Category: News

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.

Observed next Saturday, June 8, is the fifth anniversary of the meeting, here in the Vatican, of the Presidents of Israel and of Palestine with me and with Patriarch Bartholomew. At 1:00 pm we are invited to dedicate “a minute” of prayer “for peace,” for believers; of reflection, for those that don’t believe: all together for a more fraternal world. Thanks to International Catholic Action that is promoting this initiative.
– Pope Francis – General Audience, 5th June

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
… Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, … and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen.
INVOCATION FOR PEACE
Words of Pope Francis – Vatican Gardens – Sunday, 8 June 2014

On June 8 at 1 p.m. by ONE MINUTE FOR PEACE 2019 we take up the appeal of the Document “Human fraternity for world peace and living together” signed  in Abu Dhabi on February 2019 by Pope Francis and by the Great Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: “Al-Azhar and the Catholic Church ask that this Document become the object of research and reflection in all schools, universities and institutes of formation, thus helping to educate new generations to bring goodness and peace to others, and to be defenders everywhere of the rights of the oppressed and of the least of our brothers and sisters”.

We invite all people around the world: Catholics and Christians of other denominations together with believers of other religions, men and women of good will “to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters”. An occasion to remember also the VIII Centenary of St Francis’ encounter with the Sultan of Egypt Al-Malik Al-Kamel.

This initiative is aimed at individuals or groups and can become an occasion for meetings on June 8, or near this date, with a special care of the media and social media.

It’s up to us! Let us involve people to spread this initiative in order to count around the world a growing number of MINUTES FOR PEACE. One Minute for Peace” was launched by the International Forum of Catholic Action (IFCA), by the Italian Catholic Action and Argentinian Catholic Action, by the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) and by others, for the first time on June 6, 2014 at 1 p.m., in support of the “Invocation for Peace” meeting, promoted by Pope Francis on June 8 in the Vatican Gardens together with the President of Israel (Simon Peres), the President of the Palestinian Authority (Maḥmūd ʿAbbās – Abu Mazen), and the Patriarch of Constantinople (Bartholomew I)

By Marya Salamat
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Various labor organizations, except the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), have expressed dissatisfaction with the Congress-approved Security of Tenure Bill passed a few days before the 17th Congress adjourns.All the bill awaits now is President Duterte’ signature for it to become a law.

As ending Endo is a trending campaign promise that helped Duterte secure popularity and votes in 2016, he has been asked by labor groups time and again to produce results.Endo is end of contract or the practice in which employers scrimp on wages and benefits by shuffling workers with work contracts for less than six months.

Duterte promised to end Endo in months. He delayed delivering on it by first requiring the labor groups, through Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, to unite and craft their proposed anti-endo policies and mechanisms.But Bello also took proposals from employers’ groups. He came up with Labor Department Order 174 that the labor groups rejected, saying it favored the employers more and merely “improved” the ways in which contractualization could continue.

On Labor Day 2018, Duterte signed the Executive Order (EO) 51 but labor groups, again, found that it would not end Endo because it’s still premised on the same stumbling block embodied in DO 174: it is not prohibiting but still allowing contractualization.

Labor groups Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino said the president, if he had really wanted it, is empowered by Labor Code to end Endo. The same power he and his alter ego, the Labor Secretary, uses to issue oepartment Orders regulating contractualization can just as well be used to ban it. Duterte passed the ball instead to Congress saying that prohibiting Endo requires legislation.

May 7, 2019

To: Our Friends in the Federation of National Youth Organizations:

May the Peace of Christ be with you!

Last July 9, 2012, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a Pastoral Letter on the Era of New Evangelization. Entitled “Live Christ, Share Christ,” it declared a 9-year novena of the Philippine Church leading to March 16, 2021, the fifth centenary of the coming of the Catholic faith in the country. This 2019, we celebrate “Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered” aiming to produce youth who are committed to families, to the Church and to the country with a renewed passion to proclaim the Word, ready to work with their communities and the Church, and willing to share in molding a just and peaceful world through missionary involvement

In response to the call to new evangelization, The Live Christ, Share Christ (LCSC) intends to mainstream Catholic lay evangelization especially in this Year of the Youth.

In line with this, we are pleased to invite you to the New Evangelization Conference 2019 (NEC 2019) happening in three consecutive places: in Luzon this June 8, 2019, at the PICC Forum, Pasay City from 8AM to 5PM; Visayas on August in Bohol; and Mindanao on September in Cagayan de Oro. These are a free-admission event.

On its sixth year, we aim to gather at least 7,000 people to be part of this momentous event. There will be a Catholic Expo and Marian Exhibit, a Clarion Call competitions for band, choir, and song writing, and the annual Catholic New Evangelization Awards (CNEA). With this, we are extending this invitation to you, to participate and support this event by helping spread the word and inviting everyone to celebrate with us. Kindly register online through this link: http://tiny.cc/NEC2019

For further inquiries, please call (02) 726-7989 and look for Ms. Hope Reyes. We look forward to your favorable response. Thank you and God bless!