COLUMNIST: GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Politics in Command
Gerry Albert Corpuz served as managing and associate editor of the student publication "The Catalyst" in 1990 before joining the Philippine human rights group Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace in 1992. As a political activist based in Manila, he has written over 4,000 political statements on different issues related to fisheries, agriculture, world trade, human rights and civil liberties, peace talks, labor, the environment, the War on Terror, foreign debt and culture. He now writes for Bulatlat.com, an alternative Philippine online news site. He also currently heads the information and international departments of Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. Mr. Corpuz can be reached through his Web site at www.gerryalbertcorpuz.motime.com or by email at themanager98@yahoo.com.
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February 15, 2010Manila, Philippines — The Philippine army's defiance of a Supreme Court order to produce the 43 doctors and health workers arrested in an army raid a week ago shocked political analysts, constitutional experts and civil liberties advocates.This display of military arrogance prompted one lawyer to liken the Philippines to Burma.
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February 11, 2010Manila, Philippines — The international human rights community should condemn the Philippine military and government for the arrest of 43 doctors and medical personnel conducting a health seminar aimed at improving free medical services to indigent and poor Filipinos. The army says they were teaching bomb-making.
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February 05, 2010Manila, Philippines — Harassed by the bitter position of the Philippines’ sugar industry, local players last week appealed to President Gloria Arroyo to suspend or recall an order authorizing the import of 150,000 metric tons of sugar, to arrest what it called a looming sugar crisis.
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February 02, 2010Manila, Philippines — The Philippine government is unprepared to address a looming job crisis in its domestic tuna fishing industry as 150,000 workers and small tuna fishermen are set to lose their jobs with the two-year ban on tuna fishing to be implemented beginning this year.
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September 10, 2009Manila, Philippines — The next Philippine president, to be elected in May next year, will be tasked with addressing the worsening problem of joblessness throughout the country. A recent survey showed at least 10 million adult Filipinos unemployed, representing a serious social crisis that could explode into a volcano.
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September 03, 2009Manila, Philippines — Spokespersons of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo have launched a media offensive to downplay the impact of a controversy involving presidential sons Juan Miguel Arroyo and Diosdado Ignacio Arroyo, both congressmen, who have been accused of failing to disclose their ownership of luxury U.S. real estate.
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August 20, 2009Manila, Philippines — Peace talks between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front, the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, will resume in Norway in the last week of August. But while the Manila government is talking peace, its armed forces are displacing civilians in the countryside.
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August 13, 2009Manila, Philippines — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last Friday signed a bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program for another five years. She hyped it as a landmark piece of legislation. In fact it is a reversal of earlier reforms and will only deny peasants their land rights.
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August 06, 2009Manila, Philippines — Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino was buried Wednesday after a funeral mass at Manila Cathedral. Her family had been offered a state funeral by current President Gloria Arroyo, but refused. If Arroyo wants to honor Aquino, she should do so by stepping down in 2010 when her term is up.
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July 28, 2009Manila, Philippines — Manila’s Cabinet officials were jolted by the hard-hitting editorial of the Washington Times on Sunday, criticizing U.S. President Barack Obama for arranging a meeting with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on July 30. The article accused Arroyo of using Obama to cover up her political troubles.
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June 22, 2009Manila, Philippines — Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has said her government will allow a Japanese investor to acquire 400,000 hectares of land in northern Luzon for the production of biodiesel products intended for the Japanese market in the next five years. The move has sparked resistance from agrarian reform activists.
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June 16, 2009Manila, Philippines — The national federation of small fisherfolk in the Philippines this week urged the national government to provide subsidies to small fishermen across the country to cushion the impact of successive oil price increases and the current global economic and financial crisis.
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April 17, 2009Manila, Philippines — Last week the Court of Appeals, the second highest judicial body in the Philippines, upheld the decision of the Office of the President exempting over 1,270 hectares of prime agricultural lands in Nasugbu, Batangas province, from state land reform. To agrarian reform advocates this is a tragedy.
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March 10, 2009Manila, Philippines — The brutal murder of a 20-year-old teacher in the southern Philippines, allegedly by members of the armed forces, deserves condemnation by the world’s people. The tortured body of Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of a communist commander, was found in an irrigation ditch after her abduction last Wednesday.
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February 16, 2009Manila, Philippines — Allegations that the husband of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was involved in rigging contracts for World Bank projects have refused to die in the past two weeks since they originally surfaced. There is a clamor for him to testify before the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs.
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February 12, 2009Manila, Philippines — Scientists in Manila have declared war against a government plan to revive the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was built by 1984 but never operated. They dismissed the completed but not yet fueled plant as a sleeping monster and a monument of corruption.
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February 06, 2009Manila, Philippines — Top officials in the Manila government are downplaying the possibility of a general strike in the capital similar to the one-day general strike carried out by the 1.9 million-strong unionized workforces in France last week. However, job losses might push Filipino workers to stage their collective outrage.
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January 09, 2009Manila, Philippines — Manila-based economists and political activists last week questioned the Philippine government’s proposed US$2.43 billion crisis fund to cushion the impact of the global financial crisis. They said the funds could be better spent to create 2.28 million jobs to alleviate an expected surge in unemployment.
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December 24, 2008Manila, Philippines — Last week, the long-running agrarian unrest and rebellion across the Philippines took a new twist when Congress extended the 20-year-old Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, but excluded provisions that require landowners to distribute land to peasant farmers, effectively killing the land reform program.
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December 04, 2008Manila, Philippines — In the view of many Filipinos, the main legacy Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will leave to the country’s 89 million people when her term ends in 2010 will be her excellent performance in the field of bureaucratic corruption. In the field of education she will have low marks, however.
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November 26, 2008Manila, Philippines — Seven out of 10 Filipinos are outraged by the latest moves of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stop the holding of the 2010 presidential and general elections, according to the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Station, a Manila-based independent poll group.
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November 05, 2008Manila, Philippines — The jailing of human rights lawyer Remigio Saladero by the Philippine government last week has caused an uproar among members of the legal profession and the human rights community. Saladero has handled controversial cases involving the president and top government and military officials.
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October 28, 2008Manila, Philippines — Social activists in Manila last week took turns questioning a report by the government that states it was able to create 9.7 million new jobs between 2004 and 2008. Given the dismal economic performance of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, most dismissed the report as “illusory” or “imaginary.”
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October 22, 2008Manila, Philippines — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to give the opening address at the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila next week. But advocates for migrant workers’ rights have appealed to Ban to boycott the forum, which they say is a venue for governments to plan the exploitation of workers.
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October 09, 2008Manila, Philippines — Fishermen and residents of Sibonga town in the Philippines staged a protest Monday against the offshore mining activity of NorAsia Energy Ltd., an Australian oil and gas exploration firm. They have appealed to the Australian prime minister to intervene and stop the exploration.
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September 25, 2008Manila, Philippines — Human rights watchdogs in the Philippines attacked the Manila government's suggestion to postpone implementation of the U.N. Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. They dismissed the government’s proposal as mere lip service to stop torture, one of the worst human rights violations.
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September 17, 2008Manila, Philippines — Last week, a senior economic official of the Manila government made a subtle endorsement of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s plans to construct a Las Vegas-style gambling complex in the country to save the economy from total collapse. The government's obsession with casinos has met strong reactions from various sectors and groups.
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September 04, 2008Manila, Philippines — Members of the legal profession in the Philippines Tuesday criticized the Manila government for disregarding the law and disrespecting the judicial process when top justice and police officials refused to honor a judge’s ruling, apparently upon orders from the administration.
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August 28, 2008Manila, Philippines — Four of the largest rural-based organizations in the Philippines are opposing five farmland-as-collateral bills in the House of Representatives, saying they would lead to massive cancellations of land titles held by farmers who have benefitted from the agrarian reform program.
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August 22, 2008Manila, Philippines — Critics of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo urged Manila’s top political leader to follow in the footsteps of controversial Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned on Monday after nine years in power to avoid the threat of impeachment.
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August 13, 2008Manila, Philippines — The Manila government’s policy of secrecy was assailed last week with the exposure of an ASEAN gas pipeline agreement that was kept secret by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo over the last six years. Critics say the Senate should have been informed of the pact and asked to ratify it.
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August 07, 2008Manila, Philippines — The Philippine government has acted without credibility or transparency with regard to the agreement that would grant autonomy to Muslims in the southern island of Mindanao. Many Filipinos are suspicious of the ancestral domain accord the government plans to sign with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
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July 31, 2008Manila, Philippines — Philippine Senate President Manuel Villar last week announced that the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement will be a top priority. But opposition groups say the deal could lead to an inflow of secondhand Japanese ships such as the ferry that sank in a typhoon last month.
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July 25, 2008Manila, Philippines — The human rights community in the Philippines, as well as human rights watchdogs and civil liberties movements in the United States, Europe and Asia, has been protesting the election of the Philippine government as vice president of the U.N. Human Rights Council as a step in the wrong direction.
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July 14, 2008Manila, Philippines — Last week an alliance of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines made an appeal to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to convince the Australian offshore mining company NorAsia Energy Limited to back out of oil and gas exploration that will harm their livelihoods.
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June 10, 2008Manila, Philippines — Staunch critics of embattled Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have asked her to consider an “emergency exit” following the Manila government’s failure to stop weekly increases in the prices of petroleum products and rising cost of power across the country.
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June 04, 2008Manila, Philippines — Leaders of the Philippine fisherfolk group Pamalakaya have warned that rising oil prices, unless addressed decisively by the Manila government, might push small fisherfolk to abandon fishing, which could trigger a more serious food crisis.
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May 28, 2008Manila, Philippines — Last week, colleagues of Rep. Crispin Beltran paid tribute to the late lawmaker, who died from a fall while fixing the roof of his house on May 20. Thousands of Filipino workers and farmers came to pay respects to the 75-year-old labor leader-turned-lawmaker, known for serving the poor and underprivileged.
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May 22, 2008Manila, Philippines — The appointment of retired Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. as adviser to the Philippine president on the peace process has met with protests from all sides. The former general is likely to face criticism, protests and legal battles in the days to come.
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April 28, 2008Manila, Philippines — Peace activists and human rights advocates in Manila have opposed the proposal that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair help Philippine President Gloria Arroyo clinch a peace agreement with armed groups engaged in civil war. They called on the pope to play the role of peacemaker instead.
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April 22, 2008Manila, Philippines — Last week, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo announced that she was amenable to grant Filipino workers a much-needed increase in their daily take-home pay to offset the ill effects of rising costs of rice and other basic needs. But Arroyo made a turnaround this week.
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April 14, 2008Manila, Philippines — The intensifying rice and food crisis in the Philippines has raised speculations that food riots like those that rocked Haiti last week may soon hit Manila. This scenario is being discussed and debated among food experts and economic and political observers.
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April 03, 2008Manila, Philippines — The failure of the Manila government to address the roots of armed conflict in the Philippines through peace negotiations has emboldened two armed political groups to raise the ante of their armed struggle against the seven-year-old presidency of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
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March 27, 2008Manila, Philippines — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo says she will spend US$334.6 million to upgrade the military in order to defeat the communist guerillas before her term ends in May 2010. Critics say the resumption of peace talks with the rebels is a better option.
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March 20, 2008Manila, Philippines — Two top leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, identified as allies of embattled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, are accused of banning priests from holding masses in an effort to cover up the truth and protect the president, who is fighting charges of big-time corruption.
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March 13, 2008Manila, Philippines — The Filipino people are outraged to learn that their government entered a deal with China to explore ocean territory around the Spratly Islands in connection with a Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking. The contract calls for joint seismic research, but also investigations into oil and gas deposits in the area.
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March 06, 2008Manila, Philippines — Anti-corruption watchdogs in Manila last week made an appeal to the leaders of the European Union to wait for the Philippines to elect its next president before giving 61 million euros (US$90.22 million) in aid to the Philippine government.
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February 28, 2008Manila, Philippines — Despite President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's assertion that the Filipino people are fed up with People Power as a means to effect change in leadership and governance, and that the world would condemn another popular uprising, the call for regime change is fast sweeping across the country once more.
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February 14, 2008Manila, Philippines — A leading opposition newspaper has disclosed that Chinese Embassy officials in Manila held a series of closed-door-meetings with Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez weeks before a star witness on the controversial US$329 million National Broadband Network deal was abducted.
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February 07, 2008Manila, Philippines — The influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has called on the Manila government and the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines to resume stalled peace talks and advised both parties to refrain from imposing preconditions that would imperil the talks.
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February 01, 2008Manila, Philippines — Last week the International Labor Organization forecast that 5 million people would join the world's unemployed due to the U.S. economic crisis and rising oil prices. In the Philippines there were 597,000 new jobless and 803,000 underemployed workers last year, the situation is likely to get worse.
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January 24, 2008Manila, Philippines — A Manila-based think tank has issued a report asserting that Japan's controversial economic partnership agreement with the Philippine government is just one piece of Tokyo's larger plan for an eventual comprehensive economic partnership agreement in East Asia that would expand Japan's regional influence.
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December 27, 2007Manila, Philippines — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo plans to revive her campaign to amend the 1987 Constitution through a people's initiative, analysts predict. This would change the presidential system to a parliamentary system and allow her re-election as prime minister.
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December 20, 2007Manila, Philippines — Last week, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced her support for the revival of an Anti-Subversion Law that seeks to punish membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines, in an effort to defeat the country's 38-year-old Maoist insurgency.
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December 14, 2007Manila, Philippines — The report of the United Nations Children's Education Fund about violations of human rights committed by the Philippine military against children in areas of armed conflict is deeply disturbing. These acts are condemnable to the highest order.
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December 06, 2007Manila, Philippines — Widespread offshore mining in declared protected seascapes is a major concern among interest and environmental groups in the Philippines. They say this will impact the country's ability to fight global warming, climate change, environmental destruction an
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November 28, 2007Manila, Philippines — Last week, the Bangkok-based think tank Focus on the Global South released a report accusing Washington of maintaining secret bases in the Philippines. It suggested these "lily pads" were to be used for a future war against China, seen as a threat to U.S.
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November 21, 2007Manila, Philippines — A top official of the National Security Council of the Philippine government has been implicated in the Nov.13 bombing of the House of Representatives, which claimed the lives of one lawmaker and three congressional staff.Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar and th
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November 14, 2007Manila, Philippines — A Philippines lawmaker said last week that Manila business groups that are collaborating with Japanese transnational corporations and investors, and who will benefit along with their Japanese counterparts from the ratification of the controversial Japan-P
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November 07, 2007Manila, Philippines — Philippine human rights activists Tuesday welcomed, with reservations, the recent U.S. Senate action in serving notice to the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that it wants the Manila government to prosecute human rights violators, includin
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October 30, 2007Manila, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo granted executive clemency to her political nemesis, former President Joseph Estrada, saving the man a life behind bars, last Thursday. However, anti-corruption watchdogs in Manila assailed the pardon and viewed it as the
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October 24, 2007Manila, Philippines — Public opinion in the Philippines is blaming the Manila government over the latest bombing incident at a shopping center in the financial district of Makati City last Friday that killed 11 people and injured 100 others. Political experts and critics of
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October 10, 2007Manila, Philippines — The failure of the Manila government to institute meaningful agrarian reforms has prompted a national peasant alliance to exhort Philippine lawmakers to enact a radical version of land reform that would lead to expropriation of large-scale landholdings ac
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October 03, 2007Manila, Philippines — The Philippine government and the military establishment under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo do not respect the practice of human rights lawyering and regard human rights lawyers as enemies of the state, therefore included in the
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September 26, 2007Manila, Philippines — Last week, a Filipino legal expert said officials of the Chinese firm ZTE Corp., which won a US$329 million contract for the National Broadband Network project, may be held accountable if the Philippine Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.
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September 20, 2007Manila, Philippines — Three weeks ago, one of the Philippines' major dailies reported that eight Muslim children were subjected to extreme psychological torture in the course of a military campaign to decimate the Abu Sayyaf group in Mindanao. A report in the Philippine Dail
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August 29, 2007Manila, Philippines — The London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund committed a major blunder when it approved reimbursement to Petron Corp. for the expenses the firm incurred in the cleanup of 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel that spilled off the waters of G
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August 22, 2007Manila, Philippines — The current debate in the Philippines on the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement has been focused on the importation of Japan's toxic waste and the Philippines' exportation of Filipino nurses and other medical practitioners to t
