Category: News

Fr. Pete Montallana

 “ May I never boast  except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, though which the world has been crucified  to me, and I to the world. ” (Gal.6,14)  – Powerful words of St. Paul to the Galatians.

No one can deny that thousands have been killed  allegedly fighting back – “nanlaban”  – crucified by a system disguised as an angel of light in the midst of the darkness of murder. And many have believed or forced to believe in this atrocity. The fishermen at Recto Bank have  been rammed and almost drowned but worse they also experienced  the State relinquishing its duty to defend them as mandated by the Constitution. The dwindling price of the  coconut is causing intense poverty among the coconut growers. The mining companies who have been destroying  the environment as documented during the time of former DENR Sec. Gina Lopez  continue to deprive the indigenous people of their ancestral lands.  Workers until now are  contractualized despite the election promise three years ago. The laws and policies continue to deplete the poor of their meager  resources which make  the rich richer. Fear has paralyzed and silenced  people  despite all glaring the  injustices and anomalies especially in the recently concluded election – with its computerized cheating, unprecedented vote buying and use of government resources –  to seat  in power allies. 

Worst. By and large we have pretended to be deaf to the alarm bells sounded by the UN scientists last  October  8, 2018 that the accumulation of carbon emissions in the atmosphere causing global warming has reached a critical stage  and that,  if we have to reverse the situation,  we have only 12 years left to make ambitious plans. Many of us  just cool ourselves to ward off the heat which we know would be worse for the next generation. Those in power  continue to push for more coal fired power plants, ravage the forests with more and wider  roads and with construction of dams unmindful of the climate emergency experienced now at the same time ignoring  the call for renewable energy. The Philippines has only less than 23 percent forest to cool us, provide for our needs  and absorb carbon emission.

The convenience of  the use plastic has made us unmindful of the plastic that has become part of the daily menu of the  fish which later eat. The Popes and particularly Pope Francis have been calling us to ecological conversion since he issued Laudato Si.

The call of St. Paul “Never to boast  except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… to be crucified to the world” is a clarion call to resist  the Evil One in all its forms perpetrated by men and women in a system blinded by greed and sin.

The call “to be crucified to the world”  means:

to stand for the dignity and rights of every human person even if they  are  considered  drug addicts;

to be involved with the issues of the farmers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolks, workers and other marginalized groups;

to participate in a process of rectifying the anomalies  committed in the recent election;

and to participate in bringing about a system wherein no government official can use the power of the State to demonize anyone and wherein  the Constitution that is not selectively  implemented and not disregarded as toilet paper depending on what is most convenient.

Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
Tondo Manila

Dear Most Rev. Pabillo ,

Peace and Good Health!

The Institute of Spirituality in Asia (ISA) will hold its 19^th Spirituality Forum this coming July 31- August 2, 2019 at the Mother Anne de Tilly Hall, St. Paul University, New Manila, Quezon City.

In harmony with the Philippine Church’ celebration of the Year of the Youth and in response to the challenges posed during the October 3-28, 2018 Synod of Bishops held in Rome, our 19th Spirituality forum carries the theme: “LOVE, POWER AND GRACE: CONVERSATIONS ON SPIRITUALITY WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE”. It is very special in the sense that it is a sequel to our forum last year which was also focused on the spirituality of young people.

We cordially invite you and your members to this historic and important Spirituality Forum. Please refer to the attached files for further details.

Respectfully Yours in Christ,
Sr. Cora
Institute of Spirituality in Asia (ISA)
#28 Acacia Street cor. Rosario Drive
Brgy. Mariana, New Manila
1112 Quezon City, Philippines
Phone # (+63 2) 989 10 16 or (+63 2) 917 562 10 16
website: www.isa.org.ph

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
June 28, 2019, Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Various progressive groups are calling for the boycott of Pepmaco products, following the violent dispersal of their striking workers early today, June 28.

 “No amount of chemicals or goons can ever curtail the striking workers’ fight for their rights,” said state workers union Courage in a statement.

Boycotting Pepmaco products, said Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago, is one way of throwing support to striking workers.

Anakpawis Partylist said that Pepmaco is behind brands such as Hana shampoo, Champion and Calla detergents.

Casilao said Pepmaco workers are only “demanding their due rights and living wage levels,” adding that big businesses want to preserve the slave-like conditions of the Filipino workers.” He said, “an all-united national workers’ movement, supported by other sectors, will defeat this agenda. We urge the people to support Pepmaco workers.” (https://www.bulatlat.com)

Mula sa Pepmaco Workers Union-NAFLU-KMU

Mga kababayan,

Marahas na binuwag ang piketlayn ng mga manggagawa ng Pepmaco ng mga security at goons ng kapitalistang si Simeon Tiu. Marami ang matinding nasugatan at sinugod sa ospital.

Hunyo 24 nang ilunsad ng Pepmaco Workers Union – Naflu – KMU ang welga dahil sa malawakang kontraktwalisasyon, masahol na kalagayan sa paggawa, pagmamalupit sa mga manggagawa, malawakang tanggalan, union busting atbp. Limpak limpak na yaman mula sa pawis ng manggagawa ang kinamal ni Tiu pero sa halip na dinggin ang kanilang hinaing ay dahas ang tinugon ng ganid na kapitalista.

“They drove us out with force. They even used water canons.”

Janess Ann J. Ellao 
June 28, 2019, Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Images of bloodied striking workers of the Peerless Producers Manufacturing Corp. (Pepmaco) in Calamba, Laguna greeted netizens on Friday morning, following a violent attack against them by armed goons in the wee hours early that day.

For the past four days, Pepmaco workers have been on strike to assail their poor pay and dire working conditions.

Several media outfits have earlier reported the company’s failure to make them regular employees, despite working for at least 12 hours a day for the past 15 years. Apart from the poor pay they are receiving – about P373 a day – they are also reportedly deprived of mandatory benefits such as social security insurance, and on housing and health.

In an apparent effort to quell the workers’ active call for the management to look into their concerns, at least 64 employees have been dismissed, including their union leaders. Among the most recent was the dismissal of another three workers early this month.

This morning, striking workers were attacked and dispersed while they were still asleep. Pepmaco Workers Union, in a Facebook post, said the company’s security guards even took away personal belongings of the striking workers.

“They drove us out with force. They even used water canons,” the union said.

Early this afternoon, while attempting to return to their picket line, police officers were sent to serve as barricades, some were even armed with high-powered firearms.

In its company profile, Pepmaco described itself as a Filipino company that was built “ground up” back in 2004. Today, it claims to be able to produce the “best surfactants in the world” using the “most current and innovative technology” available.

Their technology, however, apparently does not include safety gears for their workers who are left to work with toxic ingredients with practically bare hands. Workers have reported having skin and respiratory diseases.

In a statement, state workers’ union Courage said their plight is no different to many workers all over the country who are employed under a “labor only contracting” work scheme.

“The pending ‘security of tenure’ bill allows job-contracting by big firms and will fail to regularize workers. The only change it will do is that even the labor pool market will be left for monopoly big companies due to the capitalization requirement. Thus, contractual workers will be at their mercy, enduring low wages and without benefits,” Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said in a statement.

As such, it is not surprising that workers all the way from Laguna arrived today at the picket line to show their support to the striking Pepmaco workers.

Their plight, Casilao said, underlines the failure of the Duterte administration to finally put an end to contractualization – a campaign promise, which, three years later, remains unfulfilled. (https://www.bulatlat.com)

May 27, 2019

The Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, DD
Chairperson
CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity

Your Excellency,

Greetings from the Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas (GCCM-Pilipinas).

The Global Catholic Climate Movement is an international movement that tries to get Catholic individuals and institutions involved in the urgent issues of Climate Change and the Ecological Crisis. It takes its mandate from the call of Pope Francis in his encyclical letter Laudato Si on Care for Our Common Home.

Focusing on the young people this year, GCCM has launched its youth arm, which is called the Laudato Si Generation during the World Youth Day (WYD) held in Panama in January. This is to encourage all young people around the world to organize inspired by Laudato Si to care for Earth, our Common Home.

Laudato Si Gen-Pilipinas, which will serve as the youth arm of GCCM-Pilipinas, will be launched on June 22nd. The launch will be the culmination of our annual celebration of Laudato Si Week and will take place from 7am to 4pm at Hardin ng mga Bulaklak, Quezon City Memorial Circle. We have invited Cardinal Tagle to be the main presider of the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist at 8 o’clock in the morning as he is a Board Member of GCCM (on the international level) and was present at the Launching of Laudato Si Generation during the WYD. We hope he will be available. In any case, we will deeply appreciate if you can join and concelebrate with him, together with the Directors of your Diocesan Youth Ministry and Ecology Ministry.

We are inviting young people from 15 to 30 years old to participate in this event. We are communicating separately to all your parishes requesting each to send at least 10 participants. It will be of great help if your Diocesan Youth Director could follow up on them.

We will also deeply appreciate if the Diocese can spare us at least 10 volunteers to help us in the event. We will schedule an orientation meeting for all the volunteers.

June 22, 2019, 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Hardin ng mga Bulaklak, Quezon City Memorial Circle

Important Information and Reminders:

1. This gathering is primarily a celebration of the gift of life, the gift of creation and the many great works that are already being done by many groups to care for and protect Earth, our Common Home.

2. At least 10 young people (15 to 30 years old) from each parish/organization/institution are enjoined to participate in this event. Please accomplish and submit the confirmation of attendance and pre-registration sheet as soon as possible.

3. If your group has an eco-advocacy, you are invited to submit a 2-minute video of what you are already doing to express your care for Earth, our Common Home.

4. Confirmation of attendance and pre-registration sheets as well as advocacy videos must be submitted to the GCCM-Pilipinas Secretariat at gccmpilipinas@gmail.com not later than June 14.

5. Please print and accomplish also the registration form and submit it at the Registration Booth/Table upon entry to the venue on the event day itself.

6. The gathering is also an eco-friendly/zero-waste event.

7. Each group is expected to bring their own snacks and packed lunch. We strongly encourage simple and healthy food and discourage anything coming from fast-food restaurants (i.e. Mc Donalds, Jollibee, etc). The less trash, the better. Please note that Bring Your Trash Home (BYTH) will be practiced.

8. Participants are also expected to bring their own tumblers and water bottles. There will be water dispensers around for participants to refill their water containers.

9. The organizers have chosen white t-shirt as the event’s wear. It will be nice if everyone can come in this attire.

We have prepared a t-shirt design for this event. You may make your order (per group only) not later than June 10. For the design and order details, please visit the FB page of Laudato Si Gen – Pilipinas.

The silk screen will be brought to our venue on June 22. Participants may bring an extra white shirt if they want to have one printed.

10. We are looking for performers who are willing to share for free some ecological dances, songs, or spoken poetries for the Laudato Si Musical Fest in the afternoon. If your group is interested, note that slots are limited so please connect with us as early as possible, not later than June 14. You may contact Sr. Bing Carranza @ 09563855609 or 09393552403.

The organizers will provide snacks and lunch for our guests and performers.

11. Please pray with us for a good and beautiful weather the whole day of June 22. In any case, just bring your umbrellas or raincoats and maybe extra t-shirts.

Attachments:

Quezon City, Philippines – A social development and advocacy network has recently issued a statement calling for the revamp and resignation of Commission on Elections (COMELEC) officials as a reaction, to what it calls as an ever growing display of incompetence of the COMELEC in pursuing its mandate, especially with the recent abominable decision to give a green light to the midnight substitution bid of Ronald Cardema, former Chairman of National Youth Commission to assume the representation of the party-list Duterte Youth.

 “The COMELEC should be revamped. And urgently so, those who voted in favor of the midnight substitution of the Duterte Youth party representative, should resign. This decision is another blatant display of lack of competence in their decision making, and adds to their already dismal performance in managing the mid-term 2019 election,” Yoly Esguerra, Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc (PMPI) reiterated.

PMPI believes that the COMELEC decision is flawed. There were two obvious reasons why the ruling of the COMELEC should have been otherwise. First, Ronald Cardema is already 34 years old, and under Republic Act (RA) No. 7941, Section 9, he or she must at least be twenty-five (25) but not more than thirty (30) years of age on the day of the election. Second, Cardema filed his notice of substitution at 5:30 P.M. on May 12, Sunday, contrary to Resolution No. 8665, which prescribes the filing of pleadings or motions only during office hours on regular work days.

By these two glaring facts alone, an independent institution like the COMELEC should have decided against it. Even ordinary citizens can understand that these reasons are clearly a blatant disregard of an election rules as prescribed, the statement added.

Party List System bastardized by COMELEC

The party-list system was established through RA 7941 or Party-List System Act, it was meant to give voice and representation for those who are underrepresented sectors or groups such as in labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous culture, women, youth, and other sectors.

We in PMPI in fact hailed it then as a step to give voice to “voiceless” section of society where they can bring their issues on the legislative table and push for solutions and protection of their rights.

Throughout the years however, we saw the system being bastardized and abused by no less than the COMELEC themselves as many party lists were which does not really represent the marginalized were approved by the COMELEC.

That the COMELEC decided in favor of legitimizing the Duterte Youth as party list whose main goal only is to support and protect the President Duterte shows lack of appreciation and understanding of the spirit of party list system.

COMELEC RESIGN!

The PMPI calls for the resignation of the five COMELEC commissioners who approved the substitution bid of former NYC Chairman Ronald Cardema as the first nominee of Duterte Youth party-list.

We continue to ask, by their recent actions, who do they seek to please and obey? Why Ronald Cardema remained in government offices during the election and then suddenly change mind on the eve of May 12, the day before the election? Who benefits from retaining a position in government where you have access to government resources during election? Is this not a strategy to go around the rule that all government officials who will run in an election should resign from office? Who engineered this strategy and who will gain and benefit from this decision?

 “We need a COMELEC that would uphold their own internal rules and regulations and one that can manage a national election without a 7 hours snags in electoral result, and who can explain this gaffes in public and with transparency. We don’t need blind followers. We don’t need more stamp pads. They are too many already in this government,” Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabllo, PMPI NCR-Urban Cluster Bishop Convenor said.

Philippine Misereor Partnership, Inc. (PMPI), is a network of civil society organizations, rights groups, peace and faith-based institutions pushing for policy change in governance and helping communities achieved better lives.

May 17, 2019

Sheriff Abas
Chairman
Commission on Elections
Dear Mr. Abas,

Greetings from PMPI National Secretariat!

The 2019 midterm election is over. Elections should have been the chance of a people to shape their own destiny. Yet, our experience of elections, regarded as the most massive platform for public participation in governance, has sadly always been missing its point of target.

The just concluded election is no different. The traditional politicians many of whom have graft and corruption cases, those with most money for campaign “tokens” or bribes and those with the most popularity and exposure “won”.

Cheating, fraud and vote-buying abound. No less than the President consider vote-buying “normal”. The vote-buying and glitches on the vote counting machines (VCM) are substantiated by reports coming from our partners in communities who tried to question the irregularities but were not able pursue it for fear for their life and security and distrust from the system.

Three reports have it that they voted for their chosen candidates but receipts included the name of Bong Go which was not part of their choice. Another voted 10 candidates however, the receipt yielded only eight names while the 9th and 10th are just dots. Another received a shaded ballot already. These are just few of the reports which manifest irregularities.

We, from the Philippine Misereor Partnership, Inc. (PMPI), a network of civil society organizations, rights groups, peace and faith-based institutions joins other civil society and church groups to demand accountability and transparency from the Commission on Election (Comelec).

The people have the right to know and be clarified:

1) Why was there a lull of 7 to 9 hours in the transmission of results to the transparency server, media and watchdog groups?

2) Why is there a sizable increase in glitches in the VCM and SD cards this year compared to previous elections?

3) Why is the central server and “meet me room” set-up of Comelec kept secret?

4) Why were the depository of receipts of the casted ballots unsealed and in carton or plastic boxes only?

5) Why is there lack of information on the voting process and there was no instruction during precinct voting on the manner of voting which lead to over-voting and inability of many to vote party list groups?

Weeks before the election we are mulling over these questions:

1) Why did the Comelec refuse to allow NAMFREL to have an open access to the data and information in real time of the transmission of results?

2) Why did the Comelec declared Nacionalista Party (NP), a known ally of the majority party as the dominant minority opposition?

In the spirit of transparency and accountability, these questions need be answered by the Comelec as these paint seeming conspiracy by the Comelec to rig the election.

The inability of the Comelec to explain what cause the sudden stoppage of transmission during the actual lull is unacceptable. There was no clear and thorough explanation on the so called “java error” provided during the lull. And when it finally resumed 90% of votes have been counted! Likewise keeping secret the central server and “meet me room” is a violation of the Omnibus Election Code.

The 1,699 voting counting machines (VCM) challenged by technical glitches, out of 85,000 VCMs, and almost a thousand SD cards malfunctioned compared to 188 only inthe 2016 election reek of inefficiency and unpreparedness. Even a newbie technical person would know that a huge data flooding the transmission and server needs a backup system.