Philippines: Alarming incidents of political violence related to 2016 polls (tags)
Akbayan Party-List condemns in the strongest terms possible the recent spate of political violence In what seems to be a prelude to the coming May 2016 elections, involving elected officials and others running for public office.
Various Groups in the Philippines Conduct a Peace March (tags)
Various groups unite and conducted a peace march from Sandiganbayan to the House of Representatives in support of the immediate passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and for lasting peace in Muslim Mindanao.
PHILIPPINES: Millions of Votes for the Democratic Left (tags)
While the Commission on Elections has yet to announce the official results of the 2013 partylist elections, we would like to thank the Filipino voters and everyone who have made Akbayan Partylist's sixth straight electoral victory possible.
PHILIPPINES: Workers party-list group petitions SC to overturn disqualification (tags)
The newly-formed workers party-list Partido ng Manggagawa Coalition (PM Coalition) today filed a petition at the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the Commission on Elections resolution disqualifying the group. In its petition, PM also sought a temporary restraining order on the scheduled raffle of party-list names and printing of the ballots in January.
Philippines: Let’s All Work for a Better Party-List System (tags)
Recently, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) concluded its process of scrutinizing groups that will participate in the 2013 partylist election. It marked the end of a long and arduous process that the poll body has undertaken to cleanse the party-list system of fake partylist groups which have used and abused the system to advance their vested interests.
Philippine Statements on the International Human Rights Day (tags)
1) Akbayan on the Observance of the International Human Rights Day 2) Workers hold Jericho March at San Miguel in celebration of human rights day 3) Pahayag sa Pandaigdigang Araw ng Karapatang Pantao 4) Another World is Possible! Reject the Policies of Neoliberalism! Protect the Working Class!
AMIN Joins Mindanao Week of Peace 2012 Celebrations (tags)
PHILIPPINES: Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Party List members joined the Solidarity-Cultural Walk for Peace from Bantayog ng mga Bayani to the Quezon City Memorial Circle this morning (December 5, 2012) for the culmination ceremony of this year’s Mindanao Week of Peace celebration.
Philippine Democracy: Alive, but is it well? (tags)
Reflections on the 2010 Campaign. The 2010 campaign has drawn to a close, and it’s time to distill my experiences after registering hundreds of miles by land, sea, and air crisscrossing the country as a party-list candidate.
Philippines: Presidential son is above poll laws (tags)
In the Philippines, being a presidential son allows you to be a party-list nominee without possessing any of the qualifications for being one.
PHILIPPINES - Deny the "Arroyo 5" (tags)
Akbayan party-list launches campaign to deny the premier political family power in the 2010 elections
PHILIPPINES: Villar should face music, says worried Ocampo (tags)
MANILA, Philippines—Even his political ally agrees that Sen. Manuel Villar, a presidential candidate, should face the music and speak up in the Senate about the C-5 road project controversy.
Philippine Supreme Court Orders Comelec to count Ladlad in (tags)
The EPCC NEWS learned today that the Philippine Supreme Court ordered the Commission on Elections on Tuesday to recognize the gay-rights organization Ang Ladlad as a party-list group and to print its name on ballots for the May 10 elections pending a more definitive ruling by the high court on the issue. EPCC express elation over the court issued directive after the tribunal met as a body in the form of a temporary restraining order against a Comelec ruling that disqualified Ang Ladlad from the party-list elections in May.
Philippine Govt creating a climate of fear to put country under Martial law (tags)
Philippine Democratic Left Parties statements regarding Ampatuan Massacre and the declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao
PHILIPPINES: Extreme Left-wing lawmakers, NP ties still open (tags)
TWO LEFT-WING party-list congressmen who are running for senator are still open to linking with the Nacionalista Party (NP) despite its alliance with the Marcos-led Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). KBL or New Society Movement is the party founded by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., after declaring martial law. The Nacionalista Party (NP) was the party of Marcos prior to his proclamation of Martial Law.
Progressive Party Lists solons vow to oppose Palparan’s entry to House (tags)
Militant and Progressive party list bloc lawmakers yesterday continued to express their opposition to the upcoming entry of retired Army Gen. Jovito Palparan as representative of Bantay party-list group and Ma. Lourdes Arroyo, the younger sister of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, as representative of party-list group Ang Kasangga. According to Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza and Anak Pawis Rep. Rafael Mariano, Palparan has no place in the House of Representatives. “The proclamation of Lulu Arroyo and Palparan as party-list representatives shows the shameless bastardizing of the party-list system by Malacañang. Since when did they represent the marginalized and underrepresented sectors?” Maza said.
ARROYO's SON LED LOBBY AGAINST LAND REFORM (tags)
The eldest child of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Rep. Mikey Arroyo of Pampanga province, was the leader of the landlord lobby in the House of Representatives that resulted in the demise of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), a militant party-list congressman claimed Friday. Rep. Satur Ocampo of the Bayan Muna party-list group said, “In the first all-party caucus in the middle of the year, [Speaker Prospero Nograles] called for an initial straw vote by asking the representatives to stand up. Mikey Arroyo led those who voted against CARP extension.”
Gabriela in Japan to probe alleged rape of Filipina (tags)
Gabriela party-list Representative Liza Maza flew to Japan Wednesday to pursue a “quest for justice” for a Filipina migrant worker allegedly raped by a US soldier in southern Okinawa. Maza, who leads a mission team from the women party-list group, left at 7 a.m. with the mother of the 22-year-old Filipina, identified only as Hazel. “We are sending the team off with a message to Hazel that Filipinos are behind her in her fight for justice,” Gabriela spokesperson Joms Salvador said shortly after the plane carrying the team left. “We want Hazel to know that Filipinos will not tolerate the abuse of Filipinas by US soldiers notwithstanding the Philippine government's seeming connivance with the US military to write off this travesty,” she said.
Mammoth electoral fraud in Philippines elections: Padding and shaving (tags)
Nearly three weeks after election day, there are still no definitive results for the Philippine elections to the Senate and House of Representatives. Counting is still continuing and in a number of provinces it has not even begun. This has nothing to do with inefficiency and everything to do with ballot-rigging. The Philippines is one of the most corrupt ‘democracies’ in the world. During the 2004 presidential election, the victory of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was widely attributed to large-scale fraud. A tape was massively circulated of a conversation between the President and Virgilio Garcillano, head of Comelec, the national election commission. Arroyo was heard addressing him familiarly, ‘Hello Garci’, and the election chief proudly assured her that he would guarantee her a million-vote majority.
The Philippine Midterm Elections, an indictment vs. Mrs. Arroyo (tags)
The circus that is the recent Philippine midterm elections was an indictment of how Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "won" her presidency in the last 2004 elections and punctuated her government's acute isolation from the Filipino masses. The 12-0 illusion of Arroyo's Team Unity administration coalition delivered for the people more violence and systematic fraud. The regime's fraud machinery in Mindanao (the hocus-pocus site of the 2004 presidential elections in favor of Arroyo) was apparently exposed in how the recent elections were conducted most especially in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where bribe money, patronage politics were the rules of the game, ably presided by fraud operators and protectors sitting in the highest echelons in Comelec at the national and local levels
AJLPP CALLS FOR TOTAL RELEASE OF KA BEL, CONDEMNS NEW COMELEC MACHINATIONS (tags)
The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) strongly demand that the US-Arroyo regime stop harassing Representative Crispin Beltran and other progressive party-list representatives and set Ka. Bel totally free. The AJLPP find it ridiculous that the Makati City Court will just set Ka Bel free for only four days during the duration of the Congress sessions while the Supreme Court has just junked the charges against him and the “Batasan Five” as devoid of due process. On the other hand, the AJLPP also condemn the new machinations of the COMELEC for its “veterans formula” of giving only three seats in the lower house to the party-list group BUHAY and give other party-list groups one seat each.
NDF-EV condemns virtual martial rule in troop deployment to Tacloban City (tags)
The National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today condemned the virtual martial rule in the deployment by the 8th Infantry Division of soldiers to the northern barangays of Tacloban City and the outright role of the military in rigging the elections to favor the Arroyo regime. "The military psywar blabberers blatantly lie that the 8th ID is sending troops to the northern barangays of Tacloban City because of the alleged presence of the New People's Army," said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas. "What the military really aims after the elections is to forestall mass protests by heightening the psywar campaign against the people's organizations and party-list groups, whom they frame as part of the NPA to justify attacking and killing off their leaders and members. In the elections, various reports from Samar and Leyte also describe soldiers as terrorizing the people against voting for the progressive party-list. But the people have democratically defied the military and the Arroyo regime in the elections: Despite the barefaced use of fraud and military terrorism against them, the progressive party-list groups are clearly headed for Congress. The people have spoken, but in retaliating by sending troops against them, the military goes on with its script of mayhem and murder."
Votes for partylists, Legarda said to have been shaved by 73% in massive election fraud i (tags)
Task Force Poll Watch, an anti-fraud and monitoring group formed by partylist groups, reported this morning massive vote-shaving in at least 10 provinces, resulting in 73 percent loss of votes for Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan and Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Loren Legarda.
PHILIPPINES: Kontra Daya( AGAINST CHEATING) post election report (tags)
Kontra Daya ( Against Cheating) congratulates the Filipino people for their continuing vigilance against poll fraud, election violence and other anomalies. This report would not have been possible were it not for the vigilance of ordinary people who acted as Kontra Daya volunteers, sent us their texts and emails or called the Kontra Daya hotline. We also congratulate the various people’s organizations, the vigilant media, the election watchdogs and international observers and other allied groups for their efforts in monitoring the conduct of the Philippine elections. The elections this year saw the rise of a more vigilant and conscious people who would not allow a repeat of the fraud-tainted 2004 polls. Kontra Daya’s preliminary post election report is based on the groups’ own documentation, field date from the Task Force Poll Watch, reports from the People’s International Observers Mission, correspondence with other watchdog groups such as Namfrel, Alliance of Concerned Teachers as well as media reports. The fight against election fraud and violence is by no means over. Kontra Daya expects more incidents of wholesale vote rigging to emerge in the following days. The dark forces trying to subvert the people’s will are working overtime. The people’s vigilance and collective action are needed now more than ever.
PILIPINAS: Eleksyong 2007: Anong Bago at Anong Luma sa Pandaraya? (tags)
Kaisa ang AJLPP sa pahayag ng rebolusyonaryong kilusan sa Pilipinas na “ Ilang ulit na pinasahol ng naghaharing pangkating Arroyo ang bulok na sistema ng eleksyon sa Pilipinas. Labis-labis ang karahasan, pandaraya, panunuhol, maruruming maniobra at pambabraso sa eleksyon nitong Mayo. Isinagawa ito sa pamamagitan ng militar, pulis, mga tauhan sa Comelec at burukrasya. Lalong tumingkad ang kahungkagan ng sinasabing demokratikong eleksyon sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang reaksyunaryong sistema”
PILIPINAS: Eleksyong 2007: Bulok sa kaibuturan (tags)
Ilang ulit na pinasahol ng naghaharing pangkating Arroyo ang bulok na sistema ng eleksyon sa Pilipinas. Labis-labis ang karahasan, pandaraya, panunuhol, maruruming maniobra at pambabraso sa eleksyon nitong Mayo. Isinagawa ito sa pamamagitan ng militar, pulis, mga tauhan sa Comelec at burukrasya. Lalong tumingkad ang kahungkagan ng sinasabing demokratikong eleksyon sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang reaksyunaryong sistema. Pinakamatitingkad ang pandaraya ng kampong Arroyo sa Maguindanao, Sulu at Bohol kung saan nagkaroon ng halos 12-0 resulta ang eleksyon sa pagkasenador pabor sa administrasyon. Sinundan pa ito ng paglilitawan ng 12-0 pabor sa Team Unity sa ilampu pang mga munisipalidad na kontrolado ng mga alipures ni Arroyo.
Sa kabila ng todo-todong pandaraya manipulasyon at pandarahas ng Malacañang a mga instrumento nito, di nagawang burahin an boto ng mamamayan laban sa rehimeng Arroyo Nakapagkamit ng makabuluhang tagumpay ang mg progresibong partido at oposisyon sa halalan s Senado, sa party-list, sa ilang pamahalaang lokal at distritong kongresyunal. Malaking sampal sa rehimeng US-Arroyo ang pangunguna ng mga oposisyunista at mga progresibong grupong party-list sa inisyal na resulta ng mga bilangan. Kahit sa mga balwarte umano ng mga alipures ni Arroyo tulad ng Cebu, Iloilo, Negros Occidental at Eastern Samar ay bigo silang tiyakin ang solidong boto para sa lahat ng kandidato ng Malacañang. Nangunguna sa halalan sa Senado ang nakararaming kandidato ng Genuine Opposition. Kabilang sa 12 na may pinakamataas na boto si dating Ltsg. Antonio Trillanes IV, isa sa mga lider ng pag-aalsa sa Oakwood noong 2003 at isa rin sa mga pinakamariing tumutuligsa kay Gloria Arroyo. Ito'y sa kabila ng kanyang pagkakakulong ngayon sa Camp Bonifacio, kakulangan ng pera at makinaryang pangampanya.
Party-list groups not being tallied–Beltran (tags)
ANAKPAWIS Representative Crispin Beltran complained that the electoral fraud machinery of the administration have started to get operational as votes cast for progressive party-list groups in areas where Team Unity candidates claimed victory are not being read and tallied. The political detainee said reports from the municipalities in Southern Tagalog reaching his office showed that votes for Anakpawis were not being called out and reported because of this the party-list group is losing as many as 500 votes in small municipalities.
AJLPP-USA Congratulates Five Filipino Progressive Party-List Groups for their Electoral V (tags)
CONGRATULATIONS AND KEEP ON SERVING THE PEOPLE!” The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) based in the United States greets the five Philippine progressive party-list groups that declared their victory on Thursday with militant hurrahs! Mario Santos, AJLPP national coordinator said: “ The AJLPP is one with the Filipino people in working for the victory of the party-list groups. AJLPP organizations in the United and other allied groups like GABRIELA –USA fully mobilized their forces to support the party-list groups. We are united with them in their declaration of victory and will maintain vigilance until all votes are counted. The Filipino people have spoken. Their voices are loud and clear. They rejected the corrupt and puppet US-Arroyo regime and wants change! The data from exit polls and the media quick count showed the overwhelming support from the people that the party-list groups got is not only a show of confidence but also a great tribute to those who are until now re missing and the martyrs that have given their lives for democracy and freedom”
KABATAAN PARTY LIST SUPPORT GROUPS EVENTS (tags)
In nationally-coordinated events in California and New York last April 28, 29 and May 4, over 350 Filipino youth gathered to show unwavering support for KABATAAN Partylist, the leading and only partylist representing the youth sector in the upcoming elections in the Philippines. Using rock and acoustic music, hip hop, poetry, and shadow theater, Filipino youth used their creativity to show how their local issues are connected with the issues of youth in the Philippines addressed by the KABATAAN Partylist.
NATIONAL FILIPINO YOUTH CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT KABATAAN PARTYLIST (tags)
In nationally-coordinated events in California and New York last April 28, 29 and May 4, over 350 Filipino youth gathered to show unwavering support for KABATAAN Partylist, the leading and only partylist representing the youth sector in the upcoming elections in the Philippines. Using rock and acoustic music, hip hop, poetry, and shadow theater, Filipino youth used their creativity to show how their local issues are connected with the issues of youth in the Philippines addressed by the KABATAAN Partylist.
Filipino Workers urged: Vote for truth, full employment (tags)
Thousands of workers from the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and the Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU) gathered in MetroManila, Lipa, Cebu, Davao City, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro City,Zamboanga City and Cotabato City to commemorate the 104th International Labor Day, urging other workers to support candidateswho would vow to unearth the truth behind the 'Hello Garci' controversy.
FILIPINO YOUTH IN THE US TO HOLD NATIONALLY-COORDINATED MUSIC AND POETRY FESTIVALS (tags)
New York & California – In the final two-week push before the May elections in the Philippines, Filipino youth, musicians, spoken word artists, organizers and allies are coming together in New York and Los Angeles to show support for the KABATAAN Partylist, the largest youth party representing the youth sector in the upcoming Philippine elections, and to call for clean and fair elections. Youth of KABATAAN-Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Linking the Children of the Motherland), based in New York and New Jersey, and KABATAAN-Kabataang maka-Bayan (KmB, Pro-People Youth), based in California, will speak out for the rights of Filipino youth, both in the Philippines and here, in the US.
BABAE KA CATEGORICALLY DENIES GABRIELA’S ACCUSATION (tags)
WOMEN party-list Babae para sa Kaunlaran (BABAE KA) today categorically denied that it is a stooge of Malacañang even as it challenged Gabriela party-list to file a formal complaint. Sally Dagami, BABAE KA chairperson, said that, “For the nth time, we want the Filipino people to know that BABAE KA party-list is not a Malacañang-backed organization. BABAE KA has not requested and has not received a single centavo from the government.”
Philippine Progressive party-list groups bare Palace plan to field sectoral groups (tags)
Progressive party-list groups in ther Philippines yesterday said they have obtained a document that would prove that Malacañang fielded sectoral organizations to run in the May 14 elections, in a bid to gain more seats at the House of Representatives to quell any impeachment complaint that would be filed against President Arroyo. Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Masa said they were furnished with a copy of "confidential" memorandum of assistant secretary Marcelo Fariñas, head of the Office of External Affairs (OEA) special concerns group (SCG) of the Office of the President (OP), which asked for funding for these party-list groups that would be supported by the Palace.
Pitfalls of the Party-List Law (Conclusion) (tags)
The present party-list system has shortcomings that make it impossible to truly represent marginalized sectors, an expert on election laws told Bulatlat in an interview.
Party-List Groups and the 2004 Elections (Second of three parts) (tags)
A review of what happened in the 2004 party-list election is necessary to know not only how many seats were given to party-list groups but also to know the kind of representation the marginalized sectors got.
Party-List Groups and the 2004 Elections (tags)
A review of what happened in the 2004 party-list election is necessary to know not only how many seats were given to party-list groups but also to know the kind of representation the marginalized sectors got.
Reviewing the Party-List Law (First of three parts) (tags)
Nine years after the first party-list elections, 12 years after the passage of RA 7941, and 20 years after the ratification of the present Constitution – is the party-list system serving the avowed purpose of giving voice to the voiceless?
AKBAYAN denounces US intervention in Philippine elections (tags)
AKBAYAN Party-list condemned today the reported participation of US soldiers Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) initiated campaigns against leftist party-list organizations. The group said that it received reports from the local media in Zamboanga City that US soldiers are also campaigning against party-list groups that the AFP considers as “communist fronts.”
Philippines: On PERC Corruption Survey (tags)
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo reaping the fruits of her folly
AJLPP-NY/NJ DENOUNCES THE WAR ON IRAQ AT THE MARCH ON THE PENTAGON (tags)
Speech delivered by Leah Obias of the Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) - NY/NJ at the historic March on the Pentagon on March 17, 2007 in Washington DC
Bayan Muna member gunned down in Northern Samar (tags)
A member of the party-list group Bayan Muna and chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) in Northern Samar was gunned down late yesterday afternoon by a motorcycle-riding assassin in front of students at the University of Eastern Philippines in Catarman. Professor Jose Maria Cui, also a former secretary general of human rights group Karapatan in the Eastern Visayas, died on the spot after being shot in the head and chest by an unidentified suspect outside the Engineering Building of the campus around 4:15 p.m.
Philippine NSA Gonzales wants House leftists labeled Reds (tags)
While other thought the Cold War was over. for National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, his crusade against communism is on a high gear! Gonzales is proposing to “label” left-leaning party-list candidates as communists to caution voters, particularly soldiers and policemen, against voting what he calls democracy’s enemies into the halls of Congress. Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, who has been in jail for the last ten months, yesterday scored Gonzales for warning that leftist provocateurs were out to sabotage today’s anti-Charter change rally at the Rizal Park.
Detained Philippine lawmaker files resolution vs. repressive US immigration bills (tags)
Activist Philippine lawmaker Rep. Crispin Beltran recently filed House Resolution 1263 urging the Philippine government to support the call of millions of Filipinos and migrants of other nationalities in the US and actively oppose the passage of the racist and repressive Sensenbrenner-King bill and other similar proposals.