“Panginoon, aking dinadalangin nawa na kami ay magkaisa, at isulong ang aming layunin na ipaglaban ang mga karapatan bilang isang mangagawang bukid at mangagawa. Panginoon, ang hustisya hanggang ngayon ay di po namin nakamit, ang katarungan, Panginoon, kaya pakinggan mo po kami sa umagang ito.”
Iyan ang panalangin ni Pastor Gab Sanchez sa tarangkahan ng Central Azucarera De Tarlac (CAT), labing-apat na taon matapos maganap ang masaker na kumitil sa buhay ni Juancho Sanchez, kanyang anak.
Ibinahagi ni Sanchez sa panayam na noong araw ding iyon, sa ika-10 araw ng welgang bayan, nandoon siya nang magsimulang magpaulan ng mga bala mula sa looban ng CAT. “…(A)ko ay nandyan mismo, at ako ay napatakbo hanggang sa aming barangay, Brgy. Balete.”
Nagsimula bilang manggagawang bukid ng Hacienda Luisita si Pastor Gab sa edad na 12 noong 1962 hanggang 1980. Sa loob ng 18 taon ng paggawa, naranasan niya ang hirap sa loob ng hacienda. Sa kabila nito, ayon sa kanya, wala silang napapala dahil sa mababang pasahod.
Ilang araw nang idinaraos ang welgang bayan bago ang insidente, “Kaya nagkaroon dito ng isang mapayapang protesta upang ipaglaban nila ang kanilang mga karapatan.”
Nandoon naman ang kanyang anak na si Juancho, 20, para makiisa sa mga nakikibakang manggagawang bukid. Si Juancho noon ay isang mag-aaral sa ikatlong taon ng kursong Mechanical Engineering. Napilitang tumigil si Juancho upang makatulong sa kanyang pamilya bilang jeepney driver.
“Si Juancho, patay na siya, sa aming puso siya ay buhay na buhay, at sa mga manggagawang bukid,” pag-alala ni Pastor Gab habang nagpapatuloy ang protesta sa CAT.
Pastor Gabby Sanchez ng United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)
Alas tres ng hapon, Nobyembre 16, 2004, nang maganap ang madugong Hacienda Luisita Masaker. Labing-apat na taon na ang nakalilipas sa pagkakataong ito na bumalik si Pastor Gab kung saan ito naganap, kasama niyang muli ang iba pang manggagawang bukid na nandoon din sa araw ng masaker, at mga kaanak ng mga tulad niyang naulila. Patuloy silang nananawagan para sa pamamahagi ng lupa, at para sa mailap na hustisya.
Kasama rin nila ang iba pang mga magsasaka sa Gitnang Luzon na ipinaglalaban din ang kanilang mga karapatang magbungkal, at iba pang mga sumusuporta sa kanilang laban.
Sa kasalukuyan, buhay na buhay ang kilusang bungkalan sa mga lupain ng Hacienda Luisita.
Sa lumipas na 14 taong kawalan ng hustisya sa nangyaring masaker sa Hacienda Luisita, kasama ni Pastor Gab ang iba pang mga kaanak ng mga napatay at mga mangagawang bukid na nandoon din sa araw ng masaker. Patuloy din ang pagpanawagang ibigay na ang lupa sa mga mangagawang bukid na tunay na nagmamay-ari ng mga ito ayon sa desisyon ng Supreme Court noong April 24, 2012.
Nitong ika-28 ng Nobyembre ay nagtayo ng kampuhan ang mga manggagawa ng SUMIFRU sa Mendiola. Sila ay galing pa sa Compostela Valley sa Mindanao. Nag-Lakbayan sila dito sa Maynila dahil ang tunay na kalagayan nilang manggagawa sa ilalim ng SUMIFRU ay hindi makatarungan.
Iginiiit ng mga manggagawa ang karampatang sahod at pagiging regular sa kanilang trabaho. Sila din ay nagkaisa sa panawagan na itigil na ang Martial Law sa Mindanao dahil wala itong maganda idinudulot sa kanila at ito’y nagpapaigting lamang ng pananamantala sa kanila dahil sa militarisasyon at diumano’y kawalan nila ng karapatang magwelga o magprotesta sa ilalim ng Martial Law doon.
Hinaing ng mga manggagawa, ang DOLE at lokal na pamahalaan doon sa Mindanao ay hindi pumapanig sa kanila, hindi pinapakinggan ang kanilang mga hinaing at pumapabor lamang sa malalaking kapitalistang kumpanya.
Sa napakaraming opisinang kanilang pinuntahan at pinaabutan ng kanilang hinaing laban sa kapitalistang ganid na SUMIFRU ay hindi man lang sila pinakinggan, ni hindi binigyang aksyon ang kanilang iginigiit kaya naglunsad sila ng welga, at ngayo’y tumungo sa Maynila para itambol ang panawagan.
Si Nanay Melody Gumanoy, 42 taong gulang, ay kasapi ng Unyon na Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (NAMASUFA). Siya ay nagtratrabaho sa ilalim ng korporasyong Sumifru. Isa siyang kilos rekorder. Nagre-rekord siya ng kilos ng mga manggagawa.
Ani Nanay Melody, kanilang hindi sapat ang mga ‘safety equipment gears’ ay pangprotekta sa kanilang mga manggagawa lalo pa’t may mga kemikal na ginagamit doon sa plantasyon.
“Kami ay nanalo na sa Omega na kemikal. Masama talaga sa puso at yung amoy ay hindi ka talaga makakahinga, kaya kami ay nagkaisa na mawala ang Omega. Napagtagumpayan namin pero pinalitan din ng iba, pero ganon pa din. Kemikal pa din,” kwento ni Nanay Melody.
Ang minimum na oras na pagtratrabaho nila ay 15 hours. Minsan, lalagpas pa rin iyon, depende sa aanihin nilang saging kapag hindi pa ito nauubos kaya lumalagpas sila sa oras.
Apat na araw sa isang linggo ang kanilang pagtratrabaho. Ang kanilang sweldo ay depende sa oras. Ang P365 na kanilang minimum na sweldo ay hindi pa sapat dahil siya ay may pamilya, lalo na’t tumaas ngayon ang mga bilihin dahil sa train law.
Siya din ay tagapili o taga-tingin ng produkto kung maganda ba o maayos ang kalidad. Siya din ang nagtatanggal ng reject na saging. Ang mga reject ay tinatapon, yung ibang reject ay dinadala dito sa Maynila at binebenta sa mga pamilihan. Pero ang mga good quality ay iniexport lahat sa iba’t ibang bansa, tulad sa mga bansa sa Middle East, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, atbp.
Mas lalo pang humirap ang kanilang kalagayan noong naglunsad si Duterte ng Martial Law sa Mindanao.
“Walang maganda naidudulot sa amin ang Martial Law doon sa Mindanao lalo pa sa mga manggagawa lalo na’t kami ay miyembro ng Kilusang Mayo Uno kami ay nire-red tag na supporter ng NPA,” ani ni Nanay Melody.
Siya at ang kanyang mga kasama ay nakaranas na ng pananakot at harassment sa kanilang unyon lalo na sa mga upisyal nito. Binabahay-bahay sila at hinahanap kung nasaan sila kaya bihira lamang sila na lumagi sa kanilang mga tahanan. Nakaranas din mismo si Nanay Melody ng paninitiktik noong siya ay pauwi na sa kanilang bahay noong Agosto 30.
“Inabangan ako ng dalawang lalaki na nakasakay ng motorsiklo doon sa daanan malapit sa aming bahay. Nakita ko na may nakatingin sa akin na mula ulo hanggang paa talaga! Lumagpas ako ng konti narinig ko na sinabi ng isang lalaki na ‘siya na yun!’ kaya tumakbo ako sa bahay ng kapitbahay namin,” kwento ni Nanay Melody.
Dahil sa kalagayan ng mga manggagawa sa SUMIFRU, hindi nila maiwasang gamitin ang isang kakatwang linya: mabuti pa ang saging may puso, ang SUMIFRU wala!
Panawagan ni Nanay Melody ay tapusin na ang Martial Law sa Mindanao at iyong papatinding militarisasyon doon. Nais din nilang makamit ang karampatang sahod at pagiging regular sa kanilang trabaho at itigil na ang pananamantala sa loob ng pabrika.
“Dapat tayo ay magkaisa, magtulungan para malaman natin ang kalagayan na nararanasan ng mga manggagawa. Para malaman din natin kung anu-ano ang mga nangyayari sa kanila doon sa Mindanao lalo na may Martial Law. ‘Wag matakot na lumaban sa kung ano ang tama. Lumaban hanggang sa tagumpay!” mensahe ni Nanay Melody.
Kamakailan lamang ay nagsimulang itayo ang kampuhan ng mga manggagawa ng Sumifru sa Mendiola sa Maynila upang itambol ang kanilang panawagan sa pagwawakas ng kontraktwalisasyon at pagbabasura ng Martial Law sa Mindanao.
Tinatayang 19 million kada araw ang kinikita ng Sumifru sa plantasyon nila sa Compostela Valley pa lamang sa pag-aangkat ng saging na tinanim sa lupain ng bansa ng mga manggagawang Pilipino. Ito ay isang kumpanyang multi-nasyunal na matatagpuan sa Southern Mindanano Region.
Ikinasa ng mga manggagawa ang kanilang welga para harapin sila ng management ng kumpanya sa kagustuhang mapataas ang hindi nakabubuhay na sahod na tinatanggap nila. Umaabot lamang ito ng P360 kada araw.
Patunay dito ang kwento ng isang 33 taong gulang na si Julietta Alcos na apat na taon nang nagtatrabaho sa Sumifru Corporation.
Ani Julietta, nagsimulang matigil ang kanilang pagtatrabaho noong Oktubre 1 dahil sa hindi makataong kundisyon nila sa loob ng pagawaan. Bukod dito ay nakararanas din sila ng karahasan mula sa mga militar. Kakuntsaba pa umano ang lokal na pamahalaan pati na rin ang mismong mayor ng kanilang lugar.
Trabaho ni Julietta ang pagpili ng saging kung ito ba ay reject o hindi.
Aniya “Mahirap ang sitwasyon kasi wala kaming trabaho ngayon, kapag pumapasok kami 365 pesos ang kada 8 oras namin. At kapag mag oovertime naman, dagdag ng 56 pesos. Hindi pa sigurado ‘yun kung makakapasok kaming lahat. Saka wala ring refund yung mga pamasahe namin.”
Sa libu-libong mga trabahador ng plantasyong ito ay halos lahat dito ay kontraktwal. Mayroon pang mga manggagawang deka-dekada nang nagtatrabaho sa kumpanya ngunit nanananitiling kontraktwal at walang mga benepisyong nakukuha.
Ani Julietta, depende sa panahon ng saging ang kanilang pasok sa plantasyon.
May mgapagkakataon pang nadidisgrasya sila mismo sa loob ng pagawaan, ngunit walang kahit anong gamot o tulong pinansyal ang ibinibigay sa kanila.
Mula nang magsimula silang magwelga ay ni hindi man lamang humarap sa kanila ang management ng plantasyon ng Sumifru upang makipag negosasyon.
“Mahirap kasi nung nag-umpisa kami magwelga ay iniwan na namin ang pamilya doon kasi nagsama-sama na kaming mga trabahante. Yung asawa ko naman ay trabahador din sa Sumifru, suporta lang din siya sa welga hanggang sa makamit namin ang pangarap na maregular at magkaroon ng mga benepisyo.” ani Julietta.
Gaano man katamis ang mga saging na kanilang sinisipat tuwing oras ng kanilang trabaho, kitang kita naman kung gaano kapait ang kanilang kondisyon sa loob ng plantasyon.
Ilang administrasyon na ang nagdaan na nangako ng taas-sahod at regularisasyon ng mga manggagawa, laluna ang kasalukuyang pamahalaan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. Matatandaan natin na sa pangangampanya ni Duterte ay nangako siya na matitigil na ang kontraktwalisasyon, ngunit ngayon ay hindi pa rin ito nakakamit ng uring manggagawa. Hanggang sa ngayon ay patuloy na ipinaglalaban ng mga manggagawang kontraktuwal ang regularisasyon.
Sa kasalukuyan, maraming mga produkto ang ibino-boycott ng publiko gaya ng Nutri Asia, Jollibee, at iba pa kasunod ng mga naging laban ngayong taon ng mga kontraktwal na manggagawa sa Metro Manila para sa regularisasyon, dahil nga sa patuloy na paninikil at pangyuyurak sa karapatan ng mga manggagawa.
Nagtayo ng kampuhan sa paanan ng Mendiola ang mga manggagawa ng SUMIFRU—ito ay isang plantasyon ng saging sa Compostella Valley. Ang mga produkto nila ay ini-export sa ibang bansa ilan nga rito ay ang China, Japan, at Middle East. Ang manggagawa ng SUMIFRU ay naglakbay patungong Maynila, kahit pa gaano kalayo at sa harap ng peligro ng militarisasyon sa organisadong protesta at paglisan ng Mindanao, dahil naniniwala silang maririnig ang kanilang panawagan kung dadalhin nila sa sentrong lungsod ang kanilang mga hinaing.
Ilan lang si Kuya Jepoy at Kuya Peng sa mga nakiisa sa kampuhan, sila ay mula sa unyon ng mga manggagawa ng SUMIFRU na kaanib ng NAFLU-KMU. Sila ay nagta-trabaho sa processing area ng plantasyon ng SUMIFRU. Sila ang nagbabalot at naghihiwa ng mga saging na pinapadala sa ibang ibang bansa.
Sabi nga ni Jepoy “bago iyan pina-pack ay nilalagyan muna yan ng mga kemikal” na nagiging sanhi ng kahinaan ng kalusugan ng mga manggagawa. Lubos ngang nakakabahala ang mga kemikal na ginagamit sa plantasyon. Dagdag pa niya ay ang mga ginagamit nila na PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) ay hindi sagot ng kumpanya, bagaman, ibinabawas ito sa kakaramput na sahod nila. Sa tatlong taon na pagta-trabaho ni Jepoy sa plantasyon ay nagtitiis na lamang siya dagil nga sa kakulangan ng opurtunidad.
“Mahirap po ang trabaho kasi mabigat po yung karton ng saging. ‘Pag nabuo yun, nasa 13-14 kilos, araw-araw yun,” ani Jepoy.
Dagdag na hirap sa kanilang pang-araw-araw na trabaho ay ang kakulangan ng ventilation sa plantasyon.
“May electric fan naman, pro mainit pa rin,” pag-alala niya.
Isa pa sa hinaing nila ay ang pagmamalabis sa kanilang break time. Imbis na isang oras ang kanilang break time ay binawasan pa ito at minamadali sila sa pagbalik sa trabaho, hindi sila nakakapagpahinga kahit saglit dahil sa may hinahabol sila na kota.
“Minsan pinupuntahan kami ng manager namin, pinapamadali kami,” ani Jepoy.
Kapag hindi naabot ang kota, masasakit na salita ang binabaot sa kanya ng kanilang manager
“Mahina ka. Bakit hindi mo nakamit ang kota? Bakit ano nangyari sayo? Bakit mahina ka,” kinagagalitan silang parang mga inutil o alipin.
Kadalasan ay papasok sila ng madaling araw at uuwi na ng gabi. Nang unang pasok ni Kuya Peng ay P335 ang naabutan niyang sahod. Pinaglaban ng unyon sa SUMIFRU ang dagdag sahod kaya lang ay P30 lang ang naging dagdag nito, na alam naman natin na kakaramput lang ang 30 pesos sa panahon ngayon na mataas na ang mga bilihin.
Ang kanilang sahod na P365 sa isang araw ay ipinagkakasya nila, kung minsan nga ay kailangan pa nilang mangutang dahil sa kakulangan ng kanilang sahod.
Si Jepoy ay nakapag-aral ng vocational. Sa hirap ng buhay at may binubuhay pa siyang mga kapatid kaya mas pinili niya na lamang magtrabaho sa plantasyon.
“Natanggal na kasi yung kuya ko. Matagal na nga doon yung kuya ko pero natanggal na pa rin siya, kaya nagba-biyahe na lang siya ng sasakyan ngayon. Bale ako, tinuloy ko yung sa nanay ko, kumbaga ako yung pumalit sa kan’ya. Halos lahat dito kami nagpapatuloy ng kanilang nasimulan,” kwento ni Jepoy.
Panawagan nila Jepoy at Peng ay sana sagutin na ang kanilang mga hinaing at huwag sana silang saktan dahil wala naman silang ginagawang masama.
“Mga manggagawa kami, hindi naman kami mga terorista. Wala naman kaming gagawin na masama, isisigaw lang namin yung panawagan namin. Wala naman kaming ginagawa na mali, nasa tama kami, kaya hindi kami matatakot na makipaglaban kasi nasa tama kami,” ani Jepoy.
Sigaw ng mga manggagawa ng SUMIFRU ay ang nakabubuhay na sahod at tamang benepisyo na para sa kanila at itigil na ang kontraktwalisasyon.
Daan-daang manggagawa ng Sumifru sa Mindanao, dinala sa Kamaynilaan ang laban
Ilang araw bago ang Pasko, bumisita ako sa kampuhan ng mga manggagawa ng Sumifru sa Liwasang Bonifacio kung saan nakatayo ang rebulto ng ating bayaning mula sa uring manggagawa. Sa gilid ng rebulto, itinayo ng mga manggagawa ang kanilang pansamantalang tirahan gamit ang tent, mga trapal, at kawayan.
Sa kampuhan, nakilala ko si Aling Bibe Calagao, isa sa 350 na manggagawa ng Sumifru mula pa Compostela Valley sa Mindanao na tumungo sa Maynila upang ipabatid sa sambayanan ang mahirap nilang kalagayan bilang manggagawa sa ilalim ng martial law. Pinagkakaisa at pinalalakas sila ng kanilang unyong Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (NAMASUFA), isang unyong kasapi ng NAFLU-KMU.
Nahahandal man sa sitwasyon, bakas pa rin kay Aling Bibe ang masayahing dispusisyon na marahil ibinunga ng kasanayang humarap sa mga mapanghamong sitwasyon bilang isa sa mga pinuno ng unyon sa lokal na plantasyong pinagtatrabahuhan niya.
Pagsisikhay ng manggagawa, pagsasamantala ng Sumifru
Sa 20 taon na pagbabanat ng buto, araw-araw, alas-kwatro pa lang ng umaga umaalis na ng bahay si Aling Bibe tungo sa packing plant.
Kwento niya sa akin na sa packing plant ng saging sa Sumifru, buong panahon silang nakatayo na madalas aabot ng 18 oras (liban na lang sa lunch at meryenda break).
“Pakyawan kasi ang trabaho sa Sumifru kaya mahaba ang oras ng trabaho,” paliwanag niya
Naaalala pa ni Aling Bibe na sa pagsilang ng bawat isa sa apat niyang anak, “Pitong araw pa lang matapos ko manganak balik agad ako sa trabaho.”
Aniya, “Saan ko kukunin ang ipapakain sa apat kong anak kung hindi ako papasok? Wala naman kaming paid leave.”
Gaya ng maraming manggagawa ng kumpanya, kabisado na ni Aling Bibe ang bawat gawain sa assembly line. Pambihira man ang dedikasyong ipinapakita ng mga manggagawang tulad ni Aling Bibe sa Sumifru, nananatili silang kontraktwal sa kumpanya. Ito ay sa kabila ng desisyon ng Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) noon pang taong 2008 na nagsasabing pangunahing employer ng mga manggagawang kasapi ng NAMASUFA ang Sumifru; pinatibay pa lalo ng pagkatig ng Korte Suprema sa desisyong ito ng DOLE nito lamang Hunyo 2017.
Aabot sa 2,200 ektarya at siyam na packaging plant ang saklaw ng Sumifru na may 2,500 ang manggagawang kontraktwal sa probinsya.
Higit kailan pa man makatwiran ang welga
Matapos ang 10 taon na matiyagang pakikipagbunung ligal ng unyon, isang taong pagbalewala ng Sumifru sa utos ng Korte Suprema at pagtanggi nitong kilalanin ang karapatan ng NAMASUFA na makipagtawaran sa Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), naglunsad ng welga ang mga manggagawa ng Sumifru sa Compostela Valley.
Isa pa sa mga nakausap ko sa pagbisita sa kampuhan si PJ Diaz, ang pangulo ng NAMASUFA. Inabutan ko siyang nagpapaliwanang sa umpukan ng mga bisitang estudyante kaugnay ng kanilang laban para sa makatarungang pasahod, seguridad sa trabaho at karapatang mag-unyon.
Dalawampu’t limang taon pa lang ang edad ni PJ, ngunit hindi maipagkakaila sa kanyang pananalita at asta ang sinseridad at pagiging responsableng unyonista.
Nito lamang ika-15 ng Disyembre, sinunog ng mga hindi pa nakikilalang tao ang kanyang tirahan kasabay ang bahay ng dating presidente ng unyon.
Laking pasalamat niya na nailikas na niya ang kanyang mga magulang at mga kapatid sa lugar bago pa sila tumulak pa-Maynila. At bago pa ito, pinagtangkaang sunugin at paulanan ng bala ang kanyang bahay sa dalawang magkasunod na araw noong katapusan ng Nobyembre ngayon ding taon. Dahil dito, pinalayo na muna nila ang mga kaanak at mga kasamahang manggagawa sa lugar.
Oktubre 1 nang simulan ng NAMASUFA ang welga, at Oktubre 11 nitong taon din nang koordinadong buwagin ang kanilang mga piketlayn ng may tinatayang 300 bayarang goons ng Sumifru sa pangunguna ng mga sundalo at pulis.
“Akala mo gera ang susuungin, at armado ang lulusubin nila, may nakahanda pang tangke ang mga sundalo ng 66th IB,” kwento niya.
Ayon pa kay PJ, nais lamang nila na ipatupad ang kanilang karapatan pero hampas ng yantok at batuta ang sinukli sa kanila habang tumatakbo palayo. Dalawampu’t pito sa kanila ang nasugatan sa araw na iyon. Bawat pagtatangka nilang muling ilunsad ang welga at itayo ang piketlayn ay tinapatan ng mas matinding pandarahas.
“Pati mga barangay kapitan sa lugar kumuha ng mga tanod para magmatyag sa amin. Nakahanda silang mandahas sa amin sa oras na muling itayo ang piketlayn,” aniya.
Maalala na kamakailan lang sinabi ni Duterte na dapat handang pumatay ang mga kapitan de barangay, pero matagal na palang ginagawa ito sa Mindanao. Kasabay nito, muling ipinagtibay ng Kongreso ang pagpapalawig ng Martial Law sa buong Mindanao ng isa pang taon.
Kriminalisasyon ng pagsusulong ng mga lehitimong hinaing, pinalala ng ML sa Mindanao
Oktubre 30 nang walang awang pinaslang ng mga pinaniniwalaang ahente ng estado si Danny Boy Bautista, isang aktibong unyonista.
Bukod pa dito, dalawa na sa myembro ng unyon ang pinagtangkaang patayin nitong mga nakaraang buwan.
Dahil Martial Law sa Mindanao, garapalan ang pandarahas at panggigipit sa mga manggagawa ng AFP at PNP kasapakat ang DOLE, LGU at ang Sumifru.
“Imbes na kampihan ng aming ng governor at mayor kami pa ang sinisi. Mas pinanigan pa ang dayuhang kumpanya,” sabi ni PJ.
Ang red tagging o ang pag-aakusa sa isang tao na myembro ng rebeldeng grupo ng NPA para bigyan katwiran ang pananakot, panggigipit at pandarahas ay lubusang isinasangkapan ng Sumifru para labagin ang utos ng Korte Suprema at gipitin ang mga manggagawa, habang todo-todo namang pinagkakitaan ng mga opisyal ng AFP sa pamamagitan ng mga fake surrenderees.
Ayon nga kay PJ, may kundisyon ang Sumifru sa mga manggagawa para payagan silang makabalik sa trabaho: kailangang itakwil nila ang unyon at sumuko sa kampo ng 66th IB dahil nga pinalalabas nila na mga NPA o supporter ng NPA ang mga manggagawa. Sa bawat taong magsusurender, P15,000 ang ibibigay.
Kwento pa ni PJ, “Dahil sa pressure at hirap, napilitan ang iba na sumurender sa kampo para lang makabalik sa trabaho. Yung P15,000, hindi naman napunta sa mga fake surrenderee, binubulsa na ng mga sundalo.”
Nang tanungin ko siya kung naisipan niya rin ba gawin yun, madiin niya sinabing “Kahit pa hindi kami makabalik sa trabaho, kahit pa magutom kami, hinding hindi kami susurender. Anong isusurender namin, wala naman kaming baril. Hindi naman kami NPA. Kabuhayan lang namin ang ipinaglalaban namin.”
Sa tindi ng atake ng estado sa mga manggagawang isinusulong lamang ang lehitimo nilang hinaing, bunga ng Martial Law, nagpasya silang dalhin ang laban sa Maynila para tawagin ang pansin ng mga mamamayan dito at ng mga responsableng ahensya ng gubyerno.
“Tingin namin ay may sinasadyang media blackout sa mga tunay na nangyayari doon sa Mindanao. Sa sunod-sunod na pandarahas sa amin doon ng mga sundalo at Sumifru, napakahirap isulong muli ng welga doon,” paliwanag pa ni PJ.
Kasalukuyan silang nakakampo sa Liwasang Bonifacio, malabong makauwi sa kani-kanilang pamilya ngayong Pasko at bagong taon. Kung gaano kabilis sa pagpatay ang pasistang rehimen, ganun naman kakupad o ka SLO-MO aksyunan ang panawagan ng mga manggagawa.
Sabi nga ni Aling Bibe, “Ayaw ko na nga tumawag lagi sa mga anak ko at naiiyak lang ako. Ipinapaliwanag ko na lang sa kanila na dito sa labang ito nakadepende ang kinabukasan nila na makapag-aral.”
Natapos ang kanilang munting media activity at kwentuhan namin ng pasado alas-dose ng tanghali. Gulay na repolyo at kanin na mula sa mga kasamahang manggagawa sa Maynila ang kanilang payak na tanghalian.
Tulad ng marami sa atin, uuwi ako sa tahanan, babalik sa trabaho, magdidiwang ng pasko at bagong taon kasama ang pamilya ng may pagkainh hamon at keso de bola. Ang ilan sa atin ay hindi na mabilang sa mga daliri ang dinadaluhang Christmas Party ngayong buwan.
Pero ang mga manggagawa ng Sumifru na nakakampo sa Liwasang Bonifacio o pati na sa mga naiwan sa Mindanao ay nananatiling nakabitin sa walang katiyakan ang kabuhayan. Pero hindi sila nangangamba.
Patuloy nilang inaanyayahan ang lahat para alamin mula sa kanila ang tunay na kalagayan ng paggawa sa Pilipinas at ang tunay na epekto ng ML sa Mindanao na masang anakpawis.
Ginagawa nila ito, hindi lamang para para sa kanilang hanay. Titiisin nila ang pagkawalay sa pamilya ngayong pasko at bagong taon, ilulunsad ang welga gaano man karahas ang estado laban dito.
At sa pagtatapos ng madugong 2018 sa ilalim ng rehimen ni Duterte, patuloy ang pakikibaka ng mg obrerong gaya nila para ipanalo ang seguridad sa trabaho at karapatan mag unyon.
Sa uhaw sa dugong rehimen, malabong makamit ang mga ito, ngunit sa matibay na pagbubuklod ng kanilang hanay, sa lakas ng uring manggagawa at pakikiisa ng sambayanan bumubukal ang pag-asa at dadagundong ang tagumpay ng mga manggagawa ngayong taong 2019.
Nitong Pebrero 10 nang umaga, inilunsad ang Luto! Laban! Sunday Cookout para sa NAMASUFA sa Liwasang Bonifacio, Maynila sa pangunguna ng Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA). Tumungo ang mga artistang alyado ng SAKA at mga boluntaryo mula sa industriya ng sining, kultura, at kaalaman sa protest camp ng Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (NAMASUFA), ang unyon ng mga manggagawang agrikultural na higit apat na buwan nang nakawelga sa plantasyon ng saging dahil ayaw iregularisa ng kumpanyang Hapones na Sumitomo Fruit Corporation o Sumifru. Naglakbay pa mula sa Compostela Valley ang 350 sa mga unyonista upang kalampagin ang nagtutulog-tulugang Department of Labor and Employment pati ang Malacañang. Ginanap ang salusalo isang araw bago ang takdang police dispersal ng Manila city government sa kampuhan.
Sama-samang kumukuha ng pananghaliang isda, giniling, at ensalada ang mga unyonista’t boluntaryo
Katambal ang mga iba pang organisasyon tulad ng Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), Amihan Federation of Peasant Women, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Anakpawis Partylist atbp., layunin ng Luto! Laban! na hikayatin ang mamamayan na palakasin ang panawagan sa regularisasyon ng Sumifru workers, ipagtanggol ang kanilang kampuhan mula sa banta ng clearing operations sa utos ng Manila City Hall, at itigil ng pangulo ang pagratsada sa land-use conversion na matapos magkait ng lupa sa magsasaka ay humahantong sa pang-aabuso sa mga manggagawa ng plantasyon. Sa katunayan, tungo sa pagtatapos ng aktibidad ay dumami ang pulis na nagdulot ng pangamba sa mga welgista. Nakaugat ang kanilang pangamba sa ilang beses na nilang naranasang dahas ng estado mula pa sa pagpapatupad ng batas militar ni Duterte sa Mindanao.
Mga unyonista mula Sumifru at mga boluntaryo ng SAKA at CAP, naghahanda ng ensaladang talbos ng kamote
Ugnayan ng sining at produktong agrikultural
Liban sa pag-aalay ng tanghaliang crispy tawilis, minced pork with basil, at talbos ng kamote salad ng ihinanda ng mga boluntaryo kasama ng mismong mga unyonista, dalawang palihan ang isinagawa sa protest camp. Habang abala ang ilan sa pagluluto habang nagtatalakayan, ang mga anak ng Sumifru workers at volunteers (edad 5-8) ay nagsanay sa pagguhit samantalang ang mga manggagawa (edad 20-35) naman ay lumahok sa isang writing workshop. Nagkaroon din ng mabilisang live sketch session ang ilang visual artist sa gitna ng kampuhan tampok ang kalihim ng unyon habang siya’y nagbabahagi ng mga karanasan.
Sama-samang kumukuha ng pananghaliang isda, giniling, at ensalada ang mga unyonista’t boluntaryo.jpg
Ang Liwasang Bonifacio ay naging lunsaran sa pagbabahaginan ng kaalaman at karanasan. Ang drawing workshop ng mga bata ay uminog sa prompt na “pangungulila sa tahanan”, kung saan sa proseso ng pagtuturo sa mga musmos sa pagguhit ng basic shapes at pagkukulay ay ipinatimo sa kanila ang halaga ng pagbabalik-tanaw sa nakagisnan nilang buhay sa kanayunan na ibang-iba sa lungsod kung saan sila nagkakampuhan. Mainam itong paraan upang sa maagang kamulatan ay di lamang maipakilala sa kanila ang sining ng pagguhit kundi maipaunawa rin ang ipinaglalaban ng kanilang mga magulang at mabigyan din ng oras ang kanilang mga magulang na makibahagi sa mga aktibidad nang hindi pinuproblema ang mga bata. Karamihan sa mga iginuhit ng mga bata ay mga eksena ng kanilang pamumuhay sa bukid.
Samantala, nagbukas ang writing workshop sa pakikipagtalakayan ng mga volunteer sa Sumifru workers hinggil sa kung ano ang espesyal na ulam na kanilang hinahanda kapag dumating ang suweldo. Nailahad ang simpleng pamumuhay ng mga manggagawa sa pagsasabing adobong manok/baboy, sinigang, at sinabawang gulay ang madalas nilang ihanda kapag may pera. Kasama rin sa talakayan ang halaga ng kanilang produktong agrikultural na isang esensiyal na sangkap sa merkado at ekonomiya ng mundo (e.g., banana chips, halo-halo, ketchup, harina, cereals, feeds, at marami pang iba.)
Writing workshop participants mula NAMASUFA, nagbabahagi ng kanilang isinulat na mga monologo
Sumunod na ibinahagi ng mga manggagawa ang buong proseso at panahon ng paglikha ng produktong saging. Sa diskusiyon, lumitaw na may dalawang pangunahing pagkakahati ang proseso ng kanilang paglikha: sa “erya” o lupang sakahan, at sa planta. Umaabot sa halos labing-isang buwan mula sa pagbubungkal, pagtatanim, pagpapalago, pag-ani tungong packaging at quality control upang makapagluwal ng export-grade na Cavendish na saging sa mga bansang Japan, Korea, China, New Zealand, Singapore, at Middle East. Metikuluso ang proseso ng kanilang paggawa sapagkat kakailanganin pa ng tamang “calibration” ng sukat at kalidad ng mga saging (na kinaklasipika nila sa “small hands” at “big hands”). Sa kalkulasyon ng UMA, binabarat ng Sumifru ang mga manggagawa nito sa pagbibigay lamang ng P365 na arawang sahod. P15.75 lamang binibili sa mula sa kinontratang grower. Pero ibinebenta ito sa labas ng bansa sa halagang P212.63 kada kilo ng saging. Sa bawat ektarya ng plantasyon ng saging, tinatayang kumikita ang kumpanyang Hapones ng dagdag P18 milyon kada taon.
Isinalaysay din ng mga manggagawa ang kanilang mga saloobin hinggil sa nangyaring marahas na dispersal sa pitong strike camps sa Compostela Valley noong Oktubre 11 at ang pagpaslang ng mga militar at pulis ng kumpanya kay Danny Boy Bautista noong Oktubre 31. Si Bautista ay isa sa mga pangunahing nagtaguyod mula noong pumutok ang welga noong Oktubre 1. Sinundan pa ito ng panununog sa kanilang union office noong Nobyembre 30 at ang intensipikasyon ng surveillance at harassment mula sa mga militar. Hindi nakapagtataka kung gayon na natutulak ang mga manggagawa na tahasang lumaban at manindigan sapagkat maging ang payapang pamumuhay na kanilang hinahangad sa Compostela Valley ay ipinagkakait sa kanila ng estado.
Sa alab ng pakikiisa ng iba’t ibang sektor
Matapos ang masayang salusalo sa pananghalian at kuwentuhan, nagtipon ang lahat upang maglunsad ng pangkulturang programa. Nakiisa ang mga estudyante at guro ng Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo College, at UP Los Baños. Tumugtog ang mga musikerong sina Alyana Cabral, Mara Marasigan, at The General Strike. Sa saliw ng makabayang himig at mga mensahe ng pakikiisa mula sa mga kinatawan ng iba’t ibang sektor, naging solido ang hanay at diwa ng sama-samang tanggulan para sa Sumifru workers.
Composer at SAKA volunteer na si Alyanna Cabral, nagtatanghal para sa NAMASUFA at kanilang mga tagasuporta
Naging tampok din ang pagtatanghal ng Sining Obrero, ang grupong pangkultura ng NAMASUFA, na inawit ang kanilang orihinal na komposisyon (Padayon, gihapon ang welga sa ComVal!) na punumpuno ng dagundong ng tapang na ipanalo ang welga sa kabila ng pangil ng pasismo. Naging marubdob din ang pagbasa ng mga manggagawa sa kanilang output, mga monologue, sa writing workshop. Saad ni Justy, 25, limang taon nang packer sa plant 220 ng Sumifru: “Hindi po madali ang kalagayan ko doon sa Mindanao dahil sa Martial Law. Bilang isang manggagawa ay natapakan po ang aking karapatan na ibigay ang dapat sa akin. Hindi rin madali na gumising nang madaling araw upang magtrabaho tapos hindi ka pala makapasok dahil sobra na daw o overmanning… Hindi madali pag walang katiyakan ang ganitong sistema o porma ng tinatawag na kontraktwal.”
Mga mag-aaral ng PUP, nagbibigay ng kanilang mensahe ng pakikiisa sa NAMASUFA
Tagumpay ng sama-samang pagkilos
Sa pagsasara ng programa, ipinaalala ni Lisa Ito, secretary general ng CAP, na ang sitwasyon ng Sumifru workers ay nangyayari sa buong bansa. Sunod-sunod ang mga trahedyang ipinapataw ng gobyerno kamakailan sa mga maralitang manggagawa at magbubukid. Aniya, lalo pa’t hindi nakikita sa mass media ang buong kuwento ng pakikibaka ng Sumifru workers, napapanahon at nararapat ang mga pagtitipon tulad ng Luto! Laban! upang magkaroon ng boses ang mga api.
Nagkukuwentuhan ang mga boluntaryo ng SAKA at mga welgista habang nagpiprito ng tawilis
Kinabukasan ng Luto! Laban!, dalawang linggong palugit ang naipanalo ng kolektibong pagtatanggol ng NAMASUFA’t mga tagasuporta nito para manatili ang protest camp sa Liwasang Bonifacio. Sa pahayag ng UMA, ang extension nakuha ng unyon mula sa city hall ay “bunga ng pinagsamang lakas ng manggagawa at iba’t ibang sektor na sumusuporta at naninindigan para sa kanila.” Lalong umiigting kung gayon ang pangangailangan na makipamuhay ang mga estudyante, guro, empleyado, lalo na ang mga manggagawang pangkultura, at sa sama-samang tanggulan para sa Sumifru workers, maisulong ang makatarungang panawagan para sa sahod, benepisyo, at regular na trabaho.
By virtue of our baptism, we as Christians, are christened every day, through the very struggles that the Lord Jesus Christ had carried on. To reflect not on mere certainties but on the social realities we are exposed to, as living pilgrims, we ought to do what Christ did. Today, as the living witnesses of the beauty of the second great coming of the Lord, we are called to think and try to understand the people’s situation, life and welfare with open eyes.
As the season of Lent will start on March 6, the Ash Wednesday, we are challenged to answer to these relevant and important questions, which most privileged Christians have tried to escape if they haven’t took a stance to go against, to evaluate ourselves if weather or not we have followed the mission of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb: Have we transformed ourselves into the embodiment of a peasant girl who humbly accepted the mission of carrying a child in her womb, amidst the times of cruelty and imperial tyranny, to fulfill a life-giving vocation as God had emptied himself and chose to become a human being, siding with the oppressed and dispossessed? Are we ready enough to commemorate the birth of Christianity and follow the path Christ took?
Today, in times of ever-increasing oppression, do we also humbly accept the challenge of discomforting the status-quo and inverting the pyramid situation of our society—the way Christ chose to for the sake of his people?
Setting the heart aflame
In our religious lives, we are often told by our priests, pastors and our friends, or most of the time by the laypeople, to simply pray for and reflect on our miseries when we should rather look at the thoroughness of our experiences and social realities, and find the courage to act. We are taught to pray every day but it should not be just to escape on the real situations of our people. We have to ask: Is our faith a flight from reality? Surely not.
The Gospel clearly leads us to a mission, saying:
“Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps.”
And yet, here we are today: We are only butt hurt and offended when a posturing strongman calls our God stupid. But when the corpses of people created in His likeness are piling up on the streets, we become deaf and blind— being unable to reflect on the real world. And recently, he had called the criminals to rob the bishops and if they will react and fight, kill them.
The collapse of our faith is not manifested when a tyrant calls our God stupid, because it has already had happened in the past, at a time when the Son of God challenged the ruling establishments during his time on Earth, when He and his faithful followers committed themselves to the sufferings of people, an act of violence, which for St. Oscar Romero, a people’s martyr, “wills to beat weapons into sickles for work.”
The violence of the cross
Bishop Oscar Romero, during his pilgrimage on earth, had displayed an act of love for the people— a love which led Christ to the violence of the Cross, a love that would seem violent but radical enough to challenge a tyrannical rule that wreaked havoc on and brought miseries to the people in his time, a love that discomforts the comfortable and demonstrates how a life-giving vocation should be fulfilled.
During his period of immersion in far flung areas in El Salvador, where militarization was greatly present due to the connivance of state forces and landlords and landgrabbers, he witnessed the dire situation of the rural poor and peasants suffering from landlessness and displacement and spate of murders committed by security forces. His reflection on the real experiences of the people of God invigorated his mission to link arms with the oppressed, the people whom Jesus faithfully served.
Despite death threats coming from the Salvadorian authorities, Romero and other missionaries had continuously sided with the oppressed, especially with those who lived in the countryside, and outspokenly joined their struggles against militarization, corruption in the bureaucracy, and the continuing attacks on the rural poor for defending their lives and land.
Romero continuously defied the reign of terror, even filling the airwaves of radio stations with strong stance against extrajudicial killings committed by the death squads formed by right wing politicians. In 1980, months before his death, he called out the US Government headed by then Pres. Carter for funding the war machine of El Salvadorian government and supporting its reign of terror.
He had been at the most vulnerable moment in his life during the very core of communion between God and the people and his most adored rite, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. His homilies and religious responsibilities stirred various emotions and responses. For the toiling masses and his supporters, his evangelical mission was an eye opener that could mobilize the people to uphold God’s social justice and bring about alternatives to the order that had drawn discontent from the peoples, but for majority of the privileged Catholics, including the acolytes of Salvadorian government, Romero was a blasphemy to God and the anti-thesis of subservience to the Vatican.
Just like the other missionaries and Church people who showed solidarity with the poor, Romero was also persecuted by state forces and elite Salvadoran Catholics, branding him as an “enemy of the state” and therefore a communist sympathizer.
During the worsening socio-political climate in El Salvador when electoral frauds were met with series of peaceful protests, Romero went out of his cathedral pulpit and fearlessly heightened his militancy denouncing the massacres and disappearances of community leaders and human rights defenders committed by joint forces of military and police.
The faith of Romero and other faithful was violently dismissed and so the existence of the God they worshipped. Hundredths of priests and laypeople were persecuted to death.
But these did not stop the commitment of Romero to carry forward the cross of struggle, to propagate the “violence of love” which Jesus showed to us thousands of years ago. No matter how they were called unchristian and how their God was blasphemed, was dismissed, and was called names, he did not focus on the pessimistic dismissal of such claim. Rather, he showed the real meaning of Christianity: Seeking to serve, and not to be served. Beyond the realm of prayers and spiritual charism, he became an activist for the people.
On March 24, 1980, Romero led the celebration of Holy Mass at a small chapel in a church-run hospital dedicated for the terminally ill where other priests were gathered as part of a monthly reflection on priesthood. Seconds after stepping away from the lectern where he held his sermon, Romero was shot to death by an unknown assailant.
St. Oscar Romero lived-out his faith with El Salvadorian people. In the Philippines, there were many Filipinos who had offered their lives not just for independence but for justice, lasting peace ad fullness of life. Fr. Gregorio Aglipay and his comrade clergy and lay people like Isabelo delos Reyes, Aurello Tolentino, and many Christian Filipinos had offered their lives for concrete and absolute independence of the Philippines from the hands of the Spanish and American colonizers.
Like St. Oscar Romero, many Christians life Methodist Felomina Asuncion, Deacon Carlos Tayag, Fr. Zacarias Agatep, Fr. Jeremias Aquino, Fr. Frank Navarro, to name a few, became martyr of the national democratic movement during Martial Law. Like St. Oscar Romero, Pastor Edison Lapus, Fr. William Tadena Bishop Alberto Ramento, Fr. Tito Paez, among others, had offered their lives against extra-judicial killings, desaparicedos and illegal arrest and detention with trumped up charges and gross human rights violations.
The saints and martyrs of the ancient and the modern world had suffered on the violence of the cross.
The real problem to be faced
In front of the national television and behind the presidential podium, President Rodrigo Duterte, after a series of tirades against the Church, called God stupid and questioned the scriptural passage of creation, saying “Who is this stupid God? This son of a bitch is stupid if that’s the case.” This controversial statement drew flak from the Catholics, immediately changing their profile pictures on social media like Facebook showing the words “My God Is Not Stupid”.
Days after, the war against the Church people intensified. There was an exchange of words between them and the Palace, contributing to the culture of fear which has heightened the chilling effect to all the critics of the administration.
But before the President has focused on the Catholic church, he has already had waged his war against the ordinary people longing for reforms beneficial to all. The series of attacks against the Church people just came after the gruesome numbers of people killed and harassed in the drug war, martial rule in Mindanao and militarization in the countryside, and government’s persecution of social activists and political dissenters.
The omnipotence and omniscience of God can never be dismissed by a posturing strongman who has a messiah syndrome. God must be asking now: When the oppressed were agonizing and seeking refuge because of the reign of terror, where were you?
Have we empathized with the victims of state repression and extrajudicial killings long before the President hurled distasteful and divisive remarks on the faith of Christians? What have we done to condemn and stop such unchristian and inhumane attacks on the people?
We’ve already had made our God stupid when we chose to stay in the sidelines, and, even more so, when we have participated in the terrorist tagging of those radical disciples who courageously immersed in far flung areas and identified themselves with the marginalized.
Do we just come in defense only when our faith is put under attack? The Christian leaders must also carry out the call for justice to all victims of state violence. The Roman Catholic Church ad Evangelical Church leaders tend to condemn all forms of violence. It is really the real problem we have to face because in the first place, the present Philippine system is a violent one. It is a system ruled by oppressors and exploiters with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, their paramilitary-auxiliary forces or force multipliers and private armies conspire to suppress the people’s struggle who are fighting for justice and lasting peace.
It is true that there revolutionary forces engage in armed struggle. They forces are so-called no-state actors in the Philippines. Filipinos should not condemn revolutionary causes. The Philippines revolution had produced heroes and heroines, martyrs and even saints for independence.
The continuing revolution that is happening in our country at present is relevant and just. If the oppressed and exploited Filipino people have no one to help them, who will defend them? It is also just and proper for them to have protectors and they are the army of the people who are fighting a just war.
Sin of omission
We and our Church leaders, including Luis Cardinal Tagle, have made our God stupid when we chose to commit sin of omission or abandon our moral obligation, an act that most privileged Christians do. Believing that our collective prayer is enough and that we are fated and destined to face the miseries unleashed by the current regime is a sin also. By this, we have failed Jesus who rebelled against the structural evils during his time on earth and who denounced those who benefited from the sufferings of others and those who monopolized the resources of the world for selfish gains.
Our inactions amidst the spate of killings against the leaders of the national democratic movement and economic woes have failed our God. We have failed to use our deliberative will to fulfill our life-giving vocation and to share our suffering with that of Christ’s when he struggled with the oppressed and dispossessed.
For what good is our lamentation when we have placed the lives of our brothers and sisters in danger despite seeing how the tyrant and his acolytes have deliberatively decided to go against the thesis of life and take us to war? We have placed our faith in a vacuum— in a place where Christ doesn’t dwell—- instilling into the minds of our brothers and sisters that our battle for a humane society must be devoid of politics. Have we ever asked who sent us murders? Who ordered our sufferings? Who brought these upon us? Is it God?
The cross and the violence of love
Protest is the diametric opposition of apathy. It is an act of righteousness which revealed the magnificence of Christ’s mission to the powerless.
He immersed with and showed love for the oppressed, abused, abandoned, sick, alienated and outcasted. He challenged religious practices, made public speeches, talked personally to people, and spoke truth to power. He stormed in the places where injustice became rampant and where people were subjugated to the rule of tyrants. He even overturned tables and drove people out of a room in a temple court to condemn the greedy religious hypocrites. (John 2:13-25)
Jesus rebelled against an exploitative system. He prayed to God, being an active invitation to resistance and not a passive reaction to oppression and exploitation. He was slandered, mocked, intimidated, tortured, and imprisoned—- the same experiences the people of God undergo today—- but he still chose to fulfill his mission. His love and activism for us brought him to the crucifixion. His disciples carried forward his militancy, courageously challenging an environment permeated by injustice. They remained faithful to Christ’s mission of emancipation and salvation.
Let us be moved by the suffering of people. Ignoring them is to show contempt for God whose love for humanity is unceasing that he gave us his only begotten son Jesus Christ. Our faith is never a flight from reality. The people want to see the fullness of our faith, of our experience. Where have we hidden it? Let Jesus be seen by the people, be seen in our struggle- a place where he truly dwells.
Our silence has permitted and enabled the reign of tyranny that I have to ask: Do we value the life sanctified by our communion with God? By being silent on the rampant killings today, we are crucifying Christ again; we are crucifying the sons and daughters of God. Do we need to experience terrible suffering first before we save the lives of the people set to be crucified by the self-proclaimed God?
Dinaluhan ng iba’t ibang progresibong grupo ang paggunita sa ika-33 anibersaryo ng EDSA People Power 1. Nagmartsa ang libu-libong mga estudyante, manggagawa, magsasaka at mga taong simbahan bitbit ang panawagang “TAYO ANG EDSA! TAYO ANG PAG-ASA! LABANAN ANG DIKTADURYA!”. Nagkaroon ng maikling programa sa EDSA Shrine at doon na rin sila nagtanghalian.
Sa paglilibot-libot ko sa iba’t ibang sektor, naagaw ng isang nanay ang atensyon ko. Nakaputi, nakatayo sa gilid at nakatanaw sa nagsasalita sa entablado. Kung tutuusin, isa lang siya sa marami pang nakaputing nanay, at nakatingin sa nagsasalita sa entablado. Pero sa lahat ng tao don, siya lang ang may hawak ng isang picture frame—karamihan kasi ay printed o nasa isang tarpaulin ang mga larawan na hawak nila.
Nanay Marie Tion, byuda dahil sa EJK
Sinimulan kong kausapin si Nanay Marie pero dahil hindi namin marinig ang isa’t isa ay nag-aya siyang lumayo kami sa tumpok ng mga tao. Pagkatapos kong pormal na magpakilala, agad na nagkuwento si nanay sa akin, na para bang matagal niyang kinikimkim at nais na ikuwento sa taas ng entablado ang nangyari sa kaniya.
Hawak-hawak ni Nanay Marie ang larawan ng kaniyang asawang yumao, si Tatay Florencio “Rene” Tion. Nasa 60 taong gulang nang bawian ng buhay.
“July 29 noong nakaraang taon, alas-10 ng gabi hinatid namin ng asawa ko ang anak ko sa terminal ng tricycle, tinawag ang asawa ko ng mga kaibigan niya sa tindahan malapit sa terminal kaya ‘di na siya sumama samin sa loob ng tricycle, pagbalik ko, nandoon pa rin siya sa tindahan nakikipag-inuman na. Tumabi pa ako sa kanila kasi kilala ko naman ang mga kasama ng asawa ko,” pagkukuwento ni nanay sa akin.
Masaya pa raw ang kuwentuhan nila noon, dahilan siguro para makaramdam siya ng pagkaihi. Umuwi na daw siya saglit at naghanda na sana ng higaan nila sa pagtulog nang tawagin siya ng isang nilang kapitbahay. Ibinalita sa kaniya ang pagkakabaril sa kaniyang asawa.
Sinugod agad nila ito sa pinakamalapit na ospital at nagtagal pa ng 20 araw sa ospital. Sa pagkakabaril ng kaniyang asawa ay nireport nila ito sa mga pulis.
“Syempre tinanong ko don kung bakit ganon ang nangyari sa asawa ko, hindi naman siya adik, bakit kailangan niya mamatay ‘di ba?” naluluhang pagsasalaysay ni Nanay Marie.
Mas nagpasama pa ng loob ni nanay Marie ay ang sinagot sa kaniya ng pulis na sinabing damay lang daw talaga ang kaniyang asawa.
‘Di na napigilan ni nanay ang kaniyang luha nang sabihin niya ang: “Bakit parang wala lang na may namatay na isang inosente para sa kanila? Sobrang nakakasama ng loob yung nangyari.”
Bagama’t ilan buwan na ang nakalipas sa pagpanaw ng kaniyang asawa ay sariwa pa rin sa kaniyang alaala ang mga nanggyari at kung gaano kabuti ito bilang asawa at bilang ama sa kanilang mga anak.
“Sobrang bait non, kahit magkaproblema ang mga anak ko, sa pinansyal, agad talaga siyang gagawa ng paraan. Maasahan talaga siya,” aniya.
Hanggang ngayon ay naghahanap pa rin ng kaarungan si Nanay Marie sa pagkawala ng katuwang niya sa buhay.
Aniya, “Dati, pinagpapasa-Diyos ko lang, kailangan pala talagang magsalita at lumaban, dito sa mga gan’tong pagtitipon nararamdaman kong may pag-asa.”
Sa kasalukayan, libu-libo na ang mga katulad ni Tatay Rene na inosenteng nadamay sa gera kontra droga ni Duterte sa loob lamang ng dalawang taon. At para kay Nanay Marie, sa lahat ng tulad niyang naiwan ay nagbubunga ito ng mas malalim pa nilang pagkilos upang mapanagot ang tunay na may kasalanan.
Sa ika-33 taong anibersaryo ng makasaysayang EDSA People Power I ay pinatutunayan pa rin ng administrasyon ang kawastuhan ng mga panawagang bitbit ng mga dumalo dito. Nasa kasaysayan ang tanda na kaya ng taumbayan na magkaisa upang wakasan ang pananatili ng isang diktador sa pwesto.
Yes, we share the sentiments. It is very saddening that the Big Bad Wolf book sale will end on March 4, especially for folks who didn’t get the time and luxury to go to Pasay City.
The good news is there are several independent bookshops Metro Manila offering low-priced yet high quality books.
Below are some of the must-visit bookshops after the Big Bad Wolf run ends:
Books From Underground
Photo grabbed from Book from Underground Facebook page
This shop is situated along the Lagusnilad underpass beside Manila City Hall. The shop started to operate in the late 2000’s. They have a wide selection – cookbooks, history, theory, literature, magazines, periodicals, and journals of all sorts. Some are even book-signed.
Usually, they sell mass-market paperbacks from PHP 50 to PHP 200, trade paperbacks and hard bounds from PHP 100 and up, depending on the title’s rarity and demand.
Opening from afternoon until late evening, it became a hang-out for its customers with varying literary tastes, ideologies, and political affiliations. One of its proprietors joke that ‘Underground’ is “the place where the Left and the Right meet.”
Visit Books from Undergound Facebook page for more information.
The Common Ground
Photo grabbed from The Common Ground Facebook page
What is the usual and ideal partner of a good book? Coffee and/or tea. That’s why The Common Ground (TCG) took it to the next level. Aside from selling books, their shop doubles as a cafe.
Located on Leon Guinto Street, Malate, TCG induces 80’s and 90’s nostalgia, with its vinyl records and cassette tapes available for customers to play while enjoying their coffee and reading. It became a hang-out place for students from different schools in Taft Avenue.
TCG also hosts activities related to literature, history, politics, among others. It hosted the Baybayin writing workshop of Nawaya, a cultural group. They also provided the venue for the launching of a poetry compilation written by on-strike women workers of Sumifru which was released by Gantala Press, a local feminist publisher. Solidarity events for peasants organized by Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo or SAKA were also held at TCG.
Unlike major bookstores, TCG encourages zine production and DIY (do-it-yourself) publications – they even have a special shelf for self-published writers and artists.
Before opening a physical shop on Maginhawa St., Quezon City, Davao-based Roel’s Bookshop was known for selling books online. With an extensive selection of fair-priced humanities and social sciences titles, they gained regular customers from different parts of the country. Their shop is open from 1pm to 11pm every day.
What’s remarkable about this book store is that they sell used books in mint condition. The first thing that will catch your attention is their shelf full of classics printed by different publishers. It is now located on B. Serrano St. Cor P. Jacinto St., Caloocan City.
Photo grabbed from Popular Bookstore Facebook page
Known during the early 90’s for selling proletarian literature for proletarian prices, this bookshop is popular (pun intended) among activists and Left-leaning readers. Its original location is on Doroteo Jose Street, Santa Cruz, Manila. In the mid-2010’s, they moved to Tomas Morato, Quezon City. It boasts an extensive selection of Filipiniana titles and now has a special section for used books. It also became the top distributor of activist writers in different fields – may it be history, literature, politics, and/or economics.
There are other great bookstores in Metro Manila such as Uno Morato in Quezon City; Tradewinds Bookstore in Intramuros, Manila; and, Solidaridad Bookshop owned by National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose in Padre Faura among others.
Booksale is always there, with hard-to-find titles hidden inside every shelf. But for the hardcore anti-establishment, stalls and ‘latag’ vendors along Claro M. Recto Avenue is the best source. From out-of-print Filipiniana literature to 19th century literature, Greek philosophers to postmodernists, theory and literature—they have it.
It is a good thing that despite the cultural trap of the cyber age, books still gain appreciation and interest among the Filipino youth.
Pangunahing ginugunita sa buwan ng Marso ang Pandaigdigang Buwan ng mga Kababaihan, tila isang selebrasyon ng tagumpay at kasaganahan sa hanay ng mga babae.
Sa muling pagbabalik sa danas ng mga kababaihan mahalagang balikan ang kuwento sa loob ng mga kuwento, pakinggan ang mga naratibo, ikuwento ang mga kuwento upang magkaroon ng kuwenta ang nakaraan at hindi na lamang kuwentahin ang kanilang ambag ayon sa taya ng mga may kapangyarihan.
Isa sa dapat balikan ang danas ni Maria Rosa Luna Henson o Nana Rosa na isa sa mga comfort women noong panahon ng Hapon. Natatangi ang naging pagtatanghal ng Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa kanyang buhay. Walang takot niyang inilahad sa publiko noong 1992 ang kanyang kuwento bilang military sex slave ng mga sundalong Hapon noong World War II.
Sa muli niyang pagkukuwento, nabuksan ang yugto ng kasaysayang hindi madalas na napag-uusapan, paksang para sa iba’y maselan, usaping ayaw na muling balikan dahil sa pangangalaga ng imahe at relasyong nabuo sa pagitan ng bansang Pilipinas at Hapon. May malalim na sugat hindi lamang sa pisikal lalo’t higit sa dignidad ng kababaihan ang naging pagsasamantala ng mga sundalong Hapon.
Sa kabila ng danas ng mga comfort women ng bansa, noong Abril 2018 sa kahabaan ng Roxas Boulevard, tuluyang giniba ang isang monumentong magsisilbing simbolikong pagkilala at paggunita sa kanila. Isang buwan bago ito, pumirma ng loan agreement ang ating gobyerno at ang Japan International Cooperation Agency para sa Manila Subway Project.
Ang kuwento ni Nana Rosa ay patuloy na maririnig at mababasa sa kasalukuyang panahon. Hindi pa rin natatapos ang aktibong pakikisangkot ng mga kababaihan sa iba’t ibang protesta laban sa malawakang anyo ng karahasan.
Walang pinipiling pananamantala at laban ang babae, iba-iba man ang antas ng pamumuhay, uri ng trabaho, lugar na pinagmulan, kakayahan at maging nakamit na edukasyon ng kababaihan. Patuloy ang naratibo ng mga babaeng pesanteng may pang-aabuso sa kanya bilang magsasaka at bilang babae. Patuloy na maririnig ang mga danas ng kababaihang napipipi ang boses dahil kailangan niyang tuparin ang pamantayan ng lipunan bilang komoditi. Patuloy na mababasa ang kuwento ng pagiging bagong bayani ng mga babaeng OFW na tumatanggap ng maliit na kita habang malayo sa kanilang pamilya. Patuloy na lalaban ang kababaihan at bubusalan ang mga biro at banta ng Pangulo na dumudurog sa pagkatao ng isang babae.
Hindi nag-iisa ang kababaihan sa laban na ito.
Sa patuloy nating pakikisama sa pakikibaka ng mga kababaihan, dahan-dahang mawawala ang multo ng nakaraan, hanggang sa ang mga multo ay nagiging alaala na lamang. Hangga’t walang rekognisyon sa pananamantala o pang-aabuso, walang kabuuang kabayarang magaganap sa lahat ng danyos. Sa kabuuan, hindi tayo maghihilom bilang isang bayang dumanas ng kalupitan at pang-aabuso kung tayo mismo ay tuluyang nakalilimot sa mga sugat ng ating nakaraan.
The most pressing issue we face at present as a species that is the irreversible destruction of the natural environment which threatens our very existence is– unsurprisingly– of secondary importance to our politicians and business leaders alike that there is hardly a debate or substantial discussion not even a passing remark in the media. Worse, when politicians and business leaders alike talk about the general situation of the world, we hear nothing but worn-out assumptions, dreary slogans, and speculations carried to the point of outrageousness.
One example is the interview conducted by Esquire magazine with politician and business tycoon Manny Villar back in 2015 which has been republished online in celebration of the release “of the latest Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the Philippines” which the interviewed “now finds himself rising to the #2 spot––after tripling his net worth to US$5 billion from $1.65 billion in 2017.”
It is a habit of lifestyle and entertainment magazines ruled by the values of glamour and publicity to magnify billionaires and the rich as exemplary romantic figures. Thus, in the course of the interview the interviewer asks the interviewed, “what else can you teach us?”
A great deal of the interview shows the excessively productive business life of Mr. Villar, and since the correspondence touches almost exclusively on business matters the question of the economic situation in the country is inevitable.
His thoughts on the “widening gap between the rich and the poor” are straightforwardly that of a businessman: dry, evasive, and not very enlightening:
“Yes, I think the gap is widening. For those below the gap, there’s no real wealth creation. Just a higher cost of living–their lifestyle goes up, they pay for more things.”
Those below the gap, the working class, the peasantry, and the Third-World countries are historically, economically, realistically the creators of wealth. For what is wealth or “capital” if not the product of human labour? But according to Mr. Villar “there’s no real wealth creation” which seems to contradict the Forbes report. Beneath the billions of dollars of the Forbes candidate are the countless, faceless people who laboured day and night to procure such wealth. As to the unstable wealth creation below which Mr. Villar alludes for the widening gap is quite misleading. In a study conducted by the sociologist and feminist Maria Mies remarked that the widening gap between the rich and the poor “is not as a result of ‘natural’ lagging behind but the direct consequence of the overdevelopment of the rich industrial countries who exploit the so-called periphery in Africa, South America and Asia. Mies continues:
“The relationship between these overdeveloped centres or metropoles and the underdeveloped peripheries is a colonial one. Today, a similar colonial relationship exists between Man and Nature, between men and women, between urban and rural areas… In order to maintain such relationships [the widening gap between the rich and the poor] force and violence are always essential.”
The high cost of living is first and foremost not the making of those below the gap but of the class to which Mr. Villar belongs and the government that allows and tolerates in a parasitic fashion that class. And the lifestyle in which they have to pay more for things which they can hardly afford to sustain it is not solely of their own choosing.
This picture of vulgar logic is intended to excuse the class of Mr. Villar in their responsibility in creating the dreadful gap. It underlies the idea of putting the blame on the victim allowing justification for the rich to admonish the poor: sipag at tiyaga (industriousness and persistence).
One is astonished at the sweeping adroitness of a politician and a businessman of the likes of Mr. Villar when he states that there is no wealth creation for those below. There is wealth. The problem is that the very wealth created by those below did not, in neoliberal terms, “trickle down”, instead it trickled UP to enrich the already rich on top. The question of the widening gap between the rich and the poor can be restated as an issue of wealth distribution; of implementing laws that will bar the rich from monopolization and accumulation of more wealth; of raising the minimum wage; of increase taxation on the rich; of approving agrarian reform; and of a critique and of replacement of the present economic system.
On the subject of “growth” the opinion of Mr. Villar is equally misleading and shortsighted:
“I think we could have grown faster if our citizens had been entrepreneurs. The bulk of the population is working––they’re not entrepreneurial. I’m of the firm belief that poverty can only be reduced through business. Wealth creation is the way forward. We’re not entrepreneurial enough. I think this is the reason for the gap.”
There is very little proof (and a specious one if there is) that the Philippines would have grown faster if we all had been entrepreneurs, and that poverty “can only be reduced through business.” We, the readers, are left thirsty for evidence and persuasion. We are given none but the sweeping assumptions of a businessman inconspicuously arguing for more Villar properties and estates: “wealth creation is the way forward.”
If unlimited growth and development to Mr. Villar means increase of capital and GNP, an overwhelming body of evidence and studies enough to fill the private estates of the tycoon shows that unlimited growth has “led to an increasing deterioration in the environment, and subsequently the quality of life.” One only has to open one’s eyes and ears to the massive destruction perpetuated by growth and development embodied by multinational corporations on the natural environment and indigenous communities around the world.
The imputation that we’re not entrepreneurial enough seems to be utterly foolish in light of the imminent danger posed to our survival by the staggering rate of environmental destruction (mankind has annihilated 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970) due to the unquestioned methods and practices of our present economic system (corporate capitalism). Perhaps what should concern us all is not that we are not entrepreneurs in the image of Mr. Villar or the country is not “growing” enough–besides, the world would be insufferably boring and colorless if we were all businessmen and we talked nothing but business–but to think and act on ways as to reverse or slow down the rapid destruction of nature on which our life depends. One not insignificant way is to rethink the dominant concept of growth and development.
The paradigm of unlimited growth that the Third-World countries have embraced as imposed by the developed countries “involved the reproduction of not only a particular form of wealth creation, but also of the associated creation of poverty and dispossession,” argued the physicist and activist Vandana Shiva.
“Dams, mines, energy plants, military bases –– these are the temples of the new religion called ‘development’, a religion that provides the rationale for the modernizing state, its bureaucracies and technocracies. What is sacrificed at the altar of this religion is nature’s life and people’s life. The sacraments of development are made of the ruins and desecration of other sacreds, especially sacred soils. They are based on the dismantling of society and community, on the uprooting of peoples and cultures.”
The belief that poverty can only be reduced through business is analogous to, in this crucial state of our times, the belief that slaves can only be freed through slavery. Firstly, the claim hinges on what poverty is. Shiva dismantles development’s misleading perception of poverty:
“The conventional paradigm of development perceives poverty only in terms of an absence of Western consumption patterns, or in terms of cash incomes and therefore is unable to grapple with self-provisioning economies, or to include the poverty created by their destruction through development. . . Culturally perceived poverty is not necessarily real material poverty: subsistence economies that satisfy basic needs through self-provisioning are not poor in the sense of deprivation. . . Subsistence, as culturally perceived poverty, does not necessarily imply a low material quality of life.”
What for Mr. Villar is the solution is in all accounts the real problem. The present economic model and its attendant culture of passive destructive consumption has cultivated and encouraged in us a business sensibility which has reduced us to mindless consumers and producers unaccountable for the social and environmental risks involved. Mies concludes:
“If more and more people buy this commodity the GDP grows. But what also grows at the same time is the erosion of community, the isolation and loneliness of individuals, the indifference and atomization of the society… market forces destroy communities.”
It is the present epidemic of growth and development which is the reason for the misery of the people below, particularly of the indigenous communities, and the unforgivable degradation of the natural environment. To ignore the realities of the environmental crisis is to admit the inevitability of social (global) suicide. Wealth creation is not the way forward, it is the way to self-destruction.
Carlo Rey Lacsamana is a Filipino, born and raised in Manila, Philippines. Since 2005, he has been living and working in the Tuscan town of Lucca, Italy.
Education is a right and it is one of society’s most critical responsibility to uphold. Educational institutions, such as state universities and colleges, whether public or private, impart knowledge to us by laying the foundations for our development and keeping our physical well-being “intact” as we become productive members of the society. It is heartbreaking when someone you know, perhaps a family member, a friend, or a colleague decides that by being deprived of education—in so many ways that it happened and continues to happen today—life has become too painful to bear.
Anyone’s death is agonizing for those left behind; when you thought that life could take you anywhere and you can be anything you want to be, suicide ends all that possibilities. It has a chilling effect to students knowing that it could happen to anyone.
For the glaring case of our country’s education system, it’s not just suicide, it is murder to take away someone’s dream by not letting them pursue their education.
Six years after
A week ago, we commemorated Kristel Tejada’s death.
Six years ago, Kristel, a freshman of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, took her life and bid us goodbye forever. Most students in UP Manila today were not those who walked the halls of the campus the same time as she did.
Kristel’s tuition woes started in her first day in the university. The 16-year old Behavioral Science student asked for a tuition loan and offered a promissory note to the university. However, at the second time of asking and unable to pay the previous loan, it was denied. In 2013, UP Manila administration barred students who failed to pay their tuition on time from attending classes. Students paid as much as P33,000 to P50,000 per semester in the premier state university until 2017—an amount that is as much as the tuition in many private schools in the country, or even more expensive than many.
She was in bracket D in the socialized tuition scheme of the university, much to the family’s dismay. They believed Kristel should be in bracket E2, where Kristel would be tuition-free and would even receive a stipend of P2,400 per month or P12,000 per semester.
Under the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), those who fall under Bracket A pay P1,500 per unit; Bracket B students pay P1,000; Bracket C, P600, and Bracket D, P300. Students under Bracket E are exempted from tuition.
Not capable of paying for the P10,000 worth of tuition, Kristel was forced to take a leave of absence. She was not even allowed to sit in classes as she wanted to do just for the purpose of learning and not getting marks to complete a degree.
This is the irony of being in state university, which supposedly caters to the government’s responsibility to provide education to the youth, but charges students with high tuition fees.
After a dialogue with UP officials and a month after Kristel died, the university lifted the “no late payment” policy. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) also issued a memorandum at the same time urging flexibility on payment of fees and scrapping any “no permit, no exam” policies that then exist in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country.
Rising cost of education in UP pre-free tuition era
The socialized tuition schemes in UP Diliman resulted in the rising tuition rates in the country’s premier state university. At P1,500 per unit today, the rate rivals the tuition in many expensive private colleges and universities.
From zero tuition to P40, the tuition jumped to P300 per unit in UP Diliman, UP Manila and UP Los Baños (P200 per unit in other UP units) after the introduction of the STFAP in 1989. In instituting the STFAP, UP’s highest policy-making body the Board of Regents (BOR) said it was “part of UP’s effort to democratize access and admission to its academic programs and promote fairness and social justice in the University.”
But according to Philippine Collegian then, only one in every five undergraduate students in UP Diliman benefited from free tuition under the program in 1991. By 2010, only one in every one hundred students is granted free tuition. In 2012, only 74 students of the 3,823 STFAP applicants in UP Diliman whose parents earn way below the minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) enjoyed free tuition with stipend.
In 2006, UP increased its tuition rates by 300% from P300 per unit to P1,000 per unit. The STFAP was restructured in 2007, the main reason given was to adjust to inflation rates. The state university’s tuition increased to P1,000 in UP Diliman, UP Manila and Los Baños (P600 per unit in other UP units), a rate that surpasses the average tuition of P863.71 in NCR (according to CHED data) at the time.
The school year the new rates were implemented, there were reports that many did not enroll despite passing the UP College Admission Test. In 2011, reports said around 1,300 of the 3,826 UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) qualifiers in UP Diliman (UPD) did not enroll, mainly due to high tuition rates. Years after, many public high school students do not even consider applying in UP for college because even if they pass, they are certain they will be unable to pay the tuition.
Following the outrage in the wake of Kristel’s death, and all the painful and real ironies that the unfortunate incident exposed, the BOR launched the Socialized Tuition System or STS on December 2013. According to the new program, it will provide tuition discount at rates that are based on the assessment of the paying capacity of the household to which a student belongs.
They said the program aimed to democratize UP admission since not all students can afford to pay the full tuition. However, it also gave a de facto tuition increase of P1,500 pesos per unit from the default P1,000 pesos per unit. Youth groups claimed that it is another income generating project of the UP system, alongside the leasing of its academic lands amid lowering government appropriations vis-à-vis increasing needs. The STS, like the STFAP before it, was seen as a smokescreen for tuition increase.
Under the socialized tuition schemes, students will have to apply and prove their poverty to get a tuition discount.
Even with the free tuition policy since 2017, where all tuition is subsidized at only state universities and a few local colleges, the socialized tuition scheme continues to categorize students into brackets to see who is deserving to get the financial assistance and stipend from the university. UP students who are not covered by the free tuition policy will also have to apply for socialized tuition scheme to get a tuition discount.
Several cases of education and tuition-related suicides from other schools were also documented from the Aquino administration up to present. These lives lost are more than enough to realize that the current educational system is neither democratizing access nor educating the Filipino youth. It tells us the narrative of a price-tag education at the expense of our constitutional right to education.
Free tuition policy
On August 3, 2017, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or RA 10931 was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. It institutionalized free tuition and exemption from other school fees in state universities and colleges (SUCs), and some local universities and colleges (LUCs) in the country.
The free tuition law was lauded as pro-poor policy, a recognition of a decades-long battle cry of youth activists and also an admission that government can indeed fully fund our education.
But a lot is still needed to improve the policy. While 112 SUCs, 78 LUCs, and technical vocational programs benefited from the said law, majority of students cannot access tertiary education.
Under K-12 education, students are discouraged to take tertiary education and proceed with technical vocational tracks to supplement as cheap labor force outside the country. With the full rollout of the K-12 program deliberately marketed by the Department of Education (DepEd) for employability at the cost of employment and preparedness, the K-12 program is a desperate and haphazard attempt to be globally competitive. However, according to a Jobstreet report in 2018, only 24% of employers are willing to hire k-to-12 graduates. Recently, a Senate hearing on K-12 review showed that the K-12 curriculum is not being taught well—the culprit for lower National Achievement test scores since the program was implemented. Also according to government data, 400,000 students were unable to continue with school when K-12 was implemented.
Medicine and Law students were also exempted from the free tuition policy since 2018 and would have to apply for subsidies and scholarships with the available CHED programs.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10931 drafted by CHED headed by its Commissioner Prospero De Vera in February 2018 also put in place a “civic obligation” or “return service system” (RSS) for those who will avail of free tuition. Main stakeholders—the students—were not consulted with the IRR and we remember that March 2018 episode in the House of Representatives when the students who came to listen to the IRR hearing were held in a separate room and were ushered to the hearing and given time to speak only as the hearing was ending. It ended with the students shouting out their calls, and Congress security pushing and shoving them out.
National democratic mass organizations, especially those from UP Manila, were quick to address and criticize the CHED’s inclusion of return service that the National Union of Students of the Philippines Metro Manila found out in June last year to be forms of “required voluntary service” in UP Manila, and unpaid labor and mandatory ROTC in other SUCs in NCR. But only the UP system was ready with its program for RSS. The BOR deferred the RSS for one semester with the intervention of then-Student Regent Shari Oliquino. At the time, it actually meant that UP student would be required to complete two semesters of return service (40 hours per month becomes 80 hours) in the second semester of the school year 2018-2019. CHED held a hearing with student groups and deferred the program for one school year. Come CHED budget deliberations in September 2018, with the intervention of ACT Teachers Partylist Representatives Antonio Tinio, Commissioner De Vera promised to take out RSS from the IRR. Tinio argued that the RSS does not have a basis in the law. In that hearing, Tinio also quipped a most commonsensical truth that proponents of RSS have missed all those months: kung libre, bakit may kapalit?
De Vera would go on to say after a few days of that hearing that what he said was his word alone but he cannot speak or decide for the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education or UNIFAST board who decides on matters like this. Until now, there is none of that written document that removes the RSS that De Vera promised to execute. We will see in the coming school year if the SUCs will implement the RSS.
The problem with the RSS in the free tuition policy is not that students and youth do not want to render service. It’s that it’s repressive and coercive and exacerbates the problems of the youth with the inaccessibility of education—when they may be able to overcome tuition woes to enter school, it is even harder to keep oneself in school with all the expenses it entails. The forms of RSS that are in the character of unpaid labor are also blatantly exploitative. Ultimately, the RSS tries to drill into the consciousness of the public that if the youth do not want to render return service, they do not deserve free education. It is a poisoned chalice that sets us way back the time before these socialized tuition schemes made tuition and tuition increases acceptable. It obfuscates the principle of the youth’s right to education and covers up the government’s inutility in its responsibility to provide education to the youth.
The free tuition policy also provided limited slots throughout the country. With inadequate budget and cuts from the government, state universities, local universities and colleges can only admit so many students that students are forced to enroll in private HEIs to get tertiary education and get a degree. In this case, the grim situation of having to pay high-priced education remains a living nightmare for most of the students. With the threat of tuition of tuition fee increase annually, the burden of education is at the meager income of parents and perhaps to some, shouldered by the savings a working student—or ultimately a farewell to that one dream of graduation.
While there is free tuition for SUCs and some LUCs, private and business education reign supreme, as there is one (1) public tertiary education institution for every 10 private colleges. Majority of college students are paying high tuition fees, while government data also tells us there are 3.8 million out-of-school youth today. There is a free tuition policy, yet there is still no free education and access to education remains elusive for most Filipino youth.
Justice remains elusive
To this day, justice for Kristel’s tragic death remains elusive. It will be for as long as the state of commercialized, colonial and repressive education remains. Kristel is one among the hundreds and thousands of Filipino students who are pushed against the wall by the commercialized character of education in the country. But not only Kristel, but all of us remains a victim of the state abandonment of education.
UP Manila implements its own Return Service Agreement or RSA in the ‘white colleges’ or heath sciences colleges since 2010. The program started in 2009 with requiring graduates of Medicine to serve in underserved communities, but went on to implement a payback scheme in 2013 in the amount of “twice the cost of education plus interests and donations”, today amounting to around P1.2 million, for those who would leave the country before the two to three-year ban of leaving the country. The RSA also now allows service in any sector or company in the country–be it foreign, transnational, private practice, military, etc.–as long as the graduate stays two to three years (depending on the length of the degree program) in the country after graduation. So whether this is true “return service” in the country or for the people is highly contestible. In the first semester of school year 2018-2019, the university also cascaded amendments it pushed for in the RSA workshops in May 2018, despite not being tackled or approved in the BOR according to the Office of the Student Regent, such as the amendment that disallows first degree graduates to proceed directly to Medicine and the removal of payback exemptions “for any reasons” (when before it allowed exemptions due to temporary or permanent physical or mental disability). We were also surprised in the first semester of this school year that the payback is now being charged to students who cannot complete their first degree program upon admission to the university or those who opt to shift out of their courses to courses that do not implement RSA. The payback is implemented even if it was only in 2017 that students in UP Manila were given free tuition and before that they pay P33,000 to P50,000 per semester. Since November last year, Anakbayan UP Manila tallied various cases where students in the first or second year of their degree program who are planning to shift are advised to underload so they will not reach the 60 enrolled units that would make their RSA contracts binding, students who cannot shift out of their courses unless they pay P1.2 million and students who were unable to study and re-enrol.
How much have we really learned after Kristel’s death? How far have we come? Not much. Not far.
Our fight is not yet over and so we say with hope that Kristel’s fight is not over and it lives with all of students and youth today yearning for our right to education be fulfilled.
With the budget cuts on basic social services, with tuition and other school fees increases in private universities, we play a vital role on voicing our concerns and fighting for our right to education. We need to forge unities and defend our right for education. We give justice to Kristel and to all the victims of this commercialized education system by putting an end to it. We will continue the fight for access to quality and free education for all.
Justice for Kristel Tejada!
Free Education Now!
No to Tuition Increase!
No to Budget Cuts!
Fight for a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education!
Habagat Farrales is a student of UP Manila and the coordinator of Kabataan Partylist UP Manila.
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A week ago, we commemorated Kristel Tejada’s death.