I was in the
protest rally outside Batasan yesterday, where around 10,000 others gathered to proclaim the real state of the nation, instead of listening to Arroyo's address. The different sectors were there, including foreign delegates.
Fiery speeches were delivered along with cultural performances. The giant effigy and the stage background captured the general theme of the day: Gloria as Hitler, conducting a fascist rampage, killing the Filipino people.
Despite the
heavy rain, the crowd was lively and the protest mood was very high.
It was only yesterday night when I got a chance to read the full text of the fake president's address. Earlier, I heard the radio reporting the opposition's opinion on the SONA, saying it was a 'PR speech' full of unrealistic promises and not a state of the nation. It was also said to be a 'blueprint' or a program of action, as if the president is still campaigning and haven't been in power for already five years.
The observations were true, the SONA was a boring geography lesson full of unimportant, or perhaps even manipulated data, on local situations in the provinces and regions. As promised by the Arroyo "Boyoyong boys" (Mike D., Bunye and others), it avoided the political issues and the issues confronting the presidents' legitimacy. The truth was, except for a few overemphasized but unrealistic data on lower poverty levels and development, she said nothing on the general state of the nation.
I was somehow expecting an answer related to the people's sentiments, but instead I see in my head, while reading the SONA text, an image of Arroyo blabbering irrelevant data, her head down, trying hard to look away and avoid the people asking so many valid questions on her legitimacy and governance.
It got to my nerves when I saw the part which lauds Palparan, take note that the speech doesn't even have a part alloted her all-out war program but just injected this part to the economic plans for the regions: "nakikibaka sa kalaban si Jovito Palparan. Hindi siya aatras hanggang makawala sa gabi ng kilabot ang mga pamayanan at maka-ahon sa bukang-liwayway ng hustisya at kalayaan. (Palparan is struggling against the enemy. He will not retreat until the communities become free from their enslavement to the terror of the night and reach the dawn of justice and freedom.)"
After that, as if intending to be really confusing about the policy of murdering activists and taking us Filipino people and the rest of the concerned people around the world for stupid asses who doesn't think, she says: "In the harshest possible terms I condemn political killings. We together stopped judicial executions with the abolition of the death penalty. We urge witnesses to come forward. Together we will stop extrajudicial executions. "
Shit. And then she goes on with her blabbering.
I say this speech is an act of a coward. It has come to a point where Arroyo knows that whatever she says, she wouldn't be able to make the people believe her. What does she do? She murmurs and hopes that nobody hears her. She avoids contact and refuses to address essential topics.
This poor Hitler wannabe couldn't even give a proper speech to address the people. I heard a UP professor say on ANC that the SONA may be intended to address the members of Congress, the Filipino people or both. In this speech, the writers were addressing themselves, the "Boyoyong boys" might have been the only concerned ones in this blabbering. I'm sure they're all pleased with their kalokohan.
What's more important than what Arroyo said in this SONA is what she DIDN'T say. I think we, the people, really aught to have our own version of the SONA during the next few days. Let's proclaim the real situation of the Filipino people and bring to Arroyo's face the thing she's most afraid of: the fact that one year after her last SONA, her presidency is still in crisis, the fascist moves she implemented failed to stop protests, and her dictatorial crimes have only raised the people's anger against her to a new, more serious level and into a situation which is only getting more dangerous for her, her "Boyoyongs" and her fascist government. ###
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The Supreme Court has
ordered the NOLCOM and Gen. Jovito Palparan to produce the two missing UP students Karen and Sherlyn on July 24, 10am at the Court of Appeals.
The parents of Karen and Sherlyn
filed a petition for habeas corpus at the Supreme Court last Monday to compel the military to produce their daughters and Manuel Merino, a local farmer from Hagonoy, Bulacan.
The SC is the only court which hears habeas corpus petitions.
Below is a copy of the resolution issued by the First Division of the SC dated July 19, 2006:
Sirs/Mesdames:
Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of the First Division of this Court dated JULY 19, 2006
G.R. No. 173288 (In the Matter of the Petition for Habeas Corpus of Sherlyn T. Cadapan, Karen E. Empeño and Manuel Merino represented by Spouses Erlinda T. and Asher P. Cadapan and Concepcion E. Empeño, petitioners, vs. Major Gen. Romeo Tolentino, Gen. Jovito Palparan, Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac, Arnel Enriquez and Lt. Samson, respondents). -- Considering the special proceeding for Habeas Corpus, the Court resolves to: (a) ISSUE the Writ of Habeas\nCorpus, returnable to the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals, Ma. Orosa, Manila who shall IMMEDIATELY RAFFLE the assignment of this case among the Justices thereat and the assigned Justice shall thereafter HEAR the petition on July 24, 2006 at 10:00 a.m., DECIDE the same and SUBMIT a report thereon; and (b) REQUIRE [1] the respondents to PRODUCE the persons of Sherlyn T. Cadapan, Karen E. Empeño and Manuel Merino before said assigned Justice on July 24, 2006 at 10 a.m.; and [2] the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City or his deputies to immediately SERVE the writ and petition and to make a RETURN thereof as provided by law.
Very truly yours,
ENRIQUETA ESGUERRA
Clerk of Court
First Division
The Hon. Presiding Justice (x)
Court of Appeals
112
Major Gen. Romeo Tolentino
Camp Servillano Aquino
Tarlac 2300 Tarlac
Respondent
Gen. Jovito Palparan
Fort Magsaysay
Laur 3129 Nueva Ecija
Respondent
REX J.M.A. Fernandez
34-B Maamo St, Sikatuna Village
1191 Quezon City
Manila
Counsels for Petitioners
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Devastating lives...
Desperate to stay in power...
Bound to self-destruct...
A nation on the brink of an explosion...
Five years of poverty, hunger, unemployment and empty promises. Filipinos have all the reason to blow up and blast this government.
Join the People's SONA on July 24!
OUST ARROYO!
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also posted in http://karlmarx00.blogspot.com/
I'm dismayed, to say the least, with the recent
Pastoral Letter issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). As religious leaders, they have the responsibility to lead their flock in these times of moral decadence and injustice. It seemed, however, that the bishops were even more confused than their bewildered followers.
The Pastoral Letter was so vague that even CBCP spokesman Msgr. Pedro Quitorio had a tough time explaining and defending it in ANC's Viewpoint earlier. The letter was obviously written with the pretense of moral uprightness and faultlessness, or shall I say the pretense of neutrality, that it miserably failed to serve its main purpose why it was actually drafted and why the bishops convened for three days in Pope Pius VI center in Manila. The bishops may have used ambiguous phrases to avert criticisms of politicking and partisanship, but they did so at the expense of the very substance of a very important paper. It did more harm than good.
The letter's major flaw rests on the bishops' faulty outlook which sees all issues and participating parties homogeneously. While it is true that almost all politicians have vested interests
(which is to get the maximum exposure to ensure electoral victory or side with the incumbent to benefit from its machinery and resources), the fact remains that the other party, who happened to be the highest official of the land, is being accused of masterminding electoral fraud in 2004. Such an approach tends to highlight the self-indulgent balance-of-power between the administration and the opposition (a perspective which always works for the benefit of the administration) while watering down the real issues in the process. It's no different to the language used by Malacañang apologists and scriptwriters everyday that Arroyo's critics are only hungry for power and are out to destabilize the government.
Furthermore, the issues raised in the second impeachment case against Mrs. Arroyo are legitimate and genuine concerns, filed by ordinary people who were disenfranchised in the 2004 elections; who are continuously being deprived of social services because the government coffers was bled dry for Arroyo's electoral campaign and other personal whims; and who were victims or are being victimized political repression, extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations by government mercenaries.
To see the current political crisis as a mere offshoot of the egotistical tug-of-war between the Arroyo camp and the United Opposition is to disregard completely the hue and cry of millions of ordinary Filipinos who continue to experience hunger, languish in poverty and are gunned down like chickens everyday. It's not only erroneous, it's an outright insult.
I also find it ironic that while the CBCP is very clear, vocal and firm on its call for the "resignation or even the prosecution" of Election commissioners involved in vote rigging in the last national elections, it avoids to make a clear-cut stand on Mrs. Arroyo who, based on the taped conversations, was the one on the other line talking to Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
The bishops' homogeneous perspective also reflected on its stand on extra-judicial killings. While CBCP denounced the spate of killings of journalists and activists, it equally condemned the killings allegedly perpetrated by insurgents, as if these were the same. It discounted the fact that the increasing number of extra-judicial killings of activists is part of the government's systemic political repression (dubbed as Oplan Bantay Laya) against its foes, particularly progressive organizations and party list groups, and is being done with impunity. The killings also involve unarmed individuals or non-combatants, who are being decimated because of their political beliefs (or simply put, because they are exposing government exploitation and are calling for Arroyo's ouster).
On the other hand, the 'killings' allegedly perpetrated by rebels are carried out in the framework of a continuing insurgency and are aimed at combatants (military and police) and politicians or civilians (which are mostly landlords and businessmen) who have done a great deal of injustice against ordinary people. These two are obviously different, both in its objectives and underlying principles.
Unfortunately, even if their intentions were different, no one benefits from the bishops' ambiguous stand other than the government. Their homogeneous outlook and lack of concrete alternatives only cast clouds of confusion and keeps the people farther from knowing the truth (coming from the bishops' perspective).
And there, the bigger problem with the bishops actually lies. The bishops are still living in July 2005 and are still searching for the "truth" while the rest of the country are now looking for concrete action to solve this political crisis.
It's still never late for the bishops though. They still have the time to redeem themselves from being a disinclined accomplice (to use their own word) of the current regime. A proactive and pro-people leadership is crucial in these times of growing questions on the Church's relevance and problem of declining membership.
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I ended up with a cast covering my right arm as treatment to the broken wrist I obtained during the violent dispersal. The guy in the picture got busted open and had to have his head stitched and all.
SIPAT video coverage clips
here,
here, and
here.
Coverage of ABS-CBN, a major TV network, was captured by arkibongbayan.org
here.
Photos and video clips of UP protests held during the same day also posted
here.
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for updates and statements on the 2nd impeachment complaint, visit the iMonitor blog.
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More than 1,000 youth and students trooped to Mendiola in yesterday's youth protest march against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's P1 billion murder fund for her all-out-war policy. "
May pera sa gera, wala sa eskwela! Books not Bullets!"
After a 1-hour program in front of FEU Morayta (blockaded by dozens of police troops and a fire truck), we decided to re-route towards Legarda to assert our march to Malacanang.
Corner of delos Santos and Legarda streets, where we were once again barred by police troops from reaching the main road.
A brief stand-off..
..before the police commenced with their bludgeoning.
Paolo Alfonso, University of the Philippines University Student Council Chairperson, was bloodied after attempting to negotiate with the police.
Polly Pulido of KARATULA (Youth Artists for Genuine Freedom) suffered major injuries as well.
And even members of the media covering the event were not spared.
This reporter from The Washington Post witnessed the violence.
She asked, "Why are the police hitting the young people? That's not right."
To which we would have replied, "In this country, nothing runs right anymore."
(all photos and video stills courtesy of arkibong bayan and abs-cbn news)
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We met with the
family of Karen and Sher in a press conference today. A fellow youth leader remarked that talking with the family of the missing persons was really difficult. There is really no way you could take it lightly.
Bulatlat notes the shift from killings to abductions. Talking to the family of the victims, I realized how hard the situation is for the family of the victims of forced disappearances. I did not know what to say when I met Karen's father, it was very insensitive of me, but out of lack of things to say, I blurted out:
"Ano pong balita? (what are the updates regarding the two?)"
He looked at me, thought of what he was going to tell me, his eyes looking really tired and said:
"Lahat na pinuntahan namin, kung saan-saan na kami nakarating, iyan din ang hanap namin. Wala pa kaming balita."
Karen's mom said that her eldest daughter, Karen's sister, had a dream last night and that in her dream she saw Karen screaming for help.
This was perhaps the hardest thing for the relatives of victims of forced disappearances: never getting to know what really happened to their loved ones. Perpetually worrying, fearing what their captors could have done to them. Always guessing how they are, desperately hoping they're alive and okay.
There have been 178 reported cases of abductions since Arroyo came to power in 2001. Another 7 people have been illegally abducted today.
Here is the unity statement for the immediate release of Karen and Sher. Here is the online petition for their release. And here Sarah posts a poem for Karen.
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UP students held a protest run for the release of abducted classmates Karen and Sher yesterday.
Adarna, who knew the two personally,
posts her thoughts on the abductions. What pissed her and
Ellen Tordesillas the most, is
Palparan's statement saying they were "confirmed rebels" and that "the people in the village were glad they were gone." Who, by the way, was the main feature in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine (no link, we don't want you to waste your time with 700 words worth of bullshit.)
Gerry
reports that Sher Capadan was a former Philippine Soccer team member, and that Karen Empeno was the niece of a former Inquirer
correspondent in Central Luzon.
Is UP under attack? Weeks before the news of the abductions, there came reports of UP campus militarization. Another report here. But there's no stopping the UP students' protests.
In other news: Armed men torch radio station in Cagayan apparently operated by Bayan Muna. `Tagaytay 5' tell tale of terror in police custody.
Gonzales scores Senator for talking peace with the NDF.
In Bantay Impeachment 2: Ka Teroy Llamas' widow, another priest to sign impeachment complaint, and students challenge CHEd to endorse impeach monitor information campaign as the gov't institution did with Cha-cha.
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I was in the protest rally outside Batasan yesterday, where around 10,000 others gathered to proclaim the real state of the nation, instead of listening to Arroyo's address. The different sectors were there, including foreign delegates.
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