“Basically, the Palace only removed PDAF in name, but the money’s still there. Worse, it’s now under the president’s full discretion.” – Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon
A known anti-mining activist has been missing since August 21. The victim was last seen being forced into a police patrol car but authorities denied having custody of him.
“Why do the military insist that the reasons we are so determined to stop the foreign mining companies are the NPAs, who are supposedly pushing us to do so? Don’t we, lowly people, also have the right to unite to protect our lands?”
“The P10-billion (US$ 228 m) pork barrel re-channeled to fake NGOs should have been used instead for an P8.3-billion restoration project for our country’s mangrove forest cover and almost four year’s worth of community-based disaster preparedness and response programs costing at least P2 billion.” – Kalikasan-PNE
Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said the ‘increased rotational presence’ being ironed out by the Philippine and US governments would only make Filipinos “cannon fodder and no different from how the US treated Filipino war veterans during World War II.”
Remembering the oil pipe leak that occurred in 2010, which also caused sufferings on the coastal villages in Cavite, the newly-formed group, the Close Petron Depot Movement (CPDM), said the Petron oil depot poses a “constant threat to the lives of fisherfolk and urban poor.”
“The terms are so broad that we can assume that US forces will have unlimited access and indefinite stay in the Philippines, alongside the opportunity of being granted effective control of certain PH facilities for the storage of equipment and weapons and billeting of troops. All that is basing even if they don’t admit to it.” – Renato Reyes, Bayan
See also: ‘Treachery, lies,’ slammed in Malacañang’s justifications for increased US troop presence
“The Aquino government is still trying to deceive the people that the US is out to help the Philippines against China. It is playing up 'the threat of China' while playing down the history and reality of US military interventions." – KMU
The Social Security System is profitable. President Aquino even offered a “salute” to it for having increased its membership, its collections and its profitability. Why, workers ask, should it increase workers’ contributions?
"In the Philippines, the limited budgetary allocation for Science and Technology points to a "fragmented strategy at bringing about development."-AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, not the partylist in Congress)
“A study published in the IAMURE International Journal on Marine Ecology estimated that the damage to the affected ecosystems and the fisheries sector may last for up to two generations. Petron is claiming the situation in Cavite is under control, but coral reefs have reportedly been smothered by oil sludge, and reported fish and shellfish kills mean the oil slick has also affected the functions of marine species.” – Kalikasan PNE
Read also: Petron should fast track clean up, pay compensation for oil spill – fisherfolk group
“The Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce is trying to deceive workers with promises of a better employment situation when the truth is that the country has been pressing down wages for decades but unemployment still continues to grow.” – KMU
“This political accommodation of environmental criminals speaks of rampant corruption in the bureaucracy. We sincerely hope this double standard was not bought for a low price of 1.034 billion pesos (US$ 23.8 million).” – Kalikasan PNE
Read also: Philex still needs to clean up, pay compensation – indigenous peoples
Philex “must understand that it is being punished for its unsafe and irresponsible mining practices, which is the basis for the fine.” It is the company’s responsibility to cleanup and rehabilitate the waters it damaged, and to compensate the adversely affected residents. – KAMP
President Benigno Aquino III has disclosed that the Philippine government has asked US to deploy P3C Orion spy planes, land-based maritime surveillance and anti-submarine aircrafts over the disputed sea.
Everywhere, restrictions on workers forming genuine unions have prompted them to do union organizing in an “underground” or clandestine way, at least, at first.
“When workers in Indonesia demand a wage hike, employers threaten them: ‘We would relocate to China.’ In China, employers threaten workers that they would relocate their factory to Vietnam. In Vietnam, employers threaten workers they would relocate to Cambodia. In Cambodia, employers threaten workers that they would relocate to Bangladesh.” – Asia Monitor Resource Center
See also: Indonesian workers battle high prices, low wages despite producing oil, registering growth rates
Asia-Pacific workers wage struggles to turn ‘formal’ rights into reality
The spate of increases is driving Indonesian workers to take to the streets, conduct strikes and file demands for wage increases.
MANILA -- As the 16th Congress starts regular sessions, workers led by labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno picketed the Batasang Pambansa this morning to call for the immediate passage of the bill seeking to legislate a P125 (US$2.88) across-the-board wage hike...
“It seems that not even death can force the labor department to speak up against capitalists.” – Joselito Ustarez, KMU vice-chairman
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.
