Thousands join “SONA ng Bayan”

PRESS RELEASE

July 28, 2014

Thousands join “SONA ng Bayan”

DAVAO CITY—The broad alliance of progressive groups, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, heads 7,000 people in a regionally-coordinated march rally to Rizal Park as BS Aquino delivers his 5th State of the Nation Address today (July  28).

“Aquino already had four SONAs. But neither of them talked about the true situation of Filipinos. Instead, these were rhetoric of passing the blame to his predecessors who were also equally corrupt.” said Sheena Duazo, secretary-general of BAYAN-Southern Mindanao Region.

In a recent survey,  46 million Filipinos are  suffering from hunger  every day because of low wages and unemployment.

“Prices of rice and other basic goods rise unstoppable far from our wages. Social services, especially health, are now under privatization. Women and the people were deprived of sustainable living, of a decent life,” Duazo added.

“The government shamelessly pushed contractualization as the solution to the bloating number of jobless in the country and this had caused the worsening condition of workers in terms of wages and security of tenure all over the Philippines instead,” according to Romualdo Basilio, spokesperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno-Southern Mindanao Region.

Also, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) spokesperson Benjie Badal expressed his rage over the P10B fund intended by Aquino for the demolition of urban poor families .

Joining the protest rally are peasants from North Cotabato, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte and Paquibato District.

The farmers and farm workers from Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas  are demanding to hold BS Aquino accountable for the unresolved landlessness and the endless killings of farmers and lumads in the countrysides.

“Seven out of ten farmers remained  to be landless under CARP and its extension, just because the government gives no attention to this problem and  instead promote mendicancy  Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps and Conditional Cash Transfer. 

Moreover,  Pedro Arnado, chairman of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao Region explained that the government’s Peace and Development Outreach Program (PDOP) in the countryside  resulted to the murder of many peasant leaders who were shouting for genuine land reform.”

Suara Bangsamoro spokesperson Jerome Aba added, “National minorities experience the same struggle. Lumads were divested from their ancestral lands because of greedy foreign mining and logging companies and Moro people were deprived of their right to self-determination.

He stressed,“Until now,ARMM remains to be the poorest region in the Philippines and there is a continuing discrimination against Bangsamoro and violation of their rights despite  several peace agreements.”

“The human rights situation is deplorable”,according to KARAPATAN- SMR.

Oplan Bayanihan was intensified on its second phase that caused 33 political killings in Southern Mindanao alone. Highlighted cases were the murder of Barug Katawhan leader Cristina Jose in Baganga; KASAKA treasurer Benjie Planos in Loreto; civilian Pedro Tinga, mining activist Marcelo Monterona & small-scale miner Welmer Vargas in Maco.

 Hanimay Suazo, secretary-general of Karapatan-SMR said, “Undeniably, this is BS Aquino’s ‘tuwid na daan’ using his killing machine Oplan to declare war against the Filipino people. Aquino is nothing but a warmonger.”

She concluded, “So much for all the lies! Aquino cannot deny his anti-people and anti-democratic character anymore. The people are already sick of his cover-ups and schemes.” ###

Press Statement: Stop the Harassment of Progressive Leaders! End Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan Now!

July 9, 2014

Stop the Harassment of Progressive Leaders! End Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan Now!

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region decries the increasing harassment and surveillance of prominent members and spokesperson of their allied organizations.  Two succeeding incidents involving progressive leaders and suspected security forces indicates to us that the militarization of Mindanao under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanhian has intensified, spilling over from the countryside and into urban centers.

On Sunday, University of the Philippines-Mindanao professors Myfel Paluga and Andrea Ragragio reported being followed by suspicious men while on their way back to Davao City from General Santos City from a research reconnaissance.  Motorcycle riders tailed their vehicle while they were on the road, while men in plainclothes monitored them at their stops, they said.

On Tuesday, a similar incident happened to Gabriela spokesperson May Ann Sapar yesterday morning on her way to their group’s office.  She had spotted a suspicious man loitering outside her home early yesterday; the same man got into the same jeepney she rode away from her house.   The man then sat beside her, with a short firearm visibly tucked in his trousers.

Paluga and Ragragio were active during the Defend Talaingod, Save Pantaron campaign on behalf of the Talaingod Manobos who evacuated here to Davao City last April.  Ragragio is also the spokesperson of Pagbabago! Southern Mindanao Region and Abolish Pork Movement.  Sapar, as Gabriela spokesperson, has been involved in numerous issues about the plight of the urban poor, peasant and worker women in the region.

They are all visible and vocal leaders of people’s campaigns, and their advocacies have often brought them at odds with the State’s security forces.  We believe that government agents are the only people who would have the means and the motives to harass these progressive personalities.  BAYAN-SMR condemns in the strongest possible terms the continuing policy of not distinguishing between members of legitimate people’s organizations and those deemed as enemies of the state.  This policy has resulted in countless human rights violations through the terms of Estrada, Arroyo, and now, Aquino.  We demand the immediate cessation of all forms of intimidation directed towards our members, and no less than the end of Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan all over the country.