Year: 2020

Dear friends and colleagues,

Greetings of Peace and Solidarity!

In commemoration of the 33rd year of the Mendiola Massacre, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Tanggol Magsasaka, and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines in cooperation with PATRIA and CLAMOR and the Movement Against Tyranny will hold a Forum on LAND, JUSTIC, and PEACE on January 22, 2020 from 1:00 – 4:00pm at the KKFI Gym, Paredes St. Sampaloc, Manila and will be followed by a protest march and torch and candle lighting at Mendiola. Attached is the concept note of the forum.

January 22, 1987, the heinous Mendiola Massacre in which 13 farmers calling for genuine agrarian refrom were killed and scores were injured.

More than three decades after the massacre, farmers are still fighting for genuine land reform, free land distribution, and seeking for the elusive peace and justice that they have long fought and died for.

We are seeing a slight glimmer of hope despite the many adversities besetting the Filipino people. The previous year ended with the possibility of the resumption of the peace negotiations. It is in the interest of the peasant masses and the Filipino people if the peace talks would eventually resume to significantly conclude substantive discussions and approve major documents including the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) and an Interim Peace Agreement.

John Aaron Mark Macaraeg
January 14, 2020

Out of the 4.1 trillion recently signed budget, P 16 B was appropriated for National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council or Calamity fund which is 20 percent lower from the P20 B last year.

By JOHN AARON MARK MACARAEG | Bulatlat.com

MANILA — As Taal Volcano continues its ash eruptions and volcanic earthquakes, farmers group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas called on the Philippine government to provide due assistance to affected farmers and fisherfolk in the vicinity.

“Those in affected areas are in desperate need of urgent assistance, especially as farmers still reel from the effects of rice liberalization, chronic government neglect, and climate change,” said Danilo Ramos of KMP.

The Taal began spewing ashes last Sunday, destroying at least P74.55 million in agriculture and affecting at least 752 hectares of lands, mostly coffee farms, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture secretary William Dar announced yesterday that farmers and fisherfolk victims may avail of a P25,000-loan with zero interest and payable in three years.

In a released statement, however, Ramos called out the loan as “mere alms or palimos meant to save face.”

Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya, for its part, referred to the loan as “callous.”

Citing government data, they said the province of Batangas has produced more than 16,400 metric tons of bangus, which is four percent of the country’s total production in 2018.

Thus, the group’s demand for Secretary Dar to “at least temporarily disrobe his neoliberal suit to humanely aid the affected fisherfolk and peasant families” and appeal for the reparation for the loss of potential income.

Redirect intel budget for relief efforts

Interior and Local Government secretary Eduardo Año received backlash from netizens over his statement, appealing to the public to donate drinking water, food and other essentials needed by evacuees.

Ramos called Año’s statement as an “admission of the insufficiency of government supplies and funds, and reveals his shameless lack of sense of responsibility.”

He advised instead for the Duterte administration to make use of the P4.5 billion intel funds of the President’s office to help the Taal victims’ need for food and drinking supplies.

Many have also pointed out in social media the cut in calamity fund under the 2020 approved budget.

Out of the 4.1 trillion recently signed budget, P 16 B was appropriated for National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council or Calamity fund which is 20 percent lower from the P20 B last year.

Critics are only hopeful that the allocated budget and donations would reach peoples needing it and not end up in anyone’s own pocket. (https://www.bulatlat.com)

“Sagip Kanayunan” is KMP’s initiative to directly provide relief for affected farmers and rural communities. Donations can be dropped off at No. 56 K-9 St. West Kamias, Quezon City.

Gaea Katreena Cabico (Philstar.com) – January 2, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — It is the failure of the government to address the country’s labor woes that cost domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende her life, an overseas workers’ group said Thursday.

Villavende was allegedly killed by her employer’s wife, barely six months after she flew to Kuwait.

 “We weep with rage as the Duterte regime’s labor export program has claimed another casualty on the back of the high unemployment rate and absence of job security in the Philippines,” Migrante International said in a statement.

In his speeches to Filipino communities abroad, Duterte often says the government is trying to spur development in the Philippines so overseas workers can come home.

Government agencies said Villavende’s death is a “clear violation” of the 2018 agreement signed by both Kuwait and the Philippines that seeks to uphold and promote the protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino workers in the Gulf nation.

The Department of Labor and Employment also set a partial deployment ban following the death of another Filipina.

Migrante said that while Kuwait’s action in bringing perpetrators to justice is urgently needed, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte must also be criticized for “denying permanent justice to Filipino workers in their own country.”

‘Many Filipinos forced to work abroad’

It was her desire to escape poverty and help her father that reportedly compelled Villavende to leave the Philippines for Kuwait.

“It is therefore the Duterte regime’s stubborn refusal to address the long-time demands of workers and farmers that deprived Jeanelyn Villavende of fulfilling her yearning to provide a life of comfort and security for her family,” Migrante said.

It added: “Government agencies may rush to provide short-term aid to her grieving family but that will never be enough to terminate the tragedy of forced migration that has cost an OFW like Jeanelyn her life.”

An estimated 10 million Filipinos—roughly a tenth of the country’s population—work abroad as a way of escaping unemployment, low wages and limited opportunities in the Philippines.

In December, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported there were 2.05 million unemployed persons in the country as of October 2019. The number of underemployed Filipinos, meanwhile, was pegged at 5.62 million.

‘Cycle of homicidal enslavement’

At least two other domestic workers were killed in Kuwait over the last two years.

In February 2018, the body of Joanna Demafelis was discovered inside a freezer. An angry President Duterte said Demafelis’ corpse “bore torture marks and indications that she was strangled to death.”

Her death sparked a diplomatic crisis between the Philippines and Kuwait, which resulted in a labor deal.

In May 2019, Constancia Dayag was killed in the Gulf state. She was allegedly physically and sexually assaulted before she died.

“The death cases of Joanna Demafelis and Constancia Dayag in Kuwait point to the endless cycle of homicidal enslavement that OFWs go through as a result of the government’s constant peddling of Filipino workers as export commodities to salvage an ailing domestic community,” Migrante said.

By CBCP News
January 13, 2020
Manila, Philippines

A Church official appealed for prayers and help Monday for thousands of people displaced by a volcanic eruption near Manila.

Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa has asked Catholics to join him in praying for the safety of everyone amidst the Taal volcano eruption on Sunday.

The volcano spewed massive ash clouds, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

The archdiocese’s parish churches have opened their doors to evacuees as the volcano continued to increase its volcanic activity.

The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) Seminary and other religious institutions are also accepting evacuees in Tagaytay City.

Ashfall from the explosion also reached Metro Manila and could possibly spread to Central Luzon.

“Aside from prayers, we are appealing for donations in cash or in-kind for the archdiocese’s ongoing relief operations,” Garcera said over Radio Veritas.

At least 15,000 people have fled their homes in Batangas province as of Monday, according to an initial report from the local disaster risk reduction and management office.

Archbishop Garcera said they are currently assisting more than 3,000 evacuees who are in need of food and water.

Thousands more evacuees who sought refuge in dozens of evacuation centers were reported in Batangas and Cavite provinces.

The archbishop said church workers and volunteers are working round the clock to ensure that the evacuees’ basic needs are met.

The Lipa Archdiocesan Social Action Center also said that more people need face masks, medicine, blankets, towels, flashlights, and fuel.

For inquiries and donations to the Lipa archdiocese, please refer to the following contact numbers: (043) 404-8057 or +63 9255595968.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila and other bishops also offered prayers amid the volcano eruption.

Dear PMPI Partners,

Our partners in Eastern Visayas Cluster is asking for your earnest help and support. Please see the attached infographic for full details.

Also, please let the Secretariat and/or PMPI local staff in Guiuan, Carmi Macapagao the amount you’ve donated so that we can monitor the funds coming in.

January 02, 2020
Anita Bourdin

According to the Vatican’s missionary agency Fides, 29 missionaries were killed in the world in the year 2019: six laymen, two women religious, two men religious, one Permanent Deacon and 18 priests.

In Africa, 12 priests were killed, one religious, one nun, one seminarian and one layman (15); in America, six priests were killed and one Permanent Deacon, one Religious and four laymen (12); in Asia, one layman (1) and in Europe one nun (1).

“After eight consecutive years, during which the highest number of missionaries killed was recorded in America, since 2018 it’s Africa that is in the first place of this tragic classification,” states Fides.

Fides also notes that there is a sort of “globalization of violence.” “If in the past, the missionaries killed were largely concentrated in one nation or geographic area, in 2019 the phenomenon seemed more generalized and widespread,” in 10 countries of Africa, eight of America, one of Asia and one of Europe.

In this context, Fides quotes Pope Francis’ words for the Extraordinary Missionary Month of last October. “I desire that the 100 years celebration of (Benedict XV’s Apostolic Letter) Maximum Illud constitutes in the month of October 2019, a propitious time so that prayer, the witness of so many saints and martyrs of the mission, biblical and theological reflection, catechesis and missionary charity contribute to evangelize first and above all the Church, so that having rediscovered the freshness and ardour of the first love for the crucified and Risen Lord, she is able to evangelize the world with credibility and evangelical efficacy.” It was in these terms that Pope Francis, on addressing the General Assembly of the Pontifical Missionary Works, on July 3, 2017, referred to the witness of so many missionaries who gave their life for the Lord Jesus, as one of the four dimensions to take into account in the celebration of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019.”

January 02, 2020