PRESS RELEASE
May 15, 2011
In the face of a major reshuffle in President Noynoy Aquino’s Cabinet to accommodate his losing senatorial bets from the 2010 national elections, the militant youth group Anakbayan is calling on the government to ‘spare’ the people from more appointments from the ‘pseudo-progressive’ organization Akbayan.
Akbayan, a pro-Aquino partylist group, fielded a losing bet in the president’s Senate slate last year. Afterwards, three of its members was appointed in the Cabinet, namely: Joel Rocamorra of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, Etta Rosales of the Commission on Human Rights, and Roland Llamas as ‘presidential advisor on political affairs’.
The youth group fears that with the expiration of the one-year ban on gov’t appointments of losing 2010 candidates, more seats will be given to Akbayan.
According to Vencer Crisostomo, the national chairperson of Anakbayan, Akbayan remained silent in the face of a nationwide campus strike last year against the P1.1 billion slash in the funding of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). The group’s representatives in Congress also voted for the entire 2011 national budget, budget cut and all.
The Anakbayan leader noted that the pseudo-activist organization has remained silent regarding the issues of oil price and LRT-MRT fare hikes, demolition of informal settlers’ communities, and the meager P22 cost of living allowance increase given in lieu of a P125 wage hike.
He also added that Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head and Akbayan leader Etta Rosales made a ‘pro-military’ ruling regarding the abduction of a Fil-Am activist by the Armed Forces of the Philippines last 2009.
Rosales alleged that there was no evidence supporting the accusations against the military. Instead, she blamed the anti-government New People’s Army without providing any proof.
“What the public is clamoring for are more Cabinet officials who will go against the administration’s anti-people trend, not lapdogs who will just parrot the line” said Crisostomo.
Reference:
Vencer Crisostomo
National Chairperson
Anakbayan
