MASBATE-PHILIPPINES: CBCP to govt: Stop killings of farmers in Masb

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

CBCP to govt: Stop killings of farmers in Masb

Posted by masbate-philppines at 2:31 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the government Tuesday to stop the killings of farmers in Masbate and other parts of the country.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma issued the appeal following the killing of peasant leader Alberto Yusi last July 20.

"It is the landless, the exploited, the disadvantaged and the powerless who have the single most urgent claim on the conscience of the nation today. It is also the death of Ka Bito and the 45 others who were also killed in the name of agrarian reform, whose children, families and fellow farmers seek justice for the lost lives and the rightful claim to the lands they tilled and died for," Ledesma, executive chairman of the Second National Rural Congress, said in a
statement posted on the CBCP website.

Ledesma noted Yusi was the fourth victim in land-reform related killings in the province in less than seven months.

Yusi was president of the Ticao Farmers Federation and the Samahang Anak ng Magsasaka ng Famosa, Inc. (SAMFAI) and provincial chairman of Ugnayan ng Mga Nagsasariling Organisasyon sa Kanayunan (UNORKA) in Masbate.

His death occurred barely two weeks following the killing of peasant leaders Rene Llabres and Junrie Pagaspas, reportedly by armed men in military uniforms.

The CBCP also noted that in December 2007, New People's Army (NPA) guerillas allegedly killed peasant leader Mark Anthony Vale, a village captain.

Vangie Mendoza, national coordinator of UNORKA, said about 40 farmers have been killed nationwide since 2001.

"(The) government and (the) military are not doing enough to stop killings of farmers," she said.

Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon earlier reported that he, some priests and Catholics, have been receiving death threats allegedly from Muslim rebel groups, anti-social groups and landlords.

The CBCP demanded immediate action by government on the killers and perpetrators of violence in Masbate.

Ledesma said the Second National Rural Congress underlined an agreement that there should be wider and equitable distribution of land for the small farmers.

It also stressed that landlessness is a problem, that large landholdings should be broken up, that farmers should have secure tenure and assisted to produce more and raise household incomes, and that land-to-the tiller should continue to be the underlying principle of the country's agrarian reform, he added.

0 comments:

SONA 2008 Webcast

PGMA’s SONA 2008 to center on subsidy, electricity, food production & infrastructure – Ermita President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) this year will center on government’s subsidies for the poor, electricity, food production and infrastructure. This was revealed this afternoon by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita who also said that the President will “gauge whether enough has been achieved” in the above-mentioned areas. Ermita -- who is also the Presidential Spokesman in concurrent capacity following the transfer of former Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye to the Monetary Board – said the President is now in possession of “accompanying documents” from agencies to help her craft her SONA 2008. “She will go over it, grade it (the set of documents)…” said Ermita. The hands-on President has been “going through this (SONA preparation) many times,” said Ermita, adding that yesterday, President Arroyo discussed the content for the latest SONA for over two hours. Ermita said the President will center on subsidies, electricity, food production and infrastructure, specifically “to what extent these have been achieved.” President Arroyo will also touch on the roll-on, roll-off (RORO) of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SR-NH), and balancing the budget. There will be both “mid-range and long-range” items, said Ermita, adding that the President will also touch on highways, airports, seaports, plus the electrification of all barangays. The President’s Ten-Point Agenda are as follows: 1. The creation of six million jobs in six years via more opportunities given to entrepreneurs, tripling of the amount of loans for lending to small and medium enterprises, and the development of one to two million hectares of land for agricultural business; 2. The construction of new buildings, classrooms, provision of desks and chairs and books for students and scholarships to poor families; 3. The balancing of the budget; 4. The "decentralization" of progress around the nation through the use of transportation networks like the roll-on, roll-off and the digital infrastructure; 5. The provision of electricity and water supply to barangays nationwide; 6. The decongestion of Metro Manila by forming new cores of government and housing centers in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao; 7. The development of Clark and Subic as the best international service and logistic centers in the region; 8. The automation of the electoral process; 9. A just end to the peace process; and 10. A fair closure to the divisiveness among the Edsa 1, 2 and 3 forces.