Makabayang Drayber At Operator

Makabayang Drayber At Operator

Magkaisa, Isulong ang Welga!
Reference: Joel Ascutia – President, CONDOR-PISTON (0915.3199469)

SA PAGPASOK NG 2009, ramdam na ramdam ng mga Bikolanong drayber at maliit na transport operator ang krisis. Matinding hagupit sa kabuhayan ang matinding krisis pang-ekonomya, na pinakamatindi sa kasaysayan. Kapos na kapos ang arawang kita ng mga tsuper sa gitna ng nagtataasang presyo ng mga bilihin. Malayong-malayo ang agwat ng kita sa istandard na mahigit P600 na dapat kinikita ng isang pamilya (na may anim na myembro) para matugunan ang mga batayang pangangailangan.

Dagdag na pasanin ang pagpataw ng DOTC at LTO ng dagdag na mga bayarin at multa upang “disiplinahin” umano ang sektor ng transportasyon. Ang pera na dapat sana’y napupunta sa mga hapag-kainan ng pamilya ay legal na nanakawin at pagpapasasaan ng mga tiwali sa gubyerno.

Dobleng kalbaryo para sa sektor ng transportasyon ang palagian nang serye ng oil price hike, mataas na presyo ng imported na mga spareparts at iba pang maintainance ng sasakyan, na mas pinasahol pa ng Value-Added Tax (VAT) sa petrolyo at patung-patong na pasakit na mga buwis.

Limang beses nang tumaas ang presyo ng petrolyo mula noong Pebrero

Sa deregulasyon ng industriya ng langis sa bansa, tuluyan nang napasakamay ng mga kartel ang kontrol sa presyo ng petrolyo. Ipinaubaya na ng gubyerno sa mga kapitalista ang industriya ng langis. Ang deregulasyon ang nagbigay-laya sa Big 3 (Caltex, Petron at Shell) na magtaas ng presyo ng produktong petrolyo at magkamal ng dambuhalang tubo. Hindi mapipigilan ang pagtaas ng presyo ng langis hangga’t idinidikta ito ng pagka-gahaman ng mga korporasyong transnasyunal.

Ang pagtaas sa presyo ng petrolyo ay hindi lamang isyu ng mga drayber at operator ng mga sasakyan kundi isyu ng buong sambayanan, na tuwirang maaapektuhan sa iniluluwal nitong pagtaas ng presyo ng mga pangunahing gastusin at bilihin, pamasahe, kuryente, tubig, pagkain, upa sa bahay, damit, matrikula, gamot at iba pang pang-araw-araw na pangangailangan.

Dagdag na kastigo ng LTO sa mga tsuper ang dagdag na mga bayarin at multa

Latigo sa naghihikahos nang mga tsuper ang pagtaas ng singil ng LTO sa mga bayarin sa lisensya ng mga drayber at multa sa mga traffic violations (mula 200% hanggang 1200% ang itinaas kung ibabatay sa 1992 LTO rates).

· Revised Schedule of Fees & Charges on Driver's License and Conductor's (DOTC Department Order #2008-38)

· Revised Schedule of LTO Fines and Penalties for Traffic Violations (DOTC Department Order #2008-39)

Dagdag na Pasakit ang EVAT at patung-patong na mga buwis

Patung-patong ang mga buwis na pinapasan ng mamamayan subalit hindi naman ito naibabalik sa serbisyong panlipunan. Sa dikta ng imperyalistang US, ipinatutupad ng gubyerno ang sistema ng pagbubuwis at mga patakarang pang-ekonomyang lalong nagpapahirap sa mamamayan. Patuloy na tinatapyasan ang badyet para sa kalusugan, pabahay at edukasyon habang talamak ang korapsyon at patuloy na nagpapasasa sa kabang-yaman ang pamilya at mga alipures ni GMA.

• VAT sa Petrolyo

Karaniwang mamamayan ang pumapasan ng buwis sa petrolyo at mga produkto. Lalo nitong kinikitil ang buhay ng mga naghihikahos. Kung tatanggalin ng gubyerno ang VAT sa petrolyo, agad na bababa ang presyo nito ng 12 porsyento. Tinatayang bababa ng P4 kada litro ang presyo ng petrolyo at P60 per 11-kg sa presyo ng LPG, at makakagaan sa mga industriyang pinapatakbo ng langis.

• Pabigat na buwis sa sektor ng transportasyon.

Tumaas ng 2,600% ang Common Carrier Tax (CCT o BIR Regulations #9-2007). Ito ang sinisingil na buwis sa buwanang income ng operator. Obligado silang bayaran ang CCT pagkat di mare-rehistro ang kanilang mga sasakayan kapag walang BIR receipt. Buwis umano ito para sa pagmantini ng mga kalsada, na napupunta lamang sa bulsa ng mga korap sa gubyerno.

• Mataas na presyo ng spare parts sa sasakyan

Patung-patong na buwis ang ipinapataw sa imported na mga spare parts at sasakyan, na kalakha’y gawa sa US at iba pang kapitalistang bansa.

DOTC Department Order #2008-39 at #2008-38, Ibasura!

BIR regulations #9-2007 o Common Carrier Tax (CCT), Ibasura!

No to Oil Price Hike!

Oil Deregulation Law, Ibasura!

CONDOR-PISTON (Concerned Drivers and Operators for Reforms, Inc.)

Abril 23, 2009

Youth Condemn State Violence during GMA visit in Naga City

Youth, students condemn state violence
Kabataang Pinoy – Bikol to file charges
Reference: Joseph Adrian V. Concepcion, CEGP-Bikol Spokesperson (0919.2232447)

Outraged over the incident last Monday when a couple of student activists were harassed and illegally detained by the local police, progressive youth organizations protested in front of the Philippine National Police Naga City Headquarters at noon today.

Members from the regional formations of Kabataang Pinoy, Youth and Students Opposing Balikatan (Youth STOP Balikatan) and College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) as well as sectoral alliances Gabriela Youth, Tindog Atenista and Irayana Cultural Group marched to the said station after a press conference at Residencia, Barlin Street. Each held streamers proclaiming indignation to the ill treatment experienced by CEGP Spokesperson Joseph Adrian Concepcion and Kabataang Pinoy member Angelo de los Reyes.

Kabataang Pinoy – Bikol Regional Coordinator James Gabriel Hernandez slammed the police as perpetrators of state fascism. He added that the incident was a first in their experience of spearheading protest demonstrations.

“The brutal repression of our rights and aggression from the police did not just coincide with Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s arrival. This just proves the violence that the Arroyo administration unflinchingly answers to the valid woes of the youth,” asserted Hernandez.

He furthered that they will file charges against the concerned police officers.

Camarines Sur Coordinator of the same partylist Chow Asis expressed the same sentiment .

“To serve and to protect? As the youth, we belong to the people whom the police has sworn to serve and protect! Ironically, by harassment, they are violating their duties and betraying the public trust,” he declared.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Youth Spokesperson Ivy Rivero pointed out that the police have been relentless, not even sparing women and student protesters from harrassment.

The said groups joined other sectoral organizations last Monday in a demonstration protesting the arrival of Pres. Arroyo for the 2009 PRISAA Nationals. They reiterated that Pres. Arroyo should rather focus her attention to issues regarding the ongoing Balikatan Exercises in the region, incessant oil price hikes, escalating poverty and unemployment rates, and the dismal plight of the Filipino people under the worsening economic crisis.

GMA in Naga City: Violent Dispersals for Protesters

FACING A FASCIST REGIME

(A Call to Fight Against Arroyo’s Repression of Freedom)

Reference: Joseph Adrian V. Concepcion, CEGP-Bikol Spokesperson (0919.2232447)

Empty words can only be sweet if it would be sugarcoated with lies.

Merriment and blissful anticipation has welcomed the 2009 Private Schools Athletic Association National Games at the City of Naga. With the arrival of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the Guest of Honor and Opening Speaker, many took part in celebrating this momentous feat in the field of sports.

While many listened to the typical statements of her supposed Excellency, some have chosen to speak words of truth and righteousness; words that depict grim realities and bitterness she has always denied.

A demonstration condemning the ongoing Balikatan Exercises, Global Financial Crisis, E-VAT, Extra-Judicial Killings cum Human Rights Violations and Massive Lay-offs has called the attention of both authorities and student activists alike. Raising sentiments near Plaza Quince Martires, representatives from Youth and Students Opposing Balikatan (Youth STOP Balikatan), Tindog Atenista, Kabataang Pinoy and College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) have united efforts with other sectoral groups in calling the President’s attention on the crucial issues of the status quo.

But sadly, authorities have used their power in repressing these voices through aggression. Joseph Adrian V. Concepcion, CEGP-Bikol Spokesperson and Angelo de los Reyes, both YSB members have been mauled by police enforcers. Their propaganda materials have been forcibly confiscated by those who seek to make them silent. Others also suffered from physical injuries from the harsh beating. But the spirit of valiancy has amplified their aim to safeguard and to struggle for their rights- rights which have been incessantly oppressed and rampantly abused by the present administration. Police officers dragged and illegally detained the two. Clothes have been ripped; wounds have been inflamed but never their ideals.

Tolerating these inhumane incidents to happen will ultimately weaken our resolve to defend justice. We must not let those in power to commence a new age of fear and hypocrisy- hypocrisy led by an unfaithful government running on the tenets of lies and pretensions.

We must not endure the suffering of being silenced. Words coupled by action are our only defense and weapon against this fascist government. Let us always bear in mind the patrimony we have always defended and preserved.

We call on students, campus journalists, youth organizations and the rest of the Bikolano community to condemn this inhumane treatment of advocates advancing truth, freedom and justice.

Words of Joseph and Angelo, and the rest of the youth will continue to resound in our backward society for we will NOT be silenced with fear and threats.

DEFEND OUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS!

STOP STATE FASCISM!

CEGP-Bikol

Bicol Not A Whorehouse for US Troops

Outraged Bicolana Shouts
Bicol is Not A Whorehouse for US Troops

Reference:

Catherine Ascutia, Spokesperson Bicolana-Gabriela Albay Chapter

Mobile Number: 09273849443

Early morning today, outraged Bicolanas expressed their anti Balikatan sentiments infront of the Alicia Hotel, where US troops are billeted in Legazpi City.

Furious of the encroaching troops’ exploitation and prostitution of women during rest and recreation periods, Bicolana Gabriela massed up before the Alicia Hotel as the US Balikatan forces are once again on their respites.

Bicolana Gabriela exposed the worsening prostitution and sex trafficking during the Balikatan exercises, with militant women members, as well as equally angered communities conveying reports of prostituted women being preyed upon by the unwelcome soldiers.

“We cannot let this pass. Bicol region is not a whorehouse for these US soldiers. We will not let these foreigner-soldiers rob us of our dignity, we will continue to express our basic rights as women, and as patriotic Filipinos,” says Catherine Ascutia, spokesperson of Bicolana-Gabriela Albay chapter.

Balikatan war exercises are being conducted on poverty-stricken communities of the region. This is doubly devastating, as US presence renders Bicolanas vulnerable to exploitation and prostitution. Consequently, prostituted women are being delivered as treats for the US troops in Legazpi City and Sorsogon City hotels where they are staying. Even Balikatan-obliged barangays, particularly in the town of Pioduran in Albay, are now corrupted with an upsurge of prostituted women being provided for the US troops.#

Kalbaryong Balikatan, Pasakit sa Banwaan

Rehearsals:
March 30, 2009
4:00 pm
BAR AQ Aquinas University Legazpi City


Street Plays
April 1
9 am Brgy Balatas, Naga City
5pm Plaza Quince Martires, Naga City


Street Plays
April 2
8am Brgy Rawis, Legazpi City
3pm Brgy Rizal, Legazpi City
5pm Tabaco City Public Market


Street Plays
April 3
Sorsogon

April 5
Legazpi City Old Market (near Pinaglabanan Monument)

April 7
Legazpi City Pinaglabanan Monument

http://banbalikatan.multiply.com/photos/album/17/Salubong_na_protesta_sa_mga

_Kano#1

Bicolano nationalists hound US troops up to their hotels

News Release
March 24, 2009
Reference: Prof. Jocelyn Bisuña, spokesperson, BAN BALIKATAN
Bicolano nationalists hound US troops up to their hotels

After the protest at the Legazpi City Airport against the arriving US troops early this morning, the BAN BALIKATAN led protesters then hounded the troops up to their hotels in the city. The group even went to the Alicia and Pepperland hotels where most of the more than 100 US soldiers are billeted.

According to Prof. Jocelyn Bisuña, spokesperson of BAN BALIKATAN, “US troops are not welcome here. The least they can do is to stay in their barracks and not roam around the region. If not then they are creating the same conditions that led to the rape of Suzette Nicolas or more popularly known as Nicole.”

“Bishop Lucilo Quiambao has solid basis for saying that the presence of US troops and the Balikatan exercises would increase the incidence of prostitution in the region as well as cause moral degradation,” added the patriotic professor.

“The US troops should now leave because most Bicolanos do not want them here and as long as they are here we will be watching their every move,” ended Bisuña. # # #