Press Release
December 4, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) warned that Pampanga will be the next Maguindanao where political dynasties rule with impunity should President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins a congressional seat in the second district of the province and later becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"We ask the voters of the second district of Pampanga to be vigilant in choosing their next congressional representative. Moreover we call on the people to vote for militant party-list groups and proven anti-GMA congressional candidates so that Arroyo will not be able to control the next House of Representatives," explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson
The group said that the discovery of a cache of AFP-issued high powered firearms near the compound of the Ampatuans reveals how the administration-allied political dynasty has been able to rule by force with the full backing of the government including the army. "In Maguindanao, the AFP serves as the not-so-private army of the Ampatuans with the apparent blessing of Camp Aguinaldo and Malacanang. That is GMA's way of paying back her heavy debt of gratitude to the Ampatuans for her incredible landslide victory in Maguindanao in the fraudulent 2004 elections," Magtubo added.
The PM leader furthered that while anti-GMA congressional bets maybe trapos themselves, voting for them in so that GMA is thwarted in her bid to be the next House speaker will be a fair warning to all politicians. Magtubo insisted that "The voters must send a message that they have zero tolerance to impunity and that a decade of GMA in power is already too much. Thus a crucial step in blocking GMA’s backdoor entry into Malacanang as Prime Minister is to ensure she does not become House Speaker."
PM is also calling on voters to use the party-list ballot as an opportunity to place non-trapos in Congress who will not just oppose GMA's bid for speakership but also fight social change in the counrty. PM is running for the party-list elections on a platform of protecting workers welfare and reversing the pro-globalization policies. The group has already endorsed the senatorial candidacy of detained ex-general Danny Lim for being a "rebel with a cause."
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