Many of those claiming to represent these marginalized sectors do not belong to these sectors and are members of well-entrenched political dynasties and special interest groups. Some have been implicated in corruption investigations while others have been known to promote special business interests.
Party-list groups: family enterprise
(Part two of three)
By ENRICO BERDOS, MICHELLE CO, ARA EUGENIO, AIMEE LONTOK, EDELINO MERCENE, JR. and ANGELA NG
Political dynasties have secured their place in the House of Representatives in the last three administrations, occupying close to 55 percent of congressional seats.
Data from online news website Rappler and election watchdog Kontra-Daya show that 31 percent (18 out of 58) of party-list seats were occupied by members of political dynasties in 2015. A study by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center concluded that political dynasties occupied 25 percent of party-list seats (14 out of 56) in the 16th Congress. Meanwhile, out of 65 party-list seats in the 17th Congress, 22 were occupied by political dynasties, accounting for 33 percent.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, “a family that has successfully retained political power through maintaining control over at least one elective position over successive generations” can be placed in such a category. A political dynasty is established when a family member occupy different political positions simultaneously, or when a government official and his relative/s occupy an electoral position over the years.
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that national and regional parties “do not need to organize along sectoral lines and do not need to represent any marginalized and underrepresented sector.”This made it easier for members of political dynasties to run as partylist representatives.
[See infographics: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_Blaaj_R0I0bPgwm-zzpizXZuGqV39Or&usp=sharing]
Big fish
Having several relatives in power allows political dynasties to exert control and distribute development in their political turfs.
Some party-list representatives belong to political clans whose relatives occupy several government positions in a province. For instance, Sharon Garin has served as representative of Ang Asosasyon Sang Mangunguma Nga Bisaya-Owa Mangunguma (AAMBIS-OWA) since the 15th Congress. Among her relatives in politics are her brother Rep. Richard Garin (1st District, Iloilo), sister Christine Garin (Iloilo vice-governor), mother Nimfa Garin (San Joaquin, Iloilo mayor), father Oscar Garin (Guimbal, Iloilo mayor), sister-in-law Janette Garin (former Health Secretary and former Rep. of the 1st District of Iloilo).
Similarly, Shernee Abubakar Tan, incumbent party-list representative of Kusug-Tausug, is a member of the Tan family of Sulu. She is the youngest daughter of former Sulu governor Abdusakur M. Tan and sister of incumbent Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan II and Maimbung Mayor Samier Tan. Her mother, Hadja Nurunisah Abubakar-Tan, is vice governor of Sulu.
In the case of Democratic Independent Workers Association Inc. (DIWA) Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar who has been in Congress since 2010, her link to a political dynasty is through her marriage to Mark Villar, current Public Works Secretary. This makes her a part of the Aguilar-Villar political clan of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa.
But despite the influence that these personalities wield, they know they cannot hold their political positions forever. They find a way to transfer it to their other relatives such as their children or siblings when their terms end.
Rigodon
The act of switching government posts among two politicians is known in the Philippines as political rigodon, named after a formal Spanish dance where two people exchange positions until the music stops.
Switching places as party-list representatives occur across first and second generation relatives, such as among siblings, among couples and among parents and children. Sometimes, the switch also involves siblings-in-law or children-in-law.
Party-list representatives are replaced by their relatives because an outgoing representative plans to run for a position in his or her province’s local government or because he or she has reached the three-term limit in Congress.
Nicanor Briones was Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (Agap) party-list representative for the 15th and 16th Congress (2010-2016). In 2016, he attempted to run as governor of Batangas but lost. His daughter Kathleen Briones tried to replace his place as party-list representative but was unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Maximo Rodriguez, Jr., Abante Mindanao (ABAMIN) party-list representative of the 15th and 16th Congress (2010-2016) and current ABAMIN president, replaced his brother Rufus Rodriguez as Cagayan de Oro’s (CDO) 2nd district representative in 2016.
Rufus Rodriguez tried to run as CDO mayor in 2016 as he reached the three-term congressional limit, but lost to Oscar Cruz.
Maximo Rodriguez, Jr.’s wife, Mary Grace Rodriguez, is also currently running as a party-list representative for ABAMIN in the coming elections.
You Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) Rep. Benhur Lopez, Jr. replaced his sister Carol Jayne Lopez, who served during the 15th and 16th Congress.
Some political families also send two or more representatives to sector-oriented and regional/national-based party-list groups which means that they can replace outgoing relatives with other members of the family.
During the 2016 national elections, two of Kalinga party-list representative nominees, Kristen Michelle Ferriol and Arturo Ferriol failed to win seats alongside incumbent representative Abigail Ferriol-Pascual.
A family enterprise
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr., warned that political dynasties have an unfair advantage against other groups during the campaign period. “Bibitbitin na nila ‘yung mayor, governor, congressman – tapos party-list. So… Isang buhos na lang iyan. Tapos most likely, doon lang sila sa region nila kukuha ng boto, or in many cases nga namimili ng boto.”
“‘Pag nakita mo na kasi sila – silang magkakapamilya, that’s not a real party-list group, that’s a family enterprise,” Reyes said.
Anti-Dynasty Law: failed attempts
The Senate and the House of Representatives dropped the Anti-dynasty Bill in 2015, describing it as a “mere showpiece” and a “toothless measure” that strengthens instead of removes political dynasties.
House Bill No. 3587, which was up for second reading at the time, proposed that two members of a political dynasty be allowed to run for politics, while the Congress pushed for a third member to be allowed to run in the national and local polls simultaneously.
“There will be no Anti-dynasty Law. There’s no more time to consider and approve it,” former Senate President Franklin Drilon told ABS-CBN News Channel at the time. “Besides, many in Congress are against it. There’s strong opposition to it. That’s the reality of our politics.”
With research interests along the lines of legislative dynamics, executive-legislative relations, electoral politics, institutional reform and political economy, UP Diliman Political Science Assistant Professor Alicor Panao said that political dynasties are mere symptoms of a larger political dysfunction. “Our rules, electoral laws, push people to establish dynasties. When your legislator legislates, no one in his right mind would sign his own death warrant.”
Party-list groups are now used as a backdoor for candidates to perpetuate themselves in power, Panao added. The law only allows a three-term limit, and when a candidate reaches his outterm, this could be passed down to other members of the family.
Panao said such actions do not reflect on greediness, but mainly because of how the institution permits the continuation of making these families relevant to society. “If you’re out-termed, you’re toppled, it would be difficult to get back into the scene; there is a difficulty in name-recall, and such candidate will be out of circulation.”
*The authors are students of Prof. Danilo Arao in Journalism 117 or Online Journalism.
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Business league: Congress of the elite
By YVETTE BALITA, JOSHUA POE CADANO, DANA EUNISE CRUZ and ARJAY IVAN GOROSPE
(Part three of three)
While the Party-list System Act of 1995 aims to represent and enable marginalized and underrepresented sectors, multi-millionaires and billionaires remain to be the dominant members of the House of Representatives.
There have been instances where the party-list system had been used by the elite to further their business interests by taking advantage of national and local expenditures, as was the case in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
From the 15th to the 17th Congress, Christopher Co of Ako Bicol (AKB) and Mariano Michael Velarde Jr. of Buhay party-list have consistently been part of the richest party-list representatives. The representatives have net worths of P104.4 million and P52.4 million respectively, according to their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) in 2017.
Other rich lawmakers from the past decade are Virgilio Lacson of Manila Teachers, Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay of Senior Citizen, Jesulito Manalo of Angkla, Michael Romero of 1-PACMAN, and Emmeline Aglipay-Villar of Diwa.
Conflict of interest?
Co, owner of Hi-Tone Construction and Development, has been in the top 10 list of richest party-list representatives from 2010 up to present. He is also the brother of Elizaldy Co, the head of the transnational group Sunwest Group of Companies, Tektone Global Technologies Foundation, commercial hub Embarcadero de Legazpi, and other construction firms, malls and resorts.
His net worth from 16th to 17th Congress surged by P8,731,517, and P8,008,565 from 15th to the 16th. He was investigated, along with other district representatives in 2014, due to conflicting business interests in the projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The House committee on good government and accountability then investigated the release of at least P10.2 billion of the P69.7-billion congressional insertions spent in the last months of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The DPWH expended the infrastructure funds to 1,074 projects despite having no revenues, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said during the hearing, adding that it is against the General Appropriations Act.
In the probe of the House committee, it turned out that the company of Co was among the top 10 contractors involved. The late Rep. Rodel Batocabe, his party mate, questioned the House committee probe to defend him.
Due to Ako Bicol’s business interests, members of the Confederation for the Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage), a member-organization of poll watchdog Kontra Daya, filed a disqualification case against the party-list group in 2010. In an ABS-CBN news report, Ako Bicol admitted being funded by the Delfin A. Co Foundation which shouldered the group’s development projects and scholarship programs.
The petitioners also traced that the employment provided to thousands of Bicolanos were from Co’s Tektone Foundation. “Both Elizaldy and Christopher are wealthy magnates in Bicol and the Philippines and they together, cannot represent the marginalized and underrepresented sectors,” the petition says. In addition, the family of Co has close links to Arroyo.
In the same year, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed the petition against Ako Bicol since it had to uphold the will of the electorate after the party-list group obtained the most number of votes. But in 2012, Comelec disqualified Ako Bicol for the 16th Congress. Then Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes said that the group is a registered political party, not a marginalized people’s representative.
However, the Supreme Court released new parameters or guidelines for the party-list elections in 2013. It states that national parties or organizations and regional parties or organizations do not need to organize along sectoral lines and do not need to represent any marginalized and underrepresented sector. As a result, Comelec allowed Ako Bicol to run.
Mariano Michael Velarde Jr. is another lawmaker who joins Co in the top 10 list of multi-millionaire party-list representatives from 2010 to present. His father, Bro. Mike Velarde, is preacher and owner of Amvel Land Development Corporation.
In 2010, Kontra Daya asked Comelec to investigate 40 party-list groups which do not represent the marginalized and underrepresented sectors. Even if Velarde is one of those listed, he was still able to run under Buhay Party-list.
Re-electionists
Other partylist representatives in the top 10 list of millionaires in congress include Michael Romero, Jesulito Manalo, Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, Virgilio Lacson, and Milagros Magsaysay. These candidates were all elected during the 16th congress and re-elected in the 17th congress.
Controversies
The Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam or the pork barrel scam exposed large sums allegedly misused by several members of the Congress and Senate.
Based on the 2013 annual audit report of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos released and posted on the Commission on Audit website, the following partylist representatives released part of the PDAF and Disbursement Acceleration Program allocations to alleged bogus foundations and suppliers:
Indeed, there is evidence to prove that the party-list system has been hijacked by the rich and powerful. The Party-list System Act of 1995 which is supposed to make the House of Representatives truly representative has made it cruelly repressive.
*The authors are students of Prof. Danilo Arao in Journalism 117 or Online Journalism.
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Kahandaan (at kapabayaan) sa lindol
Hindi mo kasi alam kung kailan ito mangyayari. Posibleng magkaroon nito sa oras na hindi mo inaasahan. Habang natutulog sa bahay o habang nagtatrabaho sa opisina, kailangang maging handa sa biglaang pagyanig ng lupa.
Mas malaki ang posibilidad ng lindol at pagputok ng bulkan sa Ring of Fire na dumaraan sa New Zealand, patungong hilaga sa baybayin ng silangang Asya, papunta sa Aleutian Islands ng Alaska at deretsong timog sa kanlurang baybayin ng Hilaga at Timog Amerika. Bukod sa kanlurang baybayin ng Estados Unidos, malaki ang posibilidad ng lindol sa mga bansang Chile, Hapon at mga isla sa Pasipiko tulad ng Solomon Islands. Ang iba pang apektado ay Mehiko, Antarctica, Rusya, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Canada, Peru, Taiwan, Guatemala at Pilipinas.
Ayon sa mga pag-aaral, sanhi ang Ring of Fire ng mahigit 90 porsyento ng mga lindol at pagputok ng bulkan sa buong mundo. Sa kaso ng Pilipinas, halos araw-araw daw nangyayari ang mga lindol bagama’t hindi natin nararamdaman. Nasa Magnitude 2.5 “lang” naman daw kasi ang mga ito. Bihira daw mangyari ang mga lindol na mahigit sa Magnitude 6.0.
Mula 2008 hanggang 2015, tatlong beses lang daw naramdaman sa Metro Manila ang lindol. Ano naman ang nangyari sa mga sumunod na taon? Magnitude 6.3 sa rehiyon ng Davao malapit sa Tamisan noong Setyembre 24, 2016. Magnitude 6.9 sa Davao at Sarangani noong Abril 29, 2017. Magnitude 7.1 sa rehiyon ng Davao malapit sa Davao Oriental noong Disyembre 29, 2018.
Kung paisa-isa ang mga naitalang lindol na mahigit sa Magnitude 6.0 mula 2001, nagkasunod-sunod naman sa pagbubukas ng taong ito. Noong Abril 22, nagkaroon ng lindol na Magnitude 6.1 sa Castillejos, Zambales at ramdam na ramdam ito sa Metro Manila. Makalipas naman ang isang araw (Abril 23), nagkaroon ng lindol na Magnitude 6.4 sa San Julian, Silangang Samar. Sa dalawang lindol na ito, tinatayang 18 ang namatay at 330 ang nasugatan.
Magkakaroon pa kaya ng mga lindol na mahigit sa Magnitude 6.0 sa 2019 o maging sa mga susunod pang taon? Sa kabila ng pag-unlad sa teknolohiya’t kaalaman, hindi pa rin kayang makapagbigay ng malinaw na sagot. Ang tanging payo mula sa mga eksperto ay maging handa para sa tinatawag nilang “The Big One.”
Duck, cover, hold! Maraming drill ang isinagawa ng pamahalaan at iba pang organisasyon para masiguradong alam ng mga mamamayan ang gagawin sa panahon ng lindol. Yumuko at protektahan ang ulo. Siguraduhing nasa ilalim ng mesa para hindi mahulugan ng mabibigat na bumabagsak na bagay tulad ng bakal o semento. Kung may pagguho sa sahig, kumapit para sa pansariling kaligtasan.
Sa unang tingin, may kahandaan ang pamahalaan. Pero sa malalimang pagsusuri, hindi maikakaila ang kakulangan ng mga nasa kapangyarihan. Para sa isang bansang nasa Ring of Fire, inaaahan nating matitibay o earthquake-proof ang mga gusaling itinatayo lalo na kung maraming palapag ang mga ito. Pero bakit basta-basta na lang nasisira ang ilan sa mga ito tuwing may lindol? Pansamantalang nagsara, halimbawa, ang Clark International Airport dahil sa lindol noong Abril 22. Kinailangan kasing ayusin ang ikalawang palapag bunga ng mga crack, bukod pa sa mga nasirang check-in counters.
Tila napatungan na ng iba pang problema sa lipunan ang panawagan imbestigahan ang nangyari sa paliparan sa Clark. Gayundin ang kaso sa mga estruktura sa Pampanga na basta na lamang nasira o gumuho na siyang naging sanhi ng pagkamatay o pagkasugat ng maraming kababayan. Kailangang managot ang mga negosyanteng tinipid ang pagpapatayo ng gusali, pati na ang gobernong nagbigay ng mga permiso para sa konstruksyon at patuloy na pagnenegosyo nila.
Totoong nakakatakot ang lindol. Pero mas nakakagalit ang malinaw na kapabayaan ng pamahalaan. Kailangan pa bang libo-libo ang mamatay bago kumilos? Tandaan lang natin ang nangyari noong Agosto 16, 1976. May lindol na Magnitude 7.6 sa Moro Gulf na nagresulta sa pagkamatay ng 4,791. Umabot naman sa 2,288 ang nawawala at 9,928 ang nasugatan.
Para sa ordinaryong mamamayan, mainam na tandaan ang kasaysayan at patuloy na singilin ang pamahalaan.
Para makipag-ugnayan sa awtor, pumunta sa https://risingsun.dannyarao.com
Si Danilo Araña Arao ay kawaksing propesor (associate professor) sa Departamento ng Peryodismo, Kolehiyo ng Komunikasyong Pangmadla, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP) Diliman. Siya rin ay kawaksing patnugot (associate editor) ng Bulatlat at nasa board of directors ng Alipato Media Center at Kodao Productions.
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UP-Min says regret over tight security on 2019 Palaro opening
The University of the Philippines Mindanao expressed regrets on the inconveniences to its constituents, especially to their students after some were locked inside their dormitory during the Opening Ceremonies of the Palarong Pambansa at the Davao City-UP Sports Complex last April 28.
Karapatan, RMP at Gabriela, naghain ng petisyon sa Korte Suprema
Kabilang sa kanilang mga respondent ay sina Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at AFP Civil-Military deputy chief M/Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.
Rights, religious, women’s groups seek protection vs govt red tagging
In fact, the government went so far as to send a delegation to Europe where they accused several activist organizations, including schools for indigenous people in Mindanao, of being communist fronts.
Rights groups seek protection from high court amid heightening attacks
“Human rights advocacy is not a crime, yet human rights workers are being killed, threatened, harassed, and jailed on trumped-up charges.”
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Three organizations labeled by Duterte administration as “communist fronts” and whose members became victims of different human rights abuses sought protection from the Supreme Court, May 6.
Human rights alliance Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and Gabriela, with the assistance from lawyers of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), have filed a petition for writ of amparo and writ of habeas data before the Supreme Court.
The petition for a writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity. It covers extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof. The writ of habeas data, meanwhile, is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party.
In a statement, Karapatan National Chairperson Elisa Tita Lubi said the filing of the petition “is a response to the worsening attacks, terrorist- tagging by the Philippine military and the ongoing smear campaign against human rights defenders.”
Respondents to the said petition are President Rodrigo Duterte, Gen. (Ret.) Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Delfin Lorenzana, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., Brig. Gen. Fernando Trinidad, Maj. Gen. Erwin Bernard Neri, Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto, Maj. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., Alex Paul Monteagudo, Vicente Agdamag, Senior Supt. Omega Jireh Fidel, and Undersecretaries Joel Sy Egco, Severo Catura and Lorraine Marie Badoy.
“We call on the Supreme Court to recognize that our work and activism involves the full exercise of our civil and political rights, and is in no way tantamount to a crime,” Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, said.
In its 44-page petition, the three organizations underscored the intensified red baiting, vilification, threats and harassment against them.
For at least six times, President Rodrigo Duterte himself publicly tagged Karapatan as a communist front and accused the organization of committing rebellion.
Karapatan said that such labeling has resulted in glaring human rights violations against human rights workers.
“Human rights advocacy is not a crime, yet human rights workers are being killed, threatened, harassed, and jailed on trumped-up charges,” Lubi said.
The groups cited the killing of Karapatan members Elisa Badayos, Mariam Uy Acob and Bernardino Patigas and RMP’s Central Luzon Regional Coordinator Fr. Marcelino Paez. Both Acob and Patigas received death threats and were both red tagged before they were killed.
The groups also cited the arrest of two Karapatan-Western Mindanao staff on Nov. 18, 2017 by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 9 and the 1st Infantry Tabak Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Pagadian City; the arrest and detention of RMP Southern Mindanao Regional Coordinator Amelia Pond; the arrest and detention of Gabriela’s Hedda DL Calderon; and, the deportation of former RMP National Coordinator Patricia Ann Fox.
Also mentioned in the petition were the trumped-up charges of murder filed against nine members of Karapatan quick reaction team in Nasugbu, Batangas and the inclusion of human rights workers in the Department of Justice’s petition to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as terrorist organizations.
The organizations took offense in the vilification campaign done by government officials against them before the international community. In February this year, members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict went around Europe and publicly declared Karapatan, RMP and other organizations as communist fronts before the diplomatic community.
State security forces also distributed posters and flyers vilifying the organizations in different parts of the country. Some of those tagged as communists were subjected to surveillance and received death threats.
“… [T]he threats are real and actual, and became more intense after the creation of NTF and after the barrage of accusations targeting the petitioners,” the petition read.
The petitioners added that there is a clear violation of the right to security as this right includes freedom from any threat and can exist independently of the right to liberty.
The petitioners called on the high court to issue a writ of amparo in their favor and to order the respondents to reveal and destroy all information collected about the petitioners.
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