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Month: April 2018

Briefer on Quo Warranto

Photo credit: IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers

WHAT IS A QUO WARRANTO?

A Quo Warranto is a legal proceeding that questions the right of an individual to hold the office he/she occupies. It can be filed only within one year from the cause of ouster.

CAN QUO WARRANTO BE FILED AGAINST IMPEACHABLE OFFICERS SUCH AS CJ SERENO?

No. The Constitution is clear that impeachable Officers can only be removed through impeachment. Art. XI, Section 2 provides: “The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.”

The SC itself has affirmed in several rulings that impeachable officers such as the CJ can only be removed by impeachment. In Cuenco vs Fernan, A.M. No. 3135 February 17, 1988, the SC held: “There is another reason why the complaint for disbarment here must be dismissed. Members of the Supreme Court must, under Article VIII (7) (1) of the Constitution, be members of the Philippine Bar and may be removed from office only by impeachment (Article XI [2], Constitution).

To grant a complaint for disbarment of a Member of the Court during the Member’s incumbency, would in effect be to circumvent and hence to ran afoul of the constitutional mandate that Members of the Court may be removed from office only by impeachment for and conviction of certain offenses listed in Article XI (2) of the Constitution.”

In IN RE FIRST INDORSEMENT FROM HONORABLE RAUL M. GONZALEZ DATED 16 MARCH 1988 REQUESTING HONORABLE JUSTICE MARCELO B. FERNAN TO COMMENT ON AN ANONYMOUS LETTER-COMPLAINT (A.M. No. 88-4-5433 April 15, 1988), the Supreme Court interpreted Art. XI, Sec. 2 as follows: “Thus, the above provision proscribes removal from office of the aforementioned constitutional officers by any other method; otherwise, to allow a public officer who may be removed solely by impeachment to be charged criminally while holding his office, would be violative of the clear mandate of the fundamental law.”

Hence, a Quo Warranto is an illegal shortcut that is not allowed under the Constitution.

In addition, a Quo Warranto case against CJ Sereno can no longer be filed because the one year deadline to file it has lapsed. More than 5 years have already lapsed since her appointment in 2012.

WHY DID THE OSG FILE THE ILLEGAL QUO WARRANTO?

The House articles of impeachment against CJ Sereno failed the Constitutional test. None of the charges amounts to an impeachable offense. The impeachment case will further weaken in the Senate where the witnesses coddled by the House will be fully cross-examined. Continue reading

The Planet is our Home

Photo credit: AZ Quotes

Fr. Shay Cullen
April 5, 2018

It surrounds us, It is in every place we go, on the street, on the beach or the woods. We see it when we climb a mountain or go for a swim. It is there, evidence of our willful neglect or ingenious inventiveness. It is our own man-made friend and already a destructive enemy. It is causing much permanent and irreversible harm to us and also to the creatures of the planet. Yes, you guessed it, it is plastic.

Every time I open a plastic-wrapped package of food or a product, I feel a twinge of guilt, sadness and frustration. I know it is a strong, reliable, protective man-made material that is very valuable in it’s many uses for mankind. It is used in every conceivable way from wrapping our sandwiches to the plastic chairs in which we sit. But how can I recycle and dispose of it in a safe harmless way?

A recent report in The Independent newspaper said that there are as many as eight million tons of plastic waste dumped into the oceans every year. There are, the report says, 51 trillion plastic micro particles – 500 times more than the stars in our galaxy spread all over the planet.

In the Arctic alone, that beautiful once pristine remote ocean, researchers have detected 300 billion bits of floating plastic micro-particles.The fish everywhere are eating the particles.

Out of all the plastic produced in the past 80 years more or less, 79 percent is dumped in landfills or burnt or finds its way into the environment and the oceans and only 9 percent of it is recycled, the report says.

Earth Day is coming and we have to focus on what this low-cost, useful yet pernicious material is doing to our environment. It is so beneficial and yet so destructive. We have to change our ways and invent a plant-based biodegradable form of plastic.

We are so dependent on fossil oil-based plastic that some estimates say we humans have manufactured as much a 8.3 billion metric tons of it since 1950 or thereabouts. According to a report by Ocean Conservatory, Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines are among the worst polluters. The Pasig River in Manila is one of the worst. Up to 60 percent of the plastic junk in the world comes from these Asian countries.

The durability of plastic is what gives it such appeal to manufacturers but that it’s weakness too. Fossil fuel-based plastic is not biodegradable, it will not rot away like wood or breakdown for hundreds of years and even then , it will remain a toxic substance poisoning the planet.

It does slowly disintegrate into micro-plastic particles and these become dust and cling to plants, float in the air and are carried into the rivers and oceans. They attract other chemicals, pesticides, and residues that cling to the plastic particles and create an unseen dangerous toxic brew of poison. Continue reading

President Duterte, Fulfill your Promise to End Contractualization

Churchpeople-Workers Solidarity (CWS) Statement

Photo from CWS FB page.

President Duterte has been in office for almost two years but the Filipino people are still asking “where is the promised change?” Obviously, change has not come. Workers’ legitimate just demands for living wages, decent work, and secured jobs have again, fallen on deaf ears.

Duterte’s promise of “ending all forms of contractualization” remain unfulfilled. The Department of Labor and Employment Order 174 paved the way for a society where not everyone has the opportunity to work and to be “anointed with the dignity of work”. The 70,000 “regularized” workers that DOLE Secretary Bello boasted are being regularized through labor contractors and not through their principal employers. This bogus regularization only benefited profit-hungry manpower agencies who squeezed the workers dry of their hard-earned money and deprived workers the capacity to work, to create and to have dignity.

Instead of scrapping all forms of contractualization, a new law which seeks to institutionalize flexible working schemes such as the compressed work week is not only a betrayal to the workers but also intensifying their exploitation and oppression. Long working hours is detrimental to the health and well-being of the workers. The compressed work week bill will legalize slave labor and will only result to wage cuts, massive lay-offs, work-related diseases and even workplace deaths.

Duterte has betrayed the working class people. After almost two years in office, workers have come to realize that they could not put their trust on a President who claims to be for the poor but is relentless in trampling the rights of the poor people. It is apparent that the workers had no other recourse but to rely on their collective effort. Only through collective struggle will they achieve their legitimate and just demands. And church people should be with this just struggle.

As Pope Francis rightly pointed out: “the poor not only suffer injustice but they also struggle against it! They are not content with empty promises, excuses or alibis…. the poor will no longer wait; they want to be protagonists; they organize themselves, study, work, claim and, above all, practice that very special solidarity that exists among those who suffer, among the poor.”

Church people, Struggle with the Workers for dignity of human work, job security and just wage!

End all forms of contractualization!

Charter Change Under the Duterte Administration

Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares
(transcript of speech)[1]

“Cha Cha Forum of peoples organizations, priests, religious sector and NGOs”
St. John Vianey Hall, San Sebastian Cathedral
Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

March 16, 2018

Introduction

Maayong hapon sa inyo. I am glad to be back here at the Cathedral, having frequented this place when I was the Visayas Chairman of the Student Catholic Action during my student days. I hope my critique of the current chacha could help enlighten us on the move to shift to federalism, especially since I am a probinsyano and not a part of what Pres. Duterte calls the “imperial Manila”.

No Constitution is immutable as constitutional reforms are always needed to address the genuine and developing needs of the people. However, efforts at amending the Philippine Constitution have always been attended by the imposition of self-serving political agenda, such as lifting of term limits, the dilution of people’s rights, and further opening up the country to neoliberal economics by completely eliminating “protectionist” provisions in the Constitution. While constitutional reforms are important, charter change must be intended “for the better” and not “for the worse”. The current moves at charter change is the “worst cha-cha” ever.

To strengthen the justification for charter change, the presidential form of government has been blamed as the root of the country’s poverty and underdevelopment. Initial charter change attempts proposed the installation of a parliamentary form of government, usually pushed by the leaders of the House of Representatives, whose chances of becoming president are nil under a direct vote from the electorate. The current charter change effort aims to install a federal system which was recently resurrected by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte who sought to get electoral support from the provinces by espousing a system that disperses the concentration of public funds from “imperial Manila” to the periphery.

Contrary to what the federalist advocates discuss in the alleged consultations with the people, however, the ongoing moves to amend the Constitution by the Duterte administration are not limited to merely proposing a shift to federalism, but are mainly aimed at (i) further eroding people’s rights, (ii) granting formidable powers to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, and the (iii) further institutionalization of the anti-people and ineffective neoliberal economic policies. Additionally, politicians also inserted (iv) self-serving provisions to secure more benefits and more political power.

While the form of government may have an impact on the country’s development, the main threat to the people’s interest has always been the further institutionalization of neoliberal economics as well as dismantling whatever human rights remain enshrined in the Constitution.There are three pending proposals for charter change [Cha-Cha hereafter for brevity] These are the (1) PDP-Laban Proposal which is basically more of a shift to Parliamentary-Federal form of government and (2) Resolution of Both Houses No. 8 (RBH 8) filed in the House of Representatives on August 2, 2016 which calls for Presidential-Federal system.

The latest proposal is the (3) Draft Constitution of the Federal Republic of the Philippines (Parliamentary-Federal) containing the four sub-committee reports of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments of the House of Representatives. The Committee sponsored the Concurrent Resolution No. 9 convening Congress as a Constituent Assembly [Con Ass hereafter for brevity] was approved by the House of Representatives on January 16, 2018. Since the Committee sponsored Concurrent Resolution No. 9 claiming to have consolidated all the draft proposals in the Resolution as reflected in its sub committee reports, this proposal will be called the Concurrent Resolution No. 9 proposal [the CR 9 proposal for brevity].

This draft supposedly consolidated the proposals under RBH 8 and the PDP Laban Draft Constitution. Once the Con Ass is convened, however, it could still tackle RBH 8 and the PDP Laban proposals or may even come up with new provisions not contained by any of these proposals because the constituent assembly cannot be bound by a congressional act or resolution[2].

In this speech, I will posit that this is the worst and most dangerous charter change attempt ever as it centralizes powers to a repressive Duterte administration and contains self serving provisions never before proposed in the previous charter change efforts.

The current charter change embodies in the three proposals the following anti-people provisions that:

  • Centralizes dictatorial powers in Pres. Duterte
  • Constitutionalizes the self serving agenda of politicians
  • Attacks human rights and social justice policies
  • Dismantles the protectionist provisions in the current Constitution and exacerbate poverty and underdevelopment

The first part will discuss the provisions to prove the assertion that the Duterte Cha Cha is aimed at granting him dictatorial powers. This part will also explain the implications of the formidable powers given to Pres. Duterte by these provisions.

The second part will discuss the provisions proving that blatant self serving provisions were inserted in the latest Cha Cha, including brief discussion on why these are considered self serving provisions intended merely for the benefit of politicians and rent seekers.

The third part will discuss the provisions which directly attacks human rights including economic, social and cultural rights. The current Cha Cha dismantles the social justice provisions in the 1987 Constitution used by peoples organizations in challenging anti-people policies and actions of government.

The fourth part will discuss the provisions dismantling the protectionist economic provisions even if these have not even been fully implemented and has been followed in the breach since 1987. It will also discuss not just its economic implications but also its impact on the people, the country’s sovereignty and security.

The last part will forward the conclusion that that as long as the current exploitative and repressive system is maintained (such as the state of landlessness due to the absence of genuine agrarian reform, contractualization, the prevalence of government corruption and abuse, political dynasties, and political and economic domination of the Philippines by transnational corporations and powerful countries), the poverty and underdevelopment that Cha Cha aims to address will persist under any form of government, whether presidential or parliamentary and federal or unitary

While the paper will not lengthily discuss Pres. Duterte’s federalism proposal, it does not belittle the significance of the impact of this form of government on the people. It has, however, left it to other scholars to deepen the research on the federal form of government and its implications on the people.

It is proposed, however, that even while debates on the merits or demerits of federalism may be conducted, the main frame of the discourse must be on the impact on the people of the four anti-people provisions enumerated above. Whether one supports Federalism or not, we must oppose this chacha because of the insertion of these anti people provision.

The basis for the analysis that this Cha cha contains anti people provisions are:

I.     Centralizes formidable and repressive powers in Pres. Duterte

The Resolution of Both Houses No. 8 and the Concurrent Resolution No. 9 Proposals are extremely dangerous pieces of legislation both in terms of procedure and content. Together with the PDP Laban proposal, they confer formidable and repressive powers on Pres. Duterte such as abolishing Congress and granting Pres. Duterte legislative powers, terminating the terms of all members of the current constitutional commissions, overhauling the judiciary from the Court of Appeals and Sandiganbayan down to the Regional Trial Courts while terminating thousands of government employees and officials, including the lowering of the retirement age of all judges and justices. Considering that Pres. Duterte has the power to appoint all their replacements, RBH 8 makes him the sole appointing authority of almost the entire government, in one fell swoop.

They also have provisions which allow Pres. Duterte to further pack Parliament by appointing members of his cabinet to the legislature as well granting him a novel Presidential Oversight Powers on the entire government including the judiciary, legislature and independent constitutional bodies.

a.   Abolishing Congress and Granting Pres. Duterte the Power to make laws

Section 6, Article XVIII of the Transitory Provision of Resolution of Both House No. 8 (RBH 8) grants Pres. Duterte dictatorial powers through the abolition of Congress[3] and the exercise of both executive and legislative powers:

Section 6 “Upon ratification of this Constitution, the present Congress shall be dissolved and the incumbent President shall exercise legislative powers until the first Federal Congress is convened

This is a constitutional power grab no different from the grant of legislative powers to Pres. Ferdinand Marcos who also abolished Congress when he imposed martial law. Pres. Duterte, who is intolerant of dissent, has been publicly espousing repressive measures as a means to solve the country’s problems. Giving him the power to make draconian measures will only worsen the country’s human rights situation and facilitate the implementation of neo liberal economic policies detrimental to the country’s development.

The current move to propose amendments to the Constitution has become a very dangerous “indecent proposal” when it calls for the abolition of Congress while granting Pres. Rodrigo Duterte the power to issue laws and presidential decrees.

b.   Control of the Independent Constitutional Commission

            Under RBH 8, the independent constitutional commissions will undergo a major change in jurisdiction and composition—including the cutting of the terms of office of all its Commissioners. Article XVIII Section 12 of RBH 8 demands that the term of office of ALL incumbent members of Constitutional Commissions be reduced to one year, unless “sooner removed”:

“Section 12 The incumbent members of the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on Elections and the COA shall continue in office for one year after the ratification of this Constitution, unless sooner removed for cause or become incapacitated or appointed to a new term thereunder.”

Rarely does a President have the opportunity to appoint all commissioners of all the independent commissions. If approved, the new Constitution will grant Pres. Duterte the power to appoint all fifty-seven (57)[4] Chairpersons and Commissioners of the Commissions that oversees our elections, audits all government transactions and decides on the suspension and removal of government employees. He will become a very powerful president indeed.

c.   Cabinet members to be appointed to the Interim Parliament

The Draft Constitution under CR 9 on the other hand provides that:[5]

“The members of the Interim Parliament shall be the incumbent Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives and by appointment of the President, members of the Cabinet with Portfolio”

This will pack the Interim Parliament with more Duterte supporters through the appointment of his non-elected cabinet members to the Parliament. In parliamentary systems around the world, the cabinet members are appointed by the President/Prime Minister from the parliament, but in this Cha-cha, the President appoints Cabinet members to the parliament. This is no different from the martial law Interim Batasang Pambansa composed of the super majority KBL members and cabinet members Pres. Ferdinand Marcos appointed to the legislature. Pres. Duterte will practically have an overwhelming control of the Interim Parliament packed by his super-majority and cabinet members.

d.   Strong presidential oversight powers never given to any President

Pres. Duterte is given an unusual potent oversight power over all branches of government, a power never before seen in the Philippine Constitution (and in other governments). The Committee Draft Constitution[6] provides that:

“The powers of the President shall include xxx oversight power over all branches of government (legislative, executive and judiciary), constitutional bodies, independent bodies, departments, agencies and offices of the government.”

This power is not lodged in Pres. Duterte under the 1987 Constitution which does not allow an oversight power exercised by the President over the judiciary and the legislature. All legislative systems around the world have congressional and parliamentary oversight over the execution or implementation of the laws passed by the legislature. There is no such set up anywhere in the world where one person, the President, is given the oversight power, not just over the legislative, but also the judiciary and independent constitutional bodies. This CR 9 proposal is probably the first Parliamentary system in the world which the President oversights the parliament.

The President cannot be allowed to summon to Malacanang the Chief Justice, or the Ombudsman or even a Senator to investigate them as part of his oversight function. This power to intimidate will weaken the independence of other branches of government and make Pres. Duterte very powerful over those institutions that are supposed to check and balance the executive.

e.   Control of the judiciary to escape accountability.

The judiciary will be littered by Pres. Duterte’s appointees because of the provision under Committee’s Draft Constitution[7] which will lower the retirement age of justices and judges from the current seventy (70) years old to sixty-five (65) years old to wit (see Sub Committee Report no. 2).

This means that many of the justices and judges who will be retiring in 2021 or 2022 or beyond will be forced to retire once this Cha Cha is ratified in 2019. This will give Pres. Duterte the opportunity to appoint all the new justices and judges to replace them.

Worse, under Article VIII, Section 12 of Constitution of Resolution of Both Houses No. 8, the retirement age of the appointees of Pres. Duterte will be raised to seventy-five (75) years old.   While this Cha Cha will cut the tenure of incumbent judges and justices it increases the retirement age of Pres. Duterte’s appointees:

Section 12. Members of the Supreme Court, justices of the Regional Court of Appeals, and the Sandiganbayan and judges of lower courts shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of seventy-five (75) years of age x x x “

The entire judiciary will be littered with the appointees of Pres. Duterte long after his term ends in 2022. This practically increases the control of Pres. Duterte over the judiciary while at the same time makes it difficult to file cases against him and extract accountability after he loses his immunity from criminal prosecution in 2022.

f.   Courtesy resignation demanded on all career employees

RBH 8 not only imposes a government revamp under Article XVIII but also demands courtesy resignations from CESO or career officers when it assured that the provisions on pensions and benefits will also apply “to career officers whose resignation, tendered in line with the existing policy, had been accepted.”

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First Friday Mass Sponsored by Couples for Christ Global Foundation

Laiko photo

April 6, 2018

Manila

The First Friday Mass at the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) chapel this month of April 2018 wa sponsored by the Couples for Christ Global Foundation (CFC).

Before the Mass, CFC members led the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 10:00 to 11:45 am. At 12:00 noon, Father Lanka Deshapriya, a Franciscan priest led the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

For this month, the Mass intentions were for the intentions of the Holy Father, which is for persons who have responsibility in economic matters; the enlightenment of legislators who sponsor the Divorce Bill; and the special petitions of the CFC Global community.

Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas member organizations take turns in sponsoring the First Friday Mass each month.

Manila Archdiocese receives Pope John Paul II’s blood

Relic of the saint, still in liquid form, was a gift from the pope’s former secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisw

Father Reggie Malecdem, rector of Manila Cathedral, holds the relic of Saint John Paul II, a vial of containing the blood of the late pope. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

ucanews.com reporter, Manila

Philippines April 6, 2018

The Archdiocese of Manila will be the custodian of a precious relic of St. Pope John Paul II — his blood, which will be the object of veneration in the Philippine capital starting on April 7.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisw, Pope John Paul II’s former secretary, gave the archdiocese the vial as a gift for the 60th anniversary of Manila Cathedral’s reconstruction after World War II.

“This precious gift … is truly a source of consolation and help especially for those who are suffering physical illnesses,” read a statement from Manila Cathedral.

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CERD Urgent Action filed in support of Indigenous Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

Indigenous Peoples Major Group

Philippines

APR 5, 2018 — March 26, 2018: Today the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) and the National Council of Leaders of the KATRIBU, a national alliance of Indigenous organizations which includes the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), filed a joint Urgent Action Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The submission requests urgent intervention by the CERD’s Urgent Action/Early Warning Procedure in response to the situation of at least 31 Indigenous human rights defenders and members of Indigenous organizations who were labeled as “terrorists” in a proscriptive Petition issued by the Philippine Government’s Department of Justice on February 23, 2018. As a result, they are in imminent danger of warrantless arbitrary arrest, surveillance, freezing of assets, persecution, denial of right to travel, extraordinary rendition, assault and extrajudicial killing.

Those listed as “terrorists” in the Petition are working for human rights and an end to racism and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in that country. They include community leaders and activists as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz and former member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Joan Carling.

Repression against Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines is not new. In 2006 IITC submitted an Urgent Action filing on behalf of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance to the Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders in response to the killings of 2 Indigenous human rights defenders, Mr. Rafael Markus Bangit and Mrs. Alice-Omengan Claver and the attempted assassination Dr. Constancio Claver, M.D.

The Urgent Action submission filed today calls upon the CERD to urge the Philippine Government to cease the criminalization and drop all charges against Indigenous human rights defenders and to release any political prisoners who have been apprehended as a result of this Petition. IITC and KATRIBU also request the CERD to call on the Philippine Government to officially rescind this Petition and to uphold its international human rights obligations pursuant to the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racism and Discrimination and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as their domestic obligations under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).

The CERD’s 95th session will begin on April 23rd in Geneva Switzerland and this submission will be considered at that time.

Invitation to Lay Leaders’ Caucus

Mr. Oscar Contreras, Jr. of Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life clarifies a point during the February 10, 2018 Lay Leaders’ Caucus.

March 19, 2018

To: All heads of Laiko Members: National Lay Organizations &
Arch/Diocesan Councils of the Laity

Re: Lay Leaders’ Lay Caucus

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

The peace and love of the Lord!

The political developments in our country are alarming and many are unaware of the implications of the moves in congress about the constitutional change to institutionalize federalism.  As lay leaders, we need to be aware of these implications and be able to bring it down to the level of our members.

With this, may we invite once again your officers to the Lay Leaders’ Caucus on Saturday, April 7, 2018, 1:00 P.M. to 5: 00 P.M.  at the 4th flr., Arzobispado de Manila, 121 Arzobispo St., Intramuros, Manila. We have invited former Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr., and former Congressman Neri Colmenares to speak to us on Charter Change and Federalism.  Their expertise and the ability to bring ideas down to earth to those unacquainted with judicial jargon will help us understand better the issues at hand.

Kindly confirm your active participation by calling LAIKO Secretariat at tel. nos: 527-5388, 527-3124, 0977-1794938, 0908-2496512. A P150.00 solidarity fee will be greatly appreciated to help us in our snacks and other incidental expenses.

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Invitation to Araw ng Kagitingan Celebration

 

April 3, 2018

Dear Friends,

On April 9, let us give greater meaning and currency to the annual observance of Araw ng Kagitingan.

Please join us in a simple ceremony to honor those individuals and groups who are courageously fighting for democracy and human rights amidst the state of tyranny and repression that afflicts our nation today, in particular:

  1. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno for her unwavering fight for judicial independence amid efforts to unseat her
  2. Sandugo chair Joanna Cariño for her continued advocacy for the rights of indigenous peoples who now face renewed attacks
  3. Rise Up for Life and Rights for its trailblazing work in organizing and fighting for the victims of the Duterte government’s “war on drugs”

They will be honored in a gathering to mark Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9 at the Quezon City Sports Club, from 9am-12nn. We have asked them as well to speak about the challenges they and all freedom-loving Filipinos face especially under the current administration.

For inquiries and confirmations, please contact Ms. Gel Marcelino at mobile no. 0947.5891578 or email us at stoptyrannyph@gmail.com.


Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB
Movement Against Tyranny


IndayEspina-Varona
Let’s Organize for Democracy & Integrity


Mila Aguilar
Coalition Against Darkness & Dictatorship


Zenna Bernardo
Women Who Launch

No to Divorce Statement

A total of 77 Christian organizations jointly signed the”No to Divorce”  statement published as full page advertisements in two national broadsheets- the Manila Bulletin and Philippine Daily Inquirer, on April  2 and 3, 2018.