Labor group urges Napoles to bare all in open court

PRESS STATEMENT

29 August 2013

Perhaps everyone at this point in time, including politicians in Malacanang, want a share of a limelight from Janet Lim Napoles.  So whether she is a real VIP or someone who finds Malacanang as the safest place to surrender had become the subject of wild speculations.

We heard the explanations of Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on the circumstances behind the graceful end of the August hunt for Napoles.  We would leave the Palace do the explaining on this matter.

What is important now is we finally have Napoles.  But the people are really not after her body, despite her VIP treatment last night.  What we are more interested is how she is going to tell her story about the whole pork barrel racket.  Will she bare all?  Or will she be just another Jocjoc Bolante, Garci or Lentang Bedol in the making?

Our challenge is for her to bare all and for Malacanang to ensure that she is not coached or censored under custody.  People were already suspicious about her VIP surrender.  Malacanang cannot afford another blunder if Napoles comes out in tight lips.

One way to erase this suspicion is to hold the Napoles trial in an open court, similar to how the impeachment trial of Renato Corona was conducted.

PNoy should now heed the demand of his “bosses” for pork abolition

Press Release

August 27, 2013

With the success of the Million People March, the militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on President Benigno Aquino III to accede to the demand for the abolition of the pork barrel. “It behooves PNoy to heed the resounding cry of his Bosses—Abolish not reform the pork barrel. Reform or renaming of the PDAF will not placate the anger of citizens outraged at the wanton theft of the people’s tax money,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Fortaleza also challenged the “million people marchers” to be ready for another massive protest should President Aquino continue to reject the demand for pork abolition. He also appealed to anti-pork protesters to push for an alternative fund distribution system in which social services will be as accessible as a right and not subject to the discretion of politicians.

“The anti-pork protest should develop into a movement for universal social protection and also converge with the anti-epal, anti-trapo and anti-dynasty advocacies of the last elections. Such is a roadmap towards lasting political change in our country,” Fortaleza insisted.

PM is advocating an “Apat na Dapat” set of demands to address the pork barrel scandal. First, the abolition of all forms of pork barrel, principally the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) and the special purpose funds. Second, the realignment of pork to fund universal social protection like Philhealth coverage, public employment, disaster relief and climate mitigation. Third, people’s participation in the budget process from identification of programs and projects to evaluation. And last, the passage of the Freedom of Information bill to enhance transparency and accountability in government spending.

The group said that the government budget for social services in less than the United Nations target of 6% of the gross domestic product. As an example, PM cited that realigning the proposed P25.2 billion PDAF in 2014 can pay for the annual Philhealth premiums of 14 million Filipinos, a third of the adult population. “The rest of the population can be covered by abolishing the PSF and other presidential pork, and then rechanneling for Philhealth. In this way, we can attain universal health insurance tomorrow,” Fortaleza claimed.

He explained that “Workers do not just want to curb corruption by abolishing the pork barrel. We also want to curtail patronage by removing the discretion of politicians in the delivery of social services. Public services must be accessible to all Filipinos as a right without the need to beg for the indulgence of politicians.”

Solons, top officials asked to lower pay to minimum wage

Press Release

August 26, 2013

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) challenged senators, congressional representatives and top executive government officials to lower their pay to the level of a minimum wage earner. “If our peak legislative and executive officials are in position for public service and not to wallow in pork then they should be amenable to a radical pay cut. Besides they can better craft law and policies beneficial to the masses once they experience the life of the ordinary worker,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

The labor group issued this call as people mobilized today for the anti-pork barrel protest in Luneta and other key cities in the country. PM’s chapters in Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog are joining the Luneta rally this morning while its members in Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo and Iligan are also participating in similar activities in the provinces.

PM is advocating an “Apat na Dapat” set of demands to address the pork barrel scandal. First, the abolition of all forms of pork barrel, principally the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) and the special purpose funds. Second, the realignment of pork to fund universal social protection from Philhealth coverage to public employment. Third, people’s participation in the budget process from identification of programs and projects to evaluation. And last, the passage of the Freedom of Information bill to enhance transparency and accountability in government spending.

Magtubo said that workers are interested in the protest against pork barrel since through the system of withholding taxes, employed people are taxed on time and pay fully. “Even the informal sector of the working class—the urban and rural poor—pay more than their fair share of taxes since every good and service they buy has value-added tax,” he added.

“But workers do not just want to curb corruption by abolishing the pork barrel. We also want to curtail patronage by removing the discretion of politicians in the delivery of social services. Public services must be accessible to all Filipinos as a right without the need to beg for the indulgence of politicians.” Magtubo explained.

“Just to cite an example, realigning the proposed P25.2 billion PDAF in 2014 can pay Philhealth premiums for a year to 14 million Filipinos, a third of the adult population. The PSF and other presidential pork like the Malampaya funds can cover the Philhealth coverage of the rest of the population to ensure universal health insurance in one stroke,” Magtubo ended.

Workers ask Luneta marchers: Demand realignment of pork to social services

Press Release

August 25, 2013

The workers group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the people who will be joining tomorrow’s rally at Luneta to demand the realignment of the pork barrel to a fund for universal social services. The group also praised the organizers of the Luneta march in its determination to push through and demand the abolition of the pork barrel.

“Workers salute Luneta protest organizer Peachy Rallonza-Bretana for refusing to be placated by President Benigno Aquino III’s proposed pork barrel reform. We however ask them to also demand a new fund distribution system wherein social services will not be based on the discretion of politicians but will be accessible as a matter of right,” Renato Magtubo, PM chair explained.

PM is joining the rally in Luneta tomorrow that will call for the abolition of pork barrel and the prosecution of those involved in the scam. The group’s chapters in Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo and Iligan are also participating in similar activities in the provinces.

The labor group is advocating the realignment of the pork barrel into a fund for universal social protection. “The Priority Development Assistance Fund, the Presidential Social Fund and other incarnations of the pork barrel must be directly allotted to social services that will be accessible to all Filipinos and not be subject to discretion of political patrons. In this way, the evil of patronage and corruption is removed from the delivery of necessary social services such as Philhealth coverage, socialized housing, scholarships, farmers’ subsidies and public employment” explained Magtubo.

He added that “Only the politically naïve will swallow PNoy’s alibi that pork barrel is necessary to deliver social services to the grassroots. The pork barrel is a political not a development tool. On the part of the national government, the pork barrel is a carrot to buy the support of Congress. While on the part of solons, pork barrel is indispensable to sustain the dependency relations with ward leaders and ordinary voters.”

PM asserted that the reforms declared by the President about the congressional pork barrel are not enough. “At best the reforms may curb rampant corruption but PNoy’s insistence in maintaining the pork barrel means he is strengthening it as an instrument of patronage,” Magtubo averred.

Is pork abolished or not?—workers group confused

Press Release

August 23, 2013

The workers group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is asking President Benigno Aquino III to hold another presscon to clarify whether the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) is indeed abolished or not as his announcement today left people confused about his position.

Still PM asserted that the reforms declared by the President Benigno Aquino about the congressional pork barrel are not enough. “At best the reforms may curb rampant corruption but PNoy’s insistence in maintaining the pork barrel means he is strengthening it as an instrument of patronage,” said Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

He added that “Only the politically naïve will swallow PNoy’s alibi that pork barrel is necessary to deliver social services to the grassroots. The pork barrel is a political not a development tool. On the part of the national government, the pork barrel is a carrot to buy the support of Congress. While on the part of solons, pork barrel is indispensable to sustain the loyalty of ward leaders and ordinary voters.”

PM is joining the rally in Luneta on Monday to call for the abolition of pork barrel and the prosecution of those involved in the scam. The group’s chapters in Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo and Iligan are also participating in similar activities in the provinces on August 26.

The labor group is advocating the realignment of the pork barrel into a fund for universal social protection. “The PDAF, the Presidential Social Fund and other incarnations of the pork barrel must be directly allotted to social services that will be accessible to all Filipinos as a matter of right and not targeted or discretionary. In this way, the evil of patronage and corruption is removed the delivery of necessary social services such as Philhealth coverage, socialized housing, subsidies for the MRT and LRT and employment guarantee,” explained Magtubo.

MANGGAGAWA NAMAN Issue 2 on Pork Barrel Scam

Workers to Malacanang: Why pork doubled under PNoy?

PRESS RELEASE

19 August 2013

Wary of mixed signals where investigations on the pork barrel scam will lead to, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is asking Malacanang why, instead of disappearing under the tuwid the daan, appropriations for the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) notoriously known as pork barrel, more than doubled under President Aquino.  

Citing figures available in Department of Budget and Management’s website, the group disclosed that based on annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) allocations for PDAF more than doubled under President Aquino, from P10.9-B at the end of Gloria Arroyo’s term in 2010 to P24.6-B in 2011 as shown in the table below.

PDAF/YEAR	Appropriation in Php billion
2000	3.3
2010	10.9
2011	24.6
2012	24.9
2013	24.8
Proposed 2014	25.2
Source: DBM website www.dbm.gov.ph

“While we laud the efforts of the Commission on Audit in exposing the colossal extent of this pork barrel scam, we are likewise sceptical on where the campaign is leading to,” stated PM Chair Renato Magtubo, pointing to the mixed signals the people are getting from different branches of government.

Magtubo said, people who have no access to basic information like this may have assumed that PNoy’s tuwid na daan has already made efforts to cut or get rid of the pork barrel. 

“It shows otherwise with appropriations under the proposed 2014 budget increasing to P25.2-B, a billion higher than the previous year. Pork under PNoy turned into beef,” said the former party-list representative and whistle blower of the controversial power bill payola scam in 2000.

And such increase, Magtubo continued, happened even with the admission from DBM Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad that there never was a study stating positive economic impact resulting from the use of pork barrel.

The group likewise observes that the hunt for pork scammers is quite selective and centers on Napoles rather than on personalities who really have control and power over the purse.

PM, which joins other groups in calling for the abolition of the pork barrel, called on the workers and the people to put more pressure on the government by joining direct actions like the all-sector march to Luneta being organized for August 26 or initiating other forms of protest. 

Magtubo said the Filipino people is facing solid and organized resistance from the gatekeepers of this traditional political (trapo) system, with members of Congress closing ranks against the mounting movement calling for the abolition of PDAF and other perks.

He also called on all anti-pork advocates to join hands in developing alternatives to the pork barrel system.

One option, he said, is to pool all funds intended for social services and put them into an institutionalized system of universal social protection such as universal healthcare, education, farmers insurance, employment guarantee, or subsidies to essential services such as water, power, mass transport system, housing, among others, with determination of the needs of social classes done in participatory budget process.

“In this way social services are provided by the State as a right or entitlement of every citizen rather than as charity from politicians under the system of patronage politics,” explained Magtubo.

Porky solons missing the point of labor group

NEWS RELEASE

17 August 2013

Perhaps solons are suffering from pork overdose that they totally missed the point raised by Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) on MRT-LRT subsidy, the group’s spokesman said in a statement.  The group is opposing the proposed P10 fare hike in the MRT and LRT systems.

Administration allies in the House of Representatives led by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, and House Deputy Majority Leader Sherwin Tugna, ganged up on PM, describing as “ridiculous” and “misplaced” the group’s assertion that VIPs in government led by the President and members of Congress and the Judiciary enjoy hefty travel allowances compared to the P13 per day subsidy allotted for MRT-LRT commuters.

“They completely missed our point.  Our message was very simple: Why remove the subsidy being enjoyed 460 million times in a year by millions of poor MRT-LRT commuters when few VIPs enjoy a much bigger travel subsidy from taxpayers?  The issue is inequality,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

He added that “In being apologists of the President’s huge transportation subsidy, these porky solons are also providing an alibi for their own travel privileges amounting to P1.7 million per day for 278 lower house representatives.”

PM disclosed earlier that based on the General Appropriations Act of 2012, P344 million was allotted for the Office of the President or equivalent to P943,000 per day.  The Vice President’s travel subsidy was P16.52 million or P45,000 per day; the 23 senators P311.69 million or P854,000 per day; the 15 justices of the Supreme Court, at least P143.29 million or P392,000 a day.

Defending the President’s travel perks, Fortaleza said, was perhaps these solons’ strategy of defending their House which now burns in pork scandal. Fortaleza explained further that social inequalities reflected in the economy are tightly connected with prevailing State policies, specifically on the issue of subsidies.

PM believes that subsidy is not a bad thing if it is in pursuit of social objectives.  “Inequality occurs when millionaire politicians and rent-seekers in business complain about subsidies allocated to the poor when they themselves are heavily subsidized by taxpayers,” lamented Fortaleza.

Citing media reports, Fortaleza pointed to the 2012 Statements of Assets Liabilities and Networths (SALN) where 98% or 271 out of 278 members of Congress were declared millionaires, wherein each of the top 29 netted at least P100-M. Likewise it is only Bro. Armin Luistro of DepEd who is a non-millionaire in PNoy’s official Cabinet.

“We fully subsidize their travel. Yet they complain of the subsidy they appropriate to the poor commuters,” concluded Fortaleza.

PALEA files admin case vs. mulcting prosecutor

Press Release

August 16, 2013

PALEA

Members of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) who were asked to fork over P2.4 million in an extortion attempt trooped to the Department of Justice (DOJ) this morning as the union filed an administrative complaint against assistant prosecutor Diosdado Solidum, Jr. Scores of PALEA members picketed the DOJ main office in Ermita with placards calling for “Justice for PALEA, Suspend Solidum” and “Justice for workers, End contractualization.”

In PALEA’s complaint it asked for the immediate suspension of Solidum. The union welcomed the filing of separate charges last Tuesday by the Ombudsman against Solidum but he was freed after posting bail last Wednesday and yesterday he already reported for work in the DOJ.

PALEA also called on the DOJ to dismiss the case against 241 of its members for alleged violation of the Civil Aviation Authority Act (CAAA). “We salute DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima for her iron will to fight corruption within her department and in government as shown in the entrapment of Solidum and the crusade against Juliet Lim Napoles. But we urge her to struggle for justice too as workers are wronged by fiscals and prosecutors who make erroneous anti-labor decisions,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa.

A new DOJ prosecutor is now handling PALEA’s petition for review after Solidum was arrested in an entrapment operation Thursday last week. PALEA filed the petition for review after a Pasay fiscal found probable cause for violation of Section 81 of CAAA pertaining to disruption and destruction of airport services and facilities during PALEA’s protest against outsourcing in September 27, 2011.

“It behooves the DOJ to dismiss the harassment case against the PALEA 241 because of a fatal flaw. Lawyers of Philippine Airlines do not have any clearance from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in filing the case. Any complaint arising from a labor dispute requires such a clearance before civil courts can take jurisdiction,” Rivera asserted.

Rivera added that the harassment case has a chilling effect on labor relations and is a clear and present danger to workers rights. “Labor protests will then be banned in the aviation industry with workers penalized by both imprisonment and fine in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights. This will be a grave precedent and new special laws can then be enacted to deny workers the freedoms of assembly, expression, self-organization and strike,” he explained.

He explained that “The decision is void of any legal basis as no damages were committed to airport facilities. Moreover the case is a labor issue and thus prior authority from the DOLE and DOJ should have been secured prior to the filing of the complaint. The CAAA is also explicit in providing that 'only the Director General' can file the appropriate charges and not the PAL Vice-President of the Airport Services as in this case.”

Labor challenge to VIPs in gov’t: If you can’t feel the pain, ride the poor man’s train

NEWS RELEASE

15 August 2013

If 91 per cent of members of the Swiss Parliament report to work by taking the tram, why can’t Philippine officials do the same, argued Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), one of the many groups opposing the proposed P10 increase in MRT and LRT rates.

“If you can’t feel the pain, ride the poor man’s train,” declared PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza while reacting to lawmakers’ defence that Presidential and public officials’ travel allowance is not comparable to commuters’ subsidy since the former serves a distinct need and upholds national interest.

The labor group, which earlier disclosed the allocations of hefty travel privileges to government VIPs compared to what millions of train commuters receive in travel subsidy, made the challenge so public officials  get a real sense on how lowly paid workers suffer punishing experience in using the mass transport system on a daily basis.

An online petition initiated by a certain Dinna Dayao made a similar challenge to public officials.  Also earlier, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle called on lawmakers involved in the pork barrel scam to walk around poor communities, and see how robbing the poor is akin to killing them.

Fortaleza argued that even with the subsidy, commuters pay P15 for every crushing train ride while comfortable travels of public officials are fully subsidized by taxpayers. 

“We pay for VIPs air travel.  And when they travel by land, they usually travel in big, luxurious cars that we gas up,” said Fortaleza.

While the poor man’s train, added Fortaleza, is witness to the economic plight of its regular riders, citing a previous study which came out in Roel Landingin’s article in Newsbreak, “LRT, MRT fare hike: Will the poor pay more?”  In that article, the income profile of regular train riders was presented as shown in this table.

 

Income Profile of LRT/MRT Commuters
Monthly Income	% Share
None	14.9
Less than P8,000	29.7
P8,000 -- P10,000	23.1
P10,000 -- P15,000	19.6
P15,000 – P20,000	7.8
P20,000 – P30,000	3.5
More than P30,000	1.4
Total	100.0
Source:  Mega Manila Public Transport Study, 2007

 

The study showed that 67.7 % of LRT and MRT riders earned monthly incomes of less than P10,000 or below the minimum wage and it was assumed that this was the reason why 70% of the riders use  single-journey tickets rather than stored-value cards that cost Php100. 

It also showed that even people without income, perhaps most of them students, utilize the train and they comprise 15% of the riders compared to only 1.4% of those whose monthly incomes are more than Php30,000.

The group said the study merely reflects the fact that Philippine growth is highly unequal, with the bigger share of the GDP cornered by richest families.  Half of the labor force live under vulnerable conditions while close to three million Filipinos is completely unemployed.  More than a third of employed persons are laborers and unskilled workers, therefore low-paid.  Poverty incidence remained at 28%. 

The party reminded President Aquino of his SONA pledge last July that Filipinos don’t have to wait for growth to trickle down. “Sagarin ang opurtunidad para sa lahat,” the President was quoted.

But PM insisted that in the absence of full and gainful employment in the country, the social policy must tip towards providing people with a universal system of social protection, a policy being pursued by no less than the United Nations (UN) and the International Labor Organization (ILO). 

“If the government cannot provide for free social services, the least it should do is to ensure that public services, including transportation, are accessible and affordable to everyone,” said Fortaleza.

The P10 fare hike, he added, is definitely a burden to minimum wage earners and lowly paid workers whose incomes cannot even meet half of daily family living wage estimated to be at least P1,000.00. 

DOJ asked to dismiss case vs. PALEA 241

Press Release

August 15, 2013

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss the case against 241 of its members for alleged violation of the Civil Aviation Authority Act (CAAA) even as it welcomed the filing of charges against a prosecutor for an extortion attempt. Yesterday DOJ assistant prosecutor Diosdado Solidum Jr. was freed after posting bail a day after the Ombudsman filed raps for mulcting P2.4 million from PALEA in return for the dropping of the CAAA case.

“It behooves the DOJ to dismiss the harassment case against the PALEA 241 because of a fatal flaw. Lawyers of Philippine Airlines do not have any clearance from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in filing the case. Any complaint arising from a labor dispute requires such a clearance before civil courts can take jurisdiction,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa.

A new DOJ prosecutor is now handling PALEA’s petition for review after Solidum was arrested in an entrapment operation Thursday last week. PALEA filed the petition for review after a Pasay fiscal found probable cause for violation of Section 81 of CAAA pertaining to disruption and destruction of airport services and facilities during PALEA’s protest against outsourcing in September 27, 2011.

“We salute DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima for her iron will to fight corruption within her department and in government as shown in the entrapment of Solidum and the crusade against Juliet Lim Napoles. But we urge her to struggle for justice too as workers are wronged by fiscals and prosecutors who make erroneous anti-labor decisions,” Rivera asserted.

Rivera added that the harassment case has a chilling effect on labor relations and is a clear and present danger to workers rights. “Labor protests will then be banned in the aviation industry with workers penalized by both imprisonment and fine in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights. This will be a grave precedent and new special laws can then be enacted to deny workers the freedoms of assembly, expression, self-organization and strike,” he explained.

He explained that “The decision is void of any legal basis as no damages were committed to airport facilities. Moreover the case is a labor issue and thus prior authority from the DOLE and DOJ should have been secured prior to the filing of the complaint. The CAAA is also explicit in providing that 'only the Director General' can file the appropriate charges and not the PAL Vice-President of the Airport Services as in this case.”

Gov’t urged to bare and disclose MRT-3 mess before asking for a fare hike

NEWS RELEASE

15 August 2013

Before considering any hike in MRT and LRT rates, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is asking the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) to bare and disclose the real score behind the failed Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) MRT-3 project which condemned the government with tremendous financial headaches.

In a position paper it plans to submit prior to the public consultations being organized by DOTC, PM demands that all parties be provided with the following documents:

1.      The original BLT contract between the DOTC and the MRTC, including contract price, guaranteed passenger traffic, and amendments that were made;

2.     A factual presentation of why the government was forced to assume the operations and maintenance of MRT-3 from MRTC and why the latter hailed the former before the Arbitration Court in Singapore;

3.      The proposed Compromise Agreement with MRTC as mentioned under Executive Order No. 126 signed by President Aquino on February 28, 2013;

4.     Audited financial statements of MRT/LRT systems, including BLT amortization and local tax liabilities of MRTC assumed by the government; and,

5.      Other available relevant documents.

“Hindi lang dapat tama ang kwenta.  Dapat tama rin ang kwento,” stated PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza, pointing out that Pepe and Pilar deserved to be apprised of the real story behind the numbers as well as the truth on why the MRT-3 project turned into a big mess.

President Aquino during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) complained of the big subsidies taxpayers pay for MRT and LRT commuters.  He said the amount of subsidy in MRT line is P45 and in LRT lines P25.  To reduce this burden, he proposed that rates in the MRT/LRT systems be brought closer to the rates of air-conditioned buses.  The President’s numbers, however, are being contested by PM.

DOTC puts the annual subsidy for the MRT and LRT systems at P6-B, down from P7-B in the previous years.  The agency has recently floated the idea of asking for a P10 hike in MRT/LRT rates.

The labor group said based on initial reports, some P75-B of subsidy for MRT-3 had been spent by the government for the past ten years and close to that amount for LRT 1 and 2.

“If such is true, private investors and creditor banks had already made the killings out of the MRT-3 contract,” said Fortaleza, adding that the project cost amounted to US$679-M only in 2007 or about P20-B based on the prevailing exchange rate at that time.

“So after coughing out P75-B, are we going to continue to pay them P6-B annually for the next 10 years?” lamented Fortaleza.

Ownership of the private concession was also mired in corporate complexity after the consortium Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) owned by the Sobrepenas, Ramos and Ayala, who bagged the MRT-3 contract securitized their interests through bond issues and which later was bought back by the government through the Land Bank and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

MRTC loans were backed by government’s sovereign undertakings similar to the notorious IPP contracts in the power industry which carried “take-or-pay” provisions.

“The country had loads of bad experience in onerous IPP contracts.  The MRT project happened under the same regimes of BOT contracts during the time of President Ramos and as such, it must have suffered the same flaws,” explained Fortaleza. 

Partido ng Manggagawa insists that costs borne out of onerous contracts, corporate fraud, or flawed executive decisions should not be passed on to consumers.

If such is proven, PM demands that the BLT contract is not only terminated but rescinded at no further cost to the government and any liabilities accrued from such onerous or fraudulent transactions should not be passed on to commuters. 

Bigger subsidy for VIP travel of public officials makes MRT/LRT fare hike unfair and unjust

NEWS RELEASE

14 August 2013

Public officials enjoy bigger travel subsidies compared to what poor commuters receive from the government, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

The group revealed that public officials led by the Office of President and his Cabinet, the Vice President, the members of Congress and the Judiciary, enjoy bigger allocations for VIP travel compared to the amount of subsidy enjoyed by millions of commuters for a crushing ride at MRT and LRT trains.

According to PM, this great imbalance makes the proposed fare hike for the MRT and LRT system not only unfair but unjust.

In a position paper the group plans to submit to the government prior to the public consultations being organized by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), PM asserts that State subsidy is not a bad thing if it is in pursuit of a social objective -- in this case the general welfare of the commuting public.

But President Aquino during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) complained of the big subsidies taxpayers pay for MRT and LRT commuters.  He said the amount of subsidy in MRT line is P45 and in LRT lines P25.  To reduce this burden, he proposed that rates in the MRT/LRT systems are brought closer to the rates of air-conditioned buses. 

Two days later, a proposed P10 fare hike to be realized on a staggered basis was announced by DOTC.

Subsidy to commuters

The group, however, said the President’s presentation on subsidy was “erroneous” because he compared the cost of a train to a bus which is a different utility and therefore cannot but used as a reference benchmark. 

“Aside from advantages in terms of efficiency and economy of scale, the former is also a monopoly and therefore enjoys a captive market compared with the latter,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

Based on PM’s own computation, the actual subsidy every commuter receives every time he/she uses the system amounts to only P13 or merely a third of the amount presented by President.  The group arrived at this estimate by dividing the P6-B total subsidy with the total passenger traffic in the MRT and LRT systems.  Passenger traffic reached total average of 460 million rides in a year. 

According to reports, MRT-3 has average daily rides of 520,000 to 600,000 or a total of 189.8 million to 219 million passenger rides in one year while LRT lines 1 and 2 have 241 million combined in 2012.

System	Annual Passenger Traffic	Total Subsidy
MRT-3	219-M	Php6-B
LRT Lines 1 & 2	241 -M
Total	460 -M
Actual Subsidy/Passenger/Day                      =             Php13

“The fact that the P6-B subsidy at a rate of P13 per ride was enjoyed 460 million times by millions of poor commuters is not a bad thing.  It was a productive expense,” asserted Fortaleza.

Travel subsidy for public officials

On the other side public officials enjoy a bigger amount which they prefer to call official privilege rather than subsidy.  Based on the 2012 General Appropriations Act, select government officials received the following amounts:

GOVERNMENT OFFICES’ TRAVEL EXPENSE 2012
Office	Amount Per Year in Php	Amount Per Day in Php
Office of the President	344,191,000.00	942,989.04
Office of the Vice President	16,520,000.00	45,260.27
Senate	311,694,000.00	853,956.16
House of Representatives	618,267,000.00	1,693,882.19
Supreme Court	143,291,000.00	392,578.08
DOTC Secretary	65,881,000.00	180,495.89

The government is subsidizing commuters by only P13 per day and the President expressed discomfort why all taxpayers including those from Visayas and Mindanao have to unfairly subsidize commuters in Metro Manila. 

But aren’t all taxpayers all over the Philippines subsidizing the non-economy travel of our public officials, too?  Based on the 2012 GAA, the President had a staggering amount of travel subsidy of P942,000 per day; P45,000 for the Vice President;  P854,000 for the 23 senators; P1.7 million for 278 congressmen; and at least P392,000 for the 15 justices of the Supreme Court. 

Even Secretary Joseph Abaya whose department oversee the MRT and LRT operations enjoyed a daily travel subsidy of P180,000 in 2012. 

Travel expenses for public officials reached at least P8.7-B in 2012. This is outside their allotted pork barrel which is close to P30-B for 2014, intelligence funds, representation allowances, and other perks.

“Perhaps comfort belongs only to public officials and not to the poor commuters,” lamented Fortaleza.

PALEA press for suspension of prosecutor, dismissal of case

Press Release

August 10, 2013

PALEA 

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately suspend assistant Diosdado Solidum Jr. and to dismiss the case against its 241 members. Solidum was arrested in an entrapment operation Thursday night for extorting P2.5 million from PALEA members in return for the dropping of charges for violation of Section 81 of the Civil Aviation Authority Act (CAAA).

“The arrest of Solidum is but a small step in our quest for justice. We hope that it will pave the way for the dismissal of the harassment case against PALEA. The protest PALEA launched against outsourcing in September 27, 2011 in our workplace was a Constitutionally-guaranteed right to seek redress of grievances and does not fall under the provisions of the CAAA which concerns disruption and destruction of airport services and facilities,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa.

Rivera added that “PALEA will fight all lawbreakers whether in barongs or in suits. PALEA members are victims of injustice not once but twice. First, some 2,000 workers were retrenched in a failed outsourcing scam and 241 members were charged in court for protesting. Then prosecutor Solidum tried to extort from retrenched and jobless workers,”

PALEA hailed DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima for authorizing the entrapment operation. “We need more de Limas and less Solidums in government if workers are to have a chance at attaining some measure of justice in this system. Truly the wheels of justice turn slow for workers but the arrest of Solidum should send a signal to all that the labor movement will fight to win.” Rivera ended.

PALEA and the new management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) under the San Miguel group are still in negotiations over the union’s demand for the return of retrenched workers to their regular jobs. Meanwhile the union continues to garner support as the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF) welcomed the talks between PAL and PALEA to settle the long-running dispute.

In a statement released in mid-July after the announcement of the lifting of the European Union ban on PAL flights to the continent (http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/9299), the ETF urged PAL to “come to a full and fair settlement.”

Further, delegates to the June 2013 Asia Pacific conference of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) restated their solidarity with PALEA. ITF civil aviation secretary Gabriel Mocho promised the full support of all affiliates to use whatever legal means necessary to ensure justice for PALEA.