Task Force Usig pinabubuwag ng ALAM

Nanawagan ang media group Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) sa gobyerno na buwagin na ang Task Force Usig ng Philippine National Police (PNP) at Task Force-211 ng Department of Justice (DOJ) dahil wala silang nagawa laban sa mga media killers.

Ayon kay ALAM Chairman Jerry Yap, sa halip na makatulong ay nakagugulo pa ang PNP-TF USIG dahil sa pagbibigvay nito ng kung anu-anong komentong hindi pinag-iisipan.

Para kay Yap, hindi seryoso ang administrasyon ni Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III sa pagresolba sa mga kaso ng pagpatay sa media.

Sa loob ng apat na taon, ang itinuturing na pinakamalaking pag-atake sa kalayaan sa pamamahayag ng bansa, ang Ampatuan Massacre ay hindi pa nareresolba.
Sa nasabing massacre, 54 katao ang walang awang pinatay kung saan kasama ang 32 journalist at media practitioners.

Gayunman, itinuturing ito ng PNP-TF USIG na hindi work-related violence kundi election related violence lamang dahil hindi umano sila ang target ng mga killers kundi ang kandidato.

Ayon kay Police Senior Inspector Al Paglinawan ng PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management and Task Force Usig, nadamay lamang ang media men kaya nakasama sila sa mga pinatay.

“Inutil naman pala ang Task Force Usig, bakit hindi pa buwagin?” ani Yap. “Wala silang focus sa pagresolba ng pagpatay sa media. Ilang ulit na iyan sa panahon ni PNoy. Paulit-ulit, walang nangyayari. Malalaki at may koneksyon ang mga mastermind kaya hindi nila magalaw.”

Matatandaang inamin ni Paglinawan na wala silang gaanong magawa sa mga kaso ng media killings dahil nanlalamig na ang mga imbestigasyon dahil sa kawalan ng kakayahan ng nga pulis sa paghawak ng ganitong mga kaso.

Wala rin umano silang sapat na training para ingatan ang mga nakukuha nilang ebidensya.

Sinabi pa ni Paglinawan na mula nang hawakan nila ang mga kaso ng media killings ay nakapagtala na sila ng 43 work-related cases, kung saan 32-74% nito ay naisampa sa korte, 8-19% ang cold cases, 2 kaso ang sarado na at 2 kaso ang iniimbestigahan pa.

Hindi naman tumutugma sa nasabing bilang ang nakatala sa ALAM at National Press Club (NPC) of the Philippines.

Sa suma ng buong mundo, ikatlo na ang Pilipinas sa pinakadelikadong lugar para sa mga mamamahayag kung saan ang nangunguna ay ang Iraq at pangalawa ang Somalia dahil sa dami ng hindi nareresolbang kaso ng media killings.

Ani Yap, nangangahulugan lamang ito ng kawalan ng commitment ni Aquino Administration para maresolba ang nasabing mga pagpatay.

JUNK CONTRACTUALIZATION, RAISE WAGES – ALAM

Media group Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM), in connection with the celebration of Labor Day, yesterday insisted on raising salaries and the elimination of contractualization among workers.

ALAM Chairman Jerry Yap said common workers in the Philippines receive very low salaried that they no longer have the opportunity to relax and take care of their families.

He said capitalists abuse the workers, forcing them to accept lowe wages.

Yap said even the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) made it appear that it is a tremendous opportunity for workers to have a job even at low wages and under contract.

“Nagkakalokohan na talaga,” said Yap. “Payaman ng pataman ang mga mayayaman at pahirap naman ng pahirap ang dati nang mahihirap. Pasyal ng pasyal sa abroad ang mga kapitalista dahil sa laki ng kanilang kinita samantalang ni hindi man lamang magkaroon ng pagkakataon ang mga simpleng tranahador na pumunta sa swimming pool sa weekend para magsaya kasama ang kanilang pamilya.”

Yap also said very few employers think of giving their workers a summer break with their families.

“Balik na naman tayo sa panahon ng mga aliping saguiguilid, kung saan ang mga alipin ay habambuhay nang nagiging busabos,” the former National Press Club (NPC) president said. “Lalo pa ngayon, na may dalawang lebel na ng pagpapasweldo: isa sa mga baguhan at hindi pa sanay na anmg sweldo ay pang-allowance lamang, at ang ikalawa ay sa mga sanay na o may karanasan na ang sweldo ay hindi rin kayang bumuhay ng pamilya.”

On ALAM President Berteni Causing’s side, studies revealed that a family of six needs P1,217 a day to be able to live decently.

It is almost three times the current P456 minimum wage received by workers at present.

“Sa daily estimate na ‘yan, tipid na tipid pa ang bawat miyembro ng pamilya at sa public schools lamang nag-aaral ang kanilang mga anak,” said Causing. “Diyan pa lamang, kitang kita ang napakalaking agwat ng mayaman at mahirap sa Pilipinas.”

He said the government of Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III is wrong in saying that the poverty threshold per Filipino per day is only P46-P52.

“Sa kwentang ‘yan, mas mabuti pa ang sweldo ng mga kasambahay at nanny,” Causing insisted. “May P3000 kada buwan ang sweldo ng kasambahay at P4000-P6000 naman ang nanny, pwera pa ang SSS, libreng pagkain, bahay at uniporme. Hindi na rin sila gumagastos sa pamasahe. Lumalabas na P100-P300 per day ang kanilang take-home pay. Samantalang ang mga ordinaryong trabahador, kung ibabawas ang lahat ng kaltasin tulad ng 12% na income tax, PAGIBIG, SSS at Philhealth pati na ang pamasahe at living allowance at iba pang gastusin, halos wala nang natitira sa sweldong P456.”
He said it is also the reason why the Filipinos cannot buy healthy foods, which makes the children so sickly, that they cannot perform well in school.

 

Int’l media group condemns death threats vs. Phil. Star reporter

The International Federation of Journalists condemned the “physical intimidation” and death threats against veteran Mabalacat, Pampanga journalist Ding Cervantes.

“Violent attempts to intimidate journalists are increasing in the Philippines. We condemn this latest incidence and call again on the Philippines’ authorities to safeguard journalists, to thoroughly investigate cases of violence and intimidation against journalists and ensure that perpetrators face the full force of the law for these crimes” said IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park.

Cervantes is a correspondent of broadsheet The Philippine Star and a member of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

The IFJ noted that Cervantes had recently written about the murder of Dutch missionary Willen Geertman, Hacienda Luisita land-reform issues, and the APECO project in Aurora.

“Cervantes is a highly regarded journalist who was awarded the ‘presidential award’ of the Pampanga Press Club for community journalism. He was also named Most Outstanding Guagueno in the field of journalism,” said the IFJ in the August 29 statement.

Threats

The IFJ said that Cervantes received the first threat in an August 24 text message, which said, “Isang bala ka lang.”

Cervantes dismissed the message and erased it from his phone.

But on Saturday afternoon, Cervantes reported that a man was seen stalking his house.

“The man was watching our closed store at the other end of the fence of our home lot as I was backing out my car from the garage. When I rolled my car out facing him, he turned around to send a text on his phone,” he said.

When Cervantes returned home with his brother later that evening, he saw, the same man, with a pistol bulging from his right hip.

He said the man again turned around, he looked to be sending a text message on his phone, and “walking away fast.”

On Sunday morning, when Cervantes went out to feed his dog, he saw the man peeping through the gate of his house saying, “Atiyu, atiyu (he’s here, he’s here),” and then walking away.

Cervantes rushed inside his house and looked outside the window to see the man talking on his mobile phone.

He then began receiving threatening messages from the same number as the original message sent on August 24. — DVM, GMA News

NPC to give burial honors for Kua

FORMER tourism official and Philippine Star Ngayon columnist Nixon Kua will be given burial honors at the National Press Club.

NPC President Benny Antiporda said the burial honors at the NPC building in Intramuros, Manila will follow cremation.

Kua died at 10:35 p.m. on Monday at the Calamba Medical Center, two days after being shot by robbers in Laguna province.

Kua and his brother Allyson were shot Saturday night inside their house.

He was shot in the face while his brother was wounded in the left shoulder. Allyson is already in stable condition.

The robbers stole P90,000 from Kua’s daughter.

Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Laguna police director, said the four suspects were raising money to settle with their rape victim out of court and the robbery of Kua was hatched with the aid of an insider.

Earlier, Cruz claimed he already had the identity of the insider but he refrained from naming him for fear of jeopardizing ongoing follow-up operations.

He hinted, however, that the insider is one of the eight workers doing landscaping work at the new house of Kua.

On Wednesday, a prosecutor recommended no bail for the four suspects. Assistant city prosecutor Angelina Orendain of the Canlubang City Regional Trial Court denied bail for suspects Darwin Saminiano, 20; John Rey Cortez, 22; Noel Garcia, 23, and Michael Molino, 21, who, in the presence of their preferred counsel, waived their right to a preliminary investigation.

Senior Superintendent Bernabe Balba, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 4-A chief, said they will make a representation before Judge Maria Florencia Formes-Baculo of the Canlubang City RTC Branch 34, where the suspects are facing rape charges, for authority to commit the suspects at the detention center of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Laguna.

The four suspects are currently detained at the CIDG office in Camp Vicente Lim in Canlubang City. (Alvin Murcia/ P. Journal)

JUROR condemns ‘eviction’ of 2 DOJ press offices

THE Justice Reporters Organization (JUROR) strongly condemns the plan of the Department of Justice to transfer its office away from the Office of the Secretary and other officials of the DoJ at its second floor Main Building.

For decades, the media at the DoJ has been regarded as vital partners in dispensing justice thus, the proximity of its office to the Secretary of Justice is no coincidence.

As former President Corazon C. Aquino once said national leaders should “regard the media as their allies in keeping the government clean and honest.” True enough, former Justice Secretaries have allowed us to freely perform our mandate as the fourth estate despite certain disagreements on some stories that we have written.

Today, however, all the 30 members of the JUROR, an organization that has been founded after the restoration of democracy, is disappointed that with the former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights at the DoJ’s helm, our freedom as members of the media is being curtailed disguised in the form of a rationalization program.

We are thankful to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, National Press Club, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, AnakPawis, other government officials, fellow media practitioners for supporting our position.

We call on the DoJ to release the alleged report of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) that tagged us as “security threat.” We take offense in such a tag because it shows that from partners, we are now regarded as an enemy.

We appeal to Secretary DeLima to reconsider the DoJ Executive Committee’s decision. The space is not an issue but the hampered flow of information which the DoJ officials admitted will happen is what we are most concerned.

As Thomas Jefferson said “it is however, an evil for which there is no remedy, our liberty depends on the freedom of the press and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

NPC condemns DOJ eviction of 2 press corps

THE National Press Club condemned the decision of Department of Justice (DOJ) Sec. Leila de Lima to evict from the department’s premises in Manila its two recognized press corps based on an alleged report by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) that members of the press have become a “security threat” to its officials.

“We find the DOJ’s action suspicious; this a ‘cloaked censorship’ aimed at restraining the media from gathering information especially from officials and personalities who are connected with the office of the DOJ secretary (OSEC),” declared NPC president Benny Antiporda.

He noted that the two press corps at the DOJ main building, JUCRA (Justice and Court Reporters Association) and JUROR (Justice Reporters Organization) has been staying on the same floor where the office of De Lima is located so they can immediately gather news on important issues that need the immediate reaction of the justice secretary.

The JUCRA has been holding office at the DOJ since 1977 while the JUROR has also been given accommodation by the department since the 1980s, during the time of Pres. Corazon Aquino.

“Now the DOJ officials want the media out of the building allegedly because of a NICA report that they have become a ‘security threat.’ We (members of the press) are not born yesterday,” Antiporda said.

Antiporda said it is not wild to speculate that de Lima’s order to ban members of the press from the building housing her office and to remove them from as far away as they can be from other top DOJ officials is to cover-up for the ‘sin of commission’ by some justice officials with their habit of releasing reports of DOJ investigation of sensitive issues.

“Instead of focusing on how to suppress press freedom it would be better for Sec. De Lima to give more protection to the media by solving the many incidents of media killing that should have been the primary task of the DOJ’s Task Force 211,” he added.

Citing a purported report from the NICA claiming the presence of members of the press inside the DOJ main building poses a threat to DOJ security, its officials headed by three undersecretaries—Jose Vicente Salazar, Francisco Baraan III and Leah Armamento—gathered on Thursday members of the JUCRA and JUROR to inform them of their eviction ordered by Sec. Leila de Lima.

When pressed for a copy of the report, the officials however declined to provide any.

GMA, PNoy supporters engage in word war

MANILA, Philippines – “Walang modo. Disgraceful.”

These were just some of the words thrown around during a forum between supporters of President Benigno Aquino III and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo organized by the National Press Club.

Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, legal counsel of former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, berated Aquino for criticizing Chief Justice Renato Corona during Monday’s justice summit.

“Walang modo. Hindi na niya pinili ang paggawa niya. May tamang lugar. May tamang panahon para doon. Kahapon, hindi po tama na panahon. Hindi tama na lugar,” he said.

Elena Bautista-Horn, spokesperson of the Arroyo family, said Aquino’s tirades against the Supreme Court was a “bad example” to children.

“Sana magpakita rin tayo ng ehemplo sa mga kabataan. Ako rin ay may mga anak. Sana yung nakikita nila ay yung hindi nagbabastusan harap-harapan. Kung ganito mangyayari, I think it won’t be good to our country.”

Leah Navarro , Black and White Movement convenor, said the President was merely telling the truth. “Nagsasabi lang ng totoo ang Presidente. Criminal justice summit ‘yun. It’s a good a time as any. Better face to face than behind the back,” she said.

Tension erupted when ACT party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio questioned Arroyo’s moves and plans to evade arrest. Topacio then criticized Tinio, saying the lawmaker should not speculate.

He also called Tinio “disgraceful.”

Navarro, however, said it is disgraceful that Arroyo infringed on people’s rights.

She said that when Arroyo was president, she issued Executive Order 464 preventing Cabinet members and other top government officials from appearing in congressional hearings; and EO 1017, which declared a state of national emergency after the alleged coup plot in February 2006.

“We are not lawyers but we are made to remember these letters because of her infringement of our rights,” Navarro said.

She added: “We can go on and on but let’s stick to the point – we are hoping that the former President becomes healthy to face the accusations being leveled against her. Because without that, we don’t have closure.”

Horn said that Arroyo has never tried to evade arrest or ignore cases against her. She said that before the electoral sabotage case, Arroyo had no cases filed against her so she is not able to defend herself.

“Yung kinasusuklaman nila na nag-draft ng EO464 ay katuwang ni Aquino ngayon,” she noted.