ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

Engl i sh Edi ti on

Vol . L N o. 1 2

J une 2 1 , 2 01 9

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Boldly struggle to end the scourge of Duterte's tyrannical rule at thesoonest possible time. Every moment he remains in power, the peo-ple's burden and suffering worsen.

Almost three years under hisrule, people’s lives have worsenedand the economy deteriorated..Unemployment has worsened, taxeshave become more burdensome andprices have soared, while people'swages and income remain low. Thedrug menace has escalated, as thegovernment itself has morphed intothe number one syndicate.

On the other hand, Duterte'swealth of Duterte and that of hisbureaucrat capitalist and oligarchcohorts continue to grow from gov-ernment contracts and plunderingthe people's money. He is sub-servient to foreign powers and sur-renders the country's sovereigntyand patrimony.

Boldly struggle toend Duterte's tyranny!

EDITORIAL

Duterte is flaunting his poweracross the country. He employs theentire armed force and state re-sources to subject the people to vi-olence and deception. He silenceshis critics, activists, lawyers andthe media. He suppresses the peo-ple's resistance. Killings, attacksagainst entire communities, arrestsand imprisonment are rampant.

Duterte controls the entire bu-reaucracy, the armed forces andgovernment branches. To escapeculpability for his crimes, he seeksto perpetuate beyond 2022 thepower and privilege he enjoys withhis family and accomplices.

Still, however powerful Duterte"4 firearms...," continued on page 2"Boldly..," continued on page 2

NPA-Samar

confiscates

4 firearms

THE NEW PEOPLE'S Army (NPA)-Northern Samar confiscated fourfirearms during its successfulagainst a detachment of the AlphaCompany, 63rd IB at Sitio LittleLanubi, Barangay Lanubi (EJ Du-lay), Lao-ang, Northern Samar onMay 21, 4 a.m. The NPA blastedand fired shots at the detachment.Three R4 rifles, a pistol, maga-zines, ammunition and other mili-tary equipment were seized duringthe raid. Three soldiers, includingtwo officials, were killed duringthe 30-minute encounter. Mean-while, the NPA paid tribute to KaYulo who was martyred during theoffensive.

The 63rd IB was among thebattalions that besieged Marawi.When the battalion was rede-ployed in Northern Samar, it

June 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN2

appears, he can not forever sup-press the people's aspiration to befree from tyranny and fascism.Their demand for justice anddemocracy will not be silenced.

It is the right of the Filipinopeople to resist and overthrow agovernment that oppresses theircommon interests and relentlesslysuppresses them. Just as the Mar-cos and Estrada regimes wereoverthrown, there is nothing morejust for the people to do than oustthe brutal, corrupt, oppressive andtreasonous Duterte regime.

To the Filipino people: steelyourselves in the difficult struggleagainst the fascist regime and tocorrect the course of the country'shistory. If the people will unite andmarch as one, they are an invinciblepolitical force and impetus ofchange.

Build the people's organizedstrength. Open their eyes to thereal situation of the country. Tearoff the blindfold of Duterte's liesand distortions. Persevere to un-

mask, understand and expose thesocial realities, the absence ofdemocracy and freedom, the rule ofa few oligarchs, bureaucrat capi-talists and fascists, and the op-pression and exploitation of thetoiling masses.

Pay attention to people's issuesand questions of state. Repudiateindifference. Grapple and compre-hend the roots of everyday prob-lems and grievances. Be students ofhistory, politics and economics.

Firmly unite. Reject self-inter-est. One's well-being is linked to thewelfare of all. Give everything tobuild and broaden mass organiza-tions. Strengthen or establish fac-tory unions. Build and strengthenvarious mass organizations thatunite the majority in schools, officesand communities.

Act as one and express griev-ances over local, sectoral and na-tional issues. Struggle for wage in-creases and workers rights, toreduce land rent and loan interestsand for fair prices of palay andother products, against tuition in-

"Boldly..," from page 1

troopers served as security forcesof private contractors deliveringroad projects in the area.

After the offensive, the mili-tary shelled the barangay andthreatened residents.

Quezon. On June 13, a unit ofthe NPA-Quezon ambushed morethan 30 elements of the 85th IBwho were patrolling at SitioTanauan in Barangay VillaNacaob, Lopez, Quezon. Two sol-diers were killed in action.

The patrolling unit is part ofthe pursuit operation of the 85thagainst a unit of the NPA that at-tacked their troops on June 11 atSitio Bunga in the same barangay.Combat operations of the saidbattalion in the area started onJune 7. Three towns in Quezonwere ravaged, and 16 barangayswere occupied by more than 200troops of the AFP-PNP-CAFGU.

"4 firearms...," from page 1

creases and state abandonment ofeducation, against demolitions,against unjust fees and other ur-gent demands. Link these with thebigger national issues and with thestruggle to end Duterte's tyrannicalrule.

Mass activists must arouse, or-ganize and mobilize hundreds ofthousands of people in the citiesand countryside. Be the engine ofmass study and mass propaganda.Lead discussions, speak before as-semblies, hand out leaflets in thestreets and paint and post urgentcalls on walls. Convince everyone tojoin mass actions and resist. Bringthe Party's message and calls to themasses.

Duterte aims to drive a wedgeamong the people in order that evilforces such as he and his croniesand cohorts can continue to rule.If millions are organized and willact collectively, there is no powerthat can stop the people fromousting Duterte, advancing changeand determining the country'sdestiny.

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Editorial: Boldly struggle to end Duterte'styranny 1NPA-Samar confiscates 4 firearms 1Duterte, a coward 3Gluttonous bureaucrats 3CPP welcomes UNHRC investigation 32nd IB: Butchers of Masbate & Albay 48 killings in 7 days 5CIDG arrests journalist 6Police demolishes evacuee camp 6Disgusting pretension and corruption 6Land reconcentration 7SOT Bill 7CMO 20 8Transportation woes 8Teachers' plight 9Clark airport privatization 9

ANG BAYAN June 21 , 2019 3

Duterte, a coward before China and US

Rodrigo Duterte displayed utter cowardice before China as hefailed to defend Philippine sovereign interests amid widespread

clamor to demand China's culpability over the reported June 9 inci-dent at Recto Bank, where a Chinese trawler rammed and abandoneda sinking fishing boat carrying 22 Filipino crew.

Instead, Duterte parrotedChina's subterfuge by down-playing the incident as a "simplemaritime accident." He con-cealed the more prejudicial factthat a Chinese vessel was fish-ing in Philippine territorial wa-ters.

The Recto Bank incident isevidence of China's increasingaggressiveness in transgressingand plundering Philippine mar-itime territory. Such impunity isa consequence of the Duterteregime’s slavishness and com-plete failure to uphold Philip-pine sovereign rights and laws.

Duterte is spineless becausehe is paid by China. He fearslosing millions of dollars of bribemoney and other favors he andhis cohorts are receiving fromthe state monopoly capitalistsof China in exchange for oner-ous and odious loans.

At the same time, Duterte issilent and meek amid US noiseand threats of military inter-vention. The US took advantageof the incident at Recto Bankand declared that the incidentmay “trigger” the provision ofthe Mutual Defense Treaty.Following this, the US an-nounced its plans of deployingthe USS Stratton, a US CoastGuard cutter, purportedly toprotect Philippine territory. TheUS raises threats of armedconfrontation or war with Chinausing the Philippines as itslaunching pad.

Aside from military facilitesput up by the US in variousparts of the Philippines, it hasalso maintained military pres-ence along the western coastsof the Philippines with the aimof projecting its power along theSouth China Sea trade routes.

Gluttonous bureaucrats

Duterte is not the only one in the government with an unexplainable ac-cumulation of wealth. In 2018, the net worth of 15 of his cabinet offi-

cials increased based on their Statement on Assets, Liabilities and NetWorth or SALN. Similarly, seven congressmen—mostly allies of the incum-bent regime—grew richer after only a year.

In the cabinet, Mark Villar,secretary of the Department ofPublic Works and Highways, is stillthe richest with a net worth ofP1.408 billion. Alfonso Cusi, sec-retary of the Department of En-ergy, recorded the highest in-crease in wealth. His net worthgrew by P29 million from P1.356billion in 2017 to P1.385 billion in2018.

In the Lower House, business-woman Delphine Lee of the Agri

Party-list recorded the highest in-crease in wealth. Her net worthincreased by 400% from P50 mil-lion to P254 million in 2018. But interms of actual assets, bourgeoiscomprador Michael Romero of the1-Pacman party-list has recordedthe highest increase—from P7.291billion net worth in 2017 to P7.858billion in 2018. These bureaucratsused the party-list system to sit inCongress and monopolize fat pub-lic contracts.

CPP welcomes call for

UNHRC investigation

THE COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philip-pines (CPP) welcomed the call of theUnited Nations Human Rights Commis-sion (UNHRC) to conduct an investiga-tion into the worsening human rightssituation in the country under theDuterte regime.

Aside from widespread killings,state security forces also perpetratedvarious cases of illegal arrests, filing oftrumped-up charges, legal harassment,threats, armed raids of communities,hamletting and occupation of rural vil-lages, food and economic blockade, andso.

It stated that the investigationmust subject to critical inquiry bothDuterte's drug war, as well as hiscounterinsurgency directive "to endlocal communist armed conflict" andits various components including Min-danao martial law, Memorandum Or-der 30, Oplan Kapayapaan, OplanSauron and Oplan Kapanatagan.These grave crimes must indeed be in-vestigated, exposed and condemned.The Filipino people's clamor for justicemust be made known across the world,concluded the CPP.

June 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN4

2nd IB: Butchers of Masbate and Albay

Around 1,000 residents from eight barangays in Cawayan, Masbateprotested in front of the municipal hall last June 3-8. They con-

demned the intense militarization of their communities and de-manded the pull out of 2nd IB troopers who have been occupyingthese since May 20.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Mas-bate (KMM) said that the humanrights violations perpetrated by the2nd IB, including the destruction ofpeople's livelihoods, are escalating.

Last May 22, elements of the2nd IB forcibly entered the resi-dences of and mauled KMM mem-bers. They also robbed KMM mem-ber Rosemarie Erero'sP12,000-savings, and illegally ar-rested her brother Nilo Erero Jr.Farmers Danilo Landao, ArnelPunay, Jovanie Impas, Bobby Bay-bayon, Ondo Rondina, Tong-tong Pi-anar, Titing Delos Reyes, Ondoy Pi-anar and Boy-boy Sare were alsoabducted and were subjected toforced labor.

Aside from this, 11 farmerswere coerced to serve as guides inmilitary operations. Formerbarangay council member DaniloCunel was threatened to be killedand Barangay Dalipe residents wereprohibited from going in and out oftheir village.

These cases add to the long listof the 2nd IB's crimes against theBicolanos. From atrocious killings tobanditry, this butcher battalionwreaked terror in Masbate and Al-bay in the last 13 years. The battal-ion is currently under the commandof Lt. Col. John Oliver F. Gabun andis based in Barangay Bacolod, Mila-gros, Masbate.

MurderersSince 2010, the 2nd IB perpe-

trated at least 41 killings of civiliansand six cases of frustated killing.Most of their victims were accusedof being members or supporters ofthe revolutionary movement.Twenty of the killings were carriedout in Masbate within the last three

years.One of the starkest

crimes by the 2nd IB inMasbate was the killingof two children andtheir grandmother inApril 2017. Soldiersunder the commandof Lt. KarlitoJohn Cabillo in-discriminatelyfired at the res-idence of thevictims in Ba-rangay Panan-awan, Cawayan. LitaVillamor Pepito, 70, and siblingsReden and Rechillen Luna, 9 and 11years old, were killed during the in-cident. Pepito's husband Paolingwas also wounded.

In June 2018, from August 26-September 7, the butchers killedseven civilians. Five of the victimswere residents of neighboring vil-lages in the towns of San Jacinto,San Fernando and Monreal. Somehouses were also torched by thesoldiers. Atrocious killings were alsoperpetated by the 2nd IB in Albaywhen it was stationed in the prov-ince from 2006-2016. Two of itsvictims were decapitated, one wasburned and another's neck wasslashed. Two massacres were per-petrated by the 2nd IB in the prov-ince.

Attackers of childrenChildren and the youth are not

spared from the various crimes ofthe butcher battalion. Aside fromthe Luna siblings, two other youthfell prey to the 2nd IB's strafing inPioduran, Albay in April 2012. Onewas killed while another waswounded after they were fired uponby the soldiers. The two were on

their way to a village dance.In the 2nd IB's massacre of the

Lotino family in Daraga, Albay inOctober 2010, one of the victimswas a minor. Three young childrensurvived the attack while anothersuffered severe trauma.

In barangays occupied by the2nd IB, children are used as humanshields. In Guinobatan, Albay, caseswherein minors are used by soldiersas guides in their operations werereported.

BanditsIn Barangay San Jose, Uson,

Masbate, soldiers repeatedly stoledomestic animals, belongings andcash of the villagers in September2017 and August 2018.

In Barangay Talisay in San Fer-nando, Masbate, the soldiersrobbed the villagers thrice in May2018. Lt. Col. Gabun himself spear-headed the crime. The officerforcibly rounded up the villagers,while his men ransacked theirproperties. Among the belongingsseized by the 2nd IB were eightfishing boats and nets, rice, dozensof domestic animals, five generatorsets and farm equipment. A dayearlier, four motorcycles were also

"Butchers..," continued on page 5

ANG BAYAN June 21 , 2019 5

8 killings in 7 days

In just a week, eight activists and peasants were killed by armed state el-ements. Civilians were also subjected to various incidents of harassment

and intimidation across the country.

seized by the soldiers. Two inci-dents of theft by the 2nd IB, af-fecting 35 victims, were recorded

Even when it was still de-ployed in Albay, the 2nd IB wasalready notorious for banditry. Itsdetachments were known forspearheading criminal activitiesincluding holdup incidents. Re-cruits in the Barangay Intelli-gence Network accompany sol-diers in heists which primarilytarget middle forces accused ofsupporting the revolutionarymovement. A rape case was alsocommitted by the 2nd IB'sthieves.

Unrest in communitiesIn barangays occupied by the

2nd IB, residents are coerced toconstruct huts for the military,post guard and conduct recon-naissance. Cases of threat andharassment against suspectedmembers or supporters of therevolutionary movement are pre-valent.

From 2010-2015, 2nd IB"peace and development" opera-tions occupied and terrorizedbarangays in the second and thirddistrict of Albay. In Masbate, itscrimes against the people aremost intense in the first and sec-ond districts.

The 2nd IB also perpetratedthe illegal arrest and detention of39 civilians, torture and physicalinjuries of five, and harassment ofeight others.

The 2nd IB was previously de-ployed in Bicol in 1986, and thentransferred to different provinceswithin the region. After undergo-ing "retraining" in 2006, the bat-talion's atrocities escalated whenit was transferred from Sorsogonto Albay. Here, the 2nd IB carriedout the brutal campaigns OplanBantay Laya 1 and 2, up to OplanBayanihan. The butchers werethen transferred to Masbate in2016 and carried on with theircrimes there.

"Butchers..," continued on page 5

"Butchers...," from page 4

Two staff members of Karap-atan-Sorsogon were shot-dead inthe morning of June 14. Ryan Hu-billa and Nelly Bagasala, 69, wereaboard a tricycle when they werefired upon by two assailants atPhase 2, Seabreeze Homes Subdi-vision, Barangay Cabid-an, Sorso-gon City.

Bagasala served as a humanrights defender for severaldecades. She was subjected to re-lentless vilification and Red-taggingby the military. Hubilla andBagasala were also subjected tosurveillance and harassment in thepast months.

On the next day, NephtaliMorada, former campaign officer ofBayan-Bicol was gunned down inBarangay San Isidro, Naga City.

In San Fernando, Masbate,farmers Arnie Espinilla and SandoAlcovindaz were successively killedon June 9 and 10 in Barangay Liongand Buenavista, respectively. Theywere killed by the group of Sgt.Chalas, official of the Peace andDevelopment Team of the 2nd IBoperating in the barrios of Talisay,Altavista, Buenavista, Canelas, DelRosario and Progreso. The victimswere tagged as members of theNew People's Army (NPA).

On June 14 in the evening, sol-diers trooped to the residence ofPizo Cabug and then gunned himdown. Cabug was a member of theMasbate People’s Organization.

Amid successive killings of hu-man rights defenders in Bicol andother parts of the country, around6,000 individuals protested in NagaCity. The mobilization was dubbed"Kilos Bikolano laban sa Tiraniya"(Bicolanos Fight Against Tyranny).Karapatan members also protestedin front of the Department of Na-tional Defense headquarters inQuezon City on June 17.

In Bukidnon, state elementsgunned down Nonoy Palma in frontof his house at Sitio Malambago,Barangay Halapitan, San Fernando,on June 16. Palma was a member ofKASAMA, provincial chapter of theKilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.One of the three assailats wasidentified as a member of the Ala-mara paramilitary group.

Meanwhile, Felipe Dacaldacal,member of the National Federationof Sugar Workers was gunned downin the evening of June 9 at SitioDita, Barangay Pinapugasan, Es-calante City, Negros Occidental.

Killing of a person hors de combatEdwin "Ka Dupax" Dematera,

commander of NPA-Sorsogon waskilled hors de combat by the 31st IBon June 12. He was gunned downafter being beaten up outside hishouse in Barangay Incarizan, Mag-allanes, Sorsogon. Dematera wastemporarily confined in the areadue to a swollen foot.

After killing Dematera, the sol-diers ransacked his house andseized the belongings of his rela-tives' visitors. Jemuel Non Saturaywas also illegally arrested andbrought to Camp Escudero in Sor-sogon City. He was accused of beinga member of the NPA and was madeto appear to be in possession of a.38 caliber pistol.

The 31st IB is led by Lt. Col.Randy N. Espino and is based inBarangay Rangas, Juban, Sorsogon.The battalion was deployed in Ca-marines Norte in the 1990s. Theywere transferred to Sorsogon in2011 and are still operating in theprovince at present.

Bloody recordAng Bayan reports indicate

that the 31st IB has perpetrated"Killings...," continued on page 6

June 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN6

Disgusting hypocrisy and corruption

CIDG illegally arrests journalist

THE ARBITRARY ARREST and detention of renowned journalist Fidelina MargaritaValle on June 9 by officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Re-gion 9 was met with widespread condemnation.

Valle was arrested while waitingfor her flight to Davao City at theLaguindingan Airport in Misamis Orien-tal. She was detained for 12 hoursbased on a warrant against a certainElsa Renton, alias Tina Maglaya and Fi-delina Margarita Valle, who waswanted for arson, multiple murder anddestruction of government property.

Valle's family said that the arrestis clearly a case of harassment and in-timidation against the victim for her

advocacy and stand against thetyranny of Rodrigo Duterte. The PNPwas compelled to release Valle afterthe incident was broadly criticized.The PNP lamely reasoned out that thearrest was "a case of mistaken iden-tity" and merely apologized. TheValle family rejected the apology andvowed to file charges against theCIDG.

Valle is a columnist of news portalDavao Today.

This June, reports began to circulate about corruption in the PhilippineHealth Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth). Duterte's former speaker, Harry

Roque himself exposed that PhilHealth was scammed hundreds of billions ofpesos.

Part of this are the overcharg-ing of hospitals, "upcasing" or list-ing of cough for instance as pneuo-nia and duplication of lists andreceipts. Among the starkest is theclaiming of Wellness Dialysis Centerof PhilHealth benefits for fake anddeceased patients.

Reports indicate that Phil-health lost P154 billion since 2013.A large chunk or P102 billion ofthis was charged through over-

charging and ghost treatments forfake patients.

In response, Duterte orderedthe resignation of PhilHealthpresident Roy Ferrer only to re-place him with his favored hench-man. Ret. Brig. Gen. RicardoMorales's name has come up de-spite being unqualified to lead theinstitution. PhilHealth funds aredirectly deducted from workers'wages both in the private and

public sector. The large amount ofmoney it is able to collect qualifiesit as one of the most advanta-geous institutions in the civilianbureaucracy.

From time to time, Duterte ex-poses cases of corruption in hisgovernment to make it appear thathis reigning neatly. This is not topurge the bureaucracy from cor-rupt officials but to allow him tointerchangeably place his hench-men in various positions, suppressor dismiss from office those who dofollow his plans, and place his fa-vored military officials in vacantpositions.

"Killings...," from page 5

Police demolishes evacuee camp

POLICE OFFICERS DEMOLISHED the camp of Lumad evacuees near the provincialcapitol in Cagayan de Oro City on June 18. Lumads from Sitio Kamansi, BarangayBanglay, Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental have been camping in the area for more than ayear due to military occupation of their community. The occupation will pave the wayfor the operation of big geothermal and mining companies in Mt. Balatucan, includingthe Balatucan-Balingasag Geothermal Prospect Energy Development Corporation.

DEMOLITION. Five individuals were wounded, one of whom is in critical condi-tion, during a demolition in Sitio Malipay III, Barangay Molino IV, Bacoor, Cavite,on June 18. The Villars ordered the demolition to pave the way for the constructionof infrastructures in the area.

On June 10, 55 SWAT elements and local government agents demolished civilianresidences at Sitio Kawayanan, Titus Street in Barangay San Agustin, Novaliches,Quezon City. Despite having lived in the area for several decades, residents wereforcibly evicted to pave the way for the construction of "Bistekville," a housingproject of the local government.

18 killings since 2014. Thebattalion is also notoriousfor illegal arrests, theft,and illegal search of civil-ian residences. The battal-ion also perpetrated anumber of hors de combatkillings.

Among its starkestcrimes is the indiscriminatestrafing of the Garduqueresidence on May 2014 inMatnog, Sorsogon. CoupleElias and Cynthia were ac-cused as members of theNPA.

Elias was killed duringthe incident, while his wifeand one-year old baby werewounded. The soldiers leftthe mother and baby tobleed for nine hours andprevented villagefolk fromrescuing them.

The butcher battalionis also responsible for thekilling of Teodoro "Tay Tu-doy" Escanilla, 63, spokes-person of Karapatan-Sor-sogon, in August 2015. Hewas gunned down in hishouse in Barangay Tagdon,Barcelona sa Sorsogon.

ANG BAYAN June 21 , 2019 7

SOT: Putting contractualization into law

End ENDO your face. This seems to be the message of the US-Duterteregime to workers after railroading in Congress the approval of the Se-

curity of Tenure (SOT) Bill before the 17th Congress ended.

Duterte has promised to endcontractualization since he came topower. In 2017 and 2018, he at-tempted to pacify workers by issu-ing orders which purportedly aim topush for regularization of workers.These, however, actually further re-inforced contractualization schemes.Among these are the Departmentof Labor and Employment Order174 and Executive Order 51, issuedin 2017 and 2018 respectively,which were both rejected by laborgroups.

As these orders are essentiallytoothless, Duterte passed the re-sponsibility of ending contractual-ization to Congress.

Job insecurityContrary to its title, the final

draft of the SOT Bill approved inCongress will not ensure job secu-rity. It will only put into law and notend contractualization. This is worsethan DOLE and Duterte orders asthe latter can be easily supersededunlike laws that are enacted.

Similar to previous orders, SOTallows job outsourcing (contractingof workers from labor agencies).Like other forms of contractualiza-tion, it absolves capitalists from alltheir legal obligations and leavesthe task of upholding labor rightsto contractors or labor agencies.Its primary objective is to mini-

mize the labor cost of capitalistsand deny workers of their laborrights.

In the case of big malls, capi-talists may argue that they do notdirectly employ their salesladies astheir primary business is leasingout commercial spaces and notselling products. This subterfugehas long been used by big bour-geois compradors to perpetuatethe contractual status of theirworkers.

This bill is no different to thecurrent system, wherein the DOLEpurportedly deploys inspectors tocompanies that practice contractu-alization, who in most cases, sidewith capitalists. It comes as no sur-prise that the bill was approved byCongress and was loosely acceptedby capitalists.

Duterte’s land program:

Reconcentration, not distribution

Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called land distribution is bogus. Behind this, theDepartment of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is railroading the reclassification

and conversion of agricultural lands to speed up its reconcentration in thehands of big land lords and bourgeois compradors.

From April to May this year,DAR issued one administrative or-der after another to hasten the re-classification of agricultural landsand convert these for residential,commercial and industrial use.Aside from “simplifying” theprocess, the DAR also established aspecial committee to fast track ap-plications for conversion and awardexemptions from the Comprehen-sive Agrarian Reform Program(CARP).

These orders followed Duterte’sexecutive order to put applicationsfor land reclamation near big citiesunder presidential authority.. Thisis to expedite the reclamationprocess and allow the president tomonopolize kickbacks from the con-struction of commercial establish-ments and airports on reclaimed

lands.These orders precede the Na-

tional Land Use Act, one of theDuterte regime’s priority bills, thatwill reclassify agricultural lands andforests, in compliance with the long-standing demands of real estate de-velopers, big agribusiness companiesand other big capitalists. The law willfacilitate widespread land grabbingof agricultural lands from peasantsand national minorities to give wayto the construction of roads, air-ports, subdivisions, buildings, dams,energy plants and other big infra-structure projects under his Build,Build, Build program. In his haste,Duterte wants to shorten the recla-mation application process from 26-36 months to 30 days.

Government data indicate thatfrom 1998 to 2016, around 98,000

hectares of agricultural lands(equivalent to land areas of MetroManila and Cebu) have been con-verted to residential, commercialand industrial uses. This figure doesnot include applications approvedby local government units and landsillegaly converted. Majority of theseconverted lands are in Luzon (80%),especially in CALABARZON (South-ern Tagalog) and Central Luzon.

June 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN8

CMO 20: A neoliberal scheme in education

Academics and professionals were dismayed with the decision issued by theSupreme Court on June 11 which upholds the constitutionality of the

Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) order which seeks to remove Filipino,Panitikan (Filipino Literature) and Constitution from the college curriculum.The said provisions are contained in the CHEd Memorandum Order Number 20(CMO 20) which was issued earlier in 2015 by the US-Aquino regime. CMO 20 ispart of the series of neoliberal offensives in the education sector.

Prior to this, the K-12 programwas implemented. The said programadded two years of high school fortechnical-vocational education andencourages students to enter theworkforce instead of proceeding tocollege. This reform in primary andsecondary education aims to trainthe Filipino youth based on the needof local and foreign companies forcheap, docile, and low- to semi-skilled labor.

In particular, the college cur-riculum was deliberately narroweddown, made less multifaceted andcentered on technical, scientific,professional and cultural-ideologicaltraining to serve the needs of theworld capitalist system. Complyingwith this neoliberal framework, thestate dismisses the relevance ofstudying Filipino, Panitikan and Con-stitution in college. In the past,these subjects serve as an avenue

for patriotic academics to teachprogressive and nationalist views.

According to Tanggol Wika, theFilipino language is a "significantcornerstone of national identity...which serves as a medium commu-nication between ethnolinguisticalgroups and classes" especially in anarchipelagic country. This paves theway for unity and people empower-ment.

Meanwhile, professors from theUniversity of the Philippines saidthat the Filipino language and Pan-itikan are vital in "deepening thecritical, creative, free and liberativeskills of students and the people."They added that the subjects arenot merely a repetition as thesehave a higher level of theory, prac-tice and use, especially in helpingshape Filipino consciousness.

CMO 20 is a manifestation ofthe reactionary state's disinterest

in developing a patriotic and na-tional culture and Filipino identity.The development of a nationalisticculture has no place or value in thedirection set by this order. It allowsforeign interests and influence todominate and condition the mindsof Filipinos, especially the youth,into patronizing foreign products,including cultural products, andbury their objective aspiration fornational sovereignty.

The Filipino people need to ex-pose not only CMO 20 but also allother neoliberal educational re-forms and fight for a genuinely pa-triotic, scientific and mass-orientededucational system.

Transportation woes

Everyday, Filipinos, especially in the national capital, have to endure amyriad of transport problems. The most glaring of these are traffic, road

shortages and the absence of an efficient mass transport system which costthem a big chunk of their incomes. These problems are further exacerbated byvarious schemes of those in power, which mostly cater to the whims of bigcapitalists.

According to a study in 2012, acommuter in Manila is stuck in traf-fic for an average of an hour and sixminutes a day. This translates to 16days a year. An individual loses upto P100,000 in income in the saidduration. The local economy is esti-mated to have lost P2.4 billion a daydue to traffic. Overall, this is equiv-alent to 2% to 5% of the GDP.

This is worsened by the increasein number of private vehicles due to

low interest rates on car loans. Es-timates indicate that the number ofprivate vehicles during rush hours isdouble the capacity of roads. As aresult, commuters spend more thandouble the time they need in transit.

Meanwhile, mass transportationis severely insufficient. Train sys-tems in Metro Manila which span246 kilometers are 100% congested.

Because of this, many com-muters prefer other modes of

transportion such as private vans,FX (UV express) and others. New-est among these is the ride-sharingsystem operated by big companiessuch as Grab and Angkas. Manycommuters rely on these modes fortheir daily commutes. Thus, theyare dismayed by the regime’s poli-cies which made commuting morestrenuous.

Among these is a regulation is-sued by the Land Transportationand Franchise Regulatory Boardwhich limits vehicles under the UVexpress system to pick and unloadpassengers only at terminals. Thisis akin to the Metro Manila Devel-opment Authority’s banning of pro-

"Transportation..," continued on page 10

ANG BAYAN June 21 , 2019 9

Who will profit from theprivatization of Clark Airport?

Big bourgeois compradors and bureaucrat capitalists are currently pocket-ing billions of funds and kickbacks by implementing the US-Duterte

regime's grandiose infrastructure projects. Among these is the Clark Interna-tional Airport Expansion Project in the province of Pampanga, one of Duterte'sbig ticket infrastructure projects under his Build, Build, Build program.

Pro-capitalist projectDuterte is using the congestion

and growing demand at the NinoyAquino International Airport(NAIA) in the national capital topush for the construction of a new82,000-hectare terminal in Clarkwith an additional handling capacityof 8 million passengers per year.

To purportedly resolve theproblem, the regime awarded in De-cember 2017 the P9.36-billion pub-lic contract for the expansion of theClark Airport to the Megawide Con-struction Corporation (MGC) and its

Indian corporate partner, GMR In-frastructure Ltd. This was imple-mented under the hybrid public-private-partnership (PPP) modalitywhich means that the people willdirectly shoulder the costs for thesaid project that will only be usedas a milking cow by local and for-eign capitalists afterwards.

Utilizing the budget of theBases Conversion and DevelopmentAuthority (BCDA), the consortium iscurrently constructing the said in-frastructure. The government re-cently reported that the new termi-

nal is 59% complete and will be op-erational by 2020.

MGC is owned by capitalistEdgar Saavedra, the 35th richestindividual in the country who de-clared a net worth of $245 million in2018. He manages the companywith Michael Cosiquien, the 36thrichest with a net worth of $240million.

The grandiose infrastructureprogram of the regime is furtherlining the pockets of these two cap-italists. In sum, the MGC is cur-rently profiteering from its simul-taneous delivery of five PPPprojects. In 2010, the GMR-MGCconsortium was also awarded aP17.52-billion contract by the Ar-royo regime for a similar project at

The woeful plight of teachers

The woeful plight of teachers was once again highlighted when a picture ofa toilet-turned-faculty room circulated in social media on the first week

of June. The picture portrays what teachers and workers in the educationsector have long endured such as shortages of classrooms, teaching aids andother teaching materials.

Due to the lack of funds, teach-ers often shoulder the costs ofteaching aids like chalk. But worsethan this is the low wages thatteachers are made to endure, whichthe state and even its Department ofEducation (DepEd) secretary LeonorBriones insist as "sufficient."

Extremely inadequate salarySince his campaign, Dutete has

promised nine times to raise teach-ers’ salaries. But up to now, this re-mains unfullfilled as he prioritizedraising police and soldiers’ salaries.He also increased his own salary by200%.

Presently, a teacher’s salary isonly at P20,000-P22,000/month.

Deducting taxes, loan payments andothers, teacher is left with a meagerP5,000 as take home pay. Teacherscomplain that almost half of theirsalaries are spent on water andelectricity bills. They stretch what-ever is left for food and medicines.Because of this, are often left withno choice but to borrow cash fromthe Government Service InsuranceSystem (GSIS), loan institutions andloan sharks.

Data by the DepEd indicate thatthe collective debt of teachers bal-looned by P18 billion in just twoyears—from P301 billion in 2017 toP319 billion this year.

Almost half of this amount wasloaned from the GSIS while P162

billion was loaned from private in-stitutions. This figure does not in-clude loans from loan sharks. Pay-ment for GSIS and other loanistitutions are automatically de-ducted from a teacher’s salary untilthe loan is fully paid.

The ACT Teachers Party haslong called for raising the entrylevel salary of teachers toP30,000/month. The group esti-mates that this amount is sufficientfor a family of five.

Ibon Foundation estimates indi-cate that the state only needs to levya 30% tax on individuals earning P50million up to fund the needed in-crease. This measure can raise up toP400 billion/year which is evenhigher than the budgetary require-ment for the P10,000/month wageincrease which is at P150 billion/year.This will affect only the 38,000 richestindividuals or 0.04% of the nation’spopulation, the group said.

"Berdugo..," sundan sa pahina 5

ANG BAYAN June 21 , 2019 10

the Mactan-Cebu InternationalAirport.

Railroaded privatizationAfter pouring in billions of funds

for the expansion of the airport andeven though its construction is yetto be completed, Duterte railroadedthe public bidding of a contract forthe operations and maintenance ofthe entire airport to further guar-antee the profits of private corpo-rations. This is in compliance withthe recommendations of the Inter-national Finance Corporation (IFC),the private investment arm of theWorld Bank, which drafted the con-cession agreement for the privati-zation of the airport.

Last December, the governmentawarded the contract to Luzon In-ternational Premiere Airport Devel-opment Corp. (LIPAD), a consor-tium led by bourgeois compradorrelatives Josephine Gotianun-Yap ofFilinvest and Lance Gokongwei of JGSummit. The private consortium isset to take over the management ofairport operations on July 21.

Filinvest, the lead member ofthe consortium with a 42.5% share,is headed by Josephine Gotianun-Yap. She is a daughter of MercedesGotianun, the 17th richest individ-ual in the country who declared anet worth of $1.15 billion last year.The Gotianuns own Filinvest, a realestate company which is notoriousfor converting agricultural landsinto subdivisions.

JG Summit on ther other hand,which has the second highest sharein the consortium (33%), is cur-rently headed by Lance Gokongwei.He is a son of John Gokongwei Jr.,the 3rd richest individual in thecountry with a net worth of $4.4billion. The Gokongweis own Robin-sons and Universal Robina Corpo-ration which are notorious for un-fair labor practices.

The said privatization contractwill surely fatten the pockets ofthese capitalists. Through this, theywill be able to accumulate profits

through the imposition of high ser-vice charges such as terminal andparking fees that passengers com-monly pay.

If the consortium will impose aP300-terminal fee/passenger, itcan collect up to P2.4 billion/year inthe new terminal alone. This ex-cludes the value of revenues thatcan be collected from the paymentof aircraft parking and landing feesby airlines, and rental fees by busi-ness establishments leasing com-mercial spaces at the airport.

On top of this, the concession-aire will also enjoy fiscal incentivesunder the Build-Operate-TransferLaw, including a four- to six-yeartax exemption.

With all that it will able to gain,the concessionaire is only obligatedto pay P1 billion per year to the

BCDA for ten years as payment tothe government.

Meanwhile, the privatizationconcession is a bane to airportemployees. Despite provisions inthe concession agreement whichstate that regular employees willbe given a separation incentivepackage and will be rehired, theyare still uncertain of what theiremployment status will be uponthe take over of the new operator.Even the National Conciliation andMediation Board declined to com-ment to the inquiry of the employ-ees if the new operator will absorbthem as stated in the contract. Inaddition, the "separation incentivepackage" which affected employ-ees are supposed to have receivedby now is yet to be approved byDuterte.

"Clark...," from page 9

vincial buses along EDSA, Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare which cutsacross several cities. The MMDA regulation also limits buses to load andunload passengers at dilapidated terminals across the metropolis. Theseregulations make commuting more difficult and expensive to many trav-ellers. It is also dangerous for the elderly and disabled who rely on di-rect transportation.

The continuing and worsening transport problem is a result of theDuterte regime’s failure to develop an efficient mass transportation sys-tem that will benefit the people. His policies only serve the interests ofbig capitalists including oil companies, big banks, car and other privatevehicle manufacturers.

"Transportation..," from page 8

THE PROFIT-TAKERS

CONTRACTORSAIRPORT EXPANSION

CONCESSIONAIRES

AIRPORT OPERATIONS

PRIVATIZATION

*Start – July 21, 2019*Effectivity – 25 years

Billion

Hectares