Posts tagged with Kabataang Pinoy

0 comments

April 24, 2009

Not too many congressmen but too many Arroyos in Congress

Kabataan Party-list Representative-elect Raymond “Mong” Palatino today said if there should be a crisis in the House of Representatives, it is “not because there is an overabundance of congressmen but the addition of another spawn from the Arroyo clan in the Lower House.”

This was Palatino’s reaction to statements by House Speaker Prospero Nograles and other like-minded solons who are “inventing trivial concerns over the SC ruling granting 32 more seats to party-list representatives by over-emphasizing the alleged crisis the additional seats would cause Congress.”

“The real and present crisis is that we now have too many Arroyos in power. We cannot have too much congressmen, especially if they genuinely represent the marginalized sectors of society. What is terribly bothersome is that these Arroyos are landlords and compradors. Do they really represent who they claim to represent? That is the one questionable thing in this whole matter,” Palatino said.

Read the rest of this entry »

0 comments

April 23, 2009

Kabataan, tayo ang pagbabago

Message of Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino to the Filipino youth on the historical event of seating the first youth representative in Congress

Five years in the making for the country’s sole youth sectoral party-list, but better late than never and victory is still sweet for all Filipino youth.

Kabataan Party-list, the largest youth party in the country, represented the youth sector in the 2007 elections. It was the second time for our organization to run in the party-list elections. In 2004, we ran under our previous name, Anak ng Bayan, and were among the top choices for party-list based on pre-election surveys. Anak ng Bayan, however, fell prey to massive cheating. A significant number of our votes were anomalously counted in favor of another party-list group, thus our change of name in the 2007 party-list elections.

Despite not winning, we went on with our advocacies and continued to carry on with our principles and general program of action with the help of our founding organizations, such as the National Union of Students of the Philippines, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, League of Filipino Students and Anakbayan and other supporters nationwide and abroad.

Now, five years after our first electoral bid, Kabataan Party-list has finally secured a seat in the House of Representatives per SC GR No. 179271, promulgated April 29, 2009.

Now, we are happy to convey the message to all Filipino youth that the SC Resolution, in effect, has once again marked the youth’s rightful place in history by granting the first ever youth sectoral representation in the House of Representatives.

This is truly a historical event and we share this resounding victory to all Filipino youth who voted for and supported Kabataan Party-list. We are overwhelmed but more than ready to take on the task and challenge of being the sole voice of the youth in Congress.

We are youth from different walks of life. We have long-ago advocated for the youth to devote its intellect, energy and courage to building a better society devoid of corruption, inequality and social injustice. We are youth that foster active participation in nation-building, good governance and change.

In this junction in history in light of our recent victory, we, the youth, are change. Kabataan, tayo ang pagbabago.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 comments

April 22, 2009

Kabataan seats first youth-sector Representative in Congress

Late yesterday afternoon, I came to Vinzons Hall to a cheerful crowd of colleagues from STAND-UP and other mass organizations who jubilantly announced to me that we now have a youth-sector representative in Congress in the person of Raymond “Mong” Palatino under the Kabataan Party (Youth Party) which ran in the 2007 elections. Mong, aside from being a notable blogger, was the Chairperson of the UP Diliman University Student Council in 2000.

Due to a now-defunct Supreme Court formula for seat-allocations in Congress, Kabataan Party was not able to seat Mong, who was our first nominee despite garnering more than 220,000 votes. The said formula has recently been overturned by a Supreme Court decision in the case of BANAT vs. COMELEC (G.R. 179271) which effectively grants 32 other partylist nominees their right to sit as Representatives in Congress.

Kabataan Party list

Read the rest of this entry »

0 comments

April 21, 2009

MAKABAYAN Launching

I’m reposting below a news release with regard to the launching of MAKABAYAN (Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan) coalition party last week, of which Kabataang Pinoy is a part of.

Progressives launch new coalition party

Heeding the clamor for better and transparent governance, partylists and people’s organizations in the Philippines formed the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (MAKABAYAN, Patriotic Coalition of the People) last April 16, 2009 at the University of the Philippines Bahay ng Alumni in Quezon City, Metro Manila.

MAKABAYAN is a patriotic and pro-people political coalition aiming to pursue wide-ranging reforms in the 2010 Philippine national elections and beyond.

Consistent partylist electoral winners Bayan Muna (People First), Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) and Gabriela Women’s Party and new partylist groups Kabataang Pinoy (Filipino Youth), Courage Party (of government employees) and ACT Teachers Party, all in command of a network of highly skilled and motivated organizers and supporters nationwide, formed the core of the coalition.

Read the rest of this entry »

0 comments

April 19, 2009

CHED is spineless, Malacanang lied

130 private schools hike tuition, SUCs raise school fees

Kabataang Pinoy today criticized the Commission on Higher Education as 130 tertiary schools across the country revealed tuition hikes for the next school year. According to CHEd, the schools are reported to have asked an increase in their tuitions by 5, 7 or 10 percent.

“It now appears that CHEd’s earlier appeal for a freeze in tuition hikes is really just lip service and downright insincere,” said Kabataang Pinoy Spokesperon Alvin Peters. Peters is also currently the national president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, spearhead of the Tuition Monitor Hotline.

“We have documented these increases as early as February, during tuition consultations, when our hotlines buzzed with complaints from students everywhere. We brought them to CHEd’s attention but they neglected to act on our complaints and instead just came up with a bogus appeal for a tuition freeze to downplay student protests,” Peters said.

Peters said that they have submitted to CHEd a critique of CHEd Memorandum No. 13, the existing guideline for tuition increase consultations, pointing out its flaws and inadequacy to regulate tuition. He said that they have also repeatedly requested for dialogues with CHEd with regard to “˜bogus consultations’ where students were either not informed of consultations or were “˜tricked’ by school administrators into agreeing to proposals without due process.’

Read the rest of this entry »

0 comments

Kabataang Pinoy, Tayo ang Pagbabago!

Kabataang Pinoy aspires for a Filipino youth that devotes its intellect, energy and courage to building a better future.

Kabataang Pinoy envisions a new society devoid of corruption, inequality and social injustice.

Kabataang Pinoy encourages the youth to work collectively with other sectors to build a bright future. It upholds, promotes and defends the interest of the youth to be able to harness its fullest potential as a sector. It works to unite the Filipino youth to campaign for social, political, economic, cultural and environmental justice in the Philippines, and enjoins youth from all walks of life to foster active participation in good governance, nation-building, and social change.

Read the rest of this entry »