Taas-kamaong pagpupugay sa ika-23 anibersaryo ng SANLAKAS!

Heneral Luna, SANLAKAS, Dugong Bayani

Gen. Antonio Luna's 150th BDay and SANLAKAS' 23rd Anniversary

Justice for Gloria Capitan! Stop the Killing of Climate Justice Activists!

JUSTICE FOR GLORIA CAPITAN! STOP THE KILLING OF CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTIVISTS!

We condemn the killing of Gloria Capitan, Filipino woman  leader-activist of KILUSAN, a member organization of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice. Ate Glo, as she is called by people close to her, was shot by motorcycle-riding gunmen last July 1.  She was 57 years old, a mother and a grandmother.

Ate Glo was very active in the fight against coal and led in a series of mass actions and petitions calling for a permanent closure of a coal stockpile in their village.

If this is an attempt to silence other anti-coal activists like her, then they are mistaken. On the ground where Ate Glo's body fell, where the blood from her body flowed, more anti-coal and climate justice activists will sprout.

We are activists and movements from all corners of the world.  Ate Glo’s sacrifice only further strengthens  our  solidarity and our conviction that this evil menace which is coal must end.  We will persevere in this fight and see to it that our children and the children of our children will be free from coal.

We join the clamor for the Philippine government to immediately launch a thorough investigation of her killing and bring the perpetrators  to justice.

SIGNED :

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
Freedom From Debt Coalition (FDC)
Sanlakas
Our Rivers Our Life Philippines (OROL)
Gitib Mindinao
Bukluran ng Manggawang Pilipino (BMP)
Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML)
Youth for Climate Justice Pilipinas (Y4CJ)
Koalisyon Pabahay Pilipinas (KPP)
Makabayan Pilipinas
Kalayaan Pilipinas
Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy
Bishop Broderick Pabillo
RECON Phils.
FPE-Mindanao Regional Unit
The Climate Reality Project Philippines
Ecological Society of the Philippines
Germelino M. Bautista
Greenresearch
FR. JOEL TABORA, S.J.
PROMISI
UNLAD
SASFA
Tess Tabada
Focus on the Global South
Aniban ng Mangagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA)
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)
No Nukes Asia Forum
Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK)
FDC-Western Mindanao Region
PALAG Mindanao
PMCJ-Western Mindanao Chapter
Sanlakas Misamis Occidental
APL Youth-SENTRO
Tambuyog Development Center
Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PHILRIGHTS)
Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED)
Socsargen Cared
World March of Women - Pilipinas and Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO)
Citizens' Environment Network (CEN).

Sanlakas joins "Martsa ng Magsasaka" in petition before Supreme Court

PRESS RELEASE
April 19, 2016
Sanlakas

Militant partylist joins "martsa ng Magsasaka" in petition before Supreme Court

Sanlakas asks the SC not to allow Danding

to massacre farmers' claim to coco levy

The "Martsa ng Magsasaka", a 135-kilometer march by coco farmers from Sariaya, Quezon province to Manila, enters its eight day with a picket before the Supreme Court in Padre Faura today to seek the reversal of an earlier decision in 2011, which granted 20 percent of the coco levy fund to Marcos crony and presidential uncle Eduardo "Danding" cojuangco.

The coco levy refers to the fund collected from coconut farmers, primarily from the Bondoc peninsula, in the 1970s and 1980s by the Marcos regime. It was used by Cojuangco to secure control of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), which earned him the monicker "Pac Man" from the anti-dictatorship mosquito press.

The march was joined in by a contingent from militant partylist Sanlakas, which appealed for a "finality on the gross injustice committed to generations of small coconut farmers".

Oyette Zacate, Sanlakas 4th nominee, said, "More than four decades of injustice is enough. The coco levy was extracted forcibly and under duress from our lowly magniniyog. While the presidential uncle may claim that the fund grew as it was used to buy shares from a blue chip company, he has no right to claim the fruits of his speculative gamble since it is a product of the hardwork and sacrifice of thousands of coco farmers, not by the Cojuangco who merely stole it from them".

She added, "This is but pure and absolute swindle by a crony. We call on the legal luminaries of the judiciary, not to allow Danding to render another kind of butchery of the farmers' welfare - not with bulletes and armed force as in the case of the Mendiola, Lupao, Luisita, and Kidapawan massacres, but through an unjust and unreasonable court decision".

Sanlakas is also demanding the full and direct control by the coco farmers of the 31 percent of coco levy in SMC shares that was granted by the high court to the Republic of the Philippines in trust for al the coconut farmers. It was reduced to 24 percent in 2011, amounting to more than P70 billion, and remitted to the national treasury in October 2012.

"We ask the court to revisit its definition of the term 'ownership' in its earlier decision. Generally, an owner enjoys the power to decide on a thing that he or she owns. But in the decision with regard the coco levy fund, a portion of the fund was deemed owned by the coconut farmers, but can decide on the fund only through the Philippine government who has sole decision making powers over the said fund", Zacate clarified.

The multisectoral coalition Sanlakas is running in the coming partylist elections with the demand for "land reform and social services for the farmers sector" in its platform. Zacate concluded, "The Philippine government must reverse its abandonment of local agriculture as it pursues the policy of import liberalization for an export-oriented, import-dependent service economy. Our lack of food security and sovereignty is a threat to the survival of the Filipino people".

Suportahan ang Laban at Agenda ng mga Magsasaka ng Sariaya!

SUPORTAHAN ANG LABAN AT AGENDA NG MGA MAGSASAKA NG SARIAYA!

Lakad para sa Repormang Agraryo, Pagkain, Pagbawi ng Coco Levy Fun at Buhay na may Dignidad

Ang mga kapatid nating magsasaka sa Sariaya, Quezon ay naglalakad ngayon patungong ka-Maynilaan upang iparating sa taumbayan at mga pulitiko ang kahilingan na isama sa agenda ng Eleksyon 2016 ang pagpapatupad ng makabuluhang batas sa repormang agraryo, proteksyon sa agrikultura, kasiguruhan sa pagkain, at ganap na pagbawi ng coco levy fund.

"Bayaning di kilala". 'Yan ang madalas na tawag sa magsasaka. Nakalulungkot pero ito'y pagdakilang palipad-hangin lamang. Sapagkat makalipas ng limang presidente at 30 taon nang mag-EDSA People Power, wala pa ring dignidad ang buhay ng mga magsasaka: marami pa ring walang lupa, walang suportang serbisyo at walang proteksyon sa gitna ng nagbabagong klima. Patuloy silang biktima ng pandarahas; ipinapakulong o pinapatay kapag lumalaban para sa karapatan sa pagkain at lupa. Madalas na magsasaka rin ang biktima ng sistematikong pagnanakaw sa kabang-yaman ng bansa: noon ay ang coco levy na ninakaw sa mga magniniyog at pinakinabangan ng mga crony ni Marcos sa pangunguna ni Danding Cojuangco; ngayon naman ay Bilyong Piso na nawaldas sa Fertilizer Scam, Pork Barrel Scam, Gintong Masaganang Ani (GMA) at iba pa.

Nabaon sa kumunoy ang repormang agraryo. Napako ang pangakong lupa sa ilalim ng Tuwid na Daan. Hindi umusad ang pagpapatupad ng Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) at wala pang 20% ng 1 milyong ektaryang target ng CARPER ang naipamahagi.

Kahit ang naibigay na lupa ay binabawi pa. Ang malungkot pa, ang mga lupaing dati nang naipamahagi ay unti-unti ring binabawi at pinapawalang bisa. Sa bayan ng Sariaya, may kabuuang 4,800 ektaryang naipamahagi sa 3,781 pamilyang magsasaka ang napipintong mawala sa mapa dahil sa pagkansela ng mga Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) at Emancipation Patents (EPs). Ang pagbawi ng CLOAs/EPs ay nag-uugat sa Application for Exemption ng mga dating may-ari ng lupa na patuloy na pinapaboran ng gobyerno kahit matagal nang naipagkaloob sa magsasaka ang mga CLOA. May tatlong kaso na ng pagbawi ang naganap na nakaapekto sa halos 100 magsasaka at 200 ektaryang sakahan. Mayroon namang isang kaso na nakabimbin sa Korte Suprema na nakaapekto sa 255 na magsasaka at 416 ektarya ng sakahan. Marami pang kaso ng kanselasyon ng CLOA ang nasa Korte.

Panganib sa seguridad sa pagkain. Kaiba sa maraming lugar, naabot na sana ng Sariaya ang mataas na antas ng kaseguruhan sa pagkain nang maipamahagi ang lupa sa mga magsasaka. Kung dati ay mga share tenants lamang na tumatanggap ng tersyo ng ani, nagkaroon ng iba't ibang kita ang mga magsasaka mula sa niyog, gulayan, paghahayupan at iba pa dahil nailipat sa kanila ang pagmamay-ari at pagpapasya kung paano gagamitin ang lupa. Ito ang nagbigay daan sa pagtaas ng kita at pag-unlad ng kabuhayan ng mga magsasaka. Sa ngayon ay isa nang "food basket" ang Sariaya na isa sa pangunahing pinagmumulan ng pagkain ng Kalakhang Maynila at iba pang panig ng Luzon. Kung isasama pati livestock, higit 100,000 toneladang pagkain at higit sa 1 Bilyong Piso ang halaga ng nalilikhang pagkain ng magsasaka sa Sariaya sa bawat taon. Ang antas ng seguridad ng bayan ng Sariaya sa bigas at gulay ay 225% habang sa livestock naman ay 115%. Wala itong magiging kakulangan sa pagkain sa susunod na 15 taon habang patuloy na nag-aambag sa pagkain ng iba pang bahagi ng Luzon. Nanganganib maglaho ang mga ito.

Ibabalik muli sa kahirapan ang magsasaka. Ang tagumpay ng mga magsasaka na pag-ahon mula sa kahirapan ay mababalewala dahil babawiin sa kanila ang pagmamay-ari ng lupa. Muli silang babalik sa kahirapan sapagkat mawawalan sila ng sakahan at kabuhayan. Wala ring malinaw na alternatibo ang pamahalaan sa pagbawi ng CLOA at lupa sa magsasaka, maliban sa "disturbance compensation" na sa naunang mga kaso ay P7,000 lamang kada ektarya.

Lalala ang kawalan ng kasiguruhan sa pagkain. Tila wala namang pakialam ang pamahalaan sa patuloy na kakulangan ng pagkain ng bansa dahil sa patuloy ang kabi-kabilang kumbersyon ng mga lupaing agrikultural na nagpapaliit sa taniman ng pagkain sa bansa. Ito ay sa kabila ng matinding krisis na dulot ng climate change sa agrikultura kagaya ng nararanasan sa Mindanao. Food shortage, pagsandig sa importasyon at pagtaas ng presyo ng mga pagkain ang idudulot nito.

Karahasan ang tunguhin ng kanselasyon ng CLOA. Ang kanselasyon ng CLOA ay magtutulak sa puwersahang pagpapalayas sa mga magsasaka. Ang mga pagpapalayas na ito ay tiyak na tututulan ng mga magsasaka dahil sa ito ay direktang pagyurak sa karapatan sa pagkain at karapatang mabuhay.

Sa gitna ng ganitong banta sa kasiguruhan sa pagkain, kabuhayan at karapatan ng mga mamamayan, hinahamon ng mga magsasaka:

- Ang mga kandidato sa Panguluhan upang magpahayag ng malinaw na plataporma / programa kaugnay sa repormang agraryo, kasiguruhan sa pagkain ng bansa, at pagbawi at paggamit ng coco levy fund;

- Ang Korte Suprema na itigil / kanselahin ang mga desisyong nagkakansela ng CLOA dahil inilalagay nito sa panganib ang buhay, kabuhayan at kasiguruhan sa pagkain ng magsasaka at ng bansa.

Ang mga nabanggit na suliranin ng mga magsasaka, hindi lamang sa Sariaya, Quezon, maging ang iba pang pagdurusa ng masang Pilipino, gaya ng kontraktwalisasyon, mababang pasahod, mataas na presyo ng bilihin at serbisyo, korapsyon, mataas na buwis, human rights violation, climate change, krimen at marami pang iba, ay nakakawing sa kawalan ng pinakamahalagang sangkap ng ganap na demokrasya sa bansa; una, ang kawalan ng representasyon ng mga marginalized sector, gaya ng mga magsasaka, sa pamahalaan; ikalawa ay ang kawalan ng tuwirang partisipasyon at aksyon ng mga marginalized sector sa mga programa at patakaran ng gobyerno.

Tuwing mag-eeleksyon, maririnig natin sa mga kandidato ang mga paulit-ulit na pangakong mag-aahon sa atin sa kahirapan. Nabansot ang papel natin bilang tagaboto lamang kung sino ang susunod na magpapasasa sa kabang-yaman ng gobyerno. Sa kalakhan, wala naman talaga tayong pagpipilian kundi ang mga pare-parehong political dynasty; mula sa lolo hanggang sa mga apo na nagrerelyebo sa pwesto.

Ngayong Eleksyon 2016, sa ilalim ng plataporma ng SANLAKAS Party List at pitong kakampi ng masa sa Senado (Walden Bello, Neri Colmenares, Dado Valeroso, Lorna Kapunan, Toots Ople, Levi Baligod, Allan Montano), simulan nating ipundar ang pagkakaisa at lakas nating mga api't mahihirap sa pamamagitan ng pag-oorganisa ng mga SANLAKAS Chapter sa ating mga Barangay. Ang kombinasyon ng ating mga kinatawan sa Kongreso't Senado at ang ating pagkaka-organisa sa mga Barangay ang moog ng pampulitikang pwersa na magsusulong ng ganap na demokrasya at reporma para sa kinabukasan ng susunod na henerasyon, ang ating mga anak at apo:

#37 SANLAKAS Party List

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino - Southern Tagalog

Abril 14, 2016

Police brutality in Kidapawan condemned, Declare El Nino areas in a state of calamity

Press Statement

01 April 2016

Police brutality in Kidapawan condemned, 

Declare El Nino areas in a state of calamity

SANLAKAS condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric acts inflicted by the police forces as a response to the legitimate and just demands of the Mindanaoan farmers. We hold the Aquino government accountable for unleashing his dogs of war against the hapless peasants.

We demand that entire police unit/s involved in the dispersal relieved, investigated and charged at the soonest possible time.

We also hold accountable the city officials of Kidapawan and the provincial government under Governor Lala Mendoza as well as the national agencies that should have been on top of the situation knowing that the impacts of the El Nino would affect hundreds of thousands if not millions ofpeople.

Firing at unarmed protestors is not only appalling and but also shows how inutile and insensitive our government is to the conditions our farmers who are suffering from water scarcity on a daily basis. While the government is fully aware that the El Nino phenomenon has intensely struck hundreds of thousands of acres of farmlands in Mindanao it did not only prepare for it but it also failed in relieving the farmers of the widespread hunger the climate crisis has caused on thousands of peasant and agricultural workers’ families.

As we share the grief of the victims of police brutality and extend our solidarity with the farmers in Mindanao, SANLAKAS demands from the Aquino government to provide economic relief and declare all EL Nino affected provinces including those in Visayas and Luzon in a state of calamity in order to freeze prices of the most basic commodities and so that the local government may access emergency funds.

We also demand that the climate adaptation efforts of the government expedited in order for the food and water supply crisis checked.

Contact details: 

Atty. Aaron Pedrosa 0927-5924830 

Sanlakas, Secretary General and nominee

Women's Group ORIANG launched at Plaza Moriones in Tondo

Sanlakas, this International Women's Day, stands in solidarity with the women of the world, especially Fililipinas, in asserting their rights and freedoms towards a more socially just and progressive society.

ORIANG was formed today in a march by some 1,000 women in Plaza Moriones in Tondo, with the theme: “Kalayaan para sa Kababaihan! Pitong Laban ng Kababaihan”. Oriang is a grassroots movement led by women leaders of SANLAKAS, Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM). Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML), KALAYAAN, Metro Manila Vendors Alliance (MMVA), Koalisyon Pabahay sa Pilipinas (KPP), Makabayan-Pilipinas, and, Aniban ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA).

The name “Oriang” was derived from the nickname of Gregoria de Jesus, founder and vice-president of the women’s chapter of the Katipunan. Widow to Supremo Gat Andres Bonifacio and later wife to patriot Julio Nakpil, Ka Oryang went beyond the confines of domestic labor to devote her life to free the country from foreign oppressors.

The organizers said, “Ka Oryang symbolized the struggle of plebian women for a better and more egalitarian society, not just for their own families”.

At the march, ORIANG raised seven urgent women’s issues that need to be addressed in the coming elections. Among them: lack of employment and dignfied income; discrimination and unequal treatment in all spheres of society; non-recognition to the rights of women as part of basic human rights including reproductive rights; continuing incidences of rape, violence, and sexual harassment including from their husbands and other family members; the effects of environmental and ecological destruction and its effect on women and their families; the lack of social services for education, healthcare, housing, etc.; and the prevailing disregard to the vital role of women to social progress and social change. The issues form part of the SANLAKAS partylist 7-point pro-people platform.

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#‎37Sanlakas‬ Partylist: T'yak Kakampi Ng Kababaihan Laban sa Diskriminasyon at Karahasan!

Polyeto ng Sanlakas para sa Marso 8, Araw ng Kababaihan

Develop a heart and a spine; override the presidential veto on the SSS Pension Hike

PRESS RELEASE

January 22, 2016

Militant workers to Congress:

Develop a heart and a spine;

override the presidential veto on the SSS Pension Hike

Members of the militant labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and Sanlakas partylist held a picket at the Batasan gates today to call on lawmakers to override the presidential veto against a P2,000 increase in the monthly pensioners of the Social Security System.

Leody de Guzman, BMP president said, “We call on our legislators to alleviate the hardship of 1.9 million Filipinos who have to barely survive on a measly pension of P1,200 per month at the twilight of their lives.

Have a Heart as People’s Representatives

“If you are truly representatives of the people, you must, at the very least,have a heart to those who dutifully contributed to the social welfare fundin the hope of living decently upon retirement. The current minimum pension of P1,200 is not even half the cost of living of P5,333 per individual,” the labor leader furthered.

Develop a Spine as a Co-Equal Branch of Government

De Guzman clarified, “We appeal to our legislators to develop a spine by collectively standing up as a co-equal branch to the executive department.  Override the presidential veto by garnerning the required two-thirds vote to defend your just and reasonable proposal for a pension hike, lest the people conclude that members of the august halls of Congress are more concerned with their electoral kitty than the welfare of our aging countrymen”.

Reforms to ensure the viability of the P2,000 SSS Pension Hike

The labor leader, who is also the first nominee of the SANLAKAS party-list in the upcoming May elections, asserted that the SSS has sufficient funds to provide for a P2,000 increase in monthly pensions. He added, “especially if it would increase the collection rate from the present 35-38% and by reducing the administrative and operating costs of the social welfare fund. It is the height of injustice that the SSS executives are receiving millions in bonuses despite their obvious inefficiency and lack of regard for the welfare of the millions of its now destitute member-contributors”.

SSS Execu-thieves, Kapalmuks!

At the protest, the BMP, SANLAKAS and Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) brought a huge streamer that listed the millions in bonuses given to members of the SSS board, who they described as “execu-thieves”,“walang hiya” (shameless) and “kapalmuks” (thick-skinned, insensitive). #