet at mag-snow ball ang panawagang iboycott ang Beijing Olympics sa Agosto, taong kasalukuyan 2008. - Doy


Related Story:
Editorial: Torched
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20080411-129629/Torched

The Protests In Tibet And The Discontent Below
by Li Onesto
http://www.countercurrents.org/onesto070408.htm
Countercurrents.org
07 April, 2008
The main character and contours of these protests are hard to determine at this point because of the difficulty in getting reliable reports. And an analysis of this is beyond the scope of this article. But some things can be said at this point about the different class forces that are a part of this upsurge.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Unemployment rate, dinuduktor ng Malakanyang-DOLE

Hindi na bago ang buluk na istilo't modus operandi ng Malakanyang, ang manduktor ng datos. Sa loob ng pitong taon, ang kanyang track record, agricultural output man ito, performance rating man ito hinggil sa pagawaing bayan-inprastruktura, bilang ng turismo, peace and order, counter insurgency operation, bilang ng napapatay na mga kalaban at terorista, HUMAN RIGHT situation, poverty, malnutrition, pabahay, kuryente, patubig, edukasyon at higit sa lahat, mga bagay na may kaugnayan sa kaunlaran at ekonomiya. Kundi sinasalamangka, binabago ang framing, binabaluktut ang kahulugan, iniiba ang tunay na konsepto't pilit na pinalalabas na "maayos, UMUUNLAD, UMAASENSO, PEACEFUL, nagkakaisa, SUMASAGANA at sumasaya ang BUHAY ng mga Pinoy." Tulad na lamang ng kasalukuyang dinaranas natin sa KRISIS sa bigas at pagkain, ang karaniwang komento ng Malakanyang, "WALANG KRISIS." Ang tanong, may maniniwala naman kaya? (Photo: LGUs "JOB FAIR" www.davaotoday.com/.../04052006/fair2.jpg)

Ang mas kapani-paniwala at pinaniniwalaan ng marami, "napag-iwanan na tayo, kulelat na tayo sa lahat ng bagay sa ASIA at ito ang malungkot na ipinapakita ng mga datos ng iba't-ibang pandaigdigang ahensyang nagmamanman at nagmomonitor sa mundo, tulad ng UNDP, ADB at maraming NGOs sa Pilipinas."

Katulad na lamang sa tantos at estado ng unemployment sa bansa na inilabas at isinagawa ng Asian Development Bank, sinsabi na ang Pilipinas ang isa sa may pinakamalaking hukbo ng mga taong walang trabaho o kulang ang trabaho sa Timog-Silangang Asia.


Pero, batay naman sa datos na inilabas ng National Statistics Office (NS
O), sinasabing may siyam na milyong Pilipino ang kasalukuyang walang trabaho at kulang sa trabaho (underemployed). Ayon sa NSO, tumaas ang bilang ng unemployed sa 2.69 million noong Enero mula sa 2.26 milyon noong nakaraang Oktubre o dumami ng 7.4 porsiyento mula sa 6.3 porsiyento.

Idinugtong pa ng NSO na may kabuuang 6.37 milyon ang unemploy
ed o yaong nagtatrabaho ng kulang sa 40 oras sa loob ng isang linggo at naghahanap ng iba pang trabaho bilang sideline.
Subalit, kakaiba naman ang sinasabi ng DOLE. Hindi raw totoong dumarami ang bilang ng walang trabaho kundi kung tutuusin ay umunti pa nga kung ibabase sa mga datos ng nakaraang tatlong taon.

Ayon sa Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLESS) ng Department of Labor, ang 7.4 porsiyento ng unemployment level ay mas maliit sa 7.8 porsiyentong bilang ng jobless sa parehong panahon noong 2007.

Dagdag pa ng DOLE, “may 2.85 milyong jobless noong Enero 2007 at may kabuuang 2.83 milyon noong Enero 2006, ang dami ng walang trabaho ay mas mataas nang nakaraang mga taon kaysa ngayon. Bumaba rin ang level ng underemployment mula sa 6.7 milyon noong 2006 at 7.21 milyon noong 2007 sa 6.3 milyon sa taong ito. Dumami rin daw ang bilang ng trabaho sa 33.69 milyon mula sa 33.5 milyon noong 2007 at 32 milyon noong 2006.” (Photo: "One in Four College Grads This Year Will Be Jobless", http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.davaotoday.com/main/wp-content/04052006/fair2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://davaotoday.com/2006/04/06/lured-by-job-prospects-hundreds-troop-to-the-mall/&h=277&w=200&sz=9&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=DPzEEjsn1Y0nRM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djobless%2Bat%2Bunemployed%2BFilipinos%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG

Ayon kay Maitet Diokno, isang aktibista at kasalukuyang Board member ng IPD; “ the picture generated by the official data is worrisome, even as we don't fully
accept the official definitions etc.

Because the definition of unemployed keeps being changed, and because we disagree with the official definition of unemployment, it's best to look at other things the same data is telling us. This is what the newspaper report overlooks and what the NSO won't call to our attention:

Between January 2007 and Jan 2008 the population aged 15 years and over gr
ew by 1.24 million. The labor force DID NOT GROW. (What? after spectacular 7++% GDP/GNP growth). The labor force grew by 0.003 million. In simpler
language, that's only 3 thousand. So you have 2.7M unemployed, 6.4M underemployed, and an astounding 21M women and men who are not part of the labor force at all. The 21M is a significant increase over the 19.8M in Jan 2007.

In terms of underutilized labor (not in the labor force, unemployed and underemployed) we have 30M in January 2008, more than the 29.8M in Jan 2007. What this is telling us is that the fall in unemployment and underemployment did not result to more employment but rather to zero growth in the labor force and more people staying out of the labor force than joining it.

Remember the evil one's target of generating employment of over a million year on year? Guess what job creation was in Jan 2008, from Jan 2007: a mere
150,000. Corollary to this, the ratio of the employed to the population aged 15 & over fell from 59.3% in October 2006, moved up to 59.7% in Jan2007, then fell to 59.2% in Oct 2007. Guess what it was in Jan 2008: 58.7%. I can bet this is a historical low. Damang dama mo na ba?

There are significant changes in the employed labor force in this qu
arterly survey. In October 2007, a fall in the number of employed in agriculture was registered. This January 2008, the decline was sharpest in manufacturing and in services. And there was an increase in agriculture. I wonder (no data available as of this writing to verify) if there was a shift from services/mfg to agriculture. If you lose your job in services and mfg, you go back to the province and work on whatever land you have access to? Ito ba ang nangyari in January? Is this what explains the increase in agri employment?

Lumiit din ang bilang ng wage and salary workers, lalo na iyong mga employed sa private households. Dumami ang unpaid family workers. This is consistent with the idea of wage workers being shed in services and moving to agriculture as unpaid workers.”

Para sa akin, ang lansangan at ang komunidad ang barometro at tunay na larawan kung lumalaki o lumiliit ang unemployment rate sa bansa. Bukud sa dami na ang nangungutang at libu-libong Pinoy ang kapit sa patalim na nangingibang-bayan (OFW), ang nagdudumilat na ka
totohanan paparami ang mga istambay-hubad, ang daming nakawan, krimen, lumalaking bilang ng prostitusyon at mga GANG, maagang nabubuntis-bumabad sa bahay, nagtatanong-naghanap ng rekomendasyon at mapapasukang trabaho, pinapasok ang anumang klase ng trabahong pagpapanday at higit sa lahat, ang kagila-gilalas at nakakatakot na sitwasyon sa ilalim ng mga fly-over, highway at mga avenues, mga pulubi at naglipanang street children, mga batang namamalimos, mga taong nagtutulak ng kariton convertible sa tulugan at lumalaking bilang ng mga street vendors. (Photo below: Labor Day parade www.cmaq.net/files/labor_day_Philippines.jpg and Filipino Workers Vow to Continue the ...http://quebec.indymedia.org/files/Filipino-Workers-Laban-ng-Masa-vs-GMA-Arroyo.jpg)

Masuwerte pa rin ang Malakanyang at ruling elite at nagkataong "mahina't halos nabura na sa mapa ang KILUSANG PAGGAWA, Kilusang Unyunismo, uring manggagawa't abanteng deestakamento at nagkawatak-watak ang Kilusang Kaliwa," kung nagkataon, nangangatog at wala na sila riyan sa pwesto.

Doy Cinco / IPD
April 6, 2008

Related Story: 4.2M Filipinos jobless, 10M want more work
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=112436