Domestic Policy

Bislig folks seekmulti-partite team to probe ‘illegal logging’ of Picop

18 October 2006

COMMUNITY leaders and environmentalists in Bislig City , Surigao del Sur asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to create a multi-partite monitoring team to check on the activities of a giant paper company suspected of conducting logging operations in a watershed area in the province.

The group made the appeal after the community environment natural resources officer (CENRO) in the city denied that Picop Resources Inc. had cut logs in the remaining watershed area.

Fr. Florio Falcon, parish priest of the St. Vincent de Paul in Barangay Mangangoy, Bislig City, earlier asked the DENR to inspect a portion of the protected area after receiving complaints about illegal logging operations from some of his parishioners. Falcon said he was not able to join the team which inspected the area in September because he was in Manila following up his complaint at the time of the inspection.
Members of the parish socio-pastoral group decided not to join the inspection team because they wanted the DENR to include them in the multi-partite monitoring team to check on the activities of PRI which they claimed should have been formed by the Environmental Management Bureau.

Falcon, also the head of the Kalihukan Bantay Kabuhatan (KABAKA), an environmental group, said CENRO cleared PRI because what was inspected was not the area which residents claimed was being logged illegally. The priest cited the affidavit executed by a lay minister who said that the team led by Joe Climaco, a staff of Rep. Peter Paul Falcon and Aida Bruzon, who works with the CENRO, inspected Road 8 instead of Road 18.
Pablo Miraflor, a lay minister who joined the team, claimed that when some members of the group protested that Road 8 was not the area to be inspected, “they were just advised that it was not necessary to go to Road 83 since there is supposedly no logging operation there.”

“During our inspection at Road 8, I noticed that a logging operation was being conducted in that area but no one discussed who was behind the operation and whether it was legal. Joe Climaco and Aida Bruzon just explained that the logging operation in that area was not harmful to the environment as claimed by the church since Road 8 is very far from San Antonio, Bislig City where the watershed area is located,” Miraflor said in his affidavit.

Falcon said Miraflor’s affidavit makes it imperative for the DENR to create a multi-partite team to check if the watershed area in the province is indeed free from illegal loggers.
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Thwarting anti-democratic groups is a duty of AFP—Gonzales

17 January 2007

”WHAT’S wrong with the Armed Forces being biased against anti-democratic forces?”

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales yesterday made this quip as he welcomed the AFP’s endorsement of his call for voters’ rejection of party-list groups serving as fronts of communist rebels.

“Defending democracy is one of the duties of the soldiers, and that includes thwarting the schemes of all groups promoting a violent ideology and seeking to destroy political democracy and replace it with one-party dictatorship,” the national security chief explained.
He said the AFP and other patriotic Filipinos should partake in exposing the true character of party-list organizations belonging to the politico-military complex of Jose Ma. Sison’s Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front.

He noted that many of the victims of so-called political slayings are members of communist party-list organizations who had served as collectors of ‘revolutionary taxes’ and were victims of the communist movement’s internal purging.

Himself a leftist, being the co-founder and chairperson of the Partido Demokratiko-Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, Gonzales stressed that it is not illegal in the country to be communist. But it is illegal to be part of or support an unreformed communist movement that is not only Maoist but also Stalinist and employs armed struggle, deception and extortion as its primary strategies in capturing power.

Gonzales also warned politicians against lending support to communist party-list organizations as he noted that intimidated or opportunistic politicians help these organizations secure seats in Congress. He said it would be very dangerous to the country to let these party-list organizations keep their seats in Congress as this would allow them continued access to public resources which they use to advance their undemocratic agenda.
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Anti-terror bill ‘toothless’—Intengan

09 February 2007

THE anti-terror measure ratified by the Senate is too watered down to be of much use in the government’s campaign against terrorism.

While the bill does seem to provide the country a ‘legal tool’ to fight terrorists, it is a blunt instrument that would do little damage to terror cells, according to Jesuit priest Father Romeo Intengan.

Intengan, co-founder of the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, said the measure is too lax on suspected terrorists and too tough on government security forces. For one, it gives authorities only three days within which to file charges against suspects arrested without warrants, and provides an unreasonably high daily compensation of P500,000 to persons wrongfully detained.

Security forces should have at least 10 days within which to gather evidence and build a case against captured suspects because three days is not enough, Intengan said. The bill originally allowed the detention of suspected terrorists arrested without warrants for 15 days, but this was reduced to three days. If no charges are filed in three days, suspects will be released.

Intengan said government security agents spend days, sometimes even weeks, trailing a suspect, gathering evidence or looking for witnesses, and their efforts will be for naught if the suspect they tried so hard to capture will eventually be released because there was not enough time to prepare a case.

This scenario may lead to more extra-judicial killings, because government security forces may be tempted to liquidate a suspect, especially someone whom they believe is guilty. Rather than allowing the suspect to regain his freedom and to sow fear and terror, soldiers or policemen may opt to find creative ways to terminate the suspect.

“The demands on security forces are so great that, in the long run, the measure may prove to be counter-productive,” the PDSP official said.  “Even the best police officers are not infallible, they can make mistakes,” he added.

The priest lamented that in their eagerness to protect suspects from possible harassment, lawmakers have made it exceedingly difficult for government agents to build a case against a suspected terrorist.

He said the proposed law should be harsh on suspected enemies of the state and the people, not on law enforcers whose job is to keep the peace and provide security.
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PDSP to politicians: Stop colluding with NPAs

11 February 2007

THE Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas yesterday urged politicians to stop collaborating with New People’s Army guerillas following reports that the rebels are being hired as assassins by some local officials who want to “terminate” their bitter political rivals or enemies.

The PDSP said many of the victims of recent slayings were liquidated by NPA rebels who were paid a handsome sum for each liquidation job. It cited the reports of its members in Samar who disclosed that NPA guerillas were the main suspects in the killing of several local officials in the province.  San Jorge mayor Joseph Grey said that a local official in Samar is gunned down almost every week.

The PDSP expressed fears that the willingness of communist rebels to be used as guns-for-hire could lead to bloodshed and fan more violence in the coming weeks when the campaign frenzy heats up. Jesuit priest Father Romeo Intengan said the availability of assassins will make it easier for personalities to eliminate their rivals through vicious means. He said stopping the collaboration between politicians and the NPA is one way of ensuring peaceful and clean elections in May.

Grey and other mayors and councilors of several towns in Samar forged an alliance against election violence following the slaying of Daram, Samar mayor Benito Astorga last month. NPA rebels owned up to the crime, saying Astorga was assassinated because of his anti-communist stand.

Intengan called on all candidates not to use violence to increase their chances of assuming power. “Elections need not be a bloody exercise. The practice of hiring assassins to liquidate one’s political enemies should stop,” he said.

The PDSP also asked candidates not to pay permit to campaign fees to the NPA, since doing so will only strengthen the rebel group. Intengan said candidates can seek the help of the military or police if they are being forced to pay fees by the rebels.
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Improved intelligence needed to solve political killings–Intengan

23 February 2007

THE Armed Forces, Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation should work doubly hard to investigate cases of unexplained killings by using their intelligence networks to the hilt so that perpetrators could be identified and brought to justice, the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas said yesterday.

In the light of the findings of a UN panel and the Melo commission that investigated the killings, there is a crying need for the government’s security agencies to harness to the hilt their intelligence network in gathering evidence and interrogating witnesses for the swift resolution of these cases.

Jesuit priest Father Romeo Intengan, PDSP co-founder, said the military particularly should tighten its intelligence gathering so that it can identify, apprehend and prosecute its erring members who may have had a hand in some of the killings.

He also cited the need to improve and strengthen the forensic capability of the police and the NBI for fasterinvestigation and appreciation of evidence.

He urged the Armed Forces to pursue and sustain efforts to strengthen its intelligence service so that it can continue to have a highly-trained personnel and the necessary equipment to aid investigators. The PDSP official said the government’s security agencies and all concerned departments, including the judiciary, should work together to resolve the murders as soon as possible.

Intengan stressed though, that the military should not be made the whipping boy for the killings. He pointed out that both the Alston and Melo panels admitted that their investigations were not complete, and thus, their findings are not conclusive. He noted that the Melo commission even confirmed that there was no direct evidence linking soldiers to the cases but drew its conclusions merely on circumstantial evidence.

“Several rogue soldiers does not mean that the entire military establishment is rotten. What is important, and which should not be overlooked, is that the Armed Forces remains loyal to the Constitution and its leaders continue to uphold the rule of law,” Intengan said.

The PDSP leader also noted that Alston himself stressed that he did not believe extra-judicial killing was part of government policy.

The priest said the focus of government now that both the Melo and UN panels have submitted their findings will be to resolve the cases speedily and to take steps to curb incidents of extra-judicial slayings.

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‘Military culture of secrecy must change’

25 February 2007

THE culture of secrecy in the Armed Forces has somehow allowed the insurgency problem to fester, according to the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas.

The military’s practice of concealing documents has been a setback to the government’s drive to crush communist rebels. The PDSP said instead of exposing evidence to prove the link between party-list groups and the underground movement, the Armed Forces kept it under wraps.

Jesuit priest Father Romeo Intengan, one of the founders of the PDSP, said the military should have bared to the public much earlier documents and video footage showing that extreme leftist sectoral and party-list groups are being used as fronts of communist rebels.  He also said the military should show more recent evidence in its possession.

Intengan was reacting to the footage earlier shown by Malacanang where Jose Ma. Sison, leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front, identified several groups allied with the communist movement. These were the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Gabriela, League of Filipino Students, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, and Kadena. The video clip has been in the possession of the military for years but it was released only last week.

“The AFP should rethink its policy on the classification of documents. It has difficulty winning the propaganda war against the enemy because it does not give the public vital information that they need to know. The persistence of communist insurgency springs partly from the weak capability of the AFP in promptly providing vital information to the general public,” Intengan said.

If the military has more evidence showing CPP-NPA-NDF tie-up with legal sectoral and party-list groups, it should declassify these documents and release it to the public, Intengan said as he affirmed that six extreme leftist party-list groups were CPP fronts.

He noted that the CPP-NDF uses  “three magic weapons” in its protracted war strategy — the party (CPP), its army (NPA), and its united front, which include non-government and people’s organizations and party-list groups which are all parts of “a single politico-military complex committed to support the communist armed struggle.”

The alliance between the NPA and some party-list groups becomes obvious during elections because NPA rebels campaign for their candidates and at the same time intimidate or harass rival groups. And yet, the extreme leftist party-list groups have never denounced the violence of the NPAs despite urgings from the military, the COMELEC and victim party-list groups for them to do so, Intengan further noted.

Evidence of this “bond” was the victory of Bayan Muna, Gabriela and Anak Pawis in areas controlled by the NPA. A careful study of the votes garnered by these three groups showed a clear correlation between the number of votes cast for the party-list groups and the existence of CPP-NPA guerrilla fronts.

The priest earlier said that aside from the militant party-list groups already in Congress, communist rebels are also using “emerging party-list groups” as legal fronts.
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Enough violence—PDSP

03 May 2007

CANDIDATES should help authorities stop political bloodshed by rejecting violence and adopting a decent, sober and issue-oriented campaign strategy.

Alarmed by the fast-growing election death toll, the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas appealed to candidates not to resort to guns to eliminate their rivals even as it expressed fears that the number of victims would mount as election day nears.

“Almost 30 people have been killed since the start of the campaign period. This is alarming. Candidates should show more decency. Those who believe in snuffing out the lives of their rivals to gain victory have no place in a democratic society,” Jesuit priest Romeo Intengan, PDSP co-founder, said.

He also denounced politicians who resort to harassment and intimidation to scare off their rivals. To help curb election-related violence, Intengan called on other political parties to require their members to adhere to “decent, peaceful campaigning” so as not to undermine the validity and the credibility of the coming political exercise.

Intengan lamented that the elections has become “shallow and superficial” because those running for office no longer focus on issues.

“Vital issues are relegated to the background. The elections have become personality-oriented, making this democratic process superficial. It distorts, and not authenticates democracy,” the PDSP ideologue added.

The PDSP, which celebrated its 34th founding day on May 1, is fielding hundreds of candidates in this year’s elections including one for Senator, 19 for district representative, six for governor and 50 for city or municipal mayor. Its candidates pledged to observe decency and sobriety in their campaigning and above all, reject violence.

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Stop STL in Laguna

11 October 2007

THE provincial board of Laguna has been urged to temporarily stop the operation of the small town lottery in the province and to investigate the anomaly regarding the non-remittance to the town of Rizal of its share from STL earnings.

Laguna board member Danilo Yang, in two privilege speeches, insisted that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan should investigate the complaint of Rizal Vice Mayor Antonio Aurelio that his town received a measly P30,000 as its 10 percent charity allotment from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for one year – from June 2006 to June 2007.

Yang said the investigation should not only cover the town of Rizal but the entire province of Laguna because the anomaly reported in Rizal “could only be the icing on the cake.”

He twice called on the provincial board to approve two resolutions – one calling for an investigation of STL operations in the entire province and another suspending STL while the investigation is ongoing. Yang made the call after receiving a letter from the municipal council of Rizal and signed by Aurelio seeking his help about the matter.

Rizal councilors said their municipal treasurer only received P30,000 as the town’s share from STL but an investigation revealed that the PCSO released P956,639.29 for Rizal. It was later known that the money was released to Estela Royo, an employee of Ramloid Gaming Corp., the company operating STL in the province.

Yang, a member of the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, vowed to get to the bottom of the anomaly even if Vice Governor Ramil Hernandez tried to stop him from delivering his privilege speeches on the grounds that the matter is not the concern of the provincial board. Hernandez also rejected Yang’s appeal that the board issue a resolution calling for an investigation of the STL controversy.

Yang noted that an investigation is in order so that the provincial government can suspend or revoke the license given to Ramloid to operate STL in Laguna if it will be discovered that the company intentionally did not remit the 10 percent share of Rizal.

“Hindi ko kinukwestiyon ang sistema ng pagbibigay sa ibang lokal na opisyal ang ginagawa ng STL operator sa ating lalawigan. Nakatuon ang aking pansin sa kung naibibigay ba ng tama sa bawat munisipyo, lunsod at lalawigan ang karampatang charity allocation,” Yang said.

Institutional reforms, yes! Junta, no!–Intengan

28 October 2007

JESUIT priest and Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas leader Fr. Romeo Intengan bucked the call of three bishops and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the installation of a junta headed by Chief Justice Reynato Puno thereafter.

“The proposed junta is not the correct way to address our societal problems, including corruption. For momentum and sustainability we would prefer institutional reforms from within, spearheaded by members and supporters of a broad-based social reform movement of national scope and with a multisectoral constituency.” Intengan, who co-founded the PDSP with National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and presently the head of its education commission, said.

The priest noted that the junta being proposed by the critics of the President “relies too much on personalities, on messianic figures.”  “We have already tried that and we know very well now that it doesn’t work.”

Intengan explained that a successful reform movement requires good leaders but good leaders are not enough. He stressed the importance of  “specific know-how for focused institutional reforms” and “the support of a broad social movement to integrate all the groups clamoring for reforms and their respective reform agenda.”

Intengan believes that reforms should not only come from the executive, but also from the legislature and the judiciary. “They should also look at their practices. They also need reforms,” he said.

The priest likewise warned against a reform movement being used by extremist forces, saying “any reform movement, if it is to defend and reinvigorate democracy and serve the common good, should reject and be vigilant against infiltration and exploitation by elements of the extreme right and the extreme left.”

Intengan added that a junta proposed by those who question the legitimacy of the administration will have an even greater problem of legitimacy as it neither elected by he people, nor does the proposal for such a junta have the support of the majority.

Intengan, convinced that “most government officials and employees are decent and patriotic persons,” expressed hope that within the government there will emerge a critical mass of public servants who will plan out, direct, and carry out the reforms so direly needed by our country.

“Maintaining the corruption-burdened status quo is intolerable, from both ethical and pragmatic considerations. Nothing short of drastic reforms, nonviolent if at all possible, can keep the nation from further retrogressing. Planting the seeds for a better political system and a government that is more responsive to the needs of the people would be patriotic public servants’ most precious contribution toward a prosperous and happy future for our nation. President Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo will leave a great legacy if she contributes her great personal abilities and the mighty powers of her office to help patriotic public servants institute the reforms desperately needed to extricate the country from the quagmire of selfish politics and from the pit of corruption,” Intengan said.

Spearhead revolution from within, patriotic people in government urged

31 October 2007

SAYING only drastic reforms involving all branches of government can extricate the country from the continuing social and political crises, Jesuit priest Fr. Romeo Intengan called on all patriotic elements within the bureaucracy to spearhead a “revolution from within.”

Intengan also urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to contribute her “great personal abilities” and “the mighty powers of her office” to help patriotic public servants institute reforms toward a better political system and a government that is more responsive to the needs of the people.

“The times cry out for radical changes. Without such changes, the political turmoil will linger and may even worsen and will aggravate the suffering of our people,” warned the priest who is the co-founder of the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas with National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales.

However, Intengan pointed out that “to have momentum and be non-violent as possible and sustainable,” the transformation of Philippine society and polity should proceed from “wide-ranging and focused reforms within government institutions” and be “supported by a broad-based social reform movement of national scope.”

The PDSP leader noted that “reforms are desperately needed in all branches of government—not only the executive, but also the legislature and the judiciary—to free government from corruption and inefficiency, and the country and our people from the quagmire of selfish politics.”

Intengan, convinced that most government officials and employees are “decent and patriotic persons,” expressed hope that within the government there will emerge a “critical mass of public servants who will plan out, direct, and carry out the reforms so direly needed by the country.”

President Macapagal-Arroyo will leave a great legacy if she helps the movement of patriotic public servants institute institutional reforms that will strengthen government and will make it more responsive to the needs of the people.

As he called for “revolution from within,” the priest dismissed the latest proposal from a civil society group that has three bishops among its leaders for the installation of a junta in place of the Arroyo government which is rocked by new scandals and allegations of rampant corruption.

He noted that the junta proposal “relies too much on personalities, on messianic figures.” “We have already done that many times and it did not work. Our country certainly does not need more of the same. What we need are radical but practical initiatives,” Intengan said.
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Unite vs corruption, gov’t workers urged

04 November 2007

JESUIT priest and Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas leader Fr. Romeo Intengan urged patriotic government officials and employees to band together and recruit other reform-minded fellow workers to stop corruption in government.

The priest noted that because of the new scandals that have rocked the government, there is a greater need to fight corruption and institute reforms in government. This endeavor, he said, will be most effective if government officials and staff themselves are in its forefront.

Intengan echoed the earlier call of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales to civil servants to form good governance societies in their respective agencies. Intengan and Gonzales are co-founders of the PDSP.
Intengan said the reform movement being fostered by the PDSP within the government is primarily from “below,” but the overall goal of ending or drastically reducing corruption would benefit from the proposal of Speaker Jose de Venecia which is “from above.”

The reform movement should be broad-based, involving agencies in all three branches of government—the executive, legislative and judiciary, according to Intengan.

“Reforms should be institutional, systemic and structural, and obtaining these reforms will be hard to accomplish because it will call for the conversion and transformation not just of government personnel but the culture in government agencies,” Intengan explained.

He believes that for greatest relevance and efficacy, reform measures specific to particular institutions should primarily come “from inside,” that is, from the government officials and staff of a given institution or agency who know the agency or institution best.

“The reform movement must be led and controlled by clearly democratic forces, and should be insulated from agitation and manipulation by extremist political forces,” Intengan added.

Intengan identified ten agencies that “need reforming most urgently” because of the gravity of corruption and its “multiplier effect” on the people’s livelihood and national security.

These are the Commission on Elections, the Bureau of Customs, the Departments of Public Works and Highways, Education, Justice, Interior and Local Government, Commission on Audit, Philippine National Police, Senate, House of Representatives, courts and the Insurance Commission.

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