Kabataan Partylist

SAYS YOUTH GROUP
More students transfer from private to public schools

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 11:30pm (Mla time) 06/15/2007

LUCENA CITY, Philippines — More college students from private schools have transferred to state universities and colleges (SUCs) this year due to rising costs of education, according to a militant youth organization.

Citing records from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), Kabataan partylist group, showed an exodus of college students enrolled in private schools to SUCs over the last two decades.

The group noted that in 1980, only 10 percent of college students were studying in state schools. By 1994, the number went up to 21 percent and at present already accounts for almost 40 percent of tertiary population, according to the youth organization.

“But many of these transferees will find themselves dropping out of college,” Raymond Palatino, Kabataan president, said in a statement, as he warned that the situation would result to a higher number of college dropouts this school year.

“The problem is, there are no more rooms in state schools either. Not only are they few now and their enrolment quotas limited, they are also haunted by increases in tuition and other fees thus forcing many state scholars to leave,” he added.

Palatino said SUCs are also forced to accept only a limited number of students due to financial constraints.

He noted that this schoolyear, only 12,053 applicants qualified in the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT). More than 60,000 high school graduates all over the country take the UPCAT every year.

Likewise, only 8,523 college hopefuls qualified in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines College Entrance Test (PUPCET) out of 80,000 applicants, according to Palatino.

“But many of these successful examinees did not enroll this schoolyear,” Palatino said.

He said the 300 percent tuition hike in UP led to a significant decline in the freshman enrollment in several course offerings.

“The Office of the Student Regent earlier placed the no-show rate or the number of UPCAT passers who did not enroll at 20 to 40 percent,” he said.

Palatino said that access to public higher education institutions, which are the last resort for students who want to obtain a college degree, has become impossible to many college hopefuls.

“While it is true that SUCs offer tuition lower than private schools, tuition rate and miscellaneous fees in state schools and universities have seen the biggest increases in recent years, thus making it also inaccessible to ordinary students,” he explained.

He blamed the annual cutbacks in the education budget and the government’s rationalization policy, which seeks to reduce the number of state schools, led to the hike in school fees and subsequent decline in enrollment.

The policy of rationalization allows SUCs to be treated no longer as national agencies performing socially-oriented activities and hence entitled to government subsidy, but as income-earning entities, Palatino explained.

“This further translates into incentives for money-making tertiary schools, thereby fully encouraging the commercialization of education. The policy has ensured corporate dominance even in public education,” he lamented.

Kabataan disclosed that from 271 in 1996, the number of public tertiary institutions went down to only 111 in 2006. CHEd figures also show declining enrollment figures in public tertiary since 1997, from a growth rate of 20.75 percent that year to only 0.9 percent by 2002.

Palatino called on the next Congress to conduct a comprehensive review of existing education policies similar to the Education Commission of 1992.

The youth group also urged lawmakers to pass pending bills seeking to institute reforms in the country’s educational system.

Among the bills awaiting approval are the proposed moratorium on tuition and other fee increases and amendments to the Education Act of 1982 which placed private tertiary education in a deregulated environment

Palatino particularly emphasized the need to resolve the controversy created by the “anomalous” suspension of CHED Memorandum Order No. 14 or the guidelines for tuition and other fee increase applications and its subsequent amendments last February.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/45670/Nationwide-protests-vs-tuition-hikes-set-June-13

When colleges start classes next Wednesday, militant youth and student groups will lead nationwide protests to protest tuition and other fee increases.

Aside from scoring “abusive” school owners, the groups chided the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for allegedly faltering in its responsibility to Filipino students.

“The CHED has been reduced into a mere monitoring agency. Despite formal complaints and protests from students and parents, CHED remains toothless even as to implementing its limp guidelines in holding so-called consultations,” Kabataan party president Raymond Palatino said.

Kabataan Party and the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) will lead the protests against the tuition hikes and CHED’s supposed lack of political will to stand up to private school owners.

Palatino said CHED, for the past years, has miserably failed to implement meaningful and significant reforms in higher education.

It has also lacked political will to stand up against abusive private school owners, he said.

He said the higher percentages and increase in the number of tuition increases this school year only confirmed fears that CHED’s last-minute policy change raising the tuition cap will make it easier for school owners to impose bigger hikes in tuition and other fees.

“The lifting of the tuition cap only shows the Commission can be quickly maneuvered by private school owners,” he added.

Palatino urged lawmakers to speed up investigations and review the Education Act of 1982 which students since the 1980’s have been fighting to be scrapped.

He also called on lawmakers to probe schools which are frequently included in the top 5,000 corporations in the country and freeze planned tuition increases for the coming school year.

Among these schools are Centro Escolar University (CEU), Far Eastern University (FEU), Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), University of the East (UE), AMA Computer University and STI Colleges. - GMANews.TV

Students rush towards Mendiola Bridge leading to the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines to protest tuition fee increases imposed by schools around the country on Monday June 4, 2007, the opening day of classes for the school year 2007-2008. About 20 million students troop back to schools Monday with protesters assailing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the alleged deteriorating quality of education in the country. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Riot police clash with students who stormed the Mendiola Bridge leading to the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines to protest tuition fee increases imposed by schools around the country on opening of classes for the school year 2007-2008 Monday June 4, 2007. About 20 million students troop back to schools Monday with protesters assailing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the alleged deteriorating quality of education in the country. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Students try to hold back riot police as they are pushed away after storming the Mendiola Bridge leading to the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines to protest tuition fee increases imposed by schools around the country on Monday June 4, 2007, the opening of classes for the school year 2007-2008. About 20 million students troop back to schools Monday with protesters assailing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the alleged deteriorating quality of education in the country. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Back-to-school woes worse than ever - youth groups
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/44915/Back-to-school-woes-worse-than-ever—youth-groups
http://www5.gmanews.tv/photoblog/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=3

Despite the government’s “business-as-usual” attitude, militant youth groups scored the government for abandoning the country’s education system as shown by the continued lack of classrooms, facilities and teachers.

Kabataan party and the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) cited United Nations figures showing the classroom-to-student ratio in the Philippines still pales in comparison to other Asian countries.

“The DepEd claims the government is prepared for the school opening but the dismal state of classrooms and facilities and the severe shortage of teachers in public elementary and high schools nationwide say otherwise,” Kabataan Party Vice President Carl Marc Ramota said in a statement.

Yet, he said classrooms in the Philippines is among the most crowded in Asia, as shown by data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.

He said UNESCO figures show that class size in the Philippine public elementary schools (43.9) pales in comparison to Malaysia (31.7), Thailand (22.9), Japan (28.6) and even in India (40).

The disparity between the Philippines and other Asian countries in class size was even bigger in the high school level, he said.

In the same survey, the country registered an average high school class size of 56.1, higher than Malaysia’s 34, Thailand’s 41.5, Japan’s 33.9 and India’s 39.

“The same problems continue to haunt the education sector year after year. The shortages in classrooms and chairs worsened with the transfer of students from private to public schools. Many middle-income families that cannot afford the high tuition in private schools are transferring their children to the public schools, which offer free tuition and books,” he said.

Even DepEd’s own studies reveal that public schools nationwide are in decrepit
conditions. Some 80 percent of them have no running water, 60 percent have no toilets, 40 percent have no ceilings and 50 percent have no electricity.

Ramota said government misprioritization and poor education spending aggravated by rampant graft and corruption were to be blamed for worsening crisis in education.

In 2004, education spending dropped to 14.9 percent of the national budget from 19.3 percent in 1997 and it continued to decline ever since, he said.

On the other hand, government spending on debt payments shot up from 15.9 percent in 1997 to almost 40 percent of the national budget at present.

Ramota said the Philippine government is spending only an average of 3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product on public educational institutions.

In 2003, the country spent a measly 3.3 percent for education. This pales in comparison to its neighboring countries Malaysia (7.4 percent) and Thailand (4 percent). It is also lower than the 4 percent average for all countries that were included in the World Education Indicators in 2006.

The minimum prescribed standard for education spending set by UNESCO is 6 percent of a country’s GDP.

Also, Ramota said the Philippines is also lagging behind its Asian counterparts in public expenditure on education as a percentage of total public spending.

At all levels of education, the Philippines is only spending 17.2 percent compared to Thailand’s 40 percent and Malaysia’s 28 percent, he said.

Translating this into expenditures per student, he said the same study shows that the Philippine education spending is still way below its Asian competitors.

The country spends 500, 505 and 1,717 dollars (purchasing power parity) for primary education, secondary education and tertiary education, respectively.

The Philippines lags behind Malaysia (1,830, 2,920 and 10,792 dollars) and Thailand (3,442, 2,484 and 4,474 PPP dollars).

“The government has been formulating several education policies and programs with the aim of improving the quality of education in the country but it is missing the most important and decisive factor to meet this goal – spending more on education. Unfortunately, government spending on education has been the complete opposite in the past years,” he said.

“Education is an avowed priority of the State but under the present administration, like its predecessors, it does not draw an ounce of sympathy from the authorities,” he added. - GMANews.TV

Much to the consternation of various youth groups, some public schools that are supposed to provide free education are now charging tuition and other fees. The age-old problems of teacher shortage and lack of facilities, along with higher tuition, are more than enough basis for the protest actions being organized in time for the opening of classes this June.

BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 17, June 3-9, 2007
http://www.bulatlat.com/2007/06/no-free-basic-education-public-high-schools-charge-higher-tuition-other-fees

No less than Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz said that collection of school fees is not a prerequisite to enrollment in public elementary and high schools where students enjoy free tuition.

But Aling Nena (who requested anonymity for fear that the school administration might get back at her children) even paid a much higher “tuition” this year for her two daughters at Lawang Bato High School, a public school in Valenzuela City.

Last year, she said she paid P100 ($2.17, based on an exchange rate of P46.08 per US dollar) as tuition. This enrollment, it increased to P200 ($4.34), excluding the Parents-Teacher Association (PTA) fee of P100 ($2.17).

Aside from that, she said parents also complained to the Department of Education (DepEd) about the cost of the school uniform. Aling Nena said that in the recent PTA meeting, the school administration and the parents agreed that only the costs of the uniforms of the freshmen will increase.

However, they discovered that the school changed the uniform for sophomores, requiring the latter’s parents to order new sets of uniforms from the school. Aling Nena was dismayed that her sophomore daughter could no longer use her old uniform. And since a new set of uniform costs P450 ($9.77) each for small size, she might be forced to spend P900 ($19.53) if her daughter were to have two sets which she will use for the whole week.

Lapuz said that “contributions, whether for student activities or for upgrading of school facilities, can only be collected from students on a voluntary basis.”

At Paso de Blas Elementary School, a public school also in Valenzuela, P20 ($0.43) is being collected upon enrolment for the repainting of the school, said Mercy, a parent of a Grade II student. She said others who could not really afford the P20 ($0.43) would not pay. “Pero paano ka naman tatanggi kapag kaharap mo na ang teacher?” she said, noting that it might have a negative impact on her child’s relationship with the teacher. (But how can you refuse if you are in front of the teacher?)

For her daughter studying at Maysan National High School, another public school in Valenzuela, she paid “tuition” amounting to P200 ($4.34). The receipt, however, only reflected an amount of P190 ($4.12). She was told that the remaining P10 ($0.22) was for the school paper.

The DepEd said that public schools are authorized to collect fees only for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Red Cross and the Anti-TB campaign and these are “voluntary.” Contributions for school papers should not be more than P55 and P80 ($1.19 and $1.74) for elementary and secondary levels, respectively. DepEd-recognized student organizations are also allowed to collect “voluntary contributions” up to P55 ($1.19) per student.

The DepEd Oplan Balik Eskwela (Operation Back to School) Command Center reported that it is now investigating several public schools after receiving complaints about the illegal collection of fees in these schools. Among those being investigated are Novaliches Elementary School (ES), Krus na Ligas ES, Barangay Holy Spirit ES, Commonwealth ES, San Antonio ES and Lagro National High School in Quezon City.

Hiding shortages?

Aside from the tuition and fee increases, students also suffer from shortages of teachers, classrooms and facilities.

Lapus said that there is no teacher shortage this school year for primary and secondary public schools. “With 16,390 new teachers, we actually eliminated the problem of shortage of teachers in the public school system.”

The proposed teaching post allocation is broken down into 8,586 for elementary schools and 7,804 for high schools. Region 4-A gets the most number of new teachers with 3,850, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 2,583. Central Luzon is third with 1,598 new teaching allocations.

But youth organizations are doubtful if the shortage was really filled up. The groups said that just last year, the DepEd data pegged the shortage of teachers at 49,699, classroom shortage at 57,930 and armchair shortage at 3.48 million.

Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said the Philippines has one of the lowest per capita spending for education in Asia at P3,557 ($77.19). “That means less than P10 ($0.22) per day for every student.”

“Dagdag-bawas”

Not just a prevalent practice in elections, “dagdag-bawas” (“addition-subtraction” or “vote padding-vote shaving”) also victimizes the education sector, Palatino said.

Palatino said that private tertiary schools have allegedly long developed and perfected its own “dagdag-bawas” machinery with yearly tuition hikes.

The youth leader said that reports of tuition increases involving hundreds of schools nationwide only confirmed what they said earlier that the anomalous suspension of the tuition cap early this year would be used by school owners to increase tuition beyond the inflation rate.

Reports from the League of Filipino Students (LFS), National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and Anakbayan (Sons and Daughters of the People) revealed that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approved tuition increases in 88 schools in the NCR.

Palatino said that the CHED, Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) and the Arroyo administration connived to suspend the implementation of CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 14 and subsequent amendments CMO 42 and CMO 7 which prohibited private schools from increasing their tuition above the 6.2-percent inflation rate.

He questioned the timing of the suspension last Feb. 20 as it came out in the middle of tuition consultations in various private schools and after COCOPEA’s meeting with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a week earlier.

“Even state universities, which are supposed to accommodate poor but deserving students, have increased their tuition,” said Vencer Crisostomo, LFS national chairperson. “As a result, many deserving students have not been able to enroll.”

At the University of the Philippines, tuition increased from P300 to P1,000 ($6.51 to $21.70) per unit.

At the Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST), the tuition increased from P15 to P100 ($0.33 to $2.17) per unit, said sisters Irene and Angie Benjamin. They added that miscellaneous fees for old students also increased.

Drop outs

If the “dagdag” scheme meant “tuition padding,” the youth group said that the decrease in the number of enrollees and the corresponding upsurge in the number of dropouts and out-of-school youth led to “bawas” (reduction). “With higher tuition rates and more preventive (prohibitive) fees being charged both in public and private institutions, we fear that the number of drop outs will double this coming semester,” warned Palatino.

According to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, the worsening economic conditions in the country have denied millions of children the right to a decent education as shown by increasing drop out rates.

Data from the Department of Education showed that dropout rates, which had been steadily improving during the 1990s, worsened since the year 2000. It reached 10.6 percent in the elementary level and 15.8 percent in the secondary level in school year (SY) 2005-2006. Comparing these rates to enrolment figures during the same year would show that as many as 2.4 million children may have dropped out of school last year, said Ibon.

Ibon said that majority of those who dropped out came from public schools. Enrolment in public elementary schools fell by 106,903 in SY 2005-2006 while that in public secondary schools decreased by 64,746.

Palatino said that the trend for the past 10 years showed that for every 10 pupils who enrolled in grade school, only seven graduated. “Students drop out because of poverty. While basic education is free, many poor families are unable to finance the auxiliary school needs of their children.”

Citing the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FEIS), Palatino said Filipinos are now allocating less for their education.

He said the average spending of families on school fees, books and supplies fell to 4.0 percent from 4.2 percent during the three-year period as average family income in the country also declined 10 percent between 2000 and 2003. Before the turn of the millennium, the share of educational expenses had been gradually increasing, he said.

“Unfortunately, most Filipino families now have to make a choice between sending their children to school and spending their meager income on food in order to survive. Poverty and government neglect have made education a luxury to many of our countrymen,” Palatino said.

Because of this, many of these children might have been forced to leave school to earn a living, Ibon said. In 2006, it reported that some 2.5 million children aged 5 to 17 were working either to augment family income or simply to survive. It added that the number of children in schools is also dropping: in SY 2005-2006 only 84 percent of children aged 6-11 was able to attend elementary school, a sharp decrease from the 90 percent recorded in 2001-2002.

“The declining number of children who are able to go to school reflects their vulnerability to economic difficulties which have been worsening during the last six years of the Arroyo administration,” Ibon said. “Among the country’s basic sectors, the biggest number of poor people is found among the children, with some 14.1 million of them considered poor.”

This school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) estimated an enrolment of 13.24 million in the elementary level. Of this, 12.18 million will go to public schools while 1.06 million will enroll in private schools. For the secondary level, there is a projected 6.43 million enrollees with 5.13 million set to go to public high schools, while 1.3 million will be taken in by private secondary high schools, Lapus said.

Military deployment

Militant youth activists also protested the planned redeployment of military troops in Metro Manila schools for the class opening.

Palatino and Crisostomo said the military deployment in schools is related to the implementation of the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007 which is “intended to target progressive student organizations, student councils and publications that are critical of the Arroyo administration.”

He cited cases where youth activists have been victimized allegedly by the military like the murder of two Kabataan poll watchers in Camarines Norte in May; the brutal killings of known Bicol student leaders Cris Hugo, Farly Alcantara and Reimon Guran; and abduction of UP student activists Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

“We fear that this could lead to an escalation of human rights violations against known student activists and even members of student councils and campus publications,” Palatino said, noting that this might also have an impact on the psychological well-being of students.

“Military troops have no place in academic institutions. Schools are not war zones. We will not allow this government to transform our schools into military camps.

The militant youth organizations warned that the military will get more than the eggs and mud Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon got when he went to UP.

Protests

Meanwhile, Palatino called on elected district representatives and soon-to-be senators to make good their promises and prove their claims during the campaign period that they are for making education accessible to the youth by prioritizing the resolution of the “tuition hike crisis” when Congress opens.

The youth groups called on lawmakers “to join the students’ clamor for an end to unabated tuition and other fee increases and to conduct an immediate investigation on the suspension of the tuition cap.”

Kabataan Party and other student groups are gearing up for huge protests on June 4 and 13 to mark the beginning of classes at the basic and tertiary levels, respectively. Bulatlat

http://www.bulatlat.com/2007/05/military-behind-killing-pollwatchers-bicol-kabataan-party-list

Witnesses and evidences gathered by human rights and people’s organizations point to the military as the perpetrators in the abduction and killing of two Kabataan (Youth) Party-list poll watchers last May 15.

BY ZOFIA LEAL
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 16 May 27-June 2, 2007

Last May 15, Ronilo Brezuela, 16 years old, and Roberto “Jun Jun” Bagasbas, Jr., 20 years old, were abducted and then killed at Camarines Norte. Both were members of Kabataan (Youth) Partylist. The two were abducted after bringing food to their poll watchers last May 15.

An investigation by Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights)- Camarines Norte and local people’s organizations revealed the following series of events that took place from May 14-May 19:

* May 14: Ronilo asked permission from his mother to attend a fiesta at Brgy. Old Camp and said that he would be sleeping at a friend’s house.

By the end of April, Jun Jun told his father that he would go to Manila to look for work.
* May 15: Ronilo and Jun Jun brought food to the poll watchers at the Capalonga polling precinct in Brgy Old Camp. They were leaving the place when abducted by armed men.

According to some of his neighbors, they last saw Ronilo with Jun Jun last May 15, at around 7 a.m.
* May 16, 2007: At around 2 p.m members of the CNPO (Camarines Norte People’s Organization) of Brgy. Mataqui ( three kilometers away from Poblacion, Capalonga) were able to speak with the person ordered by the military to drop the two bodies at his barrio. He then placed the bodies on his paragos (a cart that is pulled by a carabao) on his way to the barrio. He also went to the city to rent a vehicle to transport the bodies.

On that same day, the radio program Bombo Radio Daet reported that the Philippine Army claimed that there had been an encounter between the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Philippine Army at Capalonga and that there had been two NPA casualties.

Fr. Abel, the parish priest of Capalonga, blessed the two bodies that night. According to Fr. Abel, one of the bodies had a broken lip, a cut in his chin, and a hole on the left side of his chest. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), the body was stabbed and had a gunshot wound.
* May 17, 2007: Roberto Bagasbas Sr., the father of Jun Jun, received news that there were two dead bodies at the plaza of Capalonga and that one of the bodies resembled his son. Bagasbas then went immediately to Capalonga and saw two plywood boxes where the bodies were placed. Bagasbas was able to peep through the boxes by removing three nails. He then saw the face of his son, Jun Jun. Bagasbas noticed that the skin on Jun Jun’s chin was removed and that he had a hole in his chest. Jun Jun’s feet and hands were also tied. The smell of the rotting body was already strong. At around 12 noon Bagasbas asked permission from the PNP to take his son’s body home.

Jun Jun’s body was embalmed at Funeraria Adea. According to the embalmer, the body was sadistically tortured. The body of Jun Jun was covered with a plastic bag before being placed in the coffin because the smell was strong.
* May 19, 2007: Anita Brezuela (Ronilo’s mother) was informed by her neighbors that her son is dead and was already buried.

The remains of Jun Jun was buried at the cemetery of Brgy. Dahican.

Karapatan and people’s organizations in Camarines Norte point to soldiers from Alpha Company of the 31st Infantry Battalion based in Tigbinan, Labo, Camarines Norte as the perpetrators.

Marites Lopez, Kabataan Partylist spokesperson in Bicol said, “Naniniwala kami na ito ay bahagi ng pandarahas ng militar at gubyernong Arroyo sa aming hanay upang pigilan ang tagumpay ng Kabataan Partylist sa Bicol. Pilit na pinagtatakpan ng militar ang kanilang krimen sa pagpapalabas ng iresponsableng pahayag na namatay ang dalawang kabataan sa isang engkwentro.” (We believe that this is part of the violence being perpetrated by the military and the Arroyo government against our ranks to hinder the success of Kabataan Party-list in Bicol. The military is covering up their crime by saying that the two died in an encounter.)

Lopez added that the military’s claim that they are not intervening in the elections and that the elections held in Bicol was peaceful is not true. Lopez said that they have evidence and data that can show that the military and its agents are directly involved in the harassment of Kabataan Party-list and other progressive party-list members.

In the last poll results for party-lists in the Bicol Region, Kabataan is already in the top 10. Citing the poll results, Lopez said, “Abot-kamay na namin ang tagumpay dito sa Bicol at amin itong inaalay kasabay ng pinakamataas na pagpupugay sa dalawang kasama naming nagbuwis ng buhay para bantayan ang boto ng kabataan at mamamayang Bikolano at isulong ang pulitika ng pag-asa, pakikibaka at pagbabago,” (Victory is already within our reach here in Bicol and we are offering this together with our highest praise to our two comrades who risked their lives to guard the votes of the youth and the people of Bicol and uphold the politics of hope, struggle and change.) Bulatlat

05/26/2007 | 08:25 AM

At least three party-list groups allied with Malacañang may have benefited from some 58,000 padded votes, militant groups claimed Saturday.

Party-lists Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan and Suara Bangsamoro said the alleged 58,000-vote operation took place in some parts of Mindanao.

In a statement, the groups said 22,011 votes were padded for ALIF (Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino) from 15 election returns out of 28 towns in Zamboanga del Sur.

“ERs from Margosatubig, Pitogo, Vicencio Sagum, Tabina, San Miguel, Simimot, Tambulig, Midsalip, Aurora, Mahaya, Dinas San Pablo, Josefina, Molave and Dumalinao showed discrepancies in the actual votes acquired and the reported number of votes in the canvassing. Votes for ALIF were padded by as high as 2,000 votes in some towns,” they said.

Kabataan party-list president Raymond Palatino said they found “very obvious discrepancies in penmanship and pen ink” while comparing certificates of votes to the statements of votes.

“This is vote-padding in its most blatant form,” Palatino said.

Task Force Poll Watch (TFPW), the party-lists’ anti-fraud watch dog, earlier reported 36,609 combined padded votes for COOP-NATCO and UNI-MAD in Sibugay Zamboanga.

Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza said these cases further reinforce their suspicion that votes for known Malacañang-backed party-lists may be padded by up to 2.7 million in the Comelec canvassing.

Maza and Palatino said that they are expecting other cases to come in from other provinces and cities in Mindanao, especially from ARMM.

The party-lists cited that Tawi-Tawi, for instance, reported an 89 percent voter turnout for party-lists.

“This is highly questionable and phenomenal,” said Palatino. He also questioned YACAP’s (Youth against Corruption and Poverty) top post in the province, beating Moro party-lists with 21,966 votes.

TFPW is also evaluating reports of vote-padding in Sulu, Sulatan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Basilan, Zamboanga City and Lanao del Norte.

Maza called on the National Board of Canvassers to defer the canvassing and correct the said COCs. - GMANews.TV

Posted May 20, 2007 02:14:00 (Mla Time)
Inquirer

Alcuin Papa Norman Bordadora

MANILA, Philippines—Militant groups claimed yesterday they recorded 54 incidents of electoral fraud and violence in 30 areas allegedly perpetrated by military and police from May 14 to 18.

But the Philippine National Police claim not to have received any information on such incidents.

The militant groups should file formal complaints if they know of such cases, said Director Geary Barias, chief of the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM).

Citing reports from Task Force Poll Watch 2007, Kabataan party-list president and nominee Raymond Palatino said the incidents reported from all over the country ranged from the abduction and harassment of party-list volunteers and poll watchers; the presence of police and military in polling centers, and a smear and black propaganda campaign against progressive party-list groups, allegedly by the military and police.
Poll watch force

Task Force Poll Watch 2007 is an election-monitoring, documentation and quick reaction team formed by progressive party-list groups like Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis and Kabataan.

Among the areas these incidents were reported to have occurred were Porac, Pampanga; Guinto, Nueva Ecija; Nasugbu and Taysan in Batangas; Quezon; Masbate; Makati; Palawan; Marikina; Lanao del Sur and Isabela.

Palatino also cited the murder two Kabataan organizers and poll watchers in Camarines Sur and the abduction of poll watchers in Cagayan Valley and Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

“These killings and cases of political harassment are the worst forms of electoral fraud,” Palatino said.

Claims dismissed

But Barias dismissed the group’s claim. “We don’t know of any of these incidents. But maybe they should give us their list and we will investigate that and find out if the allegations are true or not,” he said in a phone interview.

He said it would be “best” for Palatino and his group to file formal complaints.

The Bantay Boto election watchdog yesterday claimed that pre-fabricated certificates of canvass and “pre-computed” election results would come into play next week to boost the ranking of at least three Team Unity candidates in the ongoing count.

Bantay Boto, a group of retired generals, military and police officers, said the stage was set after the first week of counting and the results of exit polls revealed to those behind the alleged Oplan Mercury Rising how many votes were needed “to overturn the early leads of opposition candidates.”

“Reports from the field confirm that the election fraud operators of Oplan Mercury Rising are ready to issue out pre-computed and pre-accomplished statements of votes and certificates of canvass at the municipal and provincial areas covered by the Oplan,” said retired Commodore Ismael Aparri, a Bantay Boto convenor.

‘Administration plan’

Oplan Mercury Rising is ostensibly an administration cheating plan to offset the opposition leads in Metro Manila and Luzon.

Aparri said that as in the 2004 elections, the opposition’s lead is expected to be wiped out with the vote, coming in from Cebu, Iloilo and Bohol. The coup de grace would come from Mindanao.

Opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.’s lead was wiped out when the votes from Cebu, Iloilo and Bohol and the President’s lead of one million was completed when the votes from special elections and the ARMM provinces were finally submitted as the last provinces to be canvassed, Aparri said.

Winning circle

“The idea is to push the senatorial bids of [Miguel] Zubiri, [Michael] Defensor and [Prospero] Pichay, among others, into the winning circle, even if they land in the last slots,” Aparri said.

“The magic number to add is at least two million votes in Oplan Mercury Rising provinces, roughly an average of 100,000 leads in about 20 provinces,” he said.

Bantay Boto said the needed votes would turn up in five provinces—Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sharif Kabunsuan and new additions in the oplan Sultan Kudarat and Surigao del Sur—which have a combined 1,349,410 registered voters.

Bantay Boto alleges that pre-computed totals from the five provinces would show Defensor leading all candidates with 967,434 votes, followed by Pichay with 960,898 votes.

Pangilinan would place third with 958,372 votes and Zubiri would be in the fourth spot with 954,361.

Copyright 2007 INQUIRER.net and content partners. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=65336

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 10:38am (Mla time) 05/11/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Kabataan (Youth) party list group has started holding its Miting de Avance in cyberspace with a little help from prominent Filipino bloggers.

With barely a day before the last day of campaigning, the Kabataan party list organized a “viral marketing” campaign that led by Filipino bloggers who are connected to a larger network of Filipino bloggers, first nominee Raymond Palatino told INQUIRER.net.

This final push, dubbed “Kabataan Cyber-Fever,” hopes to encourage more “educated voters” to vote for the party list group.

Among the local bloggers tapped are Shari Cruz (misteryosa.com), who bagged the Best Personal Blog Award in this year’s Philippine Blog Awards; Victor Villanueva (bikoy.net), who is also a finalist in the same category; Jay Rocas from the De La Salle University in Dasmarinas (Four-eyed Journal), and; Vencer Crisostomo (Student Strike) and Sarah Katrina Maramag (Adarna’s Attic) of the Young Radicals blog.

The group said that prominent political blogger and analyst Manuel L. Quezon III has also endorsed the party list group in his blog (www.quezon.ph).

A blogger himself, Palatino said this effort is consistent with their campaign strategy that was launched in cyberspace through popular video hosting service YouTube. The campaign involved a short video clip featuring popular youth artists and personalities.

Palatino maintains his own blog (mongser’s nest) and is Global Voices Online’s Filipino correspondent.

Meanwhile, the group disclosed that Filipino-American youth organizations and cause-oriented groups supportive of the party list group have organized a campaign using text messaging.

Dubbed TEXT B.A.C.K. Internet Blast, the effort involves supporters sending a blast of text messages to friends and relatives to encourage them to vote for the youth party list group.

Kabataan said this initiative is led by the US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, called TEXT BACK (TEXT Brigade Against Cheating and Killings).

Last Sunday, May 6, starting 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time and 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time in the United States, the group sent “nationally coordinated text messages” from subscribers in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Honolulu and other US cities to various Philippine cities including Manila, Baguio, Davao and Cebu City.

Text messages were written in English and different dialects incuding Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano.

The messages include catch-phrases that focus on battling cheating and opposing political killings.

“It is estimated that one Filipino in the US supports 4-5 Filipinos in the Philippines. Fil-Ams are the largest overseas community outside of the Philippines, with almost 4 million Filipinos. With those
calculations we anticipate TEXT BACK USA spreading like wildfire reaching thousands, maybe more, of our countrymen this final week of before elections,” stated Sarah Katrina Maramag, Media Officer of Kabataan Party List in Manila and of the international Filipino youth organization known as Anakbayan.

Meanwhile, he said that the party list group was endorsed Thursday by consumer and mobile rights advocacy group TXTPower.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=65353

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 03:57pm (Mla time) 05/11/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Ten senatorial candidates have been endorsed by a youth partylist group, saying it believes that they will serve as the “youth’s voice” in Congress.

Youth partylist group Kabataan (The Youth) has endorsed 10 senatorial candidates whom they believe will serve as the “youth’s voice” in Congress.

Kabataan (The Youth) said it has chosen Genuine Opposition candidates Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr., Sonia Roco, Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng, Manuel “Manny” Villar, and independent candidate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan for their accomplishments in youth and students’ rights to education and employment.

Kabataan also endorsed TEAM Unity’s Joker Arroyo and Ralph Recto and GO’s Alan Peter Cayetano whom they believed upheld human rights and fought against political repression.

It said that it was also supporting GO’s Loren Legarda who had been vocal about the importance of youth representation in Congress.

Raymond Palatino, Kabataan national president and nominee, said that the party chose these candidates because they believed that they were the “champions of and for the youth’s cause.”

“On May 14, we encourage youth and students to vote for these candidates. Let us vote for principled leadership and meaningful change in government. Let the youth decide who among the senatorial candidates are worthy of serving the country,” said Palatino in a statement.

Meanwhile, the partylist group also announced Friday that it would hold a Protest de Mayo at the Plaza Miranda in Manila where participants would be wearing “gowns” highlighting issues on electoral fraud and violence.

The parade will commence in a nationally-coordinated noise barrage along España later on Friday.

Kabataan also said that supporters would hold a camp-out vigil in front of Comelec on May 12 to ask for clean and honest elections.

At least 17 party-list groups poised to win

Inquirer
Last updated 05:26am (Mla time) 05/11/2007

MANILA, Philippines — At least 17 of the 93 party-list groups could win seats in the House of Representatives, with Bayan Muna topping the list followed by Akbayan, according to results of a nationwide survey conducted by Social Weather Stations on May 2-4.

Bayan Muna had 8.4 percent of the votes, followed closely by Akbayan with 8.2 percent.

Although the number of votes they got last week declined from last month’s 10.4 percent (Bayan Muna) and 9.8 percent (Akbayan), the two groups could retain their current three seats each.

Fifteen more groups have a statistical chance of winning at least one seat each in the House.

Under the 2-percent rule, a group that gets 2 percent of the votes cast for the party-list system is entitled to one seat in the House, according to SWS. A group can have a maximum of three seats, or 6 percent of the votes.

Under this rule, the 17 party-list groups could take a total of 23 seats in the House.

However, the Supreme Court’s “Veterans Formula,” in its October 2000 decision in Veterans Federation Party v the Commission on Elections, provides that the allocation of seats to party-list groups depends on the total number of votes garnered by the top party-list.

Other party-list groups that made the cut were Luzon Farmers Party (Butil, 4.9 percent), Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (Buhay, 4.2 percent), Gabriela (3.9 percent), Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action, Cooperation and Harmony Toward Educational Reforms Inc. (A Teacher, 3.6 percent) and Ahon Pinoy (Ahon, 3.5 percent);

Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption (Cibac, 3.4 percent), Aangat Tayo (AT, 3 percent), Agricultural Sectoral Alliance of the Philippines Inc. (Agap, 2.7 percent), Anakpawis (2.7 percent) and Ahonbayan (2.6 percent);

Cooperative-Natcco Network Party (Coop-Natcco, 2.3 percent), Abakada Guro (Abakada, 2.2 percent), Kabataan (2.1 percent), Anak Mindanao (Amin, 2.1 percent), and Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala Inc. (Kakusa, 2 percent).

Butil and Buhay were each poised to get two seats, while the rest of the groups would each get one seat, according to SWS.

However, if the Veterans Formula were applied, all the groups would get only one seat each, except for Bayan Muna, which would still get three seats.

Poised to retain their current seats in the House were Buhay (2), and Gabriela, Cibac, Coop-Natcco and Amin (1 each).

Anakpawis is poised to retain only one of the two seats it currently holds.

Nominees

The nominees of Bayan Muna are Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares.

Akbayan — Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, Walden Bello and Enrico Dayanghirang.

Butil — Leonila Chavez, Agapito Guanlao and Herminio Ocampo.

Buhay — (1st set) Hans Christian Señeres, Hermenegildo Dumlao and Antonio Bautista; (2nd set) Rene Velarde, Ma. Carissa Coscolluela and Wiliam Irwin Tieng.

Gabriela — Liza Maza, Luzviminda Ilagan and Flora Belinan.

A Teacher — Mariano Piamonte, Ulpiano Sarmiento III and Carolina Porio.

Ahon — Dante Francis M. Ang II, Bernardo F. Ople and Ernesto Herrera III.

Cibac — Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, Luis Lokan Jr. and Cinchona Gonzales.

Aangat Tayo — Daryl Grace Abayon, Eden Debulgado Rivera and Meriam Lasta Paylaga.

Agap — Nicanor Briones, Cesar Cobrador and Rosalinda Dacanay.

Anakpawis — Crispin Beltran, Rafael Mariano and Joel Maglunsod.

Ahonbayan — Edgar Catarongan, Edgardo Manda and Raden Sakaluran.

Coop-Natcco — Guillermo Cua, Jose Ping-ay and Cresente Paez.

Abakada — Jonathan de la Cruz, Samson Alcantara and Cecilia Dy.

Kabataan — Raymond Palatino, Enrico Almonguerra and Mary Francis Veloso.

Amin — Mujiv Hataman, Ariel Hernandez and Arnel Arbison.

Kakusa — Ranulfo Canonigo, Omar Rivera and Ma. Jesusa Sespeñe.

Only 53 percent of voters

The last installment in the three-part series of SWS surveys with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, as its exclusive media partner also found that 53 percent of some 45 million registered voters chose a party-list group from the official Commission on Elections list. This was equivalent to 23.9 million votes.

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 registered voters divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Just below threshold

Groups “just below the threshold but within statistical reach” include Abanse! Pinay (1.9 percent), Cocofed-Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc. (Cocofed, 1.8 percent), Abono (1.7 percent), Advocates for Special Children and the Handicapped Movement (Asahan Mo, 1.5 percent), Alagad (1.5 percent), Veterans Freedom Party (VFP, 1.5 percent), 1-United Transport Koalisyon (1-Utak, 1.5 percent) and Suara Bangsamoro (Suara, 1.5 percent).

Alyansang Bayanihan ng Magsasaka, Manggagawang Bukid at Mangingisda-Adhikain at Kilusan ng Ordinaryong Tao (Aba-Ako, 1.4 percent), Alyansa ng Mamamayang Naghihirap (1.3 percent) and Association of Philippine Electric Cooperative (Apec, 1.3 percent).

Angat Ating Kabuhayan Pilipinas Inc. (Anak, 1.2 percent), Akbay Pinoy OFW-National Inc. (APOI, 1.1 percent), Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan (BATAS, 1 percent) and Assalam Bangsamoro People’s Party (Assalam, 1 percent).

“Allowing for sampling error, with a survey outcome of 3 percent or more, it is statistically safe to say that a party has truly reached the threshold of 2 percent. On the other hand, a survey outcome of below 1 percent makes it statistically very unlikely that the threshold has in truth been reached,” SWS said in a statement released Thursday.

Incumbent party-list groups that scored below the statistical threshold include An Waray (0.6 percent), Alliance of Volunteer Educators (AVE, 0.1 percent), Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino (ALIF, 0 percent) and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM, 0 percent).

An Waray is currently represented by Florencio Noel; AVE by Eulogio Magsaysay; ALIF by Acmad Tomawis, and PM by Renato Magtubo.

Results by area

Akbayan, Gabriela and Ahon met the 2-percent threshold across all areas — Metro Manila, Luzon outside Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Bayan Muna and Kabataan satisfied the 2-percent rule in all areas, except in Mindanao, where Bayan Muna only got 1.7 percent and Kabataan received none (0 percent).

A Teacher and AT missed the threshold only in Metro Manila (1.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively), while Cibac missed it in the Visayas (0 percent).

Butil (11 percent) and Ahonbayan (5 percent) drew their support mostly from respondents in the balance of Luzon; Buhay from Metro Manila (11 percent) and the balance of Luzon (5.6 percent), and Amin and Kakusa, from Mindanao ( 10.3 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively).

Coop-Natcco received most of its votes from the Visayas (4.2 percent) and Mindanao (3.3 percent), while Abakada from Metro Manila (3.7 percent) and Mindanao (5.5 percent).

Results by class

By socioeconomic class, the top five groups — Bayan Muna, Akbayan, Butil, Buhay and Gabriela — along with Ahon, Anakpawis and Abakada, satisfied the 2-percent threshold across all classes ABC, D and E.

A Teacher (1.6 percent), AT (0 percent), Ahonbayan (0 percent), Kabataan (1.6 percent) and Amin (0 percent) missed the threshold among members of class ABC, while Cibac (1.8 percent), Agap (1.2 percent) and Coop-Natcco ( 1.8 percent) missed it in class E.

Kakusa drew much of its support from class E (5.7 percent). Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research

Kabataan Partylist tops UST, UE mock polls
http://www.varsitarian.com/details.asp?id=3056&s=3&sec=news

The Kabataan Partylist topped recently concluded student surveys on partylist preferences in the University Santo Tomas and University of the East.

The mock polls were conducted by The Varistarian and The Dawn, official student publications of UST and UE, respectively.

The Varsitarian conducted the surveys on March and April, with the two mock polls roughly showing the same results. The survey had 1,265 respondents from UST’s 11 colleges with a 2.76 per cent margin of error.

In the survey, Kabataan Partylist got a commanding lead of 22.22 percent, with Buhay Partylist placing second with 13.89 percent.

Other partylist choices included Gabriela, 11.1 percent; ABAKADA Guro, 5.6 percent; Bayan Muna, 5.6 percent; and Senior Citizens, Lypad, Akbayan, Kasapi, A Teacher and Anakpawis got 2.8 percent.

“These surveys only show the growing support among students, youth and even the academe for youth representation in Congress,” Kabataan Partylist President and First Nominee Raymond Palatino said.

“There has not been a youth sectoral representative in the past three Congresses since the first partylist elections in 1998. The last time we had a youth representative in Congress was during the Philippine Assembly time more than fifty years ago when Wenceslao Vinzons and Arturo Tolentino’s Young Philippines won seats in Congress.”

Palatino however said the massive disenfranchisement of many potential, first time voters could pose a big hindrance to securing seats for the youth partylist.

“Many first time voters failed to register last year out of confusion and discouragement brought about by the No-El (No Election) scenario being propagated by Charter Change advocates and the government.”

“The youth can still participate in this elections though, whether a registered voter or not. The upcoming elections needs the biggest number of dedicated election volunteers who will guard the people’s votes. We can actively campaign for candidates or political parties and educate our relatives and our community of the electoral process and give guidelines on how to choose the country’s next set of leaders.”

“There are countless ways by which the youth can participate in this elections even if they are not registered voters. Now more than ever is the time for the youth to be involved.”

Kabataan Partylist had also emerged on the top spot in university belt-wide mock polls on partylist preferences last month.

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By WILLIAM ESPOSO

——————————————————————————–

If we fail to dislodge the corrupt and the tyrants in government, then it is a lesson that voting should be complemented by other political actions that advance the cause of democracy. That means elections are not enough.

——————————————————————————–

The Philippine Star

Raymond “Mong” Palatino is a former NUS (National Union of Students) president who has earned a United Nations award. He is now the president of the party-list group Kabataan and is the number 1 nominee of that group should they win in May.

Many ask just where the Filipino youth are these days. Are they not interested in what’s happening to our country? The youth will reap the mess that our politicians are creating so again we ask: Why are they not involved?

Thus, I am giving my space Thursday to Mong Palatino. Mong answers a lot of our questions about the youth. Why should the youth vote/By: Raymond “Mong” Palatino

I’ve been trying to write this article for many weeks but I could only think of reasons why the youth should not vote. I could always imagine young voters questioning the worthiness of participating in the elections. Why vote if ‘Garcis’ of this world will count the ballots? Why encourage my family and friends to be active in politics if election campaigning is doomed to be violent? Why support a candidate if he/she will turn out to be a monster in the future anyway?

These are valid questions. These are legitimate apprehensions. These may be reasons why many young people refuse to be involved in the elections. I also have these misgivings about the coming elections.

Ditching a dirty political exercise is justifiable. It is also an easy decision to make. But I need not surrender to cynicism everyday.

If elections are filthy, let’s make it less filthy. If elections are dominated by the elite, let’s make the elite listen to our problems. If elections are a popularity contest, let’s demand a concrete platform from all candidates.

I am already curious about the election agenda of candidates. I want to know their platform for education health and environment. What is their program for the youth? What is their social reform agenda? How would they convince our skilled professionals to remain in the country?

If we abandon the elections and allow the trapos to dominate the campaign, elections will be more meaningless and futile exercise. But our vigilance and active engagement would probably make a difference in the reforms we want to achieve by electing competent leaders and removing imbeciles in government.

Voting is just one of the many ways to be involved in the elections. We can actually volunteer for political parties and candidates espousing programs we think the country needs. We can report electoral violations (use those camera phones). We can campaign for honest and peaceful elections through texting, chat, blog and joining advocacy groups during the counting of votes.

We can cancel out all our activities on May 14 in order to brave the long queues and vote in our local precincts. If we don’t vote, somebody else will vote in our behalf. Remember, ghost voters are hard to catch in a superstitious country like ours. Voting is also a rare chance to get even with bad politicians.

Young voters could potentially dictate who will seat in the Senate and the next batch of local leaders. This is possible if the youth will vote on May or if they are not registered, influence family and friends to vote for candidates they want to win.

Analysts doubt the potency of the youth vote. According to them, the youth will not be a significant force in deciding the outcome of the coming polls. This is our chance to prove the skeptics wrong. The youth vote is REAL. We only need candidates who can inspire the youth with their creative and sensible election agenda.

We need another Cory Aquino who united a grieving nation in the mid 1980s. We need a new Miriam Defensor Santiago who amazed the youth with her wit and bravado during the early 1990s. The country is looking for another politician in the mold of Raul Roco who will articulate the concerns of young people.

It is not enough to be a young politician to win over the youth. It is not enough to be an Opposition candidate to call oneself as an idealistic leader. Sons and daughters of brilliant politicians must still prove they deserve the support of the youth.

I go back to the earlier question. Why vote on May 14? It’s our duty as responsible citizens. It’s our duty to strengthen democracy. To use the language of ‘Star Wars’: We are the only hope. The Force is not with us. We are the Force.

Elections are an opportunity to change the faces that make up the Philippine political system. If we fail to dislodge the corrupt and the tyrants in government, then it is a lesson that voting should be complemented by other political actions that advance the cause of democracy. That means elections are not enough.

If all else fails, revolution remains an option. Revolution?

You may e-mail William M. Esposo at: macesposo@yahoo.com

By Leila Salaverria
Inquirer
Last updated 04:17am (Mla time) 05/08/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Left-wing party-list groups on Monday asked the Supreme Court to order troops out of Metro Manila’s urban poor communities, charging they were dissuading voters from picking leftist candidates in the May 14 elections.

“The deployment of soldiers is unconstitutional because it violates the principle of civilian supremacy and because military men can only be deployed by the President when there is lawless violence, invasion, rebellion or the threat thereof,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, who led representatives of party-list groups Gabriela, Kabataan and Suara Bangsamoro in filing the petition with the high court.

The groups were joined by Payatas resident Roberto Corbes, who claimed he was threatened by soldiers for distributing membership registration forms for Bayan Muna.

“The militarization of Metro Manila is not just a threat to human rights,” they said in their petition. “It is already injurious to the right to association of political parties and a violation of the people’s right to suffrage. Petitioners find it difficult to continue participating in electoral politics under this condition.”

The groups said they had earlier filed a petition with the Commission on Elections questioning the presence of troops in urban communities but it remained unresolved.

This time, they asked the high tribunal to nullify the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ order deploying troops to urban communities in the National Capital Region, direct their pullout, and compel the AFP to leave the communities in 24 hours.

Named respondents in the petition were AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, AFP NCR Command head Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, and Lt. Roel Cotillon.

Military officials earlier denied the controversial deployment of 260 troops in 26 urban poor communities in Manila, starting in November, was linked to the elections, saying the aim was to boost government services and combat the “culture of rebelling,” including street protests.

“We do not target any people or any particular group,” Dolorfino said.

Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, the military’s spokesman, said the Armed Forces would pull out before election day.

In seeking the troops’ withdrawal from the NCR, the party-list groups pointed to Dolorfino’s reported statements that the soldiers will entice voters to vote for people who are God-fearing, who could give justice to the people and who are physically, morally and intellectually qualified.

In their petition, the groups said this statement violated the constitutional provision prohibiting the AFP from participating in partisan politics.

“Whether a candidate is God-fearing or not is beyond the business of the AFP. It is beyond the competence of respondents to draft and advertise its criteria of who are or are not qualified civilian leaders. This kind of thinking or belief is anathema to democracy because it predisposes the troops to obey, respect and follow only civilian leaders anointed by the powers-that-be in the Armed Forces of the Philippines — whether or not the leader is god-fearing,” they said. With an AP report

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.gmanews. tv/story/ 40709/Youth- groups-hit- detention- of-protester

Militant youth groups cried foul Wednesday over the alleged harassment in the arrest and detention of a student leader who attended Tuesday’s May Day rally.

Youth groups led by the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Kabataan Partylist staged a protest action in front of the Manila Police District headquarters in Manila Wednesday.

Police arrested Ken Mark Ambay, 23, a member of the Kabataan party-list group, while he was walking behind his friends along Morayta Avenue after the Labor Day rally along C.M. Recto Avenue.

A plainclothesman later identified to be from the Manila Police District grabbed and arrested him.

“When I resisted, the policeman along with two others shoved me so I fell on my back. They stepped on my neck and waist as they tightly placed handcuffs on my wrists,” recounted Ambay.

Ambay’s companions, also members of Kabataan party list, said the policemen who grabbed Ambay pointed guns at them as they approached Ambay to help him.

When Ambay was brought to the Manila Police Station 4, he was charged with assaulting the policemen that arrested him, an act Ambay denied.

“I could never have assaulted any policeman during the rally because it was a very peaceful demonstration. If I have hurt the ones that arrested me, I’m sorry but it was only natural for a person to resist when he is being grabbed and arrested for no reason,” he said.

Vencer Crisostomo, national chairman of the LFS and spokesman of Kabataan, described Ambay’s arrest as “a display of police brutality and power tripping.”

“We joined the Labor Day rally to fight for our rights, not to become victims of the denial of these rights by the government through the Philippine National Police,” said Crisostomo.

The groups said they are planning to file complaints against the policemen who arrested Ambay, saying that they shall not tolerate such events to occur. - GMANews.TV

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY KATHERINE P. TOLARBA AND GLOREI ALLELU N. LINDIO
Bulatlat

Wearing self-made clothes that portray different issues during elections, Kabataan Party-List members ramped on stage along Araneta Avenue, Tatalon, Quezon City.

The April 24 fashion show featured different election-related issues that hound the May 2007 elections and the youth’s tasks to ensure clean and honest elections.

“It is a colorful, creative, entertaining youthful kind of campaigning at the same time educational,” said Raymond Palatino, the youth party-list group’s first nominee.

Kabataan Party-List is the only accredited progressive youth party-list group participating in the 2007 elections.

With its new brand of politics — politics of hope, struggle and change — Kabataan Party-List seeks to usher in new blood into Philippine politics, away from the kind of leadership that the traditional politicians and dynasties have for the government.

“We need a change,” Palatino said. “The nation needs young, vibrant and innovative minds that will restore integrity and morality in governance and lead the nation to genuine progress and social change.”

The Kabataan Party-List fashion show portrayed the political repression in the country. Bulatlat