Agusan del Sur Rep. “Ompong" Plaza recently vowed to deliver Mindanao from the lamentabletag of the “promised land.”For decades now, he said, Mindanao had been wallowing in poverty, lawlessness and misrepresentation in the government, adding that if the trend continued, Mindanao might take steps that would be disastrous to the nation.
In talks with newsmen in Dagupan City, the three-term congressman now eyeing a senatorial berth under the slate of former Pres. Joseph Estrada's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino-PDP Laban, said that he would be a new and real voice of a forsaken Mindanao who would work out a new deal for Mindanao and not to allow it to separate from the Philippines.
Plaza stated that the coming May elections would be a defining moment for a Pilipino leader to champion the real and hard issues that had consigned Mindanao to where it is now, “a promised land.” He noted that the inequality that bedevils Mindanao should be the crux of Philippine governance, citing that Mindanao that had been contributing 30% to the Philippine economy had been getting only 9% from the national budget.
He appealed to Northern Luzon populace to help him correct the social imbalance through his candidacy in the senate to pave the road to a genuine unified nation. Plaza lamented that people in Mindanao failed to develop a culture that would boost their socio-economic development, blaming clannish attitude among the residents.
In this regard, he vowed to be different from the national leaders who had allowed Mindanao to be forever a victim of broken promises.(PR from the Office of Congressman Rodolfo "Ompong" Plaza)
PHILIP JAMES MONGAYA TREMEDAL
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By the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
The year 2009 will forever be remembered as a year of unprecedented tribulation for the Philippine Press, with the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao making its grisly mark in history as the worst ever attack on the media. But it was also the year when Filipino journalists closed ranks and defiantly stood up for the freedom of the press and democracy.
At least 30 journalists (and at least one reportedly missing) were among at least 57 persons slaughtered when members and armed supporters of the Ampatuan clan stopped the convoy of a rival political clan on its way to filing a certificate of candidacy. Among the dead were women members of the rival clan, lawyers and other civilians who were not part of the convoy but happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The toll was especially heavy for the families of our slain colleagues, most of them breadwinners, who left behind at least 74 children and dependents. The carnage in Ampatuan capped years of continued impunity for killers of Filipino journalists.
Before the massacre, 104 Filipino journalists had been murdered since 1986, 67 of them under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo alone. Only around five cases have resulted in the conviction of the killers, though no masterminds have yet to be arrested in any of the murders. The Ampatuan massacre also happened amid setbacks in the handful of cases that are being prosecuted.
The Court of Appeals in December issued a preliminary injunction against the serving of arrest warrants against the suspected masterminds in the killing of Sultan Kudarat journalist Marlene Esperat pending the resolution of a petition for review filed by the accused. As a result, according to colleagues in Mindanao, the accused brains in the Esperat murder have reported back to their government offices.
A key eyewitness in the killing of Aklan broadcaster Herson Hinolan recanted his statement after earlier testifying that his family had received threats and bribe offers from the camp of the suspected gunman. The massacre brought attention to the plight of Filipino journalists who are being slowly killed by dismal working conditions like low pay, long working hours and lack of job security and benefits.
Filipino journalists and media workers were also are among those who suffered the brunt of the soaring costs of rice and other basic commodities, transport fares and other services due to the impact of the global economic crisis. Other forms of attacks and threats have also persisted throughout the year.
In July, around 50 journalists were detained by soldiers in Guindulungan town, also in Maguindanao, in an apparent effort to prevent them from covering the plight of evacuees displaced by fighting.
Days after the Ampatuan massacre, unidentified persons fired a gun in front of the house of Bacolod City-based journalists Edgar Cadagat, former NUJP Chairman and current president of the Negros Press Club. On December 8, Camarines Norte broadcaster Efren Español was attacked inside the announcer’s booth by the former police chief of the province, who was armed with a .45 caliber gun.
This year, proponents of the Right of Reply Bill (RORB) railroaded the measure in Congress despite widespread opposition from the media. But these threats and attacks have only served to drive Filipino journalists, despite the fierce competition of their profession, to greater unity and renewed commitment to waging collective resistance.
Far from sowing fear, the slaughter galvanized the ranks of media, all of whom rose as one in condemning the slaughter and demanding justice. Thus, we have the November 23 Movement, organized by various media groups, including the NUJP, and joined by newspaper publishers and broadcast network organizations and officials.
NUJP chapters, press clubs, media associations and beat press corps issued statements and held various forms of protests including street marches, Masses, candle lighting, and rallies in work places and forums. Newspapers issued joint statements and pooled editorials and radio stations held brief but simultaneous blackouts. Journalists also brought their condemnation and protests to cyberspace through social networking sites, blogs and email groups.
But perhaps, more than the newfound unity that journalists have found, the brightest lining in this year of darkness has been the realization that the media and their audience, the people, must stand together to resist what collectively is nothing less than an attack on the very foundations of our democracy and our very existence as a nation and people.
This was nowhere more evident than the historic December 9 rally at Mendiola, which media spearheaded but which saw civil society groups and other sectors joining them. Just as rousing was the response throughout the country and, yes, the world to the call of the NUJP and the International Federation of Journalists for a Global Day of Action Against Impunity.
Media groups and unions in 31 countries responded and wrote to the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to pressure her administration in giving justice to the victims. An international solidarity mission also came to Philippines to express support to Filipino journalists and the families of the victims and to call for an end to impunity in the country.
Media groups, newspapers and television networks have also pledged and donated funds to the victims’ families. They also spoke as one in opposing the declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao.
The same unity and resistance were demonstrated in opposing the passing of the RORB. At the start of the year, media groups formed a media alliance against the measure, lobbied in Congress, engaged the sponsors in forums and debates and held protest actions nationwide, joined by publishers, network officials and various media organizations.
The determined and widespread opposition prompted several senators to withdraw their support for the bill. It also helped in stalling if not effectively thwarting its passage. The concerted efforts of media groups also significantly helped in the pushing for the Freedom of Information Act which passed on third reading at the Senate in December.
For the NUJP, 2009 was also a period of growth. It was this year that the number of our provincial and city chapters reached 62, the youngest being the Cebu, Butuan, Iligan, Masbate and Ilocos Sur chapters. NUJP also led and participated in successful press freedom campaigns. Its Media Safety Office, established together with the IFJ in 2005, continues to monitor and document attacks against journalists and advance the safety of journalists and media staff through safety trainings and campaigns.
The coming year brings daunting challenges, foremost of which is to find justice for the massacre victims and to help their families and fellow journalists traumatized by the killings.
As we pursue justice for the victims of the massacre and other murdered colleagues, we must, at the same time, work tirelessly to help uplift the working and living conditions of journalists especially those in the provinces and uphold ethical standards. With continued unity and commitment to stand up and fight for justice and the truth, the Philippine Press will not only endure. It will overcome. (Nestor P. Burgos Jr., NUJP Chairman)
PHILIP JAMES MONGAYA TREMEDAL
CALL OR TEXT ME : 0929-589-6390
OR E-MAIL ME : pjtremedal@gmail.com
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Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had order to the Armed Forces and the Police in solving the insurgency problem after her administration, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed group the New People’s Army (NPA) before her term ends on 2010 .
Maoist rebels in the country has vowed to achieve a “strategic stalemate” between them and the government within the next five years as the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) observes today (December 26) its 41st year of founding as a revolutionary organization.
In its traditional anniversary statement, the CPP’s Central Committee said that if this goal is carried out successfully, “we can look forward to still greater revolutionarypossibilities wit
h in the next ten years…”
The CPP’s pronouncement mocks the 2010 deadline set by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to reduce into insignificance the communist insurgency in the country.
Meanwhile, Here in Misamis Oriental where the 4th Infantry (Philippine Army) Division beefs up its forces in Bukidnon and other provinces in North Eastern Mindanao to continue its operation to defeat the insurgency. In a yearend statement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has placed the current number of New Peoples Army (NPA) rebels on a decline.
“The CPP/NPA's strength in January 2002 was pegged to be around 12,000. Today, their strength is down to 7,100; a reduction of about 5, 000,” the statement reads.
“With the sustained operational gains and momentum against the communist terrorists, the AFP is optimistic of the CPP/NPA's eventual defeat as their political and military influence continues to dwindle,” the statement continued.
But the NPA counters the Arroyo administration “has utterly failed to realize its pipe dream of destroying or reducing the armed revolutionary movement of the people to inconsequentiality.”
The rebel group also crowed about its ability to prevail over 14 years of Ferdinand Marcos’ strongman rule “and all the succeeding regimes that have pretended to be liberal democratic…”
The CPP said its “revolutionary optimism” is based on the lingering crisis affecting “the world capitalist system,” referring to the global economic depression, and its corresponding burden imposed on “the domestic ruling system.”
The CPP also claimed it has “the sufficient strength and critical mass to carry out the tasks and plans for advancing from the strategic defensive to the strategic stalemate (of) the people's war within the next five years.”
The CPP leadership emphasized the need to increase its number of NPA units and guerrilla fronts “from around 120 to 180 in order to cover the rural congressional districts and gain the ability to deploy armed city partisan units in the urban congressional districts.”
To achieve this, it said the rebel group “must intensify the recruitment and the politico-military training of the Red fighters” as well as “intensify our tactical offensives…”
“The weapons for arming new units of the NPA at the levels of the district, province and region must be obtained mainly from the enemy through ambuscades, raids and other operations,” the CPP anniversary statement read.
The local communist leadership also pointed out the key role of land reform campaigns “to win the steadfast support of the poor peasants, farm workers and lower middle peasants” and so provide it foothold into the rural communities.
Organized in 1968, the CPP has been waging four-decade warfare against the government to impose its socialist-oriented economic ideology and has since engaged in an on-and-off negotiation for a political settlement.
Meantime, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado had recommended the declaration of a unilateral SOMO against the New People’s Army (NPA) from 1 a.m. of Dec. 24 to noon of Dec. 26 and from 1 a.m. of Dec. 31 to noon of Jan. 1.
SOMO will allow AFP soldiers, their families, and the communities they serve to celebrate the holidays in peace and tranquility.
“We hope they will not desecrate the holiness of the season because the AFP, despite suspension of military offensive, will maintain the usual preparedness, especially in outposts far away from headquarters.” the Government said.
note: All photo were compliments of google.com
PHILIP JAMES MONGAYA TREMEDAL
CALL OR TEXT ME : 0929-589-6390
OR E-MAIL ME : pjtremedal@gmail.com
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