Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

ANG Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

English Edition
Vol. XLI No. 18
September 21, 2010
www.philippinerevolution.net

Editorial

Mobilize the people in their millions

to advance the Philippine revolution!
C
urrent conditions are exceedingly favorable to their ugly heads. The intervention of foreign troops
arouse, organize and mobilize the Filipino peo- continues to be allowed. Human rights violations, ter-
ple in their millions to tread the path of militant rorism and intense psywar go on without letup with
struggle and revolutionary war. The key requirement the extension of Oplan Bantay Laya even as a new op-
for the further advance of people's war towards the erational plan to suppress the people's resistance is in
stage of strategic stalemate in the next five years is the works.
the creation of an extensive mass movement nation- We must arouse, organize and mobilize the people
wide. in their numbers to enable them to defend and ad-
Social conditions continue to deteriorate under vance their interests in the face of the worsening cri-
the Aquino regime. The people are severely impover- sis under the current rotten government and system.
ished and gravely suffer in the face of massive unem- The Party's mobilization of millions of people in a
ployment, slave wages, intense feudal and semifeudal broad mass movement is the single, most important
oppression, skyrocketing prices and transport fares, a political requisite in advancing the people's war.
growing tax burden, widespread corruption and scarce The class line and mass line are the guiding prin-
social services. ciples of the revolutionary and
The intensity of the crisis has caused the hollow-
ness of the US-Aquino regime's braggadocio to be rap-
idly exposed. Its pretensions of being an agent of
change have quickly faded. Aquino has been in office
for less than a hundred days, but disillusionment al-
ready abounds among many of those who supported or
believed in him.
The US-Aquino regime is merely perpetuating im-
perialist economic polices (especially the furtherance
of denationalization and privatization). Its handling
of Hacienda Luisita provides a striking example of
how land reform has been relegated to the side-
lines. Factional strife, incompetence, corrup-
tion and in the latest incident, the involve-
ment of a number of key officials in the illegal
jueteng numbers game have all very quickly reared

This issue’s Proposed 2011 budget Bogus “pangayaw”

Military kills 3 farmers
stresses doleouts in Paquibato
highlights... PAGE 4
PAGE 3 PAGE 7
progressive forces in mobilizing the ests for revolutionary change. consolidation of revolutionary mass
people: they immerse themselves Invigorate propaganda, educa- organizations and revolutionary
among the people, find out about tion and cultural work. Sharply an- cores in the different sectors and
and analyze their concrete condi- alyze the issues faced by the peo- localities, until fullfledge mass or-
tions, arouse them on their most ple by applying the class line and ganizations and organs of demo-
pressing issues as well as related the propeople and political line of cratic political power are formed
national problems both current and the national-democratic revolu- not only at the village or barrio
long-term, organize and mobilize tion. Sharply expose the emptiness cluster level but at the municipal,
them in appropriate forms of or- of the so-called reforms being ban- district and provincial level up-
ganization and collective action. died about by the regime. wards. Link these mass organiza-
We must reach out to the mil- Immdiately counter the re- tions and movements through
lions upon millions of people in the gime's psywar offensive. Go allout broad organizations and alliances.
countryside and cities, in commu- in exposing and assailing the mili- Ensure and stress the emer-
nities, factories, schools, offices tary's fascist crimes. Expose the gence and development of tens of
and streets. We must identify their counterrevolutionary intervention thousands of mass activists who
current problems and unite them of the US. Link all this to the gen- will be responsible for leading and
both solidly and on a broad scale. eral call against imperialism, feu- expanding their respective mass
The main issues in the countryside dalism and bureaucrat capitalism organizations and movements. In
are land, exploitation by landlords and for revolutionary change. the countryside, the main responsi-
and merchant-usurers, low produc- Make sure that various ways of bility for expanding revolutionary
tion, calamities, militarization and conducting propaganda and educa- mass organizations to adjacent vil-
lack of government support and so- tion work are utilized not only to lages and towns rests on them.
cial services. In the cities, the reach out to the biggest number of They serve as deep wellsprings for
main issues faced by the people are people but also to effectively the further expansion and consoli-
low wages, unemployment, work- arouse and organize them. dation of the Party and the NPA.
ing conditions in the factories, ris- Establish and mobilize on a Strengthen and expand alliance
ing prices of basic needs and the broad scale the various types of work at various levels and scopes.
lack and high cost of public servi- mass organizations in order to ad- Expand the National Democratic
ces. dress their problems. Form broad, Front and its allied organizations
Arouse, organize and mobilize open and solid underground mass in all sectors and areas. Establish a
the people to fight for their imme- organizations at the basic level broad united front of the oppressed
diate and long-term needs and ad- while expanding their scope. and exploited people, divide the
vance the people's strategic inter- Ensure the establishment and ranks of the enemy, isolate and
concentrate our attacks on the cur-
ANG rent worst reactionary in the form
Contents of the ruling chief puppet of the
reactionary state.
Vol. XLI No. 18 September 21, 2010 Editorial Expand and continually consol-
Mobilize the people in their idate the Party. Assiduously estab-
Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino, millions! 1 lish it within the people's army and
Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and
Proposed budget stresses doleouts 3 mass organizations, in alliances,
English editions.
It is available for downloading at schools, factories and offices. En-
the Philippine Revolution Web Central Fascist state on a rampage sure the propagation of Marxist-
located at: Military kills 3 farmers 4
Leninist-Maoist education and
www.philippinerevolution.net Violating children’s rights in ICR 4
training for its cadres in the vari-
Ang Bayan welcomes contributions Soldiers kicked out of Surigao village 5
in the form of articles and news. Trade union rights violated 6 ous lines and fields of work on all
Readers are likewise enjoined to send Abadilla 5 6 levels.
in their comments and suggestions for Bogus “pangayaw” in Paquibato 7 Persevere in advancing people's
the betterment of our publication. You war to a higher level. Let us leave
can reach us by email at:
[email protected] News 8 no stone unturned in advancing
guerrilla warfare towards the stage
Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee of strategic stalemate of people's
of the Communist Party of the Philippines war in the years to come. ~
2 ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010
Proposed 2011 budget stresses doleouts
with a `10 billion budget in 2008.

T
he US-Aquino regime calls its proposed national budget for 2011 a
“budget for social reform.” Contrary to such claims, however, the Although without any basis in
US-Arroyo regime is obviously bereft of any serious and well- truth, the Arroyo regime has boast-
thought of program to combat poverty, develop the economy and en- ed that the program helped uplift
hance social welfare. It is merely perpetuating the old tack of giving pri- one million Filipinos from poverty
ority to debt service and strengthening the military. Despite growing by the end of its term. On the oth-
needs, there are significant budget cuts for agriculture, land reform, ed- er hand, DSWD Secretary Corazon
ucation, health and other social services. (See related article in previous “Dinky” Soliuman has been crowing
issue) that 4Ps can be expected to reduce
poverty incidence by 50% in the
Aquino's main source of pride is family is woefully inadequate. Sec- next five years, improve maternal
the 123% hike in the Department ondly, these funds under 4Ps will and child health and ensure that
of Social Welfare and Development be provided in conjunction with every child will be able to go to
(DSWD) budget, bringing it up to budget cuts for social services like school.
`34.4 billion. Up to `29.2 billion health and education that will fur- The reality, however, is that
or almost 85% of this amount has ther undermine the capabilities of poverty is worsening and the poor
been earmarked for the Progra- local hospitals, health centers and and hungry continue to grow in
mang Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino public schools. The National Food number. Such doleout programs for
(4Ps or Program to Tide Over the Authority's budget for subsidizing the poor do not provide genuine or
Filipino Family), a doleout program farmers' production and controlling long-term solutions. In fact, a
pushed by the US government and rice prices in the market has more- huge chunk of the funds meant for
imperialist agencies. This program over been eliminated. 4Ps was only gobbled up by corrup-
will also be receiving infusions 4Ps is the local version of the tion. More than anything else, the
from a $400-million loan from the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), a toiling masses cry for land, jobs
Asian Development Bank and a showcase program of US imperial- and adequate wages, not insulting
$434-million fund from the US Mil- ism and its international financial doleouts.
lennium Development Corporation agencies like the World Bank that 4Ps merely covers up the reac-
(MDC). was initiated in a number of poor tionary state's refusal to undertake
4Ps has been cited as proof of countries in the 1990s. The MDC is the necessary steps to advance na-
the alleged “social reform” thrust encouraging this program as a con- tional industrial development and a
of the US-Aquino regime's pro- dition for more financial aid to self-reliant economy. It has no
posed budget. A large part of the puppet states. Doling out money to plans whatsoever to raise the mea-
program is geared towards mater- the unemployed or underemployed sly minimum wage of workers
nal and infant health care and or to the very poor is supposed to which is less than a fourth of the
making sure that children attend help stimulate the local market. minimum amount needed for work-
school. It calls for up to `1,400 in But the real reason behind pro- ers' families to live decently. Nei-
monthly subsidies for every family viding doleouts to impoverished ther does it have plans to resolve
(`400 for medicines for each preg- countries for their poorest people the longstanding problem of land-
nant woman and each infant and is to keep such countries mendi- lessness that lies at the root of ru-
`300 for each child in school up to cant and dependent on foreign as- ral poverty. We can expect poverty
a maximun of three children) iden- sistance and prevent them from ex- to worsen even more under the US-
tified by the DSWD as belonging to tricating themselves from the Aquino regime.
the poorest of the poor, and whose clutches of imperialism and devel- The regime has not offered any
numbers are expected to rise from oping their own industry and agri- viable solution to the problem of
one million to 2.3 million by the culture. The US government also poverty which is due to economic
end of 2011. uses such doleouts as leverage in backwardness, absence of national
These doleouts offered by the order to further its economic, po- industry, lack of genuine land re-
Aquino government are actually a litical and military intervention. form, massive unemployment, low
huge insult to the very poor. First As a result of US prodding, 4Ps wages and endlessly skyrocketing
of all, the amount allotted for each was started by the Arroyo regime prices of commodities and services.
ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010 3
 FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE

Military men slay 3 peasants

cival Manimog was captured in a
military operation in Monkayo,
Compostela Valley. The NPA Mag-

T
he military is relentlessly wreaking havoc in the countryside. Sol- tanggol Roque Command de-
diers killed three peasants in separate incidents in Camarines Sur, nounced the capture as a desperate
Davao City and Compostela Valley in the first half of September. A move of the military in the face of
barangay councilor in Albay was tortured by military men and a former severe blows from the NPA. The
Red fighter was arrested by AFP operatives in Compostela Valley, claim- NPA denied claims by 10th ID
ing that he is a leader of the New People’s Army (NPA). spokesman Lt. Col. Medel Aguilar
September 12. A civilian was in Santander town. Before he was that Manimog is a leader of the
killed and four others were wound- taken, Bacalso observed on NPA.
ed when elements of the 9th ID August 23 that two men September 5. Ten armed men
opened fire on the residence of a were following him. in plain clothes tortured
family in Camarines Sur. National The men first at- Warren Morilla, a council-
Democratic Front-Bicol spokesman tempted to abduct him or of Barangay Florista,
Ka Greg Bañares identified the fa- on September 3. Bacal- Libon, Albay. He was
tality as farmer Roderick Ballebar so was a volunteer for resting when the assail-
and those wounded as Francisco the Kabataan Party- ants came to his house
Bergado, his wife Amelita and list group in Cebu dur- and started forcing him
daughters Rose and Margio. Berga- ing the last elections. to identify the homes of
do was wounded in the arm while September 6. Sol- supposed rebels in the vil-
his wife was wounded in the hands diers of the 10th ID lage. The men dragged him
and feet. Their daughter Rose was arrested a former mem- out of his house at gunpoint after
wounded in one elbow while Mar- ber of the NPA who left the move- he denied having the information
gio was wounded in the back. The ment in 2006 and presented him to that they wanted. They slipped a
bloody shooting took place in Sitio the media as a high-ranking NPA plastic bag on his head and hit him
Culpa, Barangay Lubgan in Bula leader. The 10th ID claims that Per- with a rifle butt. Before the assail-
town.

Violation of children’s rights

September 9. Soldiers killed
Vicente Felisilda, a civilian, in Ba-
rangay Malinawon, Mawab, Com-
postela Valley. Before he was in Ilocos-Cordillera
killed, Felisilda had received sever-
al threats from the military who ac-
cused him of supporting the NPA.
C hildren are the most pitiful victims of human rights violations in
the Ilocos-Cordillera Region (ICR).
According to the Children's Rehabilitation Center in ICR (CRC-
September 8. Military ele- ICR), the most striking violation of children’s human rights in the
ments abducted and detained Elke region is the use of their schools as military detachments, with 134
Bacalso, 20, son of Julian Bacalso, cases recorded from 2005 to 2010.
a former political detainee and co- From 2007 to 2009, more than 15 schools were used by the mil-
ordinator of Samahan ng mga Ex- itary for mass meetings where they tried to link democratic organ-
Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at izations like the Anakpawis party to the armed revolutionary move-
para sa Amnestiya (SELDA). He is a ment.
student of the Cebu Institute of During the same period, the CRC-ICR recorded one child victim
Technology in Cebu City. of extrajudicial killing, 25 child victims of aerial bombings, 17 child
His abductors took him at victims of intimidation and harassment, 16 child victims of forced
around 4:00 p.m., blindfolded him recruitment to the CAFGU, 14 orphaned by the extrajudicial killing
and threw him into a van. He was of their parents and nine who lost their parents to arrests and de-
brought to various safehouses tention.
where he was interrogated regard- Two children were also made to appear as surrendered New Peo-
ing his father’s work in the organi- ple’s Army guerrillas. ~
zation. His abductors later left him
4 ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010
 FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE
ants left, they made Morilla sign a document stating of the PNOC.
that they did not hurt anybody and took nothing from The incident occurred when more than 100 work-
his house. In fact, the men took his wallet containing ers of the PNOC went on strike in October 2000 and
`360, two bolos and even his slippers. set up a picket line. The picket lasted only a few days
September 3. Military men killed peasant Rey- as policemen and soldiers violently dispersed them.
naldo Labrador in front of his family. Labrador, a resi- The police and military opened fire on the picket line,
dent of Sitio Narra, Barangay Paquibato Proper in Da- driving the strikers to run for cover, with some of
vao City, is a member of the Paquibato District Farm- them jumping off a cliff to escape harm. Those caught
ers' Association (Padifa) and the Farmers Association were beaten and sustained injuries. One of the victims
in Davao City. The perpetrators are soldiers of the died recently of cancer believed to have been
69th IB and a para- caused by a strong blow he sustained dur-
military man identi- ing the assault ten years ago.
fied as Roberto “Ku- The Lopez family has
lot” Repe. acquired the EDC and is
August-Septem- now pursuing the case
ber. A court sentenced on August against the workers to counter a pe-
12 three leaders of the workers’ union tition for review filed by the un-
at the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) of ion with the Supreme Court.
the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC) Meanwhile, union leader and
to two years in prison for false charges of grave and KMU National Council member Vincent “Bebot” Borja
coercion and malicious mischief. The company filed has been in jail for more than three years now at the
these charges for the supposed damage of the `1,400- Leyte Provincial Jail. He was imprisoned based on
peso signal light of a company vehicle when soldiers false charges of rebellion and murder. Not a single
and policemen attacked their picket line. Among hearing of his case was held during the first two
those sentenced is Dante Senillo, vice president of the years. Since then, hearing schedules have always been
Leyte-A Geothermal Project Employees Union which postponed, deliberately, according to the KMU, to
has been fighting the different unfair labor practices make Borja languish in jail. ~

Lumad drive out soldiers

P
rotesting Lumad have successfully driven out AFP
soldiers operating in their communities in Mari-
hatag, Surigao del Sur. The more than 230 Lu-
mad families or 1,125 individuals returned to their
village after evacuating and camping for several
days at the Marihatag Municipal Gym.
In the face of mounting pressure, officers of the
36th IB signed with village leaders an agreement
for the troops to withdraw from the area. Church
people, local government officials and other groups
witnessed the signing of the agreement.
The human rights group Karapatan pledged to contin-
ue extending assistance to the residents and watching
out for future violations of the agreement by the military.
It called on Benigno Aquino III to stop the military oper-
ations in the area and to spare civilians from military ac-
tions.
As early as March, the soldiers started camping around
the village and terrorizing the residents. They surveyed the
people, showed films vilifying the revolutionary movement
ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010 5
 FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE
and called meetings where they di- were forced to evacuate from the and three wounded in encounters
rectly accused the residents of sup- neighboring town of Lianga due to with the NPA since the start of the
porting the New People’s Army successive military operations military onslaught led by Lt. Col.
(NPA). They also promised a reward against the NPA. Rene Cañete and Lt. Serihim Tem-
of `500 for anybody who could Two soldiers have been killed perante. ~
point them to the rebel camp. They
even bribed children with candies.
The soldiers routinely violated Abuses against workers’ rights
human rights. They threatened a
woman because she supposedly has
a son in the NPA. They bombed the
G loria Arroyo's regime has left a bitter legacy for the working
class. The last six months of her term were marked with stark
violations of workers’ rights.
community after failing to find the According to the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights,
NPA and threatened to massacre there were 102 cases of human rights violations against workers.
the whole village if the people re- Forty-six (46) of these were violations against workers’ civil rights
fused to point them to where the and 56 were violations of their economic, social and cultural
guerrillas were. rights. The number also includes 40 cases of violations of trade
The civilians began evacuating union and collective bargaining rights.
to Marihatag on August 20. They The cases victimized 19,696 individuals—19,595 inside facto-
returned after local government of- ries and 239 in their exercise of their union rights.
ficials held a dialogue where they The number of cases of violence against workers rose from 27
convinced the soldiers to withdraw in 2009 to 46 in the first half of 2010, an increase of 70.3%. The
from the village. most prominent cases were the killing of Edward Panganiban, un-
But another human rights vio- ion secretary at Taketa Philippines, Inc. on June 2 in Sta. Rosa,
lation pushed the residents to Laguna and of Benjamin Bayles, an organizer of the National Fed-
evacuate anew. Soldiers of the eration of Sugar Workers on June 14 in Himamaylan, Negros Occi-
36th IB tied up, dragged and beat dental. ~
up seven residents, including a 14-
year old boy. The soldiers were
forcing them to admit that they
Abadilla 5 court ruling assailed
were supporters of the NPA. They
separated the boy from the rest T he Supreme Court affirmed on September 7 the 2008 decision
of the Court of Appeals imposing life terms on the so-called
“Abadilla 5”—five men accused in the 1996 killing of the fascist
and offered him `20,000 in ex-
change for information on where Col. Rolando Abadilla. The five are Joel de Jesus, Lenido Lumanog,
the NPA was keeping its weapons. Rameses de Jesus, Cesar Fortuna and Augusto Santos.
They also threatened to bury him The Supreme Court’s decision is now under fire from human
alive or drop him from a helicopter rights advocates who pointed out among others, the following de-
if he refused to give information. fects of the ruling:
The residents tried to ask for ! The Supreme Court ignored the fact that the accused were
help from the provincial govern- arrested without warrants and were not given access to counsel
ment of Surigao del Sur but officers during their investigation.
of the 36th IB and the police ! The court disregarded the fact that the alleged confessions
blocked their convoy on its way to of the accused were extracted through torture.
the capitol, forcing them to return ! The ruling rested solely on the questionable testimony of a
home. At the evacuation center, lone witness who first identified Joel de Jesus after being shown
many children fell ill and food, his picture six days after the killing of Abadilla. The witness fur-
medicines and sanitation supplies ther identified the rest of the accused only after they were pre-
were running short, prompting the sented to the media. The court took no notice of the admission
Marihatag Municipal Disaster Coor- made by the bandit group Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) and the
dinating Council to declare a state fact that none of the convicted was in any way connected to the
of calamity in the area. ABB. ~
In 2009, some 3,000 people
6 ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010
Pangayaw in Paquibato, held them at a checkpoint in Sitio
Marugasan, Barangay Colosas, Pa-

an AFP handiwork
quibato District.
Labawan's "pangayaw" is the
cause of the August 12 murder of

A
bogus "pangayaw" or tribal war is being instigated and used by farmer Julius Tamondes, who was
the AFP 1003rd Brigade to wreak havoc and sow fear in Ata-Ma- killed in his farm in Colosas.
nobo and settler communities in Paquibato District, Davao City Aside from Tamondes, an at-
with the aim of evicting the residents from their lands. tempt was also made on the life of
Behind this "pangayaw" is Successive human rights viola- another farmer, Angelino Gento-
Ruben Labawan, a fake Lumad tions have been perpetrated by La- rales that same day. Another civil-
leader who is actally a confidential bawan and his men. He has ordered ian named Dodo Cabatuan was also
military agent. Labawan is the that every time a soldier, CAFGU el- targeted after this but he managed
head of the Supreme Tribal Council ement or Alsa Masa member dies in to escape.
for Peace and Development, a a firefight with the NPA, the civil- Due to fears created by the
group formed by the AFP. He was ian community where the fighting "pangayaw," farmers have sought
prodded by Brig. Gen. Eduardo del took place must pay damages in refuge in the town center. The
Rosario, chief of 1003rd Bde to de- the form of farm animals and cash. 1003rd Bde has been pushing for
clare a "pangayaw". If the civilians fail to pay up, a the eviction of the Lumad and set-
"Pangayaw" is now being used "pangayaw" is declared against tlers so it could offer their lands to
as a justification to kill Ata-Mano- them. In its "education and infor- banana plantations which continue
bo and settlers accused of support- mation campaign" in Paquibato, to expand in various parts of
ing the New People's Army (NPA). the 1003rd Brigade also incites the Southern Mindanao.
According to documents confis- Lumad to rise up against the NPA The AFP has long been using
cated from Labawan, he and his for the same reasons. bogus programs to divide the Lu-
followers were issued Garand and Labawan declared his present mad and distance them from the
M14 rifles, radio communication "pangayaw" after his brother and revolutionary movement. In the
units and other military equipment bodyguard PFC Kimpio Labawan of first half of 2000, the military also
by the 1003rd Bde. the 103rd Division Reconnaissance formed the Alamara as part of its
Another death squad composed Company was killed on August 6 in counterrevolutionary campaign
of 14 Lumad henchmen handpicked a gunbattle with Red fighters who among the Lumad.
by Labawan is being funded and The military manipulated the
supplied with weapons and military Ata-Manobo and Matigsa-
equipment by the 1003rd Bde. log tribes to sow violence
Labawan and his men also in the communities of Pa-
formed the Bagani Long Range Pla- quibato District and neighbor-
toons, a 168-strong paramilitary ing areas. A number of resi-
force divided into 12 platoons from dents and comrades were
the 12 sitios and barangays of Pa- killed.
quibato District. However, the NPA was
This force has been tagged as able to stop such manip-
"Alsa Lumad" or Lumad who are al- ulation by launching a
legedly up in arms against the recovery and education campaign
NPA. They were orga- among the Lumad. A tampuda (tra-
nized and funded by ditional peace pact) was
the AFP to fight the rev- forged among the datus
olution and destroy the and residents who were actively in-
unity of the Lumad in volved in the Alamara. However, it
order to easily defeat did not take long before close ties
them and pave the way for were restored between comrades
the onslaught of giant and some Lumad who were alienat-
agrocorporations in their ancestral ed from the revolution and used by
lands. the military in its dirty war. ~
ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010 7
 NEWS

Political prisoners launch hunger strike

ONE hundred forty-eight political prisoners in the ley; Bukidnon; and Cagayan de Oro City. Bishop Deo-
country simultaneously launched a hunger strike last gracias Iñiguez of St. Peter the Apostle Parish Church
September 17 to demand their immediate release un- also officiated a mass for the hunger strikers.
der the administration of Benigno Aquino III which The protest fast was joined by relatives and sup-
has been claiming respect for human rights. porters of the "Morong 43" who put up a tent in Que-
The "Morong 43," health workers who were arrest- zon Avenue fronting the Ninoy Aquino monument.
ed in Morong, Rizal last February led the the fasting Personalities who also took part included Sen. Loren
in the National Capital Region and other prison camps Legarda, Commissioner Jose Mamauag of the Commis-
like the New Bilibid Prison, Camp Crame, Camp Kari- sion on Human Rights, former Gabriela Rep. Liza Ma-
ngal, Correctional Institute for Women and in Camp za, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro "Teddy" Casiño and ACT
Bagong Diwa in Bicutan; Isabela; Tuguegarao City; Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio. A ceremony also took
Ifugao; Bohol; Cebu City; Danao City; Bacolod City; place in Canada and solidarity messages were sent in
Tacloban City; Leyte Provincial Jail; Compostela Val- from New Zealand and Germany.

Chevron and Shell are tax evaders

THE Commission on Audit (COA) has disclosed that the The $4.5 billion Malampaya Gas Project is one of
government was deprived of over `53 billion in taxes the biggest mining projects extracting the country's
in 2003-2009 on the profits of Shell and Chevron, pri- natural wealth. It is involved in mining natural gas
vate operators of the Malampaya Gas Project. from the Palawan seas. The gas is processed in a
According to an agreement between the govern- Batangas plant before it is sent to three power gener-
ment and Shell and Chevron, 60% of the profits on the ating stations.
sale of natural gas mined from Malampaya should go Residents have long been opposing the project
to the government. Aside from this, the operators which gives giant foreign oil companies an opportu-
should also pay the appropriate taxes on their 40% nity to plunder the country's natural resources. In a
share of the profits. situation where the country is almost completely de-
In 2004, Shell and Chevron paid taxes from their pendent on petroleum products imported from the in-
40% share, but the Department of Energy (DOE) put a ternational oil cartel, it would be of great advantage
stop to this, saying that the taxes of the private op- to the country if it could be self-reliant on the gas
erators were already incorporated in the 60% share of being mined from Malampaya and other related pro-
the government from the profits of the project. jects.
In a review this March, the COA clarified that the Charges for electricity bills could also be signifi-
government's 60% share and the tax liabilities of the cantly reduced if the country and its people could to-
private operators on their 40% share of the profits tally utilize the profits from the project's extraction of
were not identical. natural gas.

Youth oppose looming MRT-LRT fare hikes

MEMBERS of Anakbayan launched a protest action fare discounts to students.
at a Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station on September The looming fare hikes by the Aquino regime
10 to oppose impending MRT and Light Rail Transit were planned in order to put an end to government
(LRT) fare increases. They asked passengers to sign subsidies for train services. It justifies such in-
a petition signifying their opposition. The signa- creases by claiming that government funds will in-
ture campaign aims to gather one million signa- stead be allocated for education and livelihood and
tures. for poverty alleviation.
The protest action has compelled the Aquino Another protest action will be launched on Sep-
administration to study the possibility of granting tember 24.
8 ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010
 NEWS

Jueteng scandal explodes anew KMU slams meager

NO sooner had Pres. Benigno new. In 2005, witnesses had tes- wage hikes
Aquino III declared that stamp- tified that he was involved in il-
THE Kilusang Mayo (KMU) labor
ing out jueteng was not part of legal gambling.
center conducted a protest pro-
his priorities when his self-pro- Aquino said that he would
gram in front of the Department
claimed clean government was order an investigation on this
of Labor and Employment office
rocked by a major scandal in- matter. But he was inclined to
in Intramuros, Manila to de-
volving his high-ranking offi- absolve his men, saying that the
nounce Pres. Benigno Aquino
cials' embroilment in the illegal circumstances surrounding the
III's approval of meager wage
numbers game. revelation were dubious and that
hikes for workers in different re-
Retired Archbishop Oscar the amounts cited were very
gions.
Cruz divulged that two officials small.
close to Aquino have been al- Archbishop Cruz said that the The KMU said the wage hikes
legedly receiving `2 million to country's entire police institu- are a big insult to the workers
`5 million a month from jueteng tion from the lowest to the high- who have long been receiving
lords. est ranks is up to its neck in niggardly wages.
One of them is Usec. Rico jueteng payola money. He said The approved increases to
Puno of the Department of the he is willing to expose ten more the minimum daily wages are
Interior and Local Government Aquino government officials in `22 in NCR, `15 in Region VI,
who admitted to having been the September 21 hearing of the `18 in Region VII, `12 COLA in-
approached by jueteng lords but Senate Blue Ribbon Committee tegration and `13 in Region X,
purportedly refused to accept chaired by Sen. Teofisto Guingo- `21 in Region XI, `10 COLA in-
their offer. A document released na III. He also accepted the in- tegration and `10 in Region XI-
by junior PNP officers also re- vitation of Rep. Teodoro Casiño, II and `12 in the ARMM.
vealed that recently appointed member of the Committee on The minimum daily wage in
Philippine National Police (PNP) Good Government and Public Ac- NCR is `404 but a family of six
chief Raul Bacalzo was similarly countability which will also con- should at least earn more than
engaged in the numbers game. duct a hearing on the latest four times this amount in order
The accusation, however, is not jueteng scandal. to live decently.

Over 2 million workers launch protest action in France

OVER two million workers staged march rallies in dif- 65 to 67 years years, similar to what Germany has
ferent cities in France last September 7 to oppose "re- done. In many countries in Europe, the retirement age
forms" in the pension system planned by the govern- is set at 65 years, with the United Kingdom and oth-
ment of Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy. The protest action was er European governments mulling to have it raised to
led by the Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT or 67 years.
General Confederation of Labor), the biggest union in The recent protest action was the most widespread
France. and strongest ever since workers started manifesting
The 24-hour protest action paralyzed 50% of train their opposition last May to the government's belt-
services and 25% of air travel in the entire country. It tightening schemes. The bill on pension "reforms" is
also resulted in widespread dislocation in the postal currently under debate in parliament.
system. Workers in the United Kingdom also launched last
The workers opposed government plans to raise to September a 24-hour protest action against plans by
62 years the minimum retirement age. The govern- the London government to retrench 800 workers as a
ment has taken a hard stance on the issue and has in cost reduction measure. Sixty percent of the city's
fact warned that it could raise the retirement age from train services were paralyzed.
ANG BAYAN September 21, 2010 9