[from Balitanghali]

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Libu-libong estudyante, opisyal, guro, at kawani ng Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) ang nagwalk-out sa eskuwelahan kanina para igiit ang dagdag na budget para sa pamantasan.

Nasa P735 million lang kasi ang nakalaan para sa PUP sa susunod na taon, na wala pang kalahati sa kanilang mungkahing P2 billion na budget.

Dahil sa kakulangan sa pondo, taun-taon daw ay nasa bingit ng alanganin ang PUP.

“Ang turing kasi ng ating gobyerno sa edukasyon ay isa na lamang pribilehiyo. Nanininiwala tayo na ang edukasyon ay basic right ng isang tao na dapat ay binibigay sa kahit anong level,” sabi ni Rommel Aguilar, PUP student regent.

Sa UP Diliman, nagsagawa ng “freeze mobilization” ang mga estudyante bilang protesta sa napipintong budget cut ng unibersidad.

Dinaan naman sa sayaw ng mga mag-aaral sa UP Manila ang kanilang panawagan.

Malaki raw ang epekto sa kanila ng budget cut lalo’t makakaltasan din ang panggastos ng UP-PGH, na inaasahang ospital ng marami.

“Puno ng talento ang mga kabataan, pero bakit ‘yung mismong gobyerno ayaw sila pag-aralin?” sabi ni Cleve Arguelles, vice chairperson ng UP Manila student council.

Nakatakda naman ang sama-samang protesta ng mga estudyante mula sa iba’t-ibang unibersidad at kolehiyo sa darating na Biyernes. Atom Araullo, Patrol ng Pilipino

09/20/2011 10:07 PM

(see full story+video HERE)

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(see full story HERE)

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Noong Marso 18, sinugod ng mga estudyante’t kabataan ang mga opisina ng Shell, Petron at Caltex upang kundenahin ang overpricing sa langis at ang imperyalistang kontrol sa industriya ng langis sa bansa. Naglunsad naman ng mga transport strike noong Marso 31 sa Mindanao, Bicol at iba pang probinsya, kasabay ang isang Protesta ng Mamamayan sa Kamaynilaan. Noong Abril 20 naman ay ikinasa ang Kalbaryo ng Mamamayan kung saan nagmartsa ang daan-daang mga maralita’t mamamayan mula sa iba’t ibang komunidad sa buong Kamaynilaan.

Kinastigo nila ang kawalan ng aksyon ng gubyernong Aquino. Anila, pawang mga kasinungalingan at pagtatanggol sa mga dambuhalang korporasyon ng langis ang sinasabi at ginagawa ni Pangulong Aquino.  Ayon sa kanila, ang pagbibigay ng tatlong pisong subsidyo sa mga tsuper at ang plano ng gubyerno na mag-“stockpile” o magtabi ng reserbang langis ay mga pangmadaliang solusyon lamang. Patuloy diumano na mananawagan ang mga grupo na wakasan ang imperyalistang kontrol sa industriya ng langis at igigiit ang pagsasabansa sa industriya ng langis.

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MANILA, Philippines — The chief of the weather bureau has declared there will be no storm on Christmas Day.

Dr. Graciano P. Yumul Jr. of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that there will be mostly cloudy skies and some rain showers until December 26 but there will be storm to drench holidaymakers or bring floods to areas devastated by Typhoon Ondoy.

“The tail-end of a cold front and wind convergence will be the dominant weather systems that may bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over Southern Luzon and Visayas beginning tomorrow until the end of the outlook period,” Yumul predicted.

“Good weather condition is expected to prevail over the rest of the country aside from the isolated rainshowers that are actually needed.

“Moderate to strong northeasterly winds (amihan) will continue to prevail over Luzon and Visayas and the coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Fishermen along the seaboards of Luzon are alerted against moderate to high waves generated by the strong northeasterly winds,” Yumul added.

PAGASA is set to update the outlook in the event some significant changes in the weather occur between now and December 26. (Marvyn Benaning)

PNP still on alert
The Philippine National Police (PNP) high command has reminded all police field units to remain vigilant against possible hostilities by New People’s Army (NPA) units on the heels of the 41st founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) this Saturday.

The PNP aired this concern in the wake of two recent NPA-initiated hostilities that have marred the bilateral Yuletide ceasefire declaration, which took effect December 16 to last until January 3, 2011.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr. said that historical data shows the CPP/NPA is known to launch tactical offensives to commemorate the founding anniversary of the local communist movement every December 26.

PNP security forces had been alerted to exercise vigilance against possible hostile actions by domestic threat groups even while a ceasefire with the CPP/NPA is in effect. (Elena L. Aben)

300 OFWs lose job in madagascar
Some 300 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have lost their jobs in Madagascar after weeks of strike against their employer which they accused of labor malpractices.

The OFWs working for the Kentz Engineers and Contractors in Madagascar as construction workers are bound for separate flights to Manila this week after weeks of negotiations and strikes against said corporation over the non-payment of overtime for work done beyond eight hours, delay in the remittance of salaries, non-issuance of pay slips, salary discrepancies of employees performing the same work, among others.

“This Christmas will be a sad one for our families. The construction company we worked for is cheating us of the salaries we ought to receive. We are working for more than eight hours a day with no overtime payment for the next two hours of work,’’ Reynaldo Ubasa, one of the OFWs, said in a statement.

Terry Ridon, National Chairperson of the League of Filipino Students, had met up with some of the group in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ubasa said that the entire Filipino workforce, participated in a series of labor strikes in their construction site – the first of which was on November 27, followed by another in December 7-8, and culminated in December 16-17. (JC Bello Ruiz)

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MANILA, Philippines—A student group branded the government’s 2011 budget as “anti-student, anti-people” for bearing severe cuts in subsidies for public tertiary education and for President Benigno Aquino III’s veto on several critical provisions.

League of Filipino Students chair Terry Ridon said the approved budget gave “mere bread crumbs” to students who have been protesting the budget cuts since the last quarter of the year.

Government granted an additional P146 million to fund 12 state universities and colleges (SUCs) earlier this month after students mounted massive protests against the P1.69-billion allocation for higher learning, which was slashed from this year’s P2.54 billion.

“The approved budget is nothing but anti-student, anti-people. The increases to the SUC budget were mere bread crumbs to douse the growing student unrest,” Ridon said.

“Aquino retained the cuts in health care, agriculture, agrarian reform, housing, migrant benefits, among others. How in the world can that even be called a reform budget?” he said.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) had said that the budget in fact increased by P683 million, explaining that the 2010 budget appeared larger than the actual release because of congressional initiatives that were not released.

The commission, however, admitted that budget for operations decreased by P110.3 million and that “no budget was released for capital outlay (CO) in 2011 because all the projects in 2010 were already completed.”

CHEd said supplemental funding might be tapped if needed and the agency urged state universities and colleges to pursue income-generating projects, usually commercial ventures that student groups have long frowned upon.

Ridon said groups were preparing a new wave of protests at the start of the year.

“We’ll soon focus on Aquino’s PPP (public-private partnerships) as the general framework for the cuts in the budget and the intrusion of the private sector into education,” said Ridon.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20101228-311260/Budget-restored-to-SCUs-bread-crumbsmilitant-students

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MANILA, Philippines—Some 2,500 Filipino migrant workers are set to pursue legal action against their employer in Madagascar, an island-nation in the Indian Ocean, and its affiliate Manila placement agency for alleged unfair labor practices and breach of contract.

At least 300 of the contract workers of the construction firm Kentz Engineers and Contractors have returned to the country.

Next Thursday, they are scheduled to file a formal complaint before the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration against their employer and its undisclosed local affiliate.

Their co-workers are set to return to the country shortly.

Reynaldo Ubasa, one of the leaders of the group, alleged they were “made to work for more than eight hours a day with no overtime pay.”

In a statement, Ubasa also cited “discrepancies and delays” in the payment of their salaries.

“The construction firm we worked for cheated us of our salaries, prompting us to fight back,” said Ubasa.

The firm also prevented the Filipino workers to “communicate with the outside world, cutting out Internet connection, and seek help in the Philippines,” he disclosed.

During the past two months, the Filipino workers staged a series of strikes at their construction site in Madagascar, to no avail.

Terry Ridon, national chair of the militant League of Filipino Students, has taken up the cudgels for Ubasa and his co-workers.

Last week, Ridon bumped into Ubasa’s group at the Johannesburg international airport shortly before they took a flight bound for Manila.

In an e-mail, Ridon told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “our OFWs are suffering abroad under pitiful conditions while the Aquino government leisurely watches them return to the country in tears, deceived and unemployed.”

“Worse, the government had cut the budget for assistance to distressed migrant workers. It also made more problems for OFWs with its compulsory insurance policy,” Ridon said.

The LFS leader asked Malacañang and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to “respond immediately to the problems of these OFWs.”

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Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Congress, State Budget & Taxes, Legislation
MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino on Monday signed a massive P1.6-trillion national budget for 2011 designed to fight poverty and spur development, but vetoed 13 provisions that would limit his power of spending.

Mr. Aquino profusely thanked Congress for its full support and swift approval of the first national budget crafted by his 6-month-old administration.

“This will be the first time in 11 years that the budget will be signed into law in the same year that it was submitted,” Mr. Aquino said after signing the General Appropriations Act of 2011 in the presence of lawmakers, led by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Jose Belmonte, and Cabinet officials.

“This will enable us to address the urgent needs of our people in a timely manner,” Mr. Aquino said. “Such needs include building more rural health units and providing immunization for children. This also allows us to construct new classrooms and hire new teachers, as promised to the Filipino people.”

In his veto message, Mr. Aquino said his first budget not only “enshrines transparency and accountability” but also “establishes a spending program that is unabashedly biased for the poor.”

The 2011 budget is 6.8 percent higher than last year’s. It focuses on social programs and includes a controversial provision for P21 billion in cash handouts to selected poor families.

“This budget demonstrates our commitment to solving the problems of our people at the soonest time. This alleviates the burdens especially of the most disadvantaged,” Mr. Aquino said at the signing ceremony.

Bias for social service

The budget was passed by Congress almost unchanged from Mr. Aquino’s original proposal and came in ahead of schedule in a sign of increased cooperation between the new President and the legislature.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the 2011 budget had a “clear bias” for social services, pointing out that 34 percent of budget was focused on social service.

The three departments with the highest budget allocation in the budget were education, national defense and public works and highways

Mr. Aquino said he exercised “direct veto” on 13 items as recommended by the Department of Budget and Management.

“There are several items among them, what we consider riders. Riders are prohibited by the Constitution so we exercised the veto on that,” Mr. Aquino told reporters.

Other items in the budget “limited the powers of the Executive,” which the President said he vetoed.

Money for the poor

Abad said Mr. Aquino did not veto any appropriation but only items that had to do with general and special provisions of the budget tending to intrude on the executive’s prerogative to implement it.

“Twenty-six items in the budget were subject to what is called a conditional implementation, which is really a clarification of how they should be implemented,” Abad said.

Mr. Aquino cited 13 general and special provisions and special provisos that he vetoed “for contravening the provisions of the Constitution and those of applicable laws, rules and regulations.”

He thanked the legislators for approving his policy of conditional cash transfers, where money is given to certain poor families. Critics have said the policy will only foster dependency in a country where 33 percent of the 94 million population live in poverty.

Senator Ralph Recto said Mr. Aquino was ill-advised in vetoing key provisions that Recto said would have given the President tighter control on how state funds were spent, specifically the P21-billion conditional cash transfer program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Mr. Aquino junked a provision allowing the creation of a congressional committee which would give Congress the power to oversee public spending, specifically by the DSWD.

“These (congressional) oversight committees will ensure that the government spending programs will be successful because it sends a signal to the various departments that they are being closely monitored with the President’s consent,” Recto said in a phone interview.

Senator Francis Pangilinan said the 2011 budget gave the country a fresh start after the budgetary manipulations under the Arroyo administration “characterized by the twisting and the bending of our laws for the sake of political survival.”

“This is a signal that this administration intends to govern within the confines of the Constitution. No shortcuts,” Pangilinan said.

Power to impound

Cavite Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya said Mr. Aquino could exercise the same power wielded by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to impound “unnecessary items” in the 2011 budget.

Mr. Aquino can even impound portions of Arroyo’s P2.2-billion infrastructure fund, which has been kept intact in the new budget, said Abaya, chair of the House committee on appropriations.

The militant League of Filipino Students branded the budget “antistudent, antipeople,” claiming it restored severe cuts in subsidies for public tertiary education. With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., TJ Burgonio, Tarra Quismundo, Inquirer Research and AFP
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20101228-311264/Aquino-signs-P16-trillion-natl-budget-vetoes-13-provisions

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MANILA, Philippines—The number of undocumented and runaway Filipino workers in the Middle East has reached nearly 10,000, according to Migrante-Middle East (M-ME), a Riyadh-based alliance of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

M-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona relayed the information to the INQUIRER even as the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) recorded a “downtrend” in the deployment of OFWs during the first 10 months.

“The number of troubled OFWs here in Saudi Arabia and other OFW-hosting countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates continues to grow,” Monterona said in an e-mail.

He said that in Saudi Arabia alone, his group had been daily receiving “an average of three to four complaints of physical and sexual abuse, as well as unfair labor practices, from OFWs.”

Monterona said that in Riyadh, the capital, 120 women, “mostly victims of sexual abuse and maltreatment by their Arab employers,” were among the runaways.

He said many of the women had been staying at Bahay Kalinga, a facility run by the Philippine Embassy, for over six months now.

In Jeddah and Al-Khobar, located at the western and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia, about 180 runaways are awaiting repatriation to Manila, Monterona said.

“Worse, all these cases were exacerbated by the failure of our embassy and consulate officials to provide [the OFWs] prompt and adequate assistance,” he said.

Asked to comment, the public information service unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the numbers claimed by M-ME “are highly speculative and have no basis.”

“[But the DFA] takes these things seriously. We ask that the names and whereabouts of these individuals be given to us so we can extend assistance,” it said.

It also said that the DFA was “doing its best to attend to these cases,” and that “all reported cases to the DFA and its embassies and consulates have been given assistance to the fullest extent possible.”

“Currently, the DFA’s office for migrant workers’ affairs is working for the repatriation of stranded workers in the Middle East,” it added.

POEA Deputy Administrator Stella Banawis on Tuesday said “preliminary data” had indicated a 3.0-percent drop in OFW deployment, or only 1.079 million deployed from January to October, compared with 1.112 million during the same period last year.

“Negative 3.0 percent,” she said. “So we are actually projecting a decrease this year based on the trend, although it is still preliminary.”

Banawis said the global financial crisis had to do with the downtrend: “I think it is still the effect of the crisis. [The numbers for] Canada and Australia have not risen.”

She said the policy of mandatory insurance for OFWs as well as the situation in other countries—for example, the increase of Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong—might have also affected OFW deployment.

However, Banawis said, the POEA noted a 10.7-percent increase in the number of accredited employers: 16,665 from January to September compared with 15,049 during the same period in 2009.

There was also a 31.5-percent growth in job orders, Banawis said.

“These job orders have a two-year validity, so it does not mean that all will be processed this year. Normally, we approve thousands, up to 500,000,” she said.

A group of OFWs working in a nickel and cobalt mine in Madagascar is preparing to file a formal complaint in the POEA against their employer, Kents Engineers and Contractors (KEC), for alleged unfair labor practices.

Four leaders of the 2,000-plus Filipino mine workers have returned to the Philippines.

One of them, Reynaldo Ubasa, said he and his colleagues were made to work at the project site for more than eight hours a day with no overtime pay.

Ubasa also complained of “discrepancies and delays” in the payment of their salaries.

The KEC mine is a 10-hour drive from Antananarivo, the Madagascar capital.

The INQUIRER learned about the OFWs’ plight from Terry Ridon, chairman of the militant League of Filipino Students.

Ridon said he met Ubasa and the others by chance at the international airport of Johannesburg last week, shortly before they took separate flights to Manila.

He called on the DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to respond immediately to the mine workers’ problems.

The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi was now looking into the matter.

The embassy in Nairobi has jurisdiction over Madagascar, an island-nation located southeast of the African continent.—With a report from Philip C. Tubeza
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20101228-311402/Undocumented-OFWs-in-Mideast-number-10000-says-group

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SECTORAL leaders in Davao welcomed President Benigno Aquino III’s decision to release the detained health workers dubbed the “Morong 43.”

Lawyers and leaders under progressive organization Bayan Muna said the release of the 43 health workers were “overdue but nonetheless a welcome move from the administration.”

Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) secretary general Carlos Zarate also said the President’s decision is a good step towards the resumption of talks between the government and the rebel organization of Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF).

“It will augur well for the resumption of the stalled peace talks among others,” Zarate said Saturday.

Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luz Ilagan said Aquino’s decision was “a proper Human Right’s Day gift.”

“(We) welcome the news of his release order. But we will hold celebration until the day the Morong 43 are truly free. It took too long for his decisive action. The arrest was illegal, the detainees were tortured and the rule of law was not followed. But still, it’s an appropriate Human Rights Day gift,” she said.

Aquino on Friday directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately withdraw all the charges filed against the Morong 43 for humanitarian reasons.

Speaking before a huge crowd during the 62nd International Human Rights Day celebration in Malacañang, Aquino said he has “ordered the DOJ to withdraw the information filed (against the Morong 43) before the court.”

“The medical workers were arrested in the waning days of the Arroyo administration on the suspicion that they were aiding NPA insurgents. These are valid concerns. Nevertheless, we recognize that their right to due process was denied them,” the President said.

The health workers have been under military detention since their arrest on February 6 this year. They were allegedly illegally arrested, tortured and harassed to admit that they are members of the NPA.

Charges of illegal possession of explosives and firearms and ammunition were filed against them.

Reports said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima noted that the motion to withdraw information would be filed Monday, so the detainees can come home to their families by Christmas.

De Lima, however, said that according to the Armed Forces, six detainees had pending warrants of arrest in connection with other cases.

If verified, the pending warrants might prevent the six persons concerned from being released along with the others, she added.

Bayan Muna vice-president for Mindanao Joel Virador welcomed the news, but said he is not pleased “with the installment of release of all detainees.”

“Wala namo gikalipay nga ang uban lang ang makagawas unya uban mabilin. Dapat tanan ipagawas since tanan man pud dila were illegally arrested (We are not happy with the news that not all can go out of their detention cells. All of them should be freed since in the first place, they were illegally arrested),” Virador said through mobile phone interview.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) spokesperson John Birondo noted that the order to release Morong 43 is the result of numerous calls for their freedom.

League of Filipino Students-Southern Mindanao Regional spokesperson Karlos Manlupig said likewise.

“The recent declaration of Aquino is a product of the people’s struggle for justice and democracy. This is also a slap in the face for the AFP and will forever serve as a reminder that the people will always triumph over the state of terrorism,” Manlupig said.

Birondo, however, said the progressives remain dubious of Aquino’s intentions as the administration ordered the extension of the “Oplan Bantay Laya” program, which was directed at the communist rebels “but which has been cause of many human rights violations in far-flung communities.”

http://davaocitynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/sectoral-leaders-welcome-release-of.html

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