Category: Maguindanao massacre

Bongbong & BBL: Father-son act?

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By Cong B. Corrales

REMEMBER thy father’s mistakes, do right by the Moro people.

This, according to supporters of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), are lessons that Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. might do well to remember before thrashing the BBL.

proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), according to the leader of the
“Tandaan po natin, ang pamilya Marcos, ang tatay ni Senator Bongbong Marcos, siya po ang pinagmulan ng puno’t-dulong gulo, lalong-lalo na po sa Mindanao,” said Aga Khan Sharieff, chairman of the Bangsamoro National Movement for Peace and Development, at a recent press briefing. [Let us not forget that it was the Marcos family, the father of Senator Bongbong Marcos, who started the conflict in Mindanao.]

A political advertisement featuring the young Marcos had repeatedly aired on national television. In it, he stated his opposition to the proposed law and announced his plan to draft a new version of the bill.

Earlier, Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on local government, had said that he would rather amend Republic Act No. 6734 or the Organic Act to establish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, rather than pass the BBL.

Sharieff, who is also known as “Sheik Bin Laden” because of his long beard, is also the lead convenor of Anti-Bugok or Anti-Bungangero at Utak Pulburang Pulitiko. The phrase translates to “Against Looudmouth and Trigger-Happy Politicians”.

PCIJ tried to reach Marcos on Monday for comment but his staff said the senator was attending a hearing on the case of a student who allegedly committed suicide after being berated by his teacher.

Meanwhile, Yhang Macusang, spokesperson of the Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Partylist group, said that instead of blocking the passage of BBL, Marcos would do well to take this chance to make amends with the Bangsamoro people.

“Panahon na po upang bumawi kayo (Marcos) sa mga mamamayang Moro. Kayo (Marcos) po sana ang magtuwid ng mali ng nakaraan. Ngunit tila yata tama ang kasabihang: Kung ano ang puno ay siya ang bunga,” Macusang said. [It's high time for the Marcoses to do good by the Moro people. The Marcoses should correct the mistakes of the past. However, it seems like the saying is true: A tree bears fruit in its own image and likeness.]

“He (Marcos) must lead the restitution for the victims of the Jabidah massacre, Manlili massacre, and the countless victims of enforced disappearance, torture and warrantless arrests,” the group said in a statement read by Abdul Malik, program director of Bawgbug Center for Human Rights and Peace.

The group said that if Marcos really wants peace in Mindanao, he should “stop his shameless use of the issue of the BBL for his political campaign ads.”

For her part, lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, secretary general of Mindanao People’s Caucus, said that the BBL is a product of 17 years of negotiations and hundreds of consultations. According to her, Marcos’s plan to draft his own version of the bill is an insult to the thousands of people who have devoted their time and effort in the drafting of the BBL.

“Wala na pong ibang mas makagagawa ng Bangsamoro Basic Law liban po sa mga Bangsamoro,” said Arnado. [No other group but the Bangsamoro people must raft their own Bangsamoro Basic Law.]

“At kung si Bongbong Marcos ay gagawa na kanyang basic law, sa kanya ‘yan. Bongbong Law ‘yan at hinding-hindi ‘yan magiging Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Amado added. [If Bongbong Marcos will draft his basic law, then that's his own. That could only be a Bongbong law, and never a Bangsamoro Basic Law.] – PCIJ, June 2015

PH’s Ed Legaspi, new ED of SEAPA

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A FILIPINO with long and solid background on media freedom, human rights, and the political economy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the new executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).

The Board of Trustees of SEAPA, a network of independent media organizations in seven countries of Southeast Asia, has named Edgardo P. Legaspi, former SEAPA Alerts and Communications Officer, as new SEAPA executive director.

Legaspi formally takes over as executive director on July 1, 2015.

He succeeds Gayathry Venkiteswaran from Malaysia, who had served creditably well as executive director for over three years, a period which marked SEAPA’s implementation of its “Journalism for Change” program for journalists, Netizens, and media lawyers across the region.

The SEAPA Trustees conducted rigorous interviews with Legaspi and four other short-listed candidates in Bangkok last month. In all, 12 persons from several countries vied for the position and submitted written application letters on their vision and plans for SEAPA.

SEAPA has full and associate members from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Myanmar.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Center for Media Freedom and responsibility (CMFR), the Thai Journalists Association, and Indonesia’s Association of Independent Journalists (AJI) and Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) are founding members of SEAPA.

“I am very happy to hand over the baton to Ed, with whom I’ve had a good working relationship for the last three years. I hope you will extend to him your support and cooperation as you have to me during my tenure,” Venkiteswaran said.

In response, Legaspi said: “Thank you especially to Gaya, who encouraged me to apply. The challenges ahead for SEAPA are daunting, but have been made considerably smoother because of her work. Those are certainly higher standards to meet, but with your help, together, the tasks shall be easier. I am humbled by this.”

Before joining SEAPA in March 2012, Legaspi had worked from 2006 to 2011 as manager of the Information, Communications, and Publications Department of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and development (FORUM-ASIA), and as consultant and coordinator for its Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Programs and Peace and Human Security Program.

In 2009, he served as ASEAN Program Associate of the Southeast Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA) where he managed and implemented project to promote civil society engagement with the ASEAN.

In the Philippines from 1988 to 2004, Legaspi had worked variably as writer, editor, assistant manager, advocacy officer, and program coordinator of the Gazton Z. Ortigas Peace Institute, Asian Social Institute, and TABAK (Alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Advocates).

From October 2007 to November 2008, Legaspi had also worked with the Nonviolence International Southeast Asia (NISEA) as manager and trainer on human rights monitoring and conflict management strategy and development in Southern Thailand, as well as advisor and advocacy officer on disarmament (control of small arms and light weapons and banning landmines and cluster munitions)

Legaspi holds an Economics degree from St. Joseph’s College in Quezon City, and has done course work for Master’s degrees in economics and human rights from the Asian Social Institute in the Philippines and the Mahidol University in Thailand.

As SEAPA Alerts and Communications Officer in the last three years, Legaspi had worked as lead writer of reports on cases of free expression violations; led the development and implementation of SEAPA’s communication strategy; managed the alliance’s social media accounts, developed databases and a monitoring system for cases of free expression violations in Southeast Asia; and conducted research, orientation and training for SEAPA staff and network members on press freedom, Internet governance, media law and impunity, and secure communication tools.

Before Legaspi and Venkiteswaran, another Filipino, Roby Alampay, had served as SEAPA’s first executive director.

The six-person SEAPA secretariat based in Bangkok has staff personnel from Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar.

Crunch time on FOI, promises PNoy made in ‘Social Contract’

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By Cong B. Corrales

PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III would do well to act on his campaign promises promptly as he approaches his last 12 months in Malacañang.

In a letter to Aquino, the Philippine Business Groups and Joint Foreign Chambers (PBG-JFC) urged Aquino to assure the “swift passage” of important legislative measures, led no less by the Freedom of Information Act.

Apart from FOI, the business groups urged Aquino to see after the passage of amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution (Resolution of Congress No. 1); the Public-Private Partnership Act (Build-Operate-Transfer Law Amendments) and the amendments to the Right-of-Way Act (Republic Act No. 8974); the Fair Competition Act; an Act creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology; the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act; and the Comprehensive Tax System Reform.

“It is our common position that the enactment and implementation of the above measures will accelerate the country toward the progressive nation we all aspire to become,” the PBG-JFC letter read in part.

All the legislative measures listed above are enrolled in Aquino’s “Social Contract with the Filipino People” but not one has been passed at all in the last five years of his presidency. His term ends on June 30, 2016, or in about 12 months.

The business groups also urged the Aquino government to push more vigorously “critical policy reforms aimed at ensuring inclusive growth through job generation, poverty reduction, and global competitiveness.”

After what it called a month-long discussion with members, the PBG-JFC asked the President to act on the following points which they said require prompt executive action:

* Immediate appointment of qualified, credible, and experienced public servants to the vacant posts in the Civil Service Commission, Department of Energy, and the Philippine National Police.

* Establishment of a public-private Energy Council composed of credible electricity experts who will formulate and regularly update a detailed energy security and price competitiveness roadmap.

* Establishment of the National Privacy Commission and the release of the implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

* Creation of agricultural trading centers that will provide farmers and fisherfolk the latest technology, as well as assistance in securing financing and marketing support.

* Reduction of the number of steps in establishing a business to the minimum across the country, taking into account the need to expand the ease of doing business efforts of the National Competitiveness Council.

* Revision of the Foreign Investment Negative List to reduce the list of industries where foreign participation remains limited.

* Intensify efforts to implement with minimum delay critical land, air, and sea transportation projects.

* Early resolution of the Maguindanao massacre trial and the plunder cases against the senators accused in the pork barrel scam and former President Arroyo, as well as provision of additional resources to the judiciary.

The PBG-JFC is a coalition of 18 local and foreign business groups.

Its roster of members includes the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alyansa Agrikultura, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, American Chamber of Commerce, Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, European Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korean Chamber of Commerce, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters. – PCIJ, May 2015

Crunch time on FOI, promises PNoy made in ‘Social Contract’

mcmangahas Leave a comment

By Cong B. Corrales

PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III would do well to act on his campaign promises promptly as he approaches his last 12 months in Malacañang.

In a letter to Aquino, the Philippine Business Groups and Joint Foreign Chambers (PBG-JFC) urged Aquino to assure the “swift passage” of important legislative measures, led no less by the Freedom of Information Act.

Apart from FOI, the business groups urged Aquino to see after the passage of amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution (Resolution of Congress No. 1); the Public-Private Partnership Act (Build-Operate-Transfer Law Amendments) and the amendments to the Right-of-Way Act (Republic Act No. 8974); the Fair Competition Act; an Act creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology; the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act; and the Comprehensive Tax System Reform.

“It is our common position that the enactment and implementation of the above measures will accelerate the country toward the progressive nation we all aspire to become,” the PBG-JFC letter read in part.

All the legislative measures listed above are enrolled in Aquino’s “Social Contract with the Filipino People” but not one has been passed at all in the last five years of his presidency. His term ends on June 30, 2016, or in about 12 months.

The business groups also urged the Aquino government to push more vigorously “critical policy reforms aimed at ensuring inclusive growth through job generation, poverty reduction, and global competitiveness.”

After what it called a month-long discussion with members, the PBG-JFC asked the President to act on the following points which they said require prompt executive action:

* Immediate appointment of qualified, credible, and experienced public servants to the vacant posts in the Civil Service Commission, Department of Energy, and the Philippine National Police.

* Establishment of a public-private Energy Council composed of credible electricity experts who will formulate and regularly update a detailed energy security and price competitiveness roadmap.

* Establishment of the National Privacy Commission and the release of the implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

* Creation of agricultural trading centers that will provide farmers and fisherfolk the latest technology, as well as assistance in securing financing and marketing support.

* Reduction of the number of steps in establishing a business to the minimum across the country, taking into account the need to expand the ease of doing business efforts of the National Competitiveness Council.

* Revision of the Foreign Investment Negative List to reduce the list of industries where foreign participation remains limited.

* Intensify efforts to implement with minimum delay critical land, air, and sea transportation projects.

* Early resolution of the Maguindanao massacre trial and the plunder cases against the senators accused in the pork barrel scam and former President Arroyo, as well as provision of additional resources to the judiciary.

The PBG-JFC is a coalition of 18 local and foreign business groups.

Its roster of members includes the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alyansa Agrikultura, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, American Chamber of Commerce, Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, European Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korean Chamber of Commerce, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters. – PCIJ, May 2015

Watered-down BBL = A house with no roof, plates with no food

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By Cong B. Corrales

A WEAK AND EFFETE Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will be like giving the Bangsamoro people “a house without a roof” or “plates without food.”

This was how peace advocates from Mindanao and Manila responded to recent statements by members of the House of Representatives that at least eight provisions in the BBL could be amended.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL, had earlier told reporters in several forums that his committee plans to scrap eight provisions of the BBL that are supposedly “unconstitutional.”

But Gani Abunda of the Friends of the Bangsamoro Movement in a public forum on Friday said such statements do not augur well for the BBL, citing “the spirit and principles of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)” which the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed on March 27, 2014.

“We don’t think that a watered-down (BBL) will address the legitimate concerns of the Bangsamoro for peace,” said Abunda, who also represents the Initiatives for International Dialogue.

Congressman Rodriguez had earlier proposed to scrap some provisions of BBL’s Section 2 on the “Powers of Government ” authorizing the new Bangsamoro administration to have its own constitutional bodies.

Mary Ann Arnado, secretary general of the Mindanao Peace Caucus, disagrees.

She said that while the proposed BBL provides for the creation of its own constitutional bodies (i.e. Civil Service, Commission on Elections, Commission on Human Rights, Commission on Audit), these bodies would ultimately be under their respective mother commissions.

“These constitutional bodies, namely the Civil Service Commission, the auditing office, and the electoral office of the Bangsamoro will still be working together with the Comelec, the COA, and the Civil Service. So these are not really totally independent but these are offices that will be established in the Bangsamoro,” said Arnado.

The House of Representatives will commence deliberations on the BBL next Monday, May 11. To ensure that the discussions will be “compliant and reflective” of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace advocates have called on Filipinos to join a Peace March-Rally on that day.

The march-rally will start from the Sandiganbayan compound on Commonwealth Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City and proceed to the gates of Batasan Pambansa Complex. “It is a symbolic march that will gather at least 8,000 peace advocates to ensure that the BBL that will be passed in the lower house of Congress will not be a watered-down version,” said Arnado.

“May 11 will be beyond just joining a big rally,” she said. “It will be a massive citizens’ action for the Bangsamoro. For those of us who have witnessed the cruelty of war in Mindanao, for the bakwit (evacuees) who perennially leave their homes just to avoid being caught in the crossfires and for all the innocent victims of this long-drawn war in Mindanao, May 11 is an opportunity for all of us to show our sturdy unity to achieve genuine peace.”

Meanwhile, in an emailed statement, Thursday, Oxfam said lawmakers could be in “strategic position to put an end to the vicious cycle of poverty and conflict” in Mindanao by opening that part of the country to “sound public investments.”

“Oxfam agrees with the statement of the Citizens’ Peace Council early this week that the block grant can help the region catch up with the rest of the country since it is critical for the operations of the Bangsamoro government,” Oxfam said.

The vaunted growth of the national economy, it noted, has not helped in easing the dire conditions of communities in the Muslim Mindanao region.

In a 2012 report, t representative Gani Abunda he Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the concentration of poor people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has remained high, “ranging between 42 percent and 47 percent” in 2006, 2009, and 2012.

Of the 17 regions in the country, ARMM has always had the highest incidence of poverty, the PSA report added.

“As we wait for the outcome of the deliberations of the BBL,’ Oxfam said, “let us be reminded that the draft law can open an opportunity to promote inclusive growth and development, and address the persisting problems of poverty and inequality besetting Muslim Mindanao.” - PCIJ, May 2015