• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas ANG Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo English Edition Vol. XLIII No. 16 August 21, 2012 www.philippinerevolution.net Editorial The Aquino regime is catastrophic to the Filipino people major disaster struck Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Cen- town centers, they are the ones tral and Northern Luzon in early August. More than ten days who live along the esteros, riv- Aof torrential monsoon rains precipitated massive floods that erbanks, lakesides and other ar- swept away and destroyed the homes and properties of up to two mil- eas where the infrastructure for lion people, causing loss of lives and the ruination of agricultural sanitation, garbage disposal and land, fishing grounds and other sources of livelihood. flood control are inadequate or totally absent. In the country- This calamity brought back of the necessary infrastructure side, they are the ones who are painful memories of typhoon to control flooding and ensure most in danger of being swal- Ondoy in 2009 that inundated the people's protection. lowed by the waters of swollen wide swaths of Metro Manila, This grave disaster demon- rivers or buried under tons of typhoon Sendong in 2011 that strated the stark divisions mud. flooded vast areas of Northern among classes in Philippine soci- They are the ones who strive Mindanao and the Visayas and ety. The floods mainly wrought to eke out a living in the face of other storms and floods that havoc on the lives of workers, deepgoing crisis and widespread struck the country in the past. the unemployed, farmers, fish- poverty. They belong to the Typhoons have been causing ev- erfolk, rank and file employees most oppressed and exploited er worsening loss of lives and and small professionals and oth- classes whose protection and property due to severe environ- er ordinary safety lie at the bottom rung of mental destruction folk. the state and ruling classes' pri- and the In orities. deterio- cities Whenever typhoons and oth- ration and In this issue... Government negligence in the face of tragedy 3 Aquino’s budget: Anti- people 7 32 enemy casualties in SMR 10 er disasters strike, the lives and Aquino resorts to, he cannot the gall to use the recent calam- safety of the toiling masses are cover his multitude of sins. He ity as a pretext to call the always in peril, while big capital- has failed to institute measures planned evictions of the urban ists, landlords and bureaucrat against flooding and disaster poor as measures to ensure capitalists remain in the comfort preparedness. He must answer their safety. It is the height of of their luxurious homes in ex- for banning the use of calamity irony for Aquino to claim that clusive subdivisions far from the funds to prepare for disaster. destroying (and even blasting) floods. While the ordinary folk This August, Aquino did people's homes and livelihoods are in danger of losing their nothing in the facing of rising are acts that are meant to "pro- lives, the wealthy classes' big- dam water levels, despite the tect" them. In fact, they will be gest headaches are temporary fact that the people have for torn away from their sources of power outages or the loss of years been demanding that dam livelihood and exiled to farflung cellphone service. waters should not be allowed to areas that are just as prone to The Aquino regime mani- reach dangerous levels. For flooding, landslides and other fested its real class character three years, he has been in pow- disasters. in the face of this major disas- er, but he has yet to undertake a Aquino's real objective in ter that affected millions of major overhaul of the system of evicting the urban poor is to people. The landlord Aquino garbage collection and waste turn over the land where their bared his contempt for the poor disposal, the cleanup of water- houses are, for the use of his big when he slammed the victims ways, the desilting of lakes and businessman friends and their for their "hard-headedness" rivers and the rehabilitation of foreign capitalist partners. This and blamed them for the trage- forests and watersheds. In- has been his intention since he dy that had befallen them, even stead, he has occupied himself came to power—to launch wide- as hundreds of thousands of with enticing foreign companies spread demolitions, in accord- families were still mired in the to invest in mining operations in ance with plans to construct mud left behind by receding the country's denuded mountain structures under his Public-Pri- flood waters. Aquino even exe- areas. vate Partnership program. crably exploited the tragedy to A far greater catastrophe The far greater catastrophe parade his favored senatorial awaits the poor with the Aquino afflicting the Filipino people is candidates before several evac- regime's plan to effect the wide- the catastrophe of unemploy- uation centers. spread demolition of urban poor ment, slave wages, landless- But whatever gimmickry communities. Aquino even has ness, upwardly spiralling prices of food and other commodities, unaffordable education and health care, intensifying milita- ANG Contents rization, repression and human Editoryal: The Aquino regime rights violations. Vol. XLIII No. 16 August 21, 2012 is catastrophic to the people 1 Aquino's insistence on serv- Government negligence 3 ing the interests of foreign big Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and Bayanihan amid crisis 4 capitalists and the exploiting English editions. and oppressive classes is the It is available for downloading at NPA assists flood victims 5 worst debacle that will bring un- the Philippine Revolution Web Central Masterplan for demolition 5 located at: told harm to the Filipino people. Greed for water and profit 6 The criminal neglect and the op- www.philippinerevolution.org. Stop the privatization of water 7 pression and suffering inflicted Ang Bayan welcomes contributions on the victims of calamities and Aquino’s budget is antipeople 8 in the form of articles and news. the toiling masses are rousing Readers are likewise enjoined to send Pork barrel 9 in their comments and suggestions for them to tread the path of strug- the betterment of our publication. You Enemy suffers 32 casualties in SMR 10 gle and revolution. It may be can reach us by email at: Bounty for Madlos, Tiamzon fraught with danger and hard- [email protected] ship, but it is the path that will violates JASIG 12 surely lead the people to a Violence against women and children 13 bright, prosperous, just and Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee democratic future. ~ of the Communist Party of the Philippines 2 ANG BAYAN August 21, 2012 Government negligence and floods spurred the release of `5.9 billion out of the `7.5- in the face of tragedy billion Calamity Fund for 2012, leaving a mere `1.6 billion for and disaster the regime to spend for the oth- er storms and calamities up to he Filipino people once again bore witness to the Aquino re- the end of the year. Worse, gime's grave neglect in the face of disaster and unbridled ex- Aquino ordered the cancellation ploitation by big capitalists amid tragedy. in 2011 of 19 flood-control pro- T ` jects (worth 1.9 billion) such Typhoon Gener struck the He bragged that huge quan- as dams and dikes in various country on July 28 and continued tities of relief goods for evacu- parts of Central Luzon. its onslaught until August 9 due ees had already been preposi- Still part of the regime's to the monsoon winds. Initial es- tioned. After three days of con- gross negligence is its disregard timates put the number of people tinuous floods, however, the for the welfare of employees of affected by the strong rains, truth blew up in Aquino's face. the Philippine Atmospheric, Ge- floods and landslides at up to two No less than local government ophysical and Astronomical million. By August 7, up to 1,266 officials admitted that they only Services Administration (PAG- villages in 152 towns and 28 cit- had a day's supply of relief ASA), the government agency ies in Central Luzon, Southern goods. Government agencies tasked with weather prediction. Tagalog, Cordillera, the National were practically paralyzed in Rank and file employees of PAG- ` Capital Region and Western Vis- mobilizing enough resources for ASA receive only 7,000 a ayas bore the brunt of the calam- quick rescue and relief opera- month, which is woefully inade- ity. Diseases like dengue fever tions. Neither could they accom- quate for their and their fami- and leptospirosis likewise be- modate the steady stream of lies' day to day needs. The em- came rampant, bringing to the flood victims in the cramped ployees had been asking for a fore the government's failure to evacuation centers. raise since March, along with a deliver social services. Aquino and his regime are demand to restore their bene- The people's abject condi- guilty of grave negligence. In fits. The regime has failed to tions were brought about by the 2011, Aquino refused to allot address these issues to date. lack of effective measures and funds for disaster preparedness. Instead, Aquino berated the programs by the Aquino regime He also barred moves to in- employees by telling them "not to address disasters. When ty- crease the `5-billion Calamity to add to the disaster" when phoon Gener had just entered Fund. By the middle of 2012, the they asserted that government the Philippines, progressive par- fund had almost been depleted. provide the proper salaries and ~ ties and organizations urged the This August, the prolonged rains benefits.

Load more

  13

Copy Link