Agri chief urged to recall overpriced ice-making machines

by Gerry Albert Corpuz and Billy Javier Reyes, senior reporters, The Pamalakaya Times

Manila, Philippines- Leaders of the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and Anakpawis party list on Monday urged Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to recall the department’s purchase of 98 units of ice-making machines, which the group said was overpriced by P 2.3 million per unit.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the agriculture department through the National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) awarded the government contract to a lone bidder—the Integrated Refrigeration System and Services (IRSS) on September 2, 2009, which will sell the ice-making unit at P 4,650,000 per unit, or about P 2.3 million higher compared to prevailing industry price for the ice-making machine.

“In the name of national interest and public trust, Secretary Yap should immediate revoke the contract because it is highly disadvantageous to the national government and to the taxpaying public. Imagine we will pay more than P 233 million of hard-earned taxpayers’ money to the preferred client of Malacanang. This is too much and super corruption to the highest order,” added Hicap.

The Pamalakaya official said the government will pay IRSS the sum of P 455,700,000 for 98 units of ice-making machines with liquid freeze capability which will be supplied to selected municipal fish ports nationwide. But the group said the government can obtain 98 units of ice-making machines for P 225 million to P 230 million, or half of the quoted and agreed price with IRSS.

“P 225 million is P 225 million. That sum of money can be used to finance any kind of sinister agenda or cruel intention by the present power holders in and out of Malacanang. The money might also be used to finance the electoral campaign of Mrs. Arroyo’s national and local bets in 2010 elections. This is money making in aid of electoral campaign for 2010 polls,” added Hicap.

Anakpawis secretary general Cherry Clemente said Secretary Yap is lawfully and morally bound to explain why the agriculture department entered into a contract that is disadvantageous to the government and to the Filipino public.

“Do we really need these ice-making machines? Our fisherfolk members all over the country were not even consulted on these projects, but these ice-making machines had already their icing on the cake status as far DA and its’ favored contractor are concerned. Secretary Yap owes the public a honest-to-goodness explanation, nothing more, nothing less,” the Anakpawis official said.

According to information gathered by Pamalakaya and Anakpawis party list, NABCOR conducted a preliminary bidding last August 26, and IRSS which won the bidding, was only incorporated on August 25, a day before the preliminary bidding was conducted.

The groups said under Republic Act 9184 (Procuring Law), Section 37.1, the bidder must submit a copy of its single largest completed contract over the past 3 years, and such condition is impossible for IRSS, which was only incorporated on August 25, this year, a day before the preliminary bidding. The contract was finally awarded last Sept.2.

Pamalakaya gave at least Secretary Yap a week to issue a memorandum calling for the revocation of what the group a highly irregular and extremely anomalous contract, adding that the agriculture secretary can do it even in one day.

The militant group threatened to file a plunder case against Secretary Yap and other officials of NABCOR if they fail to cancel the contract with IRSS in connection with the corruption tainted procurement of 98 units of ice-making machines pegged at P 4.6 million per unit.

“They have a week them a week or two to correct this multi-hundred million peso mistake. If they will not do their job, then we will take this case before the Office of the Ombudsman and have them charge of plunder and violations of anti-graft and corrupt practices act along with their private clients,” Pamalakaya said.

Aside from Secretary Yap, Pamalakaya said it will include in the plunder charge sheet the top officials of NABCOR namely Alan A. Javellana, President; Romulo A. Relevo, Chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee; Dennis Lozada, Winston Azucena, Melody de Guzman and Encarnita Cristina Munsod, all members of Bids and Awards Committee, and owners and operators of IRSS.

Earlier, Allan V. Ragasa, a complainant had filed charges against Sec. Yap and officials of NABCOR and officers of IRSS headed by its chairman Alexander Leung before the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the questionable awarding of contract to IRSS. The complaint in violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and RA 9184 was filed on Nov.18, 2009. #

Boholanos urged to challenge Sec.Yap’s unopposed run in 3rd district

by Chocolate Hills dela Fuente and Bb. Joyce Cabral

Manila, Philippines-The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday urged the electoral public in the 3rd district of Bohol to challenge the unopposed congressional bid of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, saying the congressional district deserves a better person rather than stick with a protégé of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“He is not the man for the job. Secretary Yap is part of the money making syndicate in Malacanang and voting him as congressman of the 3rd district is like paying homage to the never ending plunder campaign of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The Pamalakaya leader issued the statement in reaction to news reports that Sec. Yap will run unopposed congressional candidate in the 3rd district of Bohol, Earlier, there was this speculation that Yap will face incumbent Rep. Adam Relson Jala or his father former congressman Eladio Jala in the congressional race, but the young Jala, who is eligible to run for re-election filed his certificate of candidacy for the gubernatorial race, leaving Yap unopposed.

The elder Jala, currently assistant secretary at the Department of Transportation and Communications, was rumored to have been offered a post at the Securities and Exchange Commission, but he has declined to issue any statement on the matter.

Both Yap and the Jalas were members of the ruling Lakas-Kampi. “It seems there is a gentleman’s agreement between Yap and the Jalas as brokered by Malacanang,” said Hicap.

Pamalakaya said Secretary Yap was recently implicated and charged in violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Republic Act 9184 or the Procurement Law before the Office of the Ombudsman for allowing an attached agency—the National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) to procure 98 units of ice-making machines for fishery products which are overpriced by 100 percent compared to the standard price set by industry market.

The group recalled the department’s purchase of 98 units of ice-making machines, which the group said was overpriced by P 2.3 million. Pamalakaya said the agriculture department through the NABCOR awarded the government contract to a lone bidder—the Integrated Refrigeration System and Services (IRSS) on September 2, 2009, which will sell the ice-making unit at
P 4,650,000 per unit, or about P 2.3 million higher compared to prevailing industry price for the ice-making machine.

“Imagine a congressional candidate with this track record of corruption seeking to be called honorable representative of the third district of Bohol. Secretary Yap should immediate revoke the contract if he wants to gain respect and support of the electoral public. The deal which he had sealed for approval upon the order of higher ups is highly disadvantageous to the taxpaying public. Imagine we will pay more than P 233 million of hard-earned taxpayers’ money to the preferred client of Malacanang. This is too much and super corruption to the highest order,” said Pamalakaya.

The Pamalakaya said the government through DA will pay IRSS the sum of P 455,700,000 for 98 units of ice-making machines with liquid freeze capability which will be supplied to selected municipal fish ports nationwide. But the group said the government can obtain 98 units of ice-making machines for P 225 million to P 230 million, or half of the quoted and agreed price with IRSS.

“P 225 million is P 225 million. That sum of money can be used to finance any kind of sinister agenda or cruel intention by the present power holders in and out of Malacanang. The money might also be used to finance the electoral campaign of Mrs. Arroyo’s national and local bets like Secretary Yap. This is money making in aid of electoral campaign for 2010 polls,” added Hicap.

The group said Secretary Yap is lawfully and morally bound to explain why the agriculture department entered into a contract that is disadvantageous to the government and to the Filipino public.

“Do we really need these ice-making machines? Our fisherfolk members all over the country were not even consulted on these projects, but these ice-making machines had already their icing on the cake status as far DA and its’ favored contractor are concerned. Secretary Yap owes the public a honest-to-goodness explanation, nothing more, nothing less,” said Pamalakaya.

According to information gathered by Pamalakaya, NABCOR conducted a preliminary bidding last August 26, and IRSS which won the bidding, was only incorporated on August 25, a day before the preliminary bidding was conducted.

The group said under Republic Act 9184 (Procuring Law), Section 37.1, the bidder must submit a copy of its single largest completed contract over the past 3 years, and such condition is impossible for IRSS, which was only incorporated on August 25, this year, a day before the preliminary bidding. The contract was finally awarded last Sept.2.

The militant group threatened to file a plunder case against Secretary Yap and other officials of NABCOR if they fail to cancel the contract with IRSS in connection with the corruption tainted procurement of 98 units of ice-making machines pegged at P 4.6 million per unit.

GMA vow to be nicer to media raised eyebrows

By Chocolate Moose Fernandez

Manila, Philippines-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s vow to be nicer to reporters in the remaining days of her presidency raised eyebrows of her critics from the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

“She is like the typical telenovela villain who is used to flash that sweet, yet checkered smile to pursue a more bolder and more sinister agenda,” Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said in a press statement.

Corpuz reminded Arroyo on the brutal record of her government against media people, where over 100 journalists have been killed since Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.

The Pamalakaya information officer said the biggest haul of crime against the media “perpetrated” by the Arroyo government was the Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao where a total of 57 press persons were massacred by the Ampatuans, who are staunch allies of Malacanang and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“That statement could raise her critics’ and non-critics’ eyebrows in and out of the media circle and the entire Filipino public to the highest level,” added Corpuz.

Celebrating what could be her last Christmas party with Palace-based reporters Ms Arroyo renewed an old resolution promising to become an easier subject to cover.

“She is feeling and acting like a Superstar although she is already an aging, detested and has-been political animal in this country,” the Pamalakaya information chief said.

President Arroyo thanked membes of the Malacanang Press Corps (MPC) for their patience in covering her and her presidency admitting that she is not easy subject to cover and apologized for the short fuse, an attitude she promised to improve on in the past.

“The departure of President Arroyo from Malacanang months from now is a celebration not only for the Filipino people but also for our dear friends in media covering the Arroyo presidency and Malacanang,” Corpuz said. #

KMU slaps Palace’s direct hand in layoff of 700 SLEX workers

Contributed to The Pamalakaya Times

No holiday in protesting Arroyo’s job massacres

Even the spirit of Christmas failed to put off the Arroyo government’s layoff plans, as it directed the sudden retrenchment of at least 700 Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) employees working in the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), according to Kilusang Mayo Uno.

KMU said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita’s directive to hasten the turnover of SLEX’s operations to Manila Toll Expressway Systems (MATES) is “clear proof of Arroyo’s itch for job massacres”

“With the Palace hand clearly jutting out of the mass layoff in SLEX, Arroyo has further earned the ire of Filipino workers. And with that, she will never enjoy a holiday break from workers’ condemnation and wrath,” said KMU Chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog.

“Layoff victims, especially, have every right to make her Christmas an uneasy one. Protests will surely knock her out of the holiday mood,” he added.

North Harbor retrenchment

Labog said aside from the retrenchment of SLEX workers, at least 7,000 port workers and vendors in North Harbor in Manila face a “jobless New Year” as winning bidders take over the port terminal on Jan. 1, 2010.

“The layoffs in SLEX and North Harbor are fine examples of how privatization works as an anti-labor policy prescribed by foreign institutions like the World Bank,” said Labog.

“But history proves that privatization, which only benefits private corporations at the expense of workers, has been met with strong and united actions of workers, not only in our country but in many parts of the world.

“We urge SLEX and North Harbor workers to continue their fight for livelihood and unite with other workers in making this regime pay up for its crimes against the people,” he added.

Militant senatoriables will not back Bongbong’s bid

By Billy Javier Reyes

Manila, Philippines-Nacionalista Party senatorial guest candidates Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza of Gabriela Women’s Party on Tuesday affirmed that the progressive coalition party Makabayan will not support the senatorial bid of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“We wish to emphasize that the key basis of Makabayan’s mutual adoption agreement with the Villar-Legarda tandem is the accord to carry specific reforms in our platform during the campaign and to implement them after victory,” said Ocampo and Maza in a statement sent to The Pamalakaya Times.

Ocampo added that “Makabayan intends to talk with other senatorial candidates of the Nacionalista Party for concrete forms of cooperation on the basis of our platform except with Bongbong Marcos.

“We respect and uphold the expressed will of our mass constituents not to support Bong Marcos senatorial bid because he echoes his mother’s repeated claim that former Pres. Marcos did nothing wrong in his dictatorial rule,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo added that the Marcoses “have in so many ways obstructed the rendering of justice and indemnification to the victims of martial law and the recovery of ill-gotten wealth.”

“One important aspect of the platform we clinched with Sen. Villar and the Nacionalita Party is the commitment to immediately give justice and indemnification to martial law victims and the full recovery of ill gotten wealth according to law,” Ocampo concluded.

Makabayan, a coalition of eight progressive parties, namely Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan, Migrante, ACT Teachers, Courage and Katribu yesterday endorsed the presidential and vice-presidential bid of Senators Manny Villar and Loren Legard, and is also open to endorse a number of senatorial candidates who will support the coalition’s platform.

The progressive coalition is also open to endorse and support progressive candidates seeking congressional seats and local government posts in the 2010 elections.

RP militants: Take back Nobel Peace Prize award from Obama

By Gerry Albert Corpuz, senior reporter, The Pamalakaya Times

Manila, Philippines-Fisherfolk activists belonging to Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday urged organizers of the yearly Nobel Peace Prize to take back the award from US President Barack Obama, after the American president decided to continue its war of aggression in Afghanistan by sending more 30,000 US troops to the war ravaged nation.

“The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize given to Obama is diametrically opposed to the global people’s demand for just and lasting peace. The Norwegian committee in charge of the award should admit their mistake and one way of correcting its mistake is to recall the award given to the war-mongering and war-freak US President,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 to President Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

According to the Oslo-based Norwegian Nobel Committee, President Obama created a new climate in international politics. It cited Obama’s role in pursuing multilateral diplomacy with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.

“The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened,” the committee said.

The Nobel Peace Prize committee further added: “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population”.

But Hicap said the decision of Obama sending 30,000 US troops more to Afghanistan is tantamount to war of aggression and political-military colonialization and invasion that violates the principles of sovereignty and independence.

“Obama is carbon copy of former US President George W. Bush. Like Bush, this bogus anti-war US President will soon face deluge of protests from anti-US war activists for following the Bush terrorist policies and projects all over the world,” the Pamalakaya leader added. @

Port workers hit jobless New Year

Contributed to The Pamalakaya Times

Manila, Philippines- Facing a ‘jobless new year’ ahead of them, thousands of port workers and vendors in North Harbor in Manila staged a rally this morning in Mendiola to demand immediate government action on the looming wide-scale retrenchment as private firms take over the port.

The big rally led by the Alliance of Port/Transport Workers and Porters in North Harbor (APTWP-NH) demanded a clear-cut Terms of Reference which will ensure zero job cut and recognition of existing unions as Metro Pacific Investment Corp. and Harbor Centre Inc. take control of the port’s operations on Jan. 1, 2010.

“We urge the Arroyo regime to take immediate action on the looming massacre of jobs in the port area. And the best action that it can take is to spare workers from a ‘jobless New Year’ by pushing for the workers’ job security,” said Jake Azores, APTWP-NH president.

At least 7,000 port workers and vendors risk losing their livelihood, while hundreds of families living in the port area fear demolition of their homes due to the port’s privatization.

Azores said it is still unclear who will pay for the back wages of workers in the event layoff of workers is undertaken with less a month before the takeover, sowing discomfort among port workers in the midst of the yuletide season.

“If the winning bidders do not heed our demands for a clear-cut Terms of Reference, we would be facing the loneliest New Year in recent years as joblessness awaits us. The way big capitalists want port workers to start the year is simply unjust, even as we have been receiving the same depressed wages year after year,” said Azores.

“But like in previous mobilizations, we will prove that our collective strength is important in deciding on the course that privatization will take. The holiday season will not put our call for job security and union recognition to rest.

“We have worked in the port area for many years now. That is why we will not just give up on this, even if our struggle drags on,” he added.

Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog expressed full support to the port workers’ legitimate struggle, saying “they have every right to assert protection from the looming layoff.”

“If the Arroyo government is really sincere in promoting labor rights and welfare, it should not sit silently in the face of retrenchment of thousands of North Harbor workers. Its record, however, speaks of its brazen complicity with big capitalists in implementing mass layoffs,” said Labog.

“But the government and private corporations should be warned: port workers can shut down the port if their demands remain unheeded,” Labog added. #

Leftists say Miriam’s conspiracy theory on bolder martial law is 80 percent correct

By TC Concepcion and Gerry Albert Corpuz

Manila, Philippines-Leftwing activists belonging to the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday said the conspiracy theory invoked by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on an alleged plot to bring about a “bolder Martial Law” beyond the province of Maguindanao is 80 percent correct.

According to Sen. Santiago, the four suspects behind the purported plot for bolder Martial Law were the powerful Ampatuan clan believed to be responsible for the Nov.23 massacre of 57 persons, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a cabal supported by a group of military officials including defense and interior secretaries and a new Reformed the Armed Forces Movement that mounted a series of coup attempts against the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.

“The missing link is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who constitutes the other 20 percent of the equation. The four layers of suspects identified by Senator Santiago represent the majority 80 percent of the Martial Law equation. The new RAM however will represent a segment of the reactionary AFP allied with or pampered by the Arroyo government,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

But Hicap lauded Santiago for coming out with a brave statement and courageous analysis despite removing President Arroyo from the Martial Law equation. “We will give Senator Santiago the well deserved credit for rising above the occasion to tell the Filipino people that this Martial Law animal in Maguindanao is not meant to give justice to victims of the Ampatuan massacre but to use the victims’ names to justify the imposition of military dictatorship,” added Hicap.

The Pamalakaya leader agreed with Santiago the objective of the alleged conspiracy was to seize power and preempt the holding of national elections next year.

“The installation of a military junta to spoil the 2010 general elections and the across-the-nation declaration of Martial Law is the principal objective of the ruling political syndicate in Malacanang. President Arroyo and her most trusted national security operator—Defense secretary Norberto Gonzalez have been obsessed with this scenario since the discovery of the Hello Garci tapes in 2005,” said Hicap.

Pamalakaya said it was convinced the Ampatuan massacre was the brainchild of top national security officials of the Macapagal-Arroyo government to justify the imposition of Martial Law in Maguindanao province, and that the succeeding events in Maguindanao including the ambush of military convoy and the hostage taking in Basilan and Agusan del Sur were part of the game plan to convince the public that it was time to impose Martial Law not only in Mindanao but in the entire country.

Pamalakaya believed the powerful Ampatuan clan was coaxed and motivated by national security operators of Malacanang to commit the mass murder of people to stop the rival clan from pursuing their bid to wrest the control of political power in the province, justify the imposition of Martial Law and spoil the holding of elections in 2010.

“In committing the carnage to justify the declaration of Proclamation 1959 and the failure of elections in Maguindanao, the biggest winners here are President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Ampatuans who shared the same vision of keeping their posts by all means,” it said.

“This regime led by Ms Arroyo is very much obsessed with the declaration of Martial Law. The current terrorist Manila government has been plotting Martial Law since it assumed the presidency and its rallying call is to do whatever it can do to justify martial rule. The Ampatuan massacre is part of the game plan for Martial Law,” Pamalakaya added.

“Secretary Gonzalez, the silent operator of the terrorist and national security obsessed regime has been pushing for the declaration of Martial Law in the name of President Arroyo’s political survival. Perhaps, by creating intrigues, hatred and war between the rival clans in Maguindanao, the government could achieve its objective, which is the declaration of Martial Law that could be expanded in other provinces and Philippine territories the soonest time possible ahead of the May 2010 elections,” the group explained. #

Health Group Denounces Medical Integration as Rights Violation

contributed to The Pamalakaya Times

Manila, Philippines-The medical integration bill being fast-tracked by the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) in Congress violates the fundamental rights of both doctors and patients.

Two days after the nation commemorated Human Rights Day, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) criticized the bills pending in the Senate as inimical to the interest and rights of medical practitioners, and detrimental to the overall healthcare system.

“Are doctors who are non-members of PMA aware that there is a pending bill that will force them to become PMA members if they want to practice medicine in this country?” decried Dr. Geneve Rivera, secretary-general of HEAD.

Under the proposed measure of medical integration, membership with the PMA will be a mandatory requisite to the practice of medicine.

Moreover, only the PMA and its eight affiliated specialty associations will determine who can perform specialty procedures. Doctors who are not sanctioned but who will perform these procedures face severe penalties, including life imprisonment!

“Medical integration is an insult to the sacrifice of many government doctors and physicians in far-flung communities who have taken it upon themselves to provide the needed services to the people. Under the proposed measure, they will now have to fulfill the requirements set by the PMA in order to do the things they are already doing.”

Such proposed medical integration will eventually discourage doctors from going to either government service or rural practice. New doctors who wish to fulfill the specialty requirements of the PMA will wind up in hospitals in urban centers. Poor patients in the countryside will have less and less medical care.

HEAD also criticized the Arroyo government, particularly health agencies like the Department of Health and the Professional Regulations Commission, for reneging on its responsibilities.

“Why is government giving such authority to a private organization? Why are the DOH and the PRC allowing the PMA to establish a virtual monopoly over medical practice?” asked Dr. Rivera.

“The Arroyo government and the PMA should address the current needs Filipino doctors, especially those working under extremely difficult conditions, instead of removing their basic rights and freedoms through an act done in haste and secrecy. The clandestine nature of this bill only raises suspicion as to its real motive.”

“In the end, the greater imperative is how to enable the remaining doctors here and the entire medical community to work together to improve the health situation of the Filipino people.”####

Leftists believe Palace pushed Ampatuans to commit mass murder to justify Martial Law

By Bb. Joyce Cabral, Sugar Hicap and Billy Javier Reyes

Manila, Philippines- Leftwing activists belonging to the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Friday said they were convinced the Ampatuan massacre was the brainchild of top national security officials of the Macapagal-Arroyo government to justify the imposition of Martial Law in Maguindanao province.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the powerful Ampatuan clan was coaxed and motivated by national security operators of Malacanang to commit the mass murder of people to stop the rival clan from pursuing their bid to wrest the control of political power in the province, justify the imposition of Martial Law and spoil the holding of elections in 2010.

“In committing the carnage to justify the declaration of Proclamation 1959 and the failure of elections in Maguindanao, the biggest winners here are President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her political allies in Maguindanao—the Ampatuans, who like President Arroyo wants to perpetuate themselves all over Maguindanao by all means,” added Hicap.

“This regime led by Ms Arroyo is very much obsessed with the declaration of Martial Law. The current terrorist Manila government has been plotting Martial Law since it assumed the presidency and its rallying call is to do whatever it can do to justify martial rule. The Ampatuan massacre is part of the game plan for Martial Law,” he added.

The Pamalakaya leader singled out Defense Secretary and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez as the chief operator of Maguindanao massacre, which was processed and approved by top security officials of the Arroyo government, that includes the newly installed defense chief.

“Secretary Gonzalez, the silent operator of the terrorist and national security obsessed regime has been pushing for the declaration of Martial Law in the name of President Arroyo’s political survival. Perhaps, by creating intrigues, hatred and war between the rival clans in Maguindanao, the government could achieve its objective, which is the declaration of Martial Law that could be expanded in other provinces and Philippine territories the soonest time possible ahead of the May 2010 elections,” Hicap explained.

Pamalakaya feared that Malacanang and Secretary Gonzalez could spark wars among political and warlord clans in Mindanao to justify the expansion and extension of Martial Law.

The militant group said Palace national security officials could spark the clan wars between the families of Wahab Akbar and Gerry Salapudin in Basilan, Sakur Tan and Tupay Loong clan in Sulu, the Jaafar clan against its political rivals in Tawi-Tawi, the Dimaporo clan vs. political enemies in Lanao del Norte and many clans in Lanao del Sur to justify the imposition of Martial Law in these areas of political conflicts among politician- warlords.

Pamalakaya said the government might also exploit the activities of criminal groups all over Mindanao like bank robberies and hostage taking to create a climate of terror and lawlessness to justify the imposition of Martial Law.

Meanwhile, the group urged Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles to quit from their posts ahead of the scheduled joint session of Congress on whether to affirm or revoke Proclamation 1959 placing the entire Maguindanao province under Martial Law.

Pamalakaya said Enrile and Nograles have already expressed their support to Palace declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao, and they cannot exact objectivity and fairness as leaders of Congress in determining the legal, political and moral correctness of Proclamation 1959.

“The present Senate President and the Speaker of the House are not the right persons to lead the joint session of Congress as far as Proclamation 1959 is concerned. Mr. Enrile is the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos partner in crime in declaring Martial Law in 1972, while Nograles, a has been politician from Davao City sees the extreme military measure as a way to keep himself to political eternity, the way Mrs. Arroyo wants herself to be,” it said.

“Mr. Enrile and Mr. Nograles are President Arroyo’s rah rah boys in Congress. We cannot entrust the fate of this country to GMA boys and rubber stamp politicians in Congress”, the Pamalakaya added.

Earlier, Pamalakaya urged congressmen allied with President Arroyo to cross party lines and vote against the imposition of Martial Law in Maguindanao. The militant group also appealed to administration congressmen who shifted party loyalties to Nacionalista Party of Senator Manuel Villar and Liberal Party of Senator Mar Roxas to join the eight militant party list representatives—Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casino and Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares of Bayan Muna, Rafael Mariano and Joel Maglunsod of Anakpawis, Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela and Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan Party in opposing and voting against Proclamation 1959.

Pamalakaya said pro-GMA congressmen should rise above the occasion and quell the grand plan of Malacanang and the National Security Council to slowly but surely place the entire country under Martial Law with the Maguindanao massacre as a laboratory for eventual declaration of martial rule all over the country.

The militant group said the statement of House Speaker Nograles justifying Proclamation 1959 is politically dangerous, and tantamount to endorsing the eventual dissolution of the House of Representatives. Pamalakaya further asserted that Nograles is toeing the Palace line for the across-the-nation imposition of Martial Law.

“Remember the imposition of Martial Law is one of the available legal measures for President Arroyo to perpetuate herself to power beyond 2010. Mrs. Arroyo and her ruling gangland will do everything, anything, whatever the cost maybe to justify martial rule and keep the reigning political syndicate to power. This will lead to the eventual closure of the House,” added Pamalakaya.

Pamalakaya said congressmen allied or oppose to President Arroyo should take cue from the Supreme Court which said that Malacanang has no basis to declare Martial Law in Maguindanao because the court system in Maguindanao is functioning.

“The Supreme Court is clear, the court system is working and in fact that judge in Kidapawan had issued six search warrants that authorized the raids on several Amputuan residences. The cruel intention of Mrs. Arroyo and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez is highly exposed here—they want the Maguindanao to jumpstart the well planned imposition of Martial Law all over the country,” the group said.

“It appears to us that the Maguindanao massacre orchestrated by the powerful Ampatuan clan had the official blessing if not tacit approval of the national security mafia in Malacanang to justify the possible declaration of national state of emergency or even Martial Law across the country. Palace think tanks believe the situation could be exploited to justify the martial rule not only in Maguindanao but also across the country in not so distant future,” Pamalakaya added.

The militant group asserted that aside from President Arroyo, Secretary Gonzalez and ex-defense chief Teodoro, previous defense secretaries and chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines should be made to explain why they allowed the proliferation of CAFGUs, armed Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) and private armies in Maguindanao and have them enlisted and functioned as military and security personnel and private armies of the powerful Ampatuan warlord clan in Maguindanao. #