Archive for the ‘noynoy’ Category
ninoy & the hacienda
sychronicity: ninoy aquino’s 27th death anniversary (the filipino is worth dying for) and the hearing of the high-profile hacienda luisita case (scheme sdo) in the supreme court.
there’s good background stuff on the internet, thanks to gmanews.tv, and there’s lynda jumilla’s report on anc, salamat naman, altho sana sa free tv and mainstream media rin, ‘no?
because it’s interesting, revealing, if not really surprising, how inextricably linked the stories of ninoy and cory are with the hacienda’s masalimuot history.
read howie severino et al’s holding on: a hacienda luisita timeline from the spanish to the noynoy eras
read leloy claudio’s ninoy networked with everyone including the reds
if ninoy had lived, would he have handled the hacienda problem differently? it would seem so, though it would have meant a major rift split rupture with the cojuangcos, unless he could have been really creative and come up with a compromise that both cory and the farmers could live with.
now that noynoy is president, and he seems more of a cojuangco than a ninoy aquino — read carlos conde’s aquino is being shrewd about hacienda luisita — looks like the pattern could persist, which bodes ill for the farmers and the nation but bodes good for other haciendas and big landowners who continue to defy the law, what a drag.
here’s a partial list of other families owning vast tracts of land via KMP via mon ramirez:
Hacienda Zobel in Calatagan, Batangas – 12,000 hectares
Hacienda Yulo in Nasugbu, Batangas – 8,650 hectares
Hacienda Roxas also in Nasugbu – 7,813 hectares
Hacienda Yulo in Canlubang, Calamba – 7,100 hectares
Hacienda Luisita – 6,453 hectares
Hacienda Puyat also in Nasugbu, Batangas – 2,400 hectares
Hacienda Agoncillo in Laurel, Batangas – 2,014 hectaresThere are more in other provinces and regions.
To get an idea of the size of each hacienda, compare them with the land areas of these four cities:
QC – 16,000 hectares
Manila – 3,955 hectares
Makati – 2,738 hectares
Marikina – 2,150 hectares
fear & loathing in/for hacienda luisita
so hacienda luisita inc. has started buying off, i mean, paying off, i mean, distributing initial financial aid to farmers ranging, acc to anc, from 500 to a few thousand bucks. grabe. can’t blame the farmers (for caving in) but can’t say the same for the cojuangcos who are clearly defying the law. mr. president? hello?
from The Politics of Fear in Hacienda Luisita by Lisandro “Leloy” Claudio:
“Takot ang mga tao dito kaya hindi namin sila ma-organize. Mahirap na pag presidente ang kalaban mo (The people here are afraid, so we can’t organize them. It’s difficult when you’re up against a president),” says Kuya Bembol (pseudonym). Earlier that month, Kuya Bembol tried to take fellow farmers to an apolitical seminar on farming techniques hosted by the Katarungan NGO of Ricardo Reyes, who ran as the LP’s mayoral candidate in Pasig. Nobody took up the offer. They were afraid of any action that could be considered “political.”
This fear is not unwarranted. As I mentioned in my previous piece “Prinsipyo o Caldero: Why Noynoy won in Luisita,” the Liberal Party has the allegiance of the hacienda’s barangay captains. Since formal work stopped in 2005, farmer-residents have been dependent on the captains to allot them plots of land to independently farm. Residents are afraid to do anything that might antagonize their respective captains.
But the fear in Luisita is more deep-seated; it has its roots in a historical trauma. The last time a Cojuangco became president, the family was able to eliminate calls for land distribution through implementing a broken and illegal Stock Distribution Option (SDO). Luisita management (and even Cory) claimed this was a valid move because the farmers voted for it in a referendum. However, according to Danny Carranza, a community organizer in the hacienda during the late 80s, farmers voted for the SDO under duress. Management told them that their jobs would be at risk if they voted against it.
According to FARM leaders, Luisita residents are afraid that the SDO or something similar to it will be implemented now that Noynoy is president. Should this happen, the Cojuangcos will once again completely control who works and who doesn’t. Put yourself in the position of a farmer. Based on what happened in the past, you believe that a Cojuangco as president will likely enable the family to have control over your livelihood once more. Should this happen, you will want a job from that family because life is hard. In a situation like this, would you risk antagonizing your landlords?
. . . Of course, P-Noy should put pressure on his family to withdraw the temporary restraining order that prevents the distribution of Luisita. He should also investigate the atrocities of the Hacienda Luisita massacre and the current trend towards the hacienda’s remilitarization.
Unfortunately, however, agrarian reform does not seem to be a priority for our new president. It also isn’t likely that he will investigate crimes associated with his family. And with the residents of Luisita scared to death, I doubt there will be significant pressure from below.
Ironically, the beacon of hope for the Luisita workers is the heavily criticized Renato Corona who will lead the Supreme Court as it decides on the legality of the SDO. If the SC scraps the SDO, it will pave the way for the distribution of the hacienda’s land to those who till it. God save the Chief Justice. The fate of farmers living in a perpetual state of fear is in his hands.
from Farmers got short end of the stick by Solita Collas-Monsod:
Let’s face it: The Luisita farm workers — the 6,296 men and women who should have been the beneficiaries of the CARP that was passed during President Cory Aquino’s term — have been getting the short end of the stick since 1989. The so-called “Compromise Agreement” the last nail in that coffin of exploitation (pardon the mixed metaphors).
The first nail in that coffin of exploitation was when, in 1989, they were either encouraged or enticed or intimidated or manipulated — remember, most of them had worked there for all of their lives in a patriarchal setting — to opt to own shares of stock in the Hacienda Luisita corporation — the so-called Stock Distribution Option (SDO), rather than to get a share of the land. The argument that they bought, or was shoved down their throat at the time, was that if the land were divided, each farm worker would be getting at most 0.78 hectares (of the 6,443 hectares of Luisita at that time, only 4,916 hectares were classified as CARP-able); while if they were own shares in the corporation, the workers would not only be getting wages, but also a share of the profits. It sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, since then, the corporation never showed any profits, and claims it has become burdened with enormous debt (which then required selling land to help pay off some of it).
The second nail in the farmers’ coffin of exploitation was pounded in almost simultaneously: The farmers got only 33% of the corporation, while the Cojuangcos, through the Tarlac Development Corporation or TDC got 67%. Why only 33% for the farmers, when their contribution to this agricultural corporation was its principal resource, mainly the land? Three reasons: the amount of land included in the CARP was only 76% of Hacienda Luisita; that “CARPable” land was undervalued; and third, the TDC contribution was overvalued. . . .
from Portent of things to come? by Rene Azurin:
. . . Actually, all this ado about a “compromise” just continues to obscure the main issue about the whole Hacienda Luisita case. The main issue — lest we forget — is that Jose Cojuangco Sr. was provided a government loan of P5.9 million and given a government guarantee (for a foreign exchange loan of US$2.1 million) to allow him to acquire the sugar estate and the sugar mill in 1957, with the express condition that the agricultural land “would be distributed to the agricultural workers” after 10 years. Well, it wasn’t.
Ten years after the hacienda was acquired, the Cojuangcos — probably not wanting to give up the enormous wealth and power that the sugar business had given them (because of the preferential prices then enjoyed by Philippine sugar in the US market) — argued that they could not comply with the distribution condition because “the place did not have a single tenant.” They then cited a law, the Land Reform Code (R.A. 3844), that exempted from expropriation agricultural lands like the sugar hacienda “where large scale operations would result in greater production and more efficient use of the land.” The scamming, not just of the farmer-beneficiaries but also of the Filipino public, began then. Clearly, it continues to this day and the fact that the land distribution was a straightforward loan condition has now been all but forgotten.
Beyond the legalities, a great injustice has been perpetuated for almost half a century against the poor farmers who’ve worked for the Cojuangcos. Many have passed away without realizing their dream of owning the tiny parcels of land that should have been divided and distributed to them in 1967. Those who survive find themselves today “already too old to till the land.” What options are realistically left to them except to take whatever is offered?
Mr. Lacierda says that Mr. Aquino “welcomes the agreement because… ang mahalaga ay ang ninanais ng farmers [what’s important is what the farmers want].” This shows incredible insensitivity to the actual aspirations of the poor who are, once again, being taken for a ride by members of a ruling class who seem bereft of any sort of social conscience. If this is a portent of things to come, the poor might just have to abandon their hopes for social justice in a Cojuangco-Aquino administration.
SONAkakadismaya
aint enough to expose gma’s overspending and then to tell us how he’s going to streamline the system so public funds aren’t wasted or lost to corruption. aint enough to expose how much money goes into perks for lowly-paid high-government official appointees just to shame them into resigning. aint enough to run after smugglers and tax evaders.
not all the anti-corruption campaigns and the most judicious kind of public spending are going to make much difference, whether in the short run or the long term. there still won’t be enough money to address the food, education, health needs of the masses if nothing is done about our increasing population, growing by leaps and bounds, and about our economic policies that are tailored more to foreign interests than national interests. and what about our debt & payment policies, are we never going to renegotiate? are we forever prioritizing debt payments over the the well-being of millions of disenfranchised and marginalized filipinos?
prof. clarita carlos (gma7) is right. it’s not enough to choose a straight road over a crooked one. question is, where does the road lead? if his message to the cpp-npa-ndf is any indication it’’s like the same road every president before him has taken: rightist road, status quo. uncle sam must so love him.
Tungkol naman po sa CPP-NPA-NDF: handa na ba kayong maglaan ng kongkretong mungkahi, sa halip na pawang batikos lamang?
batikos lang ba ang call for agrarian reform? and better pay for teachers? fair trade vs. free trade? an end to oligarchic rule?
Mahirap magsimula ang usapan habang mayroon pang amoy ng pulbura sa hangin. Nananawagan ako: huwag po natin hayaang masayang ang napakagandang pagkakataong ito upang magtipon sa ilalim ng iisang adhikain.
pulbura issues from the right too, as in the hacienda luisita massacre atbp.
Kapayapaan at katahimikan po ang pundasyon ng kaunlaran. Habang nagpapatuloy ang barilan, patuloy din ang pagkakagapos natin sa kahirapan.
it’s not as if the left rose out of nothing, and then there was kahirapan. the kahirapan was there to begin with, thanks to oligarchic rule, kaya nga dumami at lumakas ang hanay ng kaliwa.
Dapat din po nating mabatid: ito ay panahon ng sakripisyo. At ang sakripisyong ito ay magiging puhunan para sa ating kinabukasan. Kaakibat ng ating mga karapatan at kalayaan ay ang tungkulin natin sa kapwa at sa bayan.
sakripisyo nino? ng mahihirap pa rin? puro sakripisyo na nga sila. those are words better addressed to his own class, his fellow elites and landowners atbp. who refuse to share the nation’s resources.
say ni teddyboy locsin (anc) re the speech and the new prez:
“it was an indictment. When he was talking, it was Ninoy Aquino. I was with Ninoy when he was at his most flamboyant. It was like bullets flying out of a machine gun…There was no vision, but facts.”
sorry, i don’t see the resemblance. ninoy before martial law was hot. noynoy is cold. at his wisest, after seven years seven months in jail, ninoy had a vision for the country that included the left, whom he never brushed off as a “noisy minority.” a pity that the son either seems to have no idea of it or the son chooses to ignore it. SONAkakapanghinayang.
juana change calls out edwin lacierda
Dear Atty. Edwin,
Tumaya at nangampanya ako para kay P-Noy! Pero aaminin kong meron akong interes na gustong isulong sa pagvo-volunteer sa kanya-ang makakita ng tunay na pagbabago sa gobyernong papalit kay GMA na kinasuklaman ko ng over. ‘Di na dapat maulit!
Ngayon panalo na si P-noy at boksingan na para sa mga posisyon. Kaya nga ako tumaya para may karapatan akong magsalita at tungkuling magbantay! Kahit na anong galing at kahit gaano kakailangan ni P-Noy ang serbisyo ng mga pinakamalalapit na kaibigan, kaklase o pamilya, dapat sila na mismo ang magparaya para makapasok ang mga sariwang mukha ng pagbaBAGO! Bagong dugong may kaalaman, eksperyensya at integridad. Sa pag-ikot ko, nakasalamuha ko ang napakaraming Pilipinong marangal at handang maglingkod kaso ‘di mga makakapal ang mukhang makipagbrasuhan sa posisyon.
Sa interview sa akin ng GMA tungkol dito ay iniwasan kong magbigay ng mga pangalan. Pero nasa isip ko na nuon ang mga Abad, Montelibano, at Juico.
Imbes ay pinili kong magpangalan sa isang artikulo ni Joy Aceron sa Facebook kung saan binanggit ko ang pangalan ng mga Abad dahil sila ay derechong makakabasa ng comment ko. Hindi ako kailanman nagalit sa mga Abad! Sinabi ko doon na sana ‘di naman mga pamilya ang nasa gobyerno gaano pa man sila kagagaling at kakailangan. Pwede din silang tumanggi!
Nakupo! Pinutakti na ako ng pangungutya ng mga tao ni P-Noy sa Facebook sa pangunguna ni Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. Bakit daw galit ako sa mga Abad? Gusto daw nyang marinig ang punto ko pero ang pinakamatinong maibibigay nyang comment sa akin ay naiinggit lang daw ako! Sinabi ng writer ng presidente na masahol pa daw ako sa mga trapong kinasusuklaman ko! At sabi naman ng taga new media na mahusay mag inggles na ako daw ay isang weasel. Pinagtanong ko pa ang ibig sabihin ng weasel dahil ang alam ko lang ay hayop yun! Tinatawag palang weasel ang taong tumitira ng patalikod!
Pinagtatanggol lang daw ni Lacierda ang kanyang kaibigan. Usapin ito ng mga prinsipyo para sa tunay na pagbabago! Hindi ito kampihan!
Dahil sa aking pagsasalita, nagalit ang mga tao ni P-Noy sa akin. Ito ba ang uri ng mga taong nakapaligid sa kanya? ‘Di makuha ang isyung pinag-uusapan? At nagkakampihan?
Kami sa Pinoy Power ang huminging makipag-usap sa kanila kung saan si Lacierda ay tahasang tumanggi! ‘Di na daw kailangang makipag-kape! Ganun? Kasi volunteer lang ako? Kasi sila naman ang nasa pwesto? Kasi takot siyang humarap dahil nagkamali sya sa banat nya sa akin ng patalikod? Dahil ‘di sya dapat bumitaw ng ganung mapagparatang na salita dahil spokesperson sya ni P-Noy? Walang b____? Gusto kong malaman!
Sa proclamation nag-abot ang aming mga tingin. Inabot ko ang aking kamay sa kanya at sabi ko, “Edwin magkape tayo.” Pautal syang umoo sa akin.
Tagapagsalita ka ng pangulo ng Pilipinas. Ako nagpaparating ng sentimyento ng taumbayan. Bakit ka galit sa akin?
Ganunpaman, ang anumang gusot ay dapat na napag-uusapan. Kaya ko yun Edwin. Dapat kaya mo rin! Kaya mo ba? Usap tayo!
Para sa bayan at mamamayan,
the new kris: not new enough
kris says she’s leaving the buzz and snn by the end of the month para hindi siya makadagdag-problema sa administrasyon ng kuya niya with her tactless foot-in-mouth ways. but is that all she’s giving up? what about the product endorsements? will she continue to promote unbridled conspicuous consumerism, continue to sell sell sell any product that meets with her very-very-very-personal approval, continue to encourage her tens of millions of fans to buy buy buy the products she likes, continue to sell sell sell herself herself herself like nothing else matters?
Kris Aquino feels at home
by Dinna Chan VasquezThere is no doubt that Kris Aquino is one of the most sought after product endorsers in the country. Even the mere mention of a brand or label by the actress-TV host in any of her shows will result in brisk sales. For example, when she started wearing a jade bangle from Joy Lim’s Charms & Crystals, women flocked to the feng shui shop’s outlets to buy the same thing.
When Aquino says that she loves a restaurant, expect her fans to patronize the place. If she says that something is good, the public believes her.
“Kris really tests the products that she endorses,” says a source. “I have seen her refuse fat endorsement fees because she doesn’t like what she is supposed to sell to the public.”
For the record, getting Kris Aquino as an image model doesn’t come cheap, but according to one advertiser whose service the actress endorsed in the past, “her endorsement is worth every penny.”
It is no surprise that Aquino is the image model for a wide range of brands including telecommunications services, skin care, food and beverage, laundry soap, washing machine and many others. Advertisers send her products all the time because if she likes it, she will say so and the cash registers will work overtime. She even has inspirational CDs, one which includes her son. No, Kris doesn’t sing in any of the CDs. Rather, the songs were personally chosen for their inspirational and uplifting values.
When she launched her own magazine called K for ABS-CBN Publishing, it became a bestseller. As if her endorsements aren’t enough, they wanted to know what Kris Aquino is really like in private, what instant coffee she drinks (Nescafé); what body care products she prefers (The Body Shop) and what type of food she loves best (steaks).
A year ago, Aquino and ABS-CBN Licensing thought of releasing a line of home products that would bear her name. On TV, Aquino admitted that for the past year, products like pillows, cooking utensils and even plastic containers would arrive at her house and she would try them out to see if they passed her standards.
If they did, it was a go. If she didn’t like the products, it was back to the drawing board.
Karen Eve Coloma, licensing manager for the synergy division of ABS-CBN’s licensing group, says the products under the K Everyday Home Collection—from the linens to the cookware—have all been personally tested by Kris for reasonable periods of time.
“The suppliers were carefully chosen for the project because Kris didn’t want to put her name to anything that the public will be disappointed in,” Coloma says during the preview for the collection held at SM Makati.
She explains that Kris is very meticulous when it comes to her home and the things that she and her family use.
“The collection emulates Kris’ style and is inspired by her personal choices,” Coloma adds.
The first collection focuses on two of the actress’ favorite areas of her home, the bedroom and kitchen. There are bed linens and pillows from Dakki; cookware and kitchen accessories from Metro; stationery, journals, gift wrappers and gift boxes from Sterling Paper. A personal favorite of Kris is the home organization and storage solutions by Sawasdee,
“I am into boxes and storage these days. I even put notes on each box,” says the actress.
Kris shares that since she is in mourning for her mother, former President Corazon Aquino, for a year and promised to wear only black and yellow for the period, most of her “personal” clothes or the ones she doesn’t use for shooting movies and commercials and taping TV shows that are not in those colors are in storage. Thus, they need to be organized and labelled properly for future use.
Expect to see a lot of bright colors in the collection. Kris reveals that during the testing period for the products, she had to reject some of the colors as “they were not me.” The linens are in pinks and purples and everything—from the packaging to the items— is pretty and pleasing to the eye.
back in the reagan days, when the actor was campaigning for the presidency of the U.S., his opponents would show old tv commercials of the young handsome ronald selling a laundry detergent (a la tide or breeze), which was a huge turn-off for many. it was my first sense that for celebs, selling commercial products on the idiot box was not something to be proud of because it means you’ve sold out to the multinationals that greedily rule the world.
reagan won anyway but he certainly stopped his showbiz ways as it would have diminished the presidency and held it hostage to vested interests. i know, i know, kris is only a soon-to-be presidential sis. and i can hear the howls: but what’s wrong with selling/endorsing products, it’s an honest living, and so lucrative, she’d be crazy to give it all up. ah yes, the money is too good, the money makes it okay, and hey she pays tens of millions in taxes, as in role model, di ba.
i suppose if we were a first world country like holland where there are no poor, no beggars, no hungry, okay lang. but in a third world country where the televiewing masses can barely manage three meals a day and television is the great escape, it’s the height of cruelty (witting or unwitting) to raise material needs the way kris does when she sells non-essential products that the masses can only yearn for, dream of, but never ever in reality afford. and, by the way, let’s be clear: it’s not the fault of the poor that they’re poor. it’s the fault of the rich, who know only how to get richer at the expense of the masses, which is so terribly uncreative.
inquirer’s marinel cruz writes:
In her Twitter account, Aquino said that she would likewise stop appearing in the drama series “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo” in mid-August. She hinted on the possibility of hosting a lifestyle/travel program when she returns from a three-week vacation in September.
“Kris does not want to be in a program where she can make comments, opinionate or articulate her personal views,” Abunda said.
ganoon? but when she appears in tv commercials selling all kinds of commercial goods, isn’t that a super favorable comment, opinion, articulation, reflection on/of her personal worldview and lifestyle? inquirer’s ige ramos writes:
I just hope she’s aware of the power she wields. And I pray that she uses that power to transform this country into something bigger than herself, and not waste it on mundane show-biz activities.
Now that her brother is President, this is an opportunity for her to do something positive, great and wonderful. Something she missed out on when her mother was president.
actually, kung di niya ma-gets o di niya kakayanin, or if sayang the money, paano siya makakatulong kung wala siyang pera pang give-away, ok lang naman din. she can keep doing product endorsements and soap operas, do a lifestyle/travel show, even glamorize dole-outs with a million pesos worth of school supplies to favored barangays (they voted for noynoy kasi), just please please please, no talk about caring for the poor, or honestly trying to improve the lot of poor pinoys. because really, all that showbiz stuff is anti-poor. one cannot be for the poor on the one hand, and anti-poor on the other, and have ANY kind of credibility.
if kris truly wants to make a difference in the next 6 years, WHAT IF she embraced instead an environmental concern, what if she focused her super powers instead on metromanila’s garbage problem. zero-waste is the target. she can spend the millions she’s so happy to give away on plastic garbage pails, 2 to a household metro-wide, for segregating biodegradable from non-biodegradable. she could put together educational tv shows that would promote the campaign and get the public to join the bandwagon. she could collaborate with garbage truck contractors in putting up recycling centers. she could create a market for recycled goods by being the number-one customer and product endorser. o di ba. new jobs created, and no more flash floods, no more ondoys, no more blocked-up waterways, inang lupa would be so happy, and kris would come out smelling so good, even make it on the cover of time and newsweek, for sure, on her own merits. we could all be so proud.