“The recent electoral exercise only produced more of the same well-entrenched political clans, rights violators, and peddlers of the country’s resources to foreign big business,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, characterizing the results of the 2013 elections.
“The recent electoral exercise only produced more of the same well-entrenched political clans, rights violators, and peddlers of the country’s resources to foreign big business,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, characterizing the results of the 2013 elections.
Palabay added that “human rights violators were among those who emerged as ‘victors’” citing the Marcoses, Arroyos, the proxies of the Ampatuans and Reyes of Palawan, among others. Most of those who were proclaimed winners, Palabay said, “did not lift a finger nor utter a word against the fascist attacks on the Filipino people through Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. Some are even party to the President’s promotion of government and military officials accused of rights violations.”
Palabay also scored the fact that majority of those elected in the both Houses of Congress were of “the same landed class and with business interests to advance and protect; acting like keyed-up salespersons of the country’s remaining natural resources.”
“It comes as no surprise that days after the proclamation of election winners, Malacañang allies started to resurrect the idea of a Charter change,” Palabay said, adding that “Charter change would mean unhampered access and ownership of the country’s resources by foreign big business to the detriment not only of the poor Filipinos but also the medium-sized Filipino businesses.”
Karapatan believes that “with or without Charter change, the Aquino government, with the Senate and Congress filled with its allies, can amend existing or create new laws to the detriment of the Filipino people, for example, the 100 percent ownership to foreign big business corporations that has been pushed even by the past administrations.”
“This means further deprivation and exploitation of the poor Filipino people. It is also expected that the Aquino government will use force and violence to drive away people from their lands and/or to quell the people’s resistance against these anti-people policies,” Palabay said.
“The 2013 election consolidated the Aquino faction. With the same names and brand of politics at the helm, the people remain vigilant as they work on a day-to-day basis for real and meaningful change in our society and in protecting their social, economic and political rights—something that this government had failed to do for its people,” ended Palabay.