Risa Hontiveros is Not My Senator.
Why?
On Education
AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros and their allied youth groups in the different State Universities and Colleges are widely known for their anti-student stand on the issue of tuition and other fee increases. Closer to us, AKBAYAN and their allied youth groups in UP has taken the side of the administration in the issue of tuition and other fee increases. They are for the passing of the 300% TOFI in UP.
Hontiveros and her partylist believe that government spending on education is low. They are insisting that the government should prioritize education and follow UNESCO’s recommendation of allocating the 6 percent of GNP to education spending. BUT. But they were not there when students were fighting for a higher state subsidy. Another lip-service. Instead of uniting with the students in their call for a higher state subsidy, they are “parroting” the line of the administration that TOFI is just timely.
MY SENATOR SHOULD RECOGNIZE OUR RIGHT TO EDUCATION. RISA HONTIVEROS IS NOT MY SENATOR.
On Student’s Rights
She co-authored the fake Magna Carta of Students or the Student’s Rights and Welfare Bill. Instead of protecting the interests, rights and welfare of the students, the bill will limit these things. They continue to lobby this inside the Congress and in other schools through different activities. Deception. Last time I checked, “no one” attended the STRAWBS forum in UP Manila last year.
MY SENATOR SHOULD RECOGNIZE AND PROMOTE THE DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS OF STUDENTS. RISA HONTIVEROS IS NOT MY SENATOR.
On Agrarian Reform
She lobbied for the passage of a fake agrarian reform bill. She co-authored the CARPER Bill or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms Bill. CARPER is a fake agrarian reform bill that is worse than the existing CARP that will benefit the already rich landlords especially the Arroyos, Aquinos and Cojuangcos. Why would PGMA ask her allies in the Congress to immediately pass the bill? Because CARPER is designed to fail. Lands will not be distributed. She is not for the farmers.
MY SENATOR SHOULD SUPPORT THE CAUSE OF THE FARMERS AND THE OTHER SECTORS OF THE SOCIETY. RISA HONTIVEROS IS NOT MY SENATOR.
On Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza
She is “stupid.” Red-baiting is a cheap tactic. She parrots the line of the AFP that Liza Maza and Satur Ocampo are leaders of CPP-NPA. Can’t she just accept the truth? The Supreme Court of the Philippines already proved and decided that Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza are not in any way connected to NPA. This decision was supported by the United Nations and the US Government. Risa Hontiveros is investing on negative campaigning. Shooting other targets down to gain votes. Pathetic.
MY SENATOR SHOULD NOT TELL LIES. MOVE ON! RISA HONTIVEROS IS NOT MY SENATOR.
On Traditional Politics
Hontiveros is a traditional politician. Proof? What can you say about her TV advertisements? It’s all about the mysterious and unsubstantiated “Magandang Laban.” What the hell is “Magandang Laban?” Hindi naman siya maganda. At lalong hindi naman siya kasama sa laban. Nahawa na ata kay Noynoy. Instead of presenting her plans or her platform on her Ads, sumasayaw lang siya at nagpapa-endorse sa mga sikat na tao. MAGANDANG LABAN?
MY SENATOR SHOULD PROMOTE PRO-PEOPLE PLATFORM-BASED POLITICS. RAISE THE LEVEL OF POLITICS! RISA HONTIVEROS IS NOT MY SENATOR.
On Tactical Alliance with the Liberal Party
Why is Risa Hontiveros with Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas? Why is she with Ralph Recto (EVAT)? Noy-Mar are rabid supporters of the US neoliberal policies. She and her partylist keep on denouncing the US neoliberal policies and E-VAT. They considered it as evil. Ito nga daw ang problema ng ating bansa. But what happened? Why is she with Noynoy and Mar? With Ralph Recto? What kind of tactical alliance is this? Makasama na lang. Pagandahan na lang ng laban.
MY SENATOR SHOULD BE PRINCIPLED, FIRM AND CONSISTENT. HE/SHE SHOULD ALSO PROMOTE A PRO-FILIPINO SYSTEM OF ECONOMY. RISA HONTIVEROS IS NOT MY SENATOR.
Sasama ka pa rin ba sa Magandang Laban? Risa Hontiveros is not the people’s senator. An opportunistic and fake nationalist leader-legislator is not what we need in this time of poverty and corruption. Sino ba dapat ang nasa Senado? ALAM NA!
Popularity: 21% [?]
Walden Bello, AKBAYAN and Noynoy Aquino
As part of the celebration of the UP Manila's Department of Social Sciences (DSS) week, the department invited AKBAYAN Partylist Representative and UP Professor Walden Bello. He delivered a lecture in behalf of the parylist and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC). His lecture was about food sovereignty or how can a nation prevent food crisis. He cited several causes of a food crisis. These includes land conversion for commercial or industrial use (IT Parks, Subdivisions, Malls and many others), land conversion for export mono-cropping and the exploitation of transnational and multi-national companies of our agricultural resources. And being a country that is capitalist agriculture, we plant crops and other things based on the demand of the global elite market (export demand) and not based on our domestic needs. This means that the landlords only allow farmers to plant crops based on what is more profitable in the global elite market than what is needed here. Many of our lands are converted to unsustainable mono-cropping. There is no consideration of what we need domestically thus, the food crisis and the import of crops and other agricultural products.
I agree with Prof. Bello in this part. I share the same findings. The problem of the food crisis lies within the framework of our government and society. We based all our policies for foreign benefits. Our government officials allows these kind of policies that benefits the imperialist countries and the local elites (them and landlords and big companies). National policies does not include the needs and the demands of the poor, the basic mass, the peasants, the fishermen and other marginalized sector of the society. The supposed to be democratic society becomes a society for the elites and the domination of the elites. A capitalist society to be specific.
But Prof. Bello and AKBAYAN is contradicting itself when it comes to the policies they support in the Congress and this society's problems that they've identified. They supported and even lobbied for the immediate passage of the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP or CARPER). This program exempts farm lands that will be converted to commercial complex (what happened in Hacienda Luisita), to poultry and livestock industry and many other things. This allows landowners to not redistribute their lands to the peasants.. It's a loophole intentionally designed by the people in the Congress. To make it short, landowners will convert their farmlands to be able to maintain its ownership. In this situation, agricultural yields decreases. There's a policy indirectly encouraging landlords to abandon farming and instead use their lands for other purposes. This decrease in agricultural yields will result into a food shortage that can lead into a food crisis. This food crisis will make us dependent on the importing of agricultural products. Thus, losing our food sovereignty.
Lands must be redistributed. We should go back to community-based farming where farmers consider the immediate needs of the community. This answers the problem of food crisis because domestic needs are being prioritized rather than the demands of the elite market. And only the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) allows genuine redistribution of land. This GARB answers the problem of the fake agrarian reform bill CARP or CARPER. AKBAYAN and Prof. Bello failed to recognize that it is the and the only key. But they continue to blind people that CARP or CARPER will actually answer our problems in land distribution and food security. It actually worsens the situation.
During the lecture, i asked him if there are any presidentiables that is prioritizing food security and sovereignty. If there can be one of these people running for presidency that includes a national policy that will prevent a food crisis and dependence on imports. He answered on the negative and recommended that we should bring this issue as a central problem of the Philippines in presidential debates and other key fora.
But AKBAYAN is supporting the candidacy of Noynoy Aquino, right?
Noynoy Aquino is planning for a more open and more neo-liberalize economy. This means more foreign exploitation and domination of our resources. Once this happens, the agricultural market will disregard the domestic needs or demand. The country will be again producing for the market of the global elites. When this happens, food crisis is likely to happen. Prof. Bello and AKBAYAN again missed the point. Why would they support a Noynoy government if they don't want food crises to happen? Contradicting.
Even though Prof. Bello and AKBAYAN recognizes the problems of this country, they failed to give the right solutions. Is this the change that their party list and their president is talking about? If it is, I don't want any part of it.
Popularity: 9% [?]








