vigilance in face of poll automation failure, bombing, martial rule plot

Casiño calls for vigilance
in face of poll automation failure, bombing, martial rule plot

News Release
June 30, 2009

In view of the apparent collapse of the poll automation project, the recent bombing and the “Oplan August Moon” plot, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño today warned the public to be extra vigilant in ensuring that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will not stay in power beyond June 2010.

"We should be on guard not only with con-ass but the other Palace-concocted scenarios. We must be extra vigilant for a no elections (no-el) scenario or a brewing coup plot that would prolong PGMA's powerhold beyond 2010," Casiño said, citing an earlier proposal by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales for Arroyo to head a transitional revolutionary civilian-military junta.

"Due to irreconcilable differences between TIM and Smartmatic, the planned automated election has been jeopardized. We also suspect that the leak about 'Oplan August Moon' and the bomb incidents at the Department of Agriculture and the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City are all aimed at creating the conditions for giving Arroyo authoritarian powers or extending her term beyond 2010," Casiño said.

Regarding a possible declaration of military rule, Casiño said "Marcos did it before. Arroyo has all the cards, motives and tendencies to do it again. We should keep ourselves informed and prepared for such scenarios."

Casiño warned the Palace not to consider such repressive scenarios as PGMA might suffer the fate of ousted president Marcos in the 1980s and, just recently, of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, if PGMA and her allies push through with term extension.

The plot dubbed “Oplan August Moon” was reported as favorable to Arroyo and to generals identified with Class ’78 of the Philippine Military Academy. PGMA is an adopted member of Class ’78.

Casiño, together with anti con-ass leaders, lawmakers, and ordinary citizens will be marching against con-ass and Charter change today at 3 p.m., June 30. Assembly points are: Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila - Intramuros, Adamson University - Taft Ave., and Welcome Rotonda in Manila. Students, professors and participants from schools such as DLSU, St. Scholastica's College, UP Manila, Adamson University, and PLM comprise the contingent to be joined by Casiño. The groups will converge at Plaza Salamanca along Taft Avenue and will proceed to Liwasang Bonifacio. ###

Three Things PGMA Should Say on Her SONA

News Release
June 29, 2009

Cong. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna today said there are only three things that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should declare on her State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City.

Casiño said, “Majority of Filipinos, as consistently verified in all opinion surveys in the country, are interested to hear only three things from PGMA when she delivers her SONA:

Number 1. ‘ I will abandon all efforts to convene Congress into a constituent assembly (con-ass) and therefore there will be no more Charter change (Cha-cha) before the 2010 national elections; ’
Number 2. ‘ I will step down in 2010, and; ’
Number 3. ‘ I’m not running for any position, be it for Congresswoman or even for municipal councilor, in the 2010 elections. ”

“That’s all that matters. That’s all we want to hear from PGMA,” affirmed Casiño, citing the nationwide disgust for President Arroyo and her administration.

“She should make her last SONA short and sweet. Enough of her lies. PGMA’s alter-egos in Malacañang do not need to fool us about a ‘resilient Philippine economy’, the ‘improved fight against corruption’ and her numerous achievements,” said Casiño.

“PGMA’s claims of economic development are obviously far from reality,” concluded Casiño.

on the DepEd noodles scam

Casiño fears Malacanang, DepEd intent on reviving P427 noodles scam

News Release
June 26, 2009

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño welcomed yesterday's filing of formal charges against DepEd officials and others involved in the controversial P427 million noodle feeding program even as he expressed fears that efforts are underway to revive the anomalous contract.

The contract with Jeverps Manufacturing Corp. was earlier cancelled by the DepEd following an embarrassing investigation by the Senate which revealed an overprice of up to P15 for each of the 19,418,880 packs of 100g instant noodles. Yesterday's complaint filed in the Office of the Ombudsman included several DepEd officials led by Sec. Jesli Lapus as respondents.

Casiño said, however, that formal charges notwithstanding, efforts are apparently underway to revive the contract.

"Sec. Lapus' statements reveal that he still considers the P427 million contract with Jeverps regular and legal and that it was merely cancelled to avoid a possible temporary restraining order from the courts. In other words, it was just a tactical retreat," said Casiño, author of House Bill 1126 directing the House Committee on Good Government to investigate the anomaly.

Casiño said he was greatly bothered by paid advertisements that appeared in various newspapers last week showing Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III endorsing DepEd's noodle feeding program even after the contract had been cancelled. Titled "Noodles For A Healthy Start," the third paragraph of the ad states that "prolonging the noodle controversy will only compromise the health and nutrition of school children especially the malnourished." (Please see the ad from the June 21 issue of the Phil. Daily Inquirer.)

"I wonder why Malacanang and the DOH would bother to come out with paid ads endorsing a cancelled DepEd program. Are they preparing the public for a revival of the overpriced project? Are they also interested in the potential multi-million kickback the project offers? Is the apparent 'tongpats' part of their 2010 campaign kitty?" he asked.

"My informants tell me Jeverps is planning to sue DepEd for canceling the contract and DepEd is just waiting to enter into an amicable settlement with the company. This news is indeed distressing," he said.

Casiño's advise to DepEd Sec. Jesli Lapus: "If you truly believe that instant noodles are the solution to malnutrition among our school children, then immediately rebid the project and make sure the more reputable companies participate in the bidding."###

"No" vote to House Bill No. 4077

Rep. Teddy Casiño's Explanation of "No" vote
to the CARP Extension Bill (House Bill No. 4077)

June 03, 2009

Twenty years ago, our distinguished colleague in the 8th Congress, the late Rep. Bonifacio Gillego, the main author and staunchest proponent of agrarian reform at that time, declared the comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP) a corpse.

"My task," he said in explaining his negative vote on Hose Bill No. 400, which eventually became Republic Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, "is to deliver a funeral oration on CARP." His point being that the 8th Congress had watered down and mangled agrarian reform beyond recognition and removed it of its heart and soul.

Mr. Speaker, my dear colleagues, by extending the life of the zombie of an agrarian reform program that is RA6657, even with token amendments which we did tonight, we are repeating the very same sin of the 8th Congress of crafting a defective and anti-farmer agrarian reform law.

How can I support such a program when the Honorable sponsor Edcel Lagman admitted during interpellation that HB 4077 will not correct what he called the "congenital defects" of RA 6657? These include the following major flaws: (1) the exclusion of vast tracts of CARP-able land due to technical classifications, land use conversions and retention limits; (2) the provisions for alternative modes of compliance which denies the farmer beneficiaries full ownership and control of the land; (3) a payment scheme that keeps farmers in a continued life of debt and servitude to the landlord or the Land Bank. In fact I learned from the Land Bank in a hearing this morning that 62% of the CARP beneficiaries can not pay the annual amortization; (4) a valuation and compensation scheme that provides vast opportunities for graft and corruption and the connivance of DAR officials and landlords in milking billions of taxpayers' money; and (5) voluntary land sale and transfer schemes that is corruption-prone and gives landlords the upper hand over their erstwhile tenants.

Ang mga kahinaang ito na nasa batas mismo ang pangunahing dahilan kung bakit umabot na nang 20 taon ang CARP pero walang makabuluhang resulta. Ang hindi nagawa ng 20 taon hindi matatapos sa loob ng limang taon na extension ng CARP.

Kung kasumpa-sumpa ang ginawa ng 8th Congress sa pagpasa ng isang walang puso at walang kaluluwang agrarian reform law, mas kasumpa-sumpa ang ang ginagawa nating pagpapahaba ng programa na alam na nating palpak at hindi nagsilbi sa pagpapalaya at pagpapaunlad ng ating mga magsasaka sa loob ng 20 taon. Hindi matatanggap ng aking konsensya na sumuporta sa isang batas na magpapatuloy sa ganitong panlilinlang, pagsasamantala at pagpapahirap sa ating mga magsasaka.

Ang sabi ng iba, well meaning friends have told me: "Pagbigyan na natin ito. Ito lang ang maibibigay ng Kongreso, tanggapin na natin." I'm sorry, my dear colleagues, but as far as agrarian reform is concerned, I don't subscribe to the idea that something is better than nothing. Or that beggars can't be choosers. Our farmers are not beggars. They deserve more than the crumbs CARP and HB 4077 offers.

There are times when we have to draw the line. When we should reject compromise when it is already a sellout. I believe this is the time. I am here in Congress to protect the rights and interests of the farmers, and I will do so without compromise, especially if there is a sellout.

In any case, may pagkakataon pa tayong gumawa ng isang mas matino at maka-magsasakang batas para sa repormang agraryo. Isang batas na tunay na sasalamin sa interes ng karamihan ng ating mga kababayan - ang mga magsasakang nagpapakain sa ating bansa.

I am for a new and better agrarian reform law. Therefore I vote no to House Bill No. 4077.

Maraming salamat po.###