The House of Representatives staff of Kabataan Party, of which I am part of, started a group Twitter and Plurk account a few days ago. Since we attend committee hearings left and right, attend plenary sessions and other Congress functions, too, we might as well give you a blow by blow account of the happenings in Congress, from the interesting and sometimes scandalous sound bites of congressmen (which may not see the light of day in mainstream TV), to random and mundane twits about various quirks with House procedures and our rants on Congress red tape, among other things. The entire Batasan complex is wifi-enabled after all. Add us up, we are Kabataan Crew!
Posts tagged with congress
I just got home form my second day at the House of Representatives (Batasan) as part of the Kabataan Party staff under the office of Rep. Mong Palatino. I’ve been getting the hang of the tasks around the office, so far.
I filed two resolutions today, then stayed at the floor of the plenary behind the congressmen, supposedly to conduct the slideshow presentation for Mong’s privilege speech. The session, however, dragged on (they debated on the rules on attendance for almost an hour, among other administrative matters) until the congressmen sneaked out of the hall one by one after the roll call. By the time majority of the seats in the session hall were empty, we decided to postpone the privilege speech for Wednesday.
Kabataan’s office is one of the makeshift offices made from the partitioning of one large empty room in the main session hall building, divided into cubicles for the newly-proclaimed party-lists. To go there, one has to go up and down several flights of stairs, through back corridors and storage areas. Such makes it a relatively tiring chore to run papers such as resolutions and other letters through the different bureaucratic offices in the vast Batasan complex. I’d say come visit us, but we don’t even have an official room number, and unless you are ushered in by an insider, you’ll surely get lost.
Regardless if Malacanang grounds was a no-rally zone, the police clearly exceeded the necessary force to repel or to prevent any danger, real or apparent, that the students posed. Sure, the students may have risked being arrested, or blocked at the least, but they did not have to be confronted with rifles, contrary to well-settled rules of engagement, be dragged on asphalt, have their clothes ripped apart, and be be beaten up.
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino strongly condemns the violent dispersal of youth and student protesters who held a lightning rally in Mendiola earlier today.
Palatino said, “After insulting the public’s intelligence by spewing out ridiculous lies and alibis to justify Arroyo’s lavish dinners, authorities are now resorting to excessive force and violence to quell disgust over the administration’s gluttony amidst widespread crisis and poverty.”
“This is not right and downright unjust. Hindi natin puwedeng palagpasin ito. Hindi na nga makapagpaliwanag ng maayos ang pangulo sa publiko, ngayon naman halos patayin sa suntok, bugbog st sipa ang mga kabataang nagpoprotesta. Kung dati’y mga mamahaling dinner lang ang hindi natin masikmura, ngayon nadagdagan pa ang dahilan para lalo tayong masuklam sa administrasyong ito,” Palatino said.
The young solon said that he will file a resolution directing the House Committee on Human Rights to immediately conduct an investigation of the violent dispersal.
Palatino added that his office’s legal team is also studying filing legal charges against police authorities and members of the Presidential Security Group who clearly used excessive force and have violated their protocols of engagement, with news footage and photos as evidence.#
photos from the Associated Press (by Aaron Favila) and Reuters (by Romeo Ranoco)
Privilege Speech of Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino
Delivered on August 17, 2009
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, I rise on behalf of fellow young Filipinos denied of their dreams and were forced to enter the illusory world of call centers.
The tale of Filipino youths setting aside their childhood dreams to enter the call center industry is fast becoming a common story. More and more young Filipinos are being lured into working in a call center regardless of their educational background. A starting salary of P15,000 on average is indeed attractive, not to mention the signing bonus and incentives for good work performance.
As the global financial crisis sweeps ominously into Asian shores, the Philippine government has continuously promoted and relied on the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry to provide opportunities to millions of jobless Filipinos. The number of jobs generated grew robustly from 99,000 workers in 2004 to 372,000 workers in 2008, most of them in their 20s.
For the government, the BPO sector is a major contributor in terms of revenues and employment generation. From $350 million in 2001, revenues generated from the BPO sector surged to $6 billion in 2008. The government was quick to conclude that the BPO sector is poised to benefit from the global recession.
This has prompted both the administration and the vanguards of globalization to brand the BPO sector as the “sunshine industry.”
But there is a need, Mr. Speaker, to bust the myth surrounding the so-called sunshine industry. For behind the seemingly innocuous statistics and improving figures lie tales of exploitation, false hopes, and dim working conditions inside the call center.
We, law students from UP, UST, Lyceum, San Beda, PUP, Arellano, and San Sebastian, united by common ideals, do strongly voice out our opposition to charter change.
As students of the law, we recognize the supremacy of the Constitution, the highest law of the land. On it hinges the legality or illegality of all other laws.
We also recognize that it is actually us, the people of the Philippines, who are the true authors of the Constitution, and as such, any move to amend or revise the Constitution should respect the will of the people of the Philippines.
We agree that the law only authorizes three methods of changing the charter, and that it is the intent of the framers of the Constitution that any amendments or revisions must still be ratified by the citizens, thus giving to the citizens a very important role in shaping the highest law of the land.
We generally have nothing against charter change, since it is provided for in the Constitution itself. What we are against is the suspect timing of such a move, which we believe is motivated by the political agenda of those involved, especially the ones who vehemently push for the approval of a Constituent Assembly.
Sign the online petition of the youth against Con-Ass (Constituent Assembly) and Charter Change here.
We are today’s generation of Filipino youth, young, vibrant and spirited, transcending professions, cultures and boundaries, and to whom the hopes and aspirations for the nation’s future is bequeathed.
Together, we vehemently oppose all attempts by the ruling Arroyo clique and its cronies in Congress to tamper with the Constitution and perpetuate itself in power. We denounce in the strongest possible terms the blatant abuse of power and treachery that have come to characterize this regime.
The shameless display of arrogance and callousness of the Arroyo government sends for all patriotic and freedom-loving young Filipinos to dissent. The signs of times are rallying us to lives of involvement and action.
The youth have always played a pivotal role in ushering in significant changes and junctures in history. We have always been at the forefront of uprisings and revolutions every time the social, political and economic conditions in society become too intolerable for Filipinos to endure.
Today, we have a moral and sacred duty to perform. We cannot remain silent or with our arms crossed. We cannot remain indifferent while our own future as a people and a nation are being compromised for selfish political ambitions. The stakes are too high for us to take a pass.
365 days to go
“Kabataan, tayo ang pagbabago.”
This was the message of Kabataan Party-list together with other youth and student groups as they launched a “˜youth countdown to 2010′ today.
Kabataan Party-list kicked off the countdown with a Voters’ Registration and Education campaign dubbed, “˜We Are Change‘.
Other sponsors of the effort were the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND-UP), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Student Christian Movement, League of Filipino Students, Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan, Anakbayan and Youth ACT Now (Youth for Truth and Accountability Now).
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino said, “We are aware of numerous initiatives by various sectors to launch voters’ awareness and education projects and we express our desire to cooperate with them. “˜We Are Change,’ however, signifies the forging of youth unity for youth empowerment and active participation for change in 2010 and beyond. This is our very own countdown to change, initiated by the youth. Kabataan, tayo ang pagbabago.”
Palatino said that the We Are Change campaign aims to reach the 11 million first-time voters for 2010.
Victor Villanueva
law student, leftist, national democratic, film school graduate, photography hobbyist