100roses’s Blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogArchive for December, 2008
Farmers join quit call for DAR chief
MANILA, Philippines–Farmers fighting for a piece of land in a sprawling hacienda in Laguna will have a crash course on using the Internet Thursday at the launch of an online campaign for the resignation of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Sr. and a revamp in the department’s bureaucracy.
The online campaign was inspired partly by the tempest stirred by the blog of Maria Dhel “Bambee” de la Paz, who wrote an account of how Pangandaman’s sons beat up her father and teenage brother following an argument involving courtesy on a golf course, June Rodriguez, executive director of the Peace Foundation, said.
“I received a lot of e-mail from a lot of e-groups condemning the incident. Decent people argue but don’t hit a 14-year-old boy … As DAR secretary, he (Pangandaman) has not done anything for the farmers but instead favored reversions in favor of golf courses,” Rodriguez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.
The Peace Foundation has been supporting the cause of the 400 farmers of Hacienda Yulo in Calamba, Laguna and Rodriguez was tasked to create the website calling for the resignation of Pangandaman.
Rodriguez will be bringing a laptop with a wireless internet connction, and by the roadside outside the DAR main office in Quezon Circle, she will teach the farmers how to navigate the Internet for the first time and sign their names on the website as the first ones to call for Pangandaman’s resignation
“The online campaign is not just for Pangandaman’s resignation but also to defend CARP [the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program] and for a revamp of the DAR bureaucracy. We want to defend, extend, and reform CARP,” Rodriguez said.
The proponents of the Pangandaman resignation movement said they do not have someone specific to endorse as the secretary’s replacement.
“As long as the person would be pro-farmer. The position is a political appointment. We need someone who will promote the issues and the interest of farmers. That’s what has been missing,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the Peace Foundation and the farmers’ group UNORKA (Pambansang Ugnayan ng mga Nagsasariling Lokal na Organisasyon sa Kanayunan or the National Coordination of Local Autonomous Rural People’s Organizations), which are spearheading the campaign, hope to “gather as much friends” as possible on Thursday, knowing that most would be busy with their New Year celebrations.
“We’ll give it our best effort,” Rodriguez said.
The launch of the online campaign will be kicked off by a Mass to be celebrated by “running priest” Fr. Robert Reyes at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Reyes said that Pangandaman should resign his post as Cabinet secretary, not only for the golf course incident, but also “for all his failures as DAR Secretary.”
“We will be coming out with a long list of his failures,” Reyes told the Inquirer also by phone.
Reyes said he wanted to invite the De la Paz family to attend Thursday’s mass.
Reyes and Rodriguez were those who joined the farmers’ march Wednesday morning from Canlubang to Calamba as part of their call for the department to void a reported order exempting 3,256 hectares of the hacienda’s 7,100 ha from coverage of the CARP.
Under Pangandaman, Reyes said DAR became the “Department of Agrarian Revision.”
“It’s because the secretary was known to reverse decisions,” Reyes said.
UNORKA spokesperson Vangie Mendoza said that the original Hacienda Yulo includes lands in the Laguna towns of Canlubang, Calamba, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, and Binan.
“All 7,100 hectares used to be an azucarera (sugar mill),” Mendoza said.
Parts of it, that have been under CARP, had been converted to three golf courses in recent years, she added.
More than 1,000 farmers are petitioning for their land in three different areas of the hacienda, in Canlubang, Cabuyao, and Sta. Rosa.
Mendoza said that in 2005, 254 ha of Hacienda Yulo were awarded to 59 farmers following a Supreme Court decision.
“The fight for that piece of land began in the 1970s,” Mendoza said.
PHILIPPINES & INDONESIA GOING HEAD TO HEAD IN SEAWEED PRODUCTION
RP, Indonesia scramble for seaweed amidst global crisis
By Aurelio A. Pena
STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur, Dec. 31
Splashing out of the shallow water, Ramil Tagudin, 42, pulls up a thick blue string from the choppy sea off the coast of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur along the Gulf of Davao. Thick clumps of reddish-green seaweed emerge from the depths of the sea, still slimy and wet from dripping seawater.
Seaweed farmers like Tagudin are among the growing number of Filipino coastal farmers who gave up fishing full-time and took the plunge into commercial farming of Euchema seaweed (pictured), the raw material used in the production of carrageenan powder, one of the Philippines’ multimillion- dollar export earners.
“We’re getting much more from seaweed than from fishing these days as buyers keep coming to us, sometimes with cash advances even before we start harvesting,” says Tagudin who now owns a modest concrete home along the coast, packed with modern home appliances.
Tagudin’s biggest bonanza was around four months ago when a local trader, who was supplying a big importer from the China mainland, gobbled up all the dried seaweed in the province, paying the highest price at nearly 90 pesos a kilo, the highest price so far in the industry. The average prices for dried seaweed usually range around 25 to 35 pesos a kilo.
Compared to the other seaweed producing areas in the country, however, Davao is still at the bottom of the ladder. Top producers are situated in western Mindanao island, mostly in Zamboanga and Sulu archipelagos which produce 75 percent of the country’s supply of Euchema and Kappaphycus seaweeds, the most sought-after species in the world’s markets.
In Zamboanga peninsula alone, exports of processed seaweed topped 5,085 metric tons valued at 12.5 million US dollars from January to October 2008, surging 92 percent higher than the 2007 export volume.
Davao is fast catching up with around 2,000 metric tons output of raw seaweed during the first six months of 2008 coming from new expanded seaweed farms in the coastal areas of Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte, according to the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS).
“We know there’s a big demand out there for seaweed but Davao at this point still can’t produce enough dried seaweed to meet the needs of carrageenan plants,” admits regional head George Campeon of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
The Philippines produces most of the world’s demand for carrageenan churned out by 16 processing plants in Cebu, Manila and Zamboanga, including new plants in Davao and Bukidnon provinces. Compared to the older plants which could produce up to 5,000 metric tons each monthly, the two new plants can turn in only 300 to 400 metric tons of semi-refined carrageenan every month.
Carrageenan is a white, powdery substance used as a gelling and thickening agent in many processed foods, medicines, cosmetics, paints and thousands of commercial and industrial products in the world’s markets.
The global demand for carrageenan reached about 10 million metric tons last year. Leading the world’s biggest carrageenan importers is North America which imports around 53 percent, combining the annual consumption of both Canada and the United States, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Other big importers of carrageenan include Europe, 24 percent; Latin America, 10 percent; Australia, 8 percent, and Japan, 5 percent. The European Union alone needs about 1,500 metric tons monthly, FAO data show.
China, Malaysia and Thailand are expected to continue buying both dried seaweed and semi-refined carrageenan from the Philippines and Indonesia due to lack of large-scale commercial seaweed growing areas in those areas.
Philippine seaweed farmers in the southern island of Mindanao are now facing stiff competition from Indonesia which has become the world’s biggest producer of dried seaweed.
Some 50 percent of the world’s tropical seaweed were harvested in Indonesia which exported around 290,000 metric tons of dried seaweed in 2007, boosted by much bigger farm areas and cheaper production costs. Indonesia’s output of raw seaweed in 2008 was 600,000 metric tons and expected to surge up to a million metric tons in 2012, according to Jakarta Post.
Some of Cebu’s big carrageenan plants have been importing dried seaweed direct from Indonesia since the seaweed output from the Philippines suffered steady decline during the last few years due to rising energy costs, harsh weather conditions, transport and shipping costs, etc.
“We’re forced to buy some of our supply of dried seaweed from Indonesia because of lower prices and bigger supply capacity — that’s the only way for us to survive in this industry,” says Benson Dakay, president of Shemberg Marketing, the country’s biggest carrageenan plant.
This was confirmed by Hadji Adam Omar, chairman of the Western Mindanao Seaweed Development who warned that if Cebu processing plants cannot get their steady supply of dried seaweeds from Mindanao, “they might be forced to move their plants over to Indonesia.”
The Philippines carrageenan industry needs at least 134,000 metric tons of dried seaweed yearly, “but the country’s total annual output so far is only 70,000 to 80,000 metric tons, down from almost 100,000 metric tons in 2004,” according to Omar.
Indonesia, however, is planning to stop the exports of its dried seaweed to the Philippines and other countries, as the Moslem country is now making moves to develop its own seaweed processing industry and produce its own carrageenan for world exports, according to Jakarta Post.
“It’s definite, we’re putting a stop soon to the exports of dried seaweed as soon as we’re ready with our own carrageenan processing plants,” says Martani Huseini, director-general of marine processing and marketing, Indonesia ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries.
The Philippines Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz has expressed optimism, however, that the country’s seaweed industry can accelerate its production capacity within the next few years to meet the rising global demand for carrageenan.
“We have more new seaweed production areas in the South that are being developed to produce high quality seaweeds in huge quantities to meet the monthly needs of our country’s carrageenan processing plants,” Cruz said. (PNA)
source: Copyright © 2008 FILIPINO NEWS. All rights reserved.  BALITA PINOY
|
A dream come true
By Marane Plaza
Who would’ve thought that a young boy who used to dream of being a soldier would end up making waves in the field of beauty and hairdressing?
Bong Aparente, owner of Hair Apparent Salon and winner of various hairdressing competitions abroad, did not take his innate gift seriously at first. Although he started cutting hair at the age of 12, Bong never imagined that his affair with scissors would take him far. His father taught him the basics of cutting hair, and the locals from their town were his primary clients. He even recalled that the old barbers in their town influenced him as well.
He had his first formal training when he was 19 years old under the local wellness icon, Ricky Reyes. That was when he also started cutting and styling professionally for various salons. After a year, Aparente started joining hairdressing contests here and abroad and he started gathering recognitions and awards from such. He won the Philippine Awards Men’s Category in 1995, won grand champion in Philippine Hair’s Commercial Creative Cut and Color Styling Contest, and was named Philippine Hairdresser of the Year for Philippine Hairdressing Awards 2007 by Schwarzkopf Professional. He also went through extensive trainings abroad, like those from Vidal Sassoon Academy, Tony and Guy, The Moscolo Brothers, A Cut Above and Hair Impression Academy in Malaysia.
Bong’s style has been remarkable because of his high-end creativity. Customers and artists of the same field have admired his constantly-changing attacks in hair styling and coloring. Being in the field of beauty for 12 years now, Aparente put up his very own salon, called Hair Apparent Salon in October 2007. He started his business with his friend, Jimmy Mejiya. Word of the mouth has made the salon’s reputation in coming up with high-end, classy and unique hair coloring, cutting and styling. Bong has gained the trust of both common and celebrity clientele, because he always offers something new and “unforgettable”. He keeps on updating and improving his craft through continuous research, seminars and trainings here and abroad.
“I want to contribute something to this million-dollar field of beauty and hairstyling. Of course, I have experienced the struggles of a typical hairdresser, especially we get very little support with this kind of craft. And because of that, I am aspiring to help those who are dreaming to make it in this field. I want to start some changes,” Aparente said. Bong’s goals are being carried out through his involvement in the Philippine International Cosmetologists Association (Pica). Pica is the leading organization of beauty and wellness professionals and the only association accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, which has the biggest membership base from all over the country. This organization, which is headed by Fanny Serrano, is conducting livelihood projects and various programs for all the hairdressers in the country, both professional and young ones. As the vice president for Youth Academe, he wants to focus on giving support to the young batch of cosmetologists in the country through trainings being sponsored by Pica.
Just like any other businessmen, Aparente aims to expand his salon in the coming years. But he emphasizes that his passion for hairdressing is the most important thing above all. “If we would just focus on the business alone, the essence of putting up a beauty salon would immediately diminish. We’re here to make people beautiful, and I believe that one’s passion for his craft should inspire him to go further. I know that if I would use the heart, everything will follow. My goal is not just to succeed in my business, but also to make a change in the field of hairdressing,” Aparente concluded. And this is coming from a boy who once dreamt of becoming a soldier.
Hair Apparent Salon is located at 41 F. Esteban Abada Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, with contact number 0921-9762545.
source: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife3_dec29_2008#top
Increase in RP exports reported
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Mindanao exports of seaweed may have doubled this year, but the region could not afford to slacken its efforts to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the seaweed sector, industry leaders say.
From January to October this year, exports of processed seaweed from this port city reached 5,085 metric tons, or MT, valued at $ 12.6 million, a 92 percent increase in volume and 114-percent increase in value over exports for the same period in 2007.
Shortages of raw material and production surges in industries, which use processed seaweed, had driven up the price of eucheuma seaweed, which peaked at $ 2,900 per MT in September 2008.
However, the price has since dropped sharply, following the global financial downturn.
To weather the volatile market, the Mindanao seaweed sector needs to ensure adequate yield, develop more cost-effective farming technologies and increase investment to ensure the sustainability of the industry, according to USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, in a recent meeting with industry leaders in this city.
It was learned that the eucheuma and kappaphycus varieties of seaweed grown in the Philippines are used for the production of carrageenan, a thickening and stabilizing agent used worldwide in many processed foods and in products such as toothpaste, shampoo, paints, and pharmaceuticals.
The Philippines produces most of the world’s carrageenan in 14 processing plants located in Cebu, Southern Luzon, and in this city.
The top regional supplier of raw materials for these plants is Mindanao, which produces 75 percent of the country’s eucheuma and kappaphycus seaweed, mostly in the Zamboanga peninsula and the Sulu archipelago.
The country’s processing plants alone need a minimum of 134,000 MT annually of raw dried seaweed, but total Philippine seaweed output decreased from 95,600 MT in 2004 to 74,650 MT in 2007, due to weather conditions, rising energy and transport costs, and other factors.
“If the carrageenan processors can’t depend on a steady supply of raw material produced locally, they may relocate to other countries,” said Hdji. Adam Omar, chairman of the Western Mindanao Seaweed Industry Development Foundation.
Omar and other traders noted, however, that seaweed production along the Zamboanga peninsula and the Sulu archipelago had been particularly robust throughout this year.
Omar said that this was due to the propagation of high-yield, fast-growing seaweed cultivars distributed in late 2007 from nurseries established through partnerships between GEM Program, Mindanao State University-Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga State College of Science and Technology, Kasanyangan Nursery and Seaweed Enterprise, and the International Finance Corporation.
source: http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20081216143577.html
Direct access to miners sought
LOCAL FINE jewelry makers are pressing the government to help them obtain raw metals directly from miners to lower production costs, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) said in a statement yesterday.
Jewellers want the Export Development Council, a group of private and public sector representatives led by Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila, to lead talks with miners, the central bank — which purchases gold from mines — and the Finance department to set up a legal supply chain for gold and silver, Philexport said.
Directly sourcing such materials will be cheaper than acquiring them through middlemen or, worse, the black market, Philex-port quoted Meycauayan Jewelry Industry Association Chairman Cecilia R. Ramos as saying.
Guild of Philippine Jewellers, Inc. President Mia S. Faustmann confirmed this in a telephone interview.
“We are asking [the Trade department] for help to source silver from miners,” said Ms. Faustmann, noting that individual jewellers are too small to place orders on their own.
The government should also let imported gems enter the country duty-free, Ms. Faustmann added.
“We go through a lot of hassle to get the materials. Legal enterprises should be at par with [those that use materials from] smugglers,” she said. — J. A. D. Hermosa
source: http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW121708/content.php?id=055
Holiday orders provide little cheer to exporters
…Jewelry exports from January to September this year plummeted by roughly 60% to $18.65 million versus $45.2 million the same period last year, data from the GPJI show….
…”Jewelry exports have slipped … It’s the smaller items [that are more in demand], not jewelry sets,” Mia S. Faustmann, president of the Guild of Philippine Jewellers, Inc. (GPJI) said in a telephone interview…
full story: http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW121708/content.php?id=004
Filipinos in Japan love to say ‘TFCko ‘to’
In less than two year’s, ABS-CBN Japan’s TFCko viewership has reached more than 15,000 subscribers. More and more Filipinos and their Japanese kids and spouses are becoming addicted to the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service – a grandfather competes for the remote with his brood; a mother makes TFCko her kid’s new nanny; a clique foregoes a regular night out to stay indoors for a TFCko screening; a store owner subscribes to TFCko to lure more customers; and, a Japanese husband is caught watching a Tagalog program he doesn’t entirely understand but enjoys because of the sexy girls in it.
What’s causing the TFCko craze?
Technology that works for the customer
 |
| Elizabeth Mazon Hosaka or Betchy with daughter |
For 14 years, Elizabeth Mazon Hosaka or Betchy has kept in touch with her sister in the Philippines just to find out what happened to her favorite ABS-CBN drama series. When she subscribed to TFCko, she realized how much she saved on long distance calls. She has also seen how TFCko helped her raise her daughter to learn Tagalog, the Philippine’s native language. Betty says “naging yaya siya [TFCko] ng anak ko at saka Tagalog niya, hindi nawawala.” (TFCko has become my kid’s nanny and she hasn’t lost her Tagalog.)
Cecil Roquero is married to Aoki-san and owns “Nanay’s Lugaw” (Mother’s Porridge), a restaurant near the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo. She uses TFCko to entertain her customers while she’s busy managing her servers and running the kitchen. She willingly gives in to some of her customers’ requests. “Minsan, tulad po ngayon, may mga customer na nanghingi sila ng programa na gusto nila panoorin… pagka ganyan po ginagamit namin diyan ang Video-On-Demand (VOD).” (Sometimes, like now, customers would ask for a program that they would like to watch… in such case, we use Video-On-Demand.)
Like Cecile, Kristoper Lirio uses VOD, too. He is a highly technical guy who frequently uses the internet. He has been living in Japan for seven years, working day and night without any form of relaxation. When he learned about TFCko and its VOD feature he immediately subscribed to watch his favorite sports programs like the PBA, NCAA and UAAP, major basketball leagues in the Philippines. He said TFCko works for him not only because it has the shows he wants to see but also because “parang lang siyang DVD [player]. Play mo lang siya tapos i-stop mo kung may gagawin ka. Tapos balikan mo kaagad iyong shows mo. Wala kang mami-miss.” (It’s just like a DVD player. Play it then press stop if you need to do anything. You can go back to watching your shows right after. You won’t miss anything.)
Operating on Internet Protocol TV, TFCko gives viewers personal access to their favorite shows anytime. A TFCko subscriber can choose which program to watch and with a remote control, fast-forward, rewind and pause whenever he/she wants.
Technology that binds a family
 |
| Anjie Osenio with Mr. and Mrs. Kenichi Hara |
Dondon Pascual who has been in Japan for 16 years cheerfully narrates that upon coming home from work, it has become a contest for everyone in his family to grab the remote. As head of the family, Dondon prefers to watch TV Patrol to be updated with what is happening in the Philippines but his wife, children and grandchildren have their own favorite shows. He says “bahagi na ng buhay namin ang TFCko” (TFCko has become a part of our lives.)
To Anjie Osenio, a solo parent who has been away from home for 23 years finds a family in her closest friends. “One time na-invite ako ng mga barkada. May gimmick daw kami. Sabi ko, ‘saan?’ Sa bahay na lang daw. Then, pagdating ko doon… meron silang small kit na ginagawa. At sabi nila, ‘heto’ng bago nating gimmick… magluluto na lang tayo then kumain habang nanonood tayo ng TFCko’.” (One time, I was invited by my friends to a night out. I asked where and they said it will just be at someone’s house. When I arrived, they were setting up a small kit. They told me it’s the new night out… we’ll cook then eat while watching TFCko.)
Anji adds that as a working mom who is miles away from her parents and siblings, working hard while taking care of her son can be so draining, physically and emotionally. She reveals, “higit sa lahat, nakakalungkot kasi maaalala mo ang mga mahal mo” (More than anything, it can be so sad because you tend to remember those you love.) But with TFCko she feels at home, “parang kasama ko pamilya ko manood [ng TFCko].” (It feels like I’m watching TFCko with my family.)
 |
| Dondon Pascual |
Technology that evolves and sets the pace
Prior to TFCko, the international broadcast company ABS-CBN Global has for several years been responding to the needs of Filipinos not just in Japan but also in the US, Middle East, Europe, Australia and other countries in Asia-Pacific.
In April 1994, ABS-CBN Global launched The Filipino Channel (TFC) in North America. From just one signal, TFC quadrupled its signals to suit the time zones of its customers from other continents.
Now with TFCko, ABS-CBN may just revolutionize the way viewers use television and radio. No one has to have or like TFCko to be a witness to the impending commotion in the broadcast communication business because of it.
As for Betchy, Cecil, Kristoper, Dondon and Anjie, they could almost say in unison: “Sulit ang TFCko at di ko ito papalitan! TFCko ’to e. (TFCko is worth it and I won’t trade it for anything! This is my TFCko.)”
as of 11/22/2008 11:18 PM
source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/tv-current-affairs/11/21/08/filipinos-japan-love-say-tfcko
Contractualization and the State of Unionism in the Philippines
The prevalent practice of contractualization has been the main culprit in the reduction of union membership on a national scale. Without a union, workers’ rights are easily violated.
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
YEAREND REPORT – LABOR
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 46, December 23, 2007 – January 5, 2008
The Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa (IBM or Workers’ Light and Unity) – the union of workers of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) conglomerate, the country’s largest food and beverage corporation – used to be a showcase of what being a strong union was all about. As recently as during the early 1990s, majority of San Miguel’s then 39,000-strong workforce were members of IBM, which is affiliated with the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement).
Today, the composition of SMC’s workforce serves as a showcase of what contractualization can do to a union.
Based on an item on the SMC website (http://www.sanmiguel.com.ph/), the company now has 26,000 employees. “May 1,100 na lang sa mga ‘yan ang regular” (Only some 1,100 of them remain as regulars), said Ka Neri, 33, a full-time KMU organizer working with the IBM and himself a former contractual employee at SMC, in an interview with Bulatlat.
Ka Neri said SMC was able to reduce the regular workforce through attacks on the union and department closures.
“Kinasuhan ang mga lider ng unyon at tinanggal, para humina ang unyon” (The union leaders were slapped with charges and dismissed to weaken the union), the union organizer said. “Nagsara rin ng mga departamento at natanggal ang mga dating nagtatrabaho doon” (There were departments that were closed down, and workers were laid off.)
Aside from these, Ka Neri said, the company was also able to ‘encourage’ a number of the older employees to accept “early retirement” packages. To ‘encourage’ old employees to avail of the early retirement option, attractive compensation packages are offered while at the same time managers approach employees and tell them that they should avail of these otherwise they might end up getting less if retrenched.
“Y’ong mga natanggal o naalis d’yan ay pinalitan ng mga mas bata…mga kontraktuwal na mas mababa ang suweldo” (Those who were dismissed, got laid off, or had availed of early retirement packages were replaced with younger ones, contractual employees with lower wages), Ka Neri said. “May iba na pinagkontrata na lang ng bago” (Some were rehired as contractuals.)
The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is another showcase of the effects of contractualization on unions. In an interview with Bulatlat’s Karl G. Ombion earlier this year, PLDT Union Council member Ronnie Gedoria said that from a 16,000-strong regular workforce (of which majority were union members) before 1995, the PLDT now has only about 3,000 regular employees.
While before regular employees are divided into departments corresponding to the different processes such as telephone line installation and repair, and maintenance and repair of underground cables, the remaining regular employees are now forced to do all kinds of jobs, under the multi-skill, multi-task scheme for employees, and with higher workloads.
Added to this, certain processes are already contracted out. For example, installations of new telephone lines are now being done by contractuals who are hired by agencies. These contractuals are paid by piecemeal, meaning their pay depends on the number of telephone lines they installed: no installation, no pay.
Contractualization and unionism
Ombion, citing data from both government and labor sources, wrote that between 1995 and 2005, the number of contractual workers in the Philippines soared from 65 percent to as much as 78 percent of the country’s employed labor force.
Companies in the Philippines started going on an orgy of contractualization in the years following Department Order No. 10 of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), which was issued in 1997 by then Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing.
The Labor Code devotes only a small section to provisions on contractual employment, and gives the Secretary of Labor the leeway to restrict or even prohibit the contracting-out of labor “to protect the rights of workers.”
But the apparent shift of government policy from its bias towards regular employment, as reflected in the Labor Code, to “flexible” work arrangements can be seen in the issuance of one whole department order, DO No.10, for the purpose of legalizing and legitimizing contractualization. DO No. 10 reads, “Contracting and subcontracting arrangements are expressly allowed by law…”
DO No. 10 also declares, as part of its guiding principles, that “flexibility for the purpose of increasing efficiency and streamlining operations is essential for every business to grow in an atmosphere of free competition…”
While DO No. 10 professed to protect workers’ rights, including the right to self-organization and social benefits, the experience under a regime of contractualization has been that contractual employees are barred from joining unions and are denied the social benefits that are supposedly due them even under DO No. 10.
DO No. 10 opened the floodgates to the mass lay-offs of regular workers, which included the dismantling of unions, and their replacement with contractual workers.
DoLE DO No. 3, issued in 2001 by then Labor Secretary Patricia St. Tomas, revoked DO No. 10 but honored all contracts entered into during its effectivity. The Department’s DO No 18-02, issued the next year also by Sto. Tomas, practically restored DO No. 10.
The prevalent practice of contractualization has been the main culprit in the reduction of union membership on a national scale.
Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR), there was a sharp slide in union membership from 2001 – when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was catapulted to power through a popular uprising – to 2002. Union membership decreased in the said period from 3.85 million to only 1.47 million. The number of union members decreased by almost half from 2001 to 2002.
From 2002 to 2005, there seems to be an encouraging picture of union membership, as there was an increase from 1.47 million to 1.91 million. What appears to be an upward trend would be broken again in 2006, with union membership decreasing to 1.86 million. From 2006 to June 2007, union membership would rise to 1.89 million.
As of June 2007, union membership in the Philippines has yet to reach even the 2-million mark since 2001.
The sorry state of unionism in the Philippines is further emphasized when looked upon in proportion to the 33.33 million-strong labor force as of June 2007. The total union membership of 1.89 million as of June 2007 means that only 5.68 percent of the country’s employed labor force is organized.
Unions and workers’ rights
This does not bode well for the defense of workers’ rights. Without a union, workers’ rights are easily violated.
All these notwithstanding, those in the unions still suffer the atrocities of violence and harassment. The vulnerability of unions to these atrocities has no doubt been exacerbated by their weakening owing to the bane of contractualization.
Data from the non-government organization Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) show that from January to August 2007 alone, there were 59 cases of union and human rights violations involving a total of 829 victims. These included the killings of two labor leaders, violent dispersals of picketlines, illegal arrest and detention, torture, grave threats, and enforced disappearances.
CTUHR’s data further show that from 2001 to August 2007, there have been a total of 1,167 union and human rights violations, all in all involving 14,623 victims. The killings of union leaders Renato Pacaide and Charlie Solayao this year have brought the total number of workers extrajudicially killed under the Arroyo administration to 85.
Meanwhile, the economic rights of workers are also not faring well.
Recent data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) show that the national average family living wage for a family of six, the average Filipino family, now stands at P664.87 ($15.91 at an exchange rate of $1:P41.80 as of Dec. 21).
Conversely, the highest regional minimum wage – which is “enjoyed” in the National Capital Region (NCR) – stands at only P325-362 ($7.78-8.66) daily. The biggest gap between the family living wage and the minimum wage is to be found in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), with a family living wage of P1,087 ($26) as against a minimum wage of only P200 ($4.78) daily.
Resisting the bane
The onslaught of contractuazation since the 1990s has done a lot to weaken unions in the Philippines – which at various points in history were major forces in fighting authoritarianism.
Last year broke what seemed to be an upward trend in Philippine union membership since 2002. While union membership has risen since last year, an increase of about 30,000 from last year’s 1.86 million as of June 2007 is by no means a drastic leap.
With the present weakness of unions compared to their strength a decade ago, the defense of workers’ rights has become more and more difficult. For this year, there has been no improvement in workers’ economic rights, while union and human rights continue to be violated with impunity.
But not only workers are affected by the trend of contractualization. The trainings contractuals undergo are many times less than what regular employees underwent in years passed. This lack of training plus the pressures being exerted on contractual workers who have no rights and are paid less, sometimes on a piecemeal basis, is already taking its toll on the quality of services of companies such as PLDT and Meralco.
Thus, contractualization is a bane not only to workers and their unions but to consumers as well. Bulatlat
source: http://www.bulatlat.com/2008/01/contractualization-and-state-unionism-philippines
International Mission to Probe Labor Killings
Alarmed by the unabated killing of political activists, world labor leaders will visit the country next month to investigate killings of labor leaders and organizers and repression of the labor sector.
BY ABNER BOLOS
Gitnang Luson News Service
Posted by Bulatlat
San Fernando, Pampanga—Alarmed by the unabated killing of political activists, world labor leaders will visit the country next month to investigate killings of labor leaders and organizers and repression of the labor sector.
Angie Ladera, Workers’ Alliance in Region III (WAR3) chairperson, said some 30 delegates from 12 countries including the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Bangladesh and Nepal will fan-out to Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Negros island and the southern Mindanao region.
Dubbed the International Labor Solidarity Mission (ILSM), the delegation will conduct fact-finding missions on specific cases and work areas from May 2-5 and will present their finding to the public on May 7.
Ladera, a former president of the 3,000-strong International Wiring Systems Employees Unions (IWSEU), told GLNS that in Tarlac, the murder of Ricardo Ramos, former Central Azucarera De Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) president, the recent killing of United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) leaders Tirso Cruz, as well as the killing of Bayan Muna-Tarlac secretary general Florante Collantes and Tarlac City councillor Abelardo Ladera will be given special attention.
In Bulacan, the mission will investigate the murders of Federico de Leon, provincial chairperson of the Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) party, Rogelio Concepcion, union president of Solid Development Corp. and Francisco Paraon, who was illegally detained, interrogated and tortured on Christmas day last year, Ladera said.
“To date not a single perpetrator of the 71 murders and abductions that occurred since last year have been arrested and brought to justice,” Ladera said. “But it is clear to our people that the Arroyo government and his henchman in Central Luzon, Gen. Jovito Palparan are to be blamed for the killing of civilians and leaders of people’s organizations.”
The mission is organized by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), Center for Trade Unions and Human Rights (CTUHR) and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).
Mission organizers said that the delegates who will visit the CALABARZON (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) growth area in Southern Tagalog will interview community leaders and workers.
The killings of Nestle Philippines union president Diosdado Fortuna, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) national council member Napoleon Pomasdoro and Honda Workers’ Union president Romeo Legazpi, among others will be investigated, mission organizers said.
In Negros island and southern Mindanao, the mission will study the plight of sugar and banana plantation workers, respectively. They will also look into the killing of at least four (4) leaders of the National Federation of Sugar Workers, a KMU affiliate in the sugar industry.
The country ranks 5th among the world’s biggest banana producers and 66,561 has. are planted to banana in southern Mindanao. Giant transnational corporations such as Dole, Del Monte and Unifrutti operate in the region.
The mission will investigate reported cases of militarization and human rights abuses in the region. Gitnang Luson News Service / Posted by Bulatlat
BACK TO TOP ■ PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■ COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
source: http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-11/6-11-ilsm.htm
Fisher Folk Battle Huge Mining Proposal and Its Defenders
Two protected areas in Mati, Davao Oriental now face the threat of large-scale mining operations dubbed as the Pujada Nickel Project.
BY KEITH BACONGCO
[1] Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project
Posted by Bulatlat
MATI CITY, Davao Oriental – Waves lap up the shallow shores of Sitio Wagon in Barangay (village) Macambol as fishermen and their families work and live off the bountiful waters of Pujada Bay.
The noise of the waves mixes with that of an electric plainer being used to shape the belly of a new banca – a simple fishing boat — under the shade of some coconut trees. A much bigger boat which can carry more than a ton of fish approaches the shore after having spent days, possibly even weeks at sea.
Many boats are still out and six more colorfully painted bancas lie on the sand, their fishing nets and traps left to bleach and dry under the sun.
A sand spit away from the boat shop, Martina Baldapan is sun-drying a basket of different fish just outside her kitchen. They were caught by her son and prepared simply by being dipped in salt and water. Martina leaves them for a day before taking most of the basket to sell for PhP 80 ($1.66 at the current exchange rate of $1=P48.02) a kilo. The rest she keeps for her family to eat.
Martina is just one of an estimated 3,000 people in the coastal village of Macambol who rely on Pujada Bay for a living.
Other villagers work the lands round Mt. Hamiguitan which, like the Bay has been declared a protected area.
Both though now face the threat of large-scale mining operation dubbed as the Pujada Nickel Project.
The project is funded by BHP Billiton (BHP), self-styled as the “world’s leading natural resources company” through a joint venture with local partner Asiaticus Management Corporation (Amcor).
Pujada is said to have a reserve of about 200 million metric tons of nickel and according to Reuters, BHP has committed to invest up to USD 2 billion which is expected to provide about 3,000 jobs on its full operation by 2013.
The joint venture however has currently run into difficulties due to a legal dispute between BHP and its local partners as reported by BHP management at its own annual general meeting held on October 23. For now, the project seems to be on hold.
This is good news for many – but not so good news for others who believe the mining operations may bring jobs and development.
The project site was originally due to cover the two towns and a city of the peninsula of Davao Oriental – Governor Generoso, San Isidro and Mati City. But due to opposition from the authorities in Governor Generoso and San Isidro in 2003, the mining claim has been reduced to Mati only.
Seven Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) have been issued covering at least 11,000 hectares. Mining permits overlapped the declared Mt. Hamiguitan protected area.
Mining in protected areas?
On July 1994, the government declared the Pujada Bay as protected seascape by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 431. Mt. Hamiguitan was declared a protected area in July 2004.
But on June 8, 2004, just a month before Mt. Hamiguitan was declared protected, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued MPSA to a series of local mining companies.
In 2004 the Supreme Court controversially allowed foreign companies to own 100 per cent of local mining projects and the Philippine Government hopes to attract upwards of USD 10 billion worth of mining investment over the next few years.
These seven mining areas, which cover at least 17, 000 hectares, overlap the protected area, which has five major drainage and watershed systems because of the mountain. The major streams either drain towards the Pujada Bay or the Davao Gulf. The bodies of freshwater are the main source of water supply for communities living in the vicinity.
Pujada Bay is home to the endangered sea cows (dugong) and sea turtles while the Mt. Hamiguitan range is known both for its pygmy forest and also as a home of the endangered Philippine Eagle, which is a protected species.
The 6,800-hectare Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary is also home to the Mandaya Lumads or indigenous peoples.
Mining divides villagers
Virgie Mabato, chair of the local anti-mining group Macambol Multi-Sectoral Alliance for Integral Development (MMSAID), said that the arrival of the mining groups began to polarize people with some favoring the companies in the hope these would bring development and opportunities to the community.
Mabato added that even relationships between families have been affected by divisions in views as to whether the arrival and the companies will turn out to be a blessing or a curse.
But she explained: “We reiterate our position against the mining operation because it will destroy our source of living and source of our food. It’s not just Mt. Hamiguitan but Pujada Bay which will be polluted once the mine opens.”
Like Baldapan, Mabato also depends on the marine resources in Pujada Bay. Mabato’s family runs a small fish pen in Sitio Supsopon in Macambol.
From the shoreline, the proposed mining site is at least four kilometers away – though it shares the same water basin. During heavy rains, some portions of the bay become murky due to siltation carried down from the hinterland.
Roger Billote, also a member of MMSAID, said that even if the mining company is already outside the protected area, it is still not an assurance that mining operation will not destroy the biodiversity in the area.
“Like the spider web, once one of its strands will be cut, the spider will be outbalanced. Even if there is a buffer zone, it will still affect the entire biodiversity,” he said.
Billote pointed out that for him and many others “biodiversity is not just the protected land itself but as everything around the mountain.”
Yet two tribal councils in Magum and Cabuaya, also part of Macambol, are apparently in favor of the mining operations.
In a joint resolution, the tribal councils have expressed their support for BHP Billiton to continue mining operations in Macambol and Cabuaya areas.
Other indigenous tribal councils have come out against of the mining operation and argue the government in Manila should push for other means of helping the people in Macambol.
Narciso “Datu Silang” Salang, member of the Macambol-Mamali United Mandaya tribal council, says the government and the mining companies should respect the position of the people. “The rift between these two mining companies divided the people especially the indigenous peoples,” Salang pointed out, adding that both the government and the mining company should consider those who depend in Mt. Hamiguitan and Pujada Bay.
The mining operations, he said, will only destroy the beauty of Pujada Bay and Mt. Hamiguitan, adding that both are potential eco-tourism spots in the province.
Meanwhile, only the government officials of this city are apparently in favor of the Pujada Nickel Project believing the mining could bring development in the region.
The province reportedly has rich deposits of gold, nickel, copper, chromite, and manganese.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the DENR disclosed that Davao Oriental has 37,000 of the 87,000 registered sites of mining interest in the country. Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project/ Posted by[2] Bulatlat.com
The author is a journalist based in Davao City and the campaigns paralegal of the non-government organization Legal Rights Center – Kasama sa Kalikasan or LRC-KsK Davao office. He is also one of the founders of AKP Images, an independent photo agency in the Philippines.
Article printed from Bulatlat: http://bulatlat.com/main
URL to article: http://bulatlat.com/main/2008/11/29/fisher-folk-battle-huge-mining-proposal-and-its-defenders/
URLs in this post:
[1] Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project: http://www.rightsreporting.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1766&Itemid=
130http://www.rightsreporting.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1766&Item
id=130
[2] Bulatlat.com: http://www.bulatlat.com/
