tioKASAMA-TK
Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan
PRESS RELEASE REFERENCE: Imelda Lacandazo
October 20, 2008 Spokesperson, KASAMA-TK
09182995780

As farmers stage two-day rally in Manila
Militant peasant groups in Southern Tagalog kick-off two-day rally, paint-bomb internal security agencies and picket police offices

Militant farmers in Southern Tagalog hurled paint bombs and painted slogans on the pavement of offices of different internal security agencies as part the 2-day farmers' protest led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). They hit the agencies for serving as Arroyo's "running dogs in sowing state fascism" against their ranks.

Members of Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK), a chapter of KMP, staged rallies at the Department of Justice in Manila, PNP Headquarters-Camp Crame, Department of Interior and Local Government, and National Intelligence Coordination Agency.

Imelda Lacandazo, Kasama-TK spokesperson, said these internal security agencies are active in persecuting activist farmers by filing trumped-up charges against them. "It may be true that the incidents of extrajudicial killings have lessened in the past months, but the Arroyo regime hasn't changed its policy of political repression. The regime still aims to neutralize militant progressive organizations, only this time by fabricating criminal cases against leaders and members of these organizations," Lacandazo said. She added that human rights violations continue while past cases of extrajudicial killings and abductions remain unresolved.

Lacandazo also condemned Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Cl. Ernesto Torres, Jr's recent statement that human rights groups are rehashing human rights cases and the alleged military involvement in these cases in time for the arrival of United Nations General Secretary Ban Kee Moon on October 29.

"We are not rehashing cases; we are heightening our campaign against political repression because justice continues to elude the hundreds of victims of military atrocities. While the perpetrators remain free and the likes of Tehankee are freed, more and more activists are being jailed. We want to get international attention through the UN General Secretary on these cases because the state of human rights in the country is already alarming, especially the escalating number of political prisoners, criminal cases filed against activists, and victims of abduction," Lacandazo said.

"Arroyo's administration's policy to liquidate and criminalize activists is evident in the numerous words she tags activists and members of the opposition. She has gone from calling us terrorists to destabilizers, a term she has again called those who recently filed a new impeachment complaint against her. Aside from problems of landlessness, the corruption in government agricultural agencies, farmers are dealt with political repression if they voice-out their grievances," Lacandazo added.

Recently, 27 leaders and members of militant organizations in Southern Tagalog, mostly activist farmers, were accused by Globe Telecom and the PNP of burning and bombing a Globe cell site in Nasugbu, Batangas. While in Victoria, Calauan and Pila towns of Laguna, Kasama-TK and Baya Muna organizers are being "hunted" by the police and military.

In the provinces, protest actions were simultaneously held at the Provincial Police Office in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba City, Laguna and Camp Pantaleon Garcia in Imus, Cavite.. Farmers from Quezon and Laguna converged and held a picket in front of the National Food Authority office in San Pablo City, Laguna; symbolically padlocked the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office in Bay, Laguna; and picketed the Intenational Rice Research Institute (IRRI). They then proceeded to the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, a center of excellence in agriculture, where the University Student Council warmly welcomed the farmers.

The farmers unveiled a large effigy portraying Arroyo as a golden kuhol. "Like Arroyo, IRRI is a pest to the farmers. Proof that IRRI's presence in the country has not improved rice farming is the rice crisis. It has no use for farmers that is why it should be booted out of the country," Lacandazo said.

The protest actions also kicked-off the culminating activities of a week-long symbolic "farm-strike" which started last October 12. The protest comprised of putting-up of protest camps, forums and information drive in key cities and towns in Southern Tagalog to push for the enactment of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill and scrapping of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.###

For more information, please contact Glen - 09083115293.
 

PRESS RELEASE
October 24, 2008
REFERENCE:
DANILO RAMOS, KMP Secretary-General
ROY MORILLA, Public Information Officer (63-905-421-7305)

Peasant group urges Joc-joc's family, friends to encourage him to expose scam's real masterminds
KMP appeal to family to avoid that their name to synonym as `scam'

As the US Immigration Court is about to deport former agriculture undersecretary Joc-joc Bolante anytime soon, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) urges his family to encourage and support him to expose the real benefactor and beneficiaries of the P728 billion fertilizer scam in 2004. KMP is the peasant group that exposed the said scam presenting witnesses that never acquired subsidies, one of them was Ofelia Rodriguez from Mexico, Pampanga who was then killed after testifying to the senate probe and interviewee to an investigative television program.

"We urge his family, also his friends, relatives, anyone who cares about him to expose the real masterminds of the fertilizer scam," opened Danilo Ramos, KMP Secretary-General. He added, "It is already becoming customary that when we read `Joc-joc Bolante' on the papers, hear on the radio, everywhere, it already means `fertilizer scam' or `scam,' `corruption,' `thievery from the peasants. We know that it is very hard to his family and their relatives that their name to be transformed like this.'

"It is like when the Webster dictionary added the word `imeldific,' meaning living lavishly, extravagantly, wastefully, now in our society `Joc-joc' or `Joc-joc Bolante' is becoming synonymous to `fertilizer scam,' or `ma-joc-joc ka' would mean `ma-scam ka,' his family should worry about it as it would be traumatic to his children and grandchildren," noted Ramos. "We still hope that Bolante still care about his name and his family to consider this very seriously as their name would be written in our history in a bad light," he added.
 

"We also heard that he's a Rotarian, the group with the `four-way test', with the first one `is it the truth?' We know that this group is very much serious about their reputation, the honor of their name, some of them are already urging Bolante to spill out the truth," observed Ramos.

KMP with other peasant groups such as Pamalakaya (fishefolk group) and Amihan (peasant women), has filed plunder cases against Bolante, then agriculture secretary Cito Lorenzo and Gloria Arroyo, at the Ombudsman but the former never acted on the case.

"When we filed plunder cases against them, Bolante has the lowest government position, thus, he became the fallguy, sacrificing for those above him, the sacrificial lamb, while those above him are still enjoying the fruits of their syndicated scam," described Ramos. "We know that he has his share of guilt, but we firmly believe that there are those who are more guilty than him and should be castigated, thus, we are calling all farmers who never acquired the subsidies and be vigilant for truth and justice," he added.

"As we can see it, he to keep his name's honor intact, he should do the noble act to disclose nothing but the truth, expose the brains behind the scam, thus, his name from being to mean `scam,' would ring like that of the NBN-ZTE star witness Jun Lozada, some might even utter his name as `J-Bo' with a smile," Ramos imagined.#