“It is President Aquino’s bad policies which caused his ratings to drop, not the media or lack of publicity. President Aquino’s failure to address the basic needs of the people is correlative to his satisfaction rating. Amidst price hikes, low wages, joblessness, dwindling funds to social services and so on, an increase in rating is far from what the Palace should expect,” Palatino said.

In the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, the satisfaction rating of Aquino dropped by 13 points from +64 in November 2010 to +51 in March 2011. SWS underscored Aquino’s controversial Porsche purchase as one among the major factor for the dip in public satisfaction.

“To appease the public, President Aquino and his clique of communication experts would repeatedly justify the Porsche purchase by saying that he used his own money for it. That makes it even worse and much more distasteful. Marami ang walang trabaho at hindi alam kung saan huhugitin ang kanilang panggastos tapos ‘eto ang ating Presidente magsasabi na ok lang na bumili siya ng mamahaling sports car bilang meron naman siyang pera,” Palatino said.

“Does it not occur to the President that he further insults the people, especially the poor, every time he’d remind us that he used his money for the Porsche? One, the reminder only highlights that his privileged status is far from the common people. Two, instead of being politically incisive, he passes off the jarring inequality between the rich and the poor as a natural and acceptable fact of life,” he added.

Palatino furthered that the President’s insensitivity extends beyond the Porsche purchase. He cited as one among many instances Aquino’s recent pronouncement of a P500-M oil subsidy in light of the incessant oil price hikes.

“The P500-M oil subsidy is a band-aid solution that obviously sides with the interest of the oil cartel, not with the long-term welfare of the people. Instead of pushing for the nationalization of the oil industry and regulating the greed of oil companies, President Aquino came up with this rather incompetent measure to supposedly cushion the impact of the oil price hikes. The subsidy won’t solve anything, not to mention that the amount is loose change compared to the billions of daily profit of ‘the big three’,” Palatino said.

Palatino also sniped at spokesperson Valte’s remark that the the dip in rating signals for the Palace the need to be more aggressive in boasting the accomplishments of the Aquino government through the media.

“It is not an issue of being more aggressive in boasting. Valte’s trapo line of thinking misses the point and very much resembles the logic of the Arroyo goverment. President Aquino should focus on properly and substantially addressing the urgent needs of the people,” Palatino said.

“Running a country is not show business. It is ultimately the social policies effectuated by President Aquino which will matter. But based on what’s happening now, it appears that the change he promised means harsher living conditions for the people. There can be no change as long as President Aquino implements the same old policies of the Arroyo government. He should not be surprised when, in the near future, he’ll end up to be more unpopular than the president he replaced,” Palatino said.

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According to Palatino, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez is “antithetical to what an ideal lawyer should be. Instead of swinging the hand of justice to help in the solving of various corruption cases, she chose to side with the wrong and protect powerful government officials.”

Palatino added that “emulating Merceditas Gutierrez is tantamount to unclothing oneself of righteousness.”

The Congress plenary is set to vote next week on Gutierrez’s impeachment case.

Palatino, one of the endorsers of the impeachment case, said “that the law should always be for the greater good. Unfortunately for Merci, the law functions to preserve corruption and social injustices in the country.”

“Our new lawyers, more than being law practioners, should strive to be agents of social change. The laws that rule our land are not something that necessarily benefit the majority, especially the poor. There are many laws that do not adhere to the fundamental idea that the law should first and foremost embrace the people’s welfare,” Palatino said.

Palatino also lamented that “our country is filled to the brim of bright lawyers, but not all are righteous lawyers. I call on our new lawyers to remain faithful to the path of social justice and equality. Shun the temptation of corruption. Stand against injustice. Qui tacet consentire (Who is silent gives consent).”

Palatino likewise urged the new layers to be active in the quest for truth and justice, especially in light of the impeachment cases filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

“Now, more than ever, our country is in need of energized and principled lawyers to amplify our fight against social ills. The impeachment case against Ombudsman Gutierrez signifies the spark of our intensified battle against corruption and all that makes our country stuck in poverty and abjection. I beckon our new lawyers to contribute their skills and talents to this cause,” he said.

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“We condemn this attack at the same time that we call on the Filipino people to be vigilant on any unnecessary measure the Aquino government will impose upon the people which will further curtail basic liberties, intensify military and intervention from the United States,” KM Spokesperson Ma. Laya Guerrero said.

“Already the bus attack was used expediently by the military to justify its demand for a P42.13 billion additional budget for so-called modernization program to run in five years, in a hearing the day after the bus attack,” added Guerrero.

The revolutionary group’s spokesperson also underlined that the government of Aquino seems to be inept in handling “crisis cases” like this from the outset just like how the resulting malady in the Luneta bus hijack.

“Aquino government is quick at resorting to inefficient and yet repressive actions giving full and excessive force to state security forces unleashed against civilians and the public.”

Meanwhile, Guerrero lambasted recent Department of Foreign Affairs Sec. Romulo’s open admittance that the coming dialogue with the United States will emphasize on security and terrorism. “The cat is out of the bag.The Aquino government is not but most keen to cement US’ intervention in our country’s internal affairs in the guise of fighting international terrorism.”

“We call on the democratic and patriotic forces to fight the deepening intervention of US in our country and expose the subservient role of the Aquino government. Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan is the local counterpart counter-insurgency plan based on the US Counter-insurgency Manual.”

The KM, an allied to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which is set to hold formal Peace Negotiations with the Philippine government in February, “calls on the Filipino youth and people to demand national sovereignty and freedom from the US, among other civil and economic demands as part of the substantive agenda in the peace talks”.

“Despite protests and demands to dismantle the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) giving legal blanket to US military presence in the Philippines, Aquino regime is willingly posed to adhere to this historic servility in military as well as political and economic terms with US. We the people have to assert in the coming negotiations the freedom from the clutches of US in all aspects, as it will also pave the way to economic, social and political emancipation of the Filipino people. We call to end the VFA and other agreements with the US.” - CPP Information Bureau

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A total of 30 House members from the majority, minority and progressive partylist yesterday joined together to express their stand against the impending spate of budget cuts for SUCs holding on to the conviction that education is a right.

“We believe that higher education, in particular, is not merely a vehicle for private career development, but an instrument of social change. Higher education serves a public and social purpose. Contrary to neoliberal dictates, it is a public good, and thus, should not be left alone and vulnerable to free market forces and commercial interests,” said the solons.

“Granted such premise, we affirm the idea that education, at all levels, is a right of everyone and a non-negotiable function of the State. It is imperative for the government to provide higher education to its citizens, and thus maintain and improve upon the quality and accessibility of higher education in public institutions.”

The lawmakers signed a giant manifesto of unity symbolizing their collective stand for greater subsidy to higher education.

The allocation for the country’s SUCs in the proposed 2011 national budget has been reduced by 1.7 percent, from P23.8 billion in 2010 to only P23.4 billion this year. The proposed budget for 25 out of 112 SUCs has also been decreased by as much as 23.5%. Funds allotted for the University of the Philippines (UP), the country’s premier state university, with a population of 52,000, has been slashed by P1.39 billion or by 20.11%. The Philippine Normal University’s budget is reduced by P92 million cut or by 23.59%. P88 Million has been deducted from the budget of Bicol University cutting its budget by 18.82%.

There is a P1.1 billion (28.16 percent) decrease in the operations budget for SUCs. All but 15 SUCs have cuts in their operating budgets (MOOE) some by as much as 50%.

In the proposed P23.4 billion budget for SUCs, no funds have been earmarked for capital outlay or for the procurement of new equipment, nor for the repairs, construction and improvement of facilities. SUCs such as Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Marikina Polytechnic College that have been devastated by previous calamities and typhoons will not be given any much-needed attention and priority.

“We believe that the education budget cuts infringe on the right to education and the constitutional mandate of the government to make education accessible to all. We affirm our commitment to push for, at the minimum, the restoration of the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) budget of all SUCs to their 2010 levels,” they said.

“We also affirm our commitment to push for the allocation of sufficient Capital Outlay to SUCs severely affected by natural calamities during the past years, and SUCs experiencing severe classroom or facilities shortage.”

Among the legislators who signed the unity statement against higher education budget cuts initiated by Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino were:

House Committee on Higher and Technical Education Chairman Rep. Sonny Angara
Lone District of Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao
Lone District of San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito
Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Teodoro Casiño
Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares
Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan
Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Emerenciana de Jesus
Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Rafael Mariano
Alliance of Concerned Teachers Partylist Rep. Rolando Tinio
Lone District of Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr.
Lone District of Apayao Rep. Eleanor Bulut-Begtang
Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Cagas
Lanao del Norte Rep. Fatima Dimaporo
Ang Kasangga Partylist Rep. Teodorico Haresco
Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy
La Union Rep. Eufranio Eriguel
AVE Partylist Rep. Eulogio Magsaysay
Samar Rep. Emil Ong
Lone District of Nueva Viscaya Rep. Carlos Padilla
Bataan Rep. Herminia Roman
Lone District of Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo
Cebu Rep. Gabriel Quisimbing
Buhay Partylist Rep. Michael Velarde

Among those who also supported the unity statement are:

Minority Leader Rep. Edcel Lagman
Committee on Appropriations Vice Chairperson Rep. Josefina Joson
Lone District of Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento
Lone District of Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog
Manila Rep. Rosenda Ocampo
ALIF Partylist Rep. Acmad Tomawis.

They added, “We reiterate our disapproval of the proposals to slash state subsidy for SUCs. We stand behind the nation’s state university students, numbering close to a million, together with their parents and teachers and other advocates in their collective struggle for greater state subsidy for education.”

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“The very idea that the OMB will have an access to privately owned hard drives is clearly a constitutional violation. It is like subjecting your closet to government scrutiny,”said Palatino.

The possibility that the OMB may check the entire storage device, according to Palatino, will expose all other personal files of the owner.

“OMB may declare a file ‘malicious’ and thus give them the chance to search and confiscate the hard drive.”

Palatino stated that instead of compelling the computer shop owners to register their hard drive, the government should strengthen and improve the IT infrastructure in the country.

“This is to empower institutions and individuals against ‘malicious technological challenges,’ instead of compromising the inherent rights and freedoms of citizens in the use of information and communications technology,” he added.

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SCAP president Gio Tingson of the Ateneo de Manila University said they are confident that once voted to the Senate, Hontiveros will continue her “admirable job” as a lawmaker.

“Rep. Hontiveros consistently pushed for the welfare of different sectors as seen when she authored several bills including the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform, which was passed into law,” Tingson said.

Tingson added that Hontiveros gained their trust because of her unwavering conviction to push for the Magna Carta of Studen Rights and Welfare (STRAW) and bills to reform the Sanggunian ng Kabataan.

“Risa and SCAP have the same policy advocacies and we believe that once in the Senate, she will continue he work of advocating youth and student rights,” noted Tingson, who together with SCAP secretary general Catherine Calopez and other members even danced the “Hontivirus” dance craze.

Calopez of Philippine Normal University said that SCAP agreed to endorse Hontiveros candidacy because they believe that there is a need for progressive and transformative lawmakers in the country.

Also present during the event were SCAP vice chair for Visayas Patrick Ladrito of University of San Agustin and SCAP vice chair for Mindanao Ivan Samson of St. Michael’s.

Accepting the endorsement for Hontiveros was Machris Cabreros, who said that Hontiveros was very happy that she made an impact to the youth sector.

SCAP has 120 members, including the student councils in University of Asia and Pacific, University of the Philippines, Univesity of Santo Tomas, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, San Beda, Mindanao State University, Nueva Viscaya State University and Western Mindanao State University.

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Dubbed “Botong Isko 2010″, the mock polls seeks to raise UP students’ interest in the May 10 elections.

A third and final round of the mock polls would be held from May 3 to 7.

Senators Richard Gordon (president), Mar Roxas (vice president) and Miriam Defensor Santiago (senator) topped the first round of the mock polls. (100ARAW.com)

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Activist priest Fr. Joe Dizon, a convenor of Kontra Daya, said that the “Jericho March” spearheaded by religious groups will denounce “a grand design to make the elections fail.”

“The ‘Jericho March’ will be an expression of the kind of vigilance that we are urging the people to exercise, especially when worst-case scenarios like a failure of elections takes place,” said Fr. Dizon

“It will be a practice run for actions that we may have to stage after the elections,” he added.

Kontra Daya has urged the public to remain vigilant against any attempt to cause a failure of the elections and subsequently the perpetuation of the Arroyo regime in power. (100ARAW.com)

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“The unfair and one-sided provisions of the JPEPA encroach on the rights of the Filipinos to chart their own destiny,” Guingona said at a press conference held at the Miriam College by the Magkaisa Junk JPEPA Coalition.

Guingona was voicing concern that other countries may also demand the massive concessions granted to Japan under the JPEPA under future bilateral trade agreements. “JPEPA seems to be the beginning for other nations to also invoke the same unfair privileges under the World Trade Organization (WTO),” he added.

The Philippine is currently under various stages of negotiating bilateral trade agreements with the United States, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Toxic waste

Referring to the controversial provisions on toxic waste trade and the inclusion of wastes in the JPEPA’s tariff schedule, Guingona said that if indeed no waste trade is contemplated by the JPEPA, the proper thing to do is to excise the provisions that sanction such trade.

Guingona charged that with JPEPA, “the policy of Japan on ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ is that after the product is finished it will get dumped in the Philippines.”

Among the most controversial features of the JPEPA is Article 29, which provides for the reduction of tariff for waste products. Among the wastes that are to enjoy zero-tariff entry to the Philippines are incinerator ash, clinical waste, sewage sludge, waste pharmaceuticals and municipal waste.

Second-class professionals in JPEPA

Speaking during the same press conference, Dr. Leah Paquiz, president of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), also heavily criticized the JPEPA for granting Filipino nurses the status of second-class professionals in Japan.

According to her, Filipino nurses will be second-class professionals in Japan because under the terms being crafted by the Japan’s Ministry of Health and the Japanese Nursing Association (JNA), they are mere trainees for up to three years until they pass the national licensure exam written in Japanese, an examination that is routinely failed by half of the Japanese citizens who take it.

Dr. Paquiz also pointed out the well-known hostility of the Japanese Nursing Association (JNA) against the entry of Filipino nurses in Japan. The JNA’s official position is that the working conditions of Japanese nurses must first be improved before taking in Filipino nurses.

“The insecurity of the status of our Filipina nurses under the JPEPA plus the hostility of the Japanese nurses to our presence there may conspire to gradually ease some of our nurses into sexual exploitation,” Dr. Paquiz said.

“In the guise of opening up the Japanese labor market, JPEPA may actually be setting up our nurses for failure, discrimination and possible sexual exploitation,” she added.

Dr Paquiz was concerned that unscrupulous Japanese nightclubs may begin scouting for Filipina nurses to moonlight as sex workers under the JPEPA.

In 2005, Japan started to implement its Plan of Action to Combat Human Trafficking. Imposing stricter requirements for overseas performing artists (OPAs), including those who were before exploited and introduced to the Japanese sex industry, the implementation of the plan resulted in a drastic drop in the deployment of OPAS from a high of 74,480 by end of 2004 to a low of 42,586 in 2005 and only 10,615 by end of 2006.

“Our nurses have already sent huge amounts of remittances to prop up the Philippine economy,” Dr Paquiz said, “yet the government still has to implement existing laws that uphold the dignity and provide just compensation for our local nurses.”

She was referring to RA 9173 or the Nursing Act of 2002, which provides that no public health worker shall receive compensation below salary grade 15. Also, according to Dr Paquiz, RA 7135 or the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers, which uplifts the working conditions of Filipino nurses, is yet to be fully implemented fifteen years after its enactment.

Unfair trade

In the same press conference, Representative Risa Hontiveros of Akbayan said that a vital clue to the disadvantageous bargaining position of the Philippines in the negotiation of the JPEPA is that while Japan was able to exclude a total of 238 tariff lines, the Philippines only managed to exclude six.

“One major rationale for the Philippines entering into the JPEPA, upon which we have predicated our many trade concessions, “said Representative Hontiveros, “is the prospect of Japan opening up its labor force to our nurses. Now, even that one supposedly bright prospect is getting dimmer as the Japanese have begun erecting barriers to the entry of our nurses.”

Lawyer Tanya Lat of the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc. (IDEALS) said that the JPEPA offers, at best, very minimal gains for the Philippines.

“In exchange for the minimal, speculative and short-term gains,” Atty. Lat said, “the government bargained the long-term development of our economy.”

She added that the trumpeted inflows of investment under the JPEPA are speculative—given the unaddresssed issues that make the Philippines relatively an unattractive area for foreign direct investment—but the contraction of the Philippine agriculture sector, the displacement of
farmers and the closure of local industries will be all real.

“Our Constitution provides that we should pursue a trade policy that serves the general welfare and operates on the basis of equality and reciprocity,” said Atty Lat. “We deserve to be more than just a nation of beggars and servants panhandling for Japanese waste.”

Senate concurrence needed

The JPEPA, a preferential trade treaty signed in September 2006 by President Gloria Arroyo and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Helsinki, will need to be ratified by the Senate. It is widely seen as the first test of the relationship between the Arroyo administration and the new Senate dominated by the opposition.

Several senators have already come out strongly against the JPEPA. Senator Loren Legarda said that “the benefits in the JPEPA are more apparent than real and largely ignorable if we are to compare it to the destruction of our environment… Without mincing words, this treaty should be sacked.”

Senator Pia Cayetano has also called instead on the Senate to ratify first the Basel Ban Amendment before discussing the JPEPA. “Ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment would provide greater protection to the Philippines from becoming a dumping ground for toxic wastes, not only from Japan, but also from other industrial countries,” she stressed.

The Basel Ban Amendment, a supplement to the Basel Convention, plugs the convention’s loopholes by prohibiting the practice of trading toxic waste for both disposal and recycling.

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“This should teach Mrs. Arroyo and her cohorts that they cannot always have their way and bend law to their favor. The decision is an admonition to this administration not to use the Human Security Act to curtail civil liberties and rights and go after its critics,” Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said.

Yesterday, the high court dismissed with finality the Solicitor General’s petition to reverse its June 1 decision that junked the rebellion cases against Beltran and the Batasan 5.

Palatino said Ka Bel’s resilience and determination to stand up to government abuses and harassment is worthy of the youth’s emulation.

“Ka Bel serves as a good example for this new generation of young Filipinos to never get tired of fighting for truth, justice and democracy. He is a living inspiration for every youth to defy any
draconian measure that threatens to curtail civil liberties and human rights.”

Palatino also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will also strike down the Anti-Terror law and government policy of redeploying military troops in Metro Manila as unconstitutional once civil libertarians and militant groups bring the matter to the high court.

“We remain positive that the Supreme Court will continue to side with the people and stand up to any attempt by this administration to govern above the rule of law, he said.”

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