WE are daring to criticize the revered and mighty World Bank again.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) has rebuked the World Bank (WB) during its shareholder consultation last Thursday “for excluding core labor standards in its project and policy loans intended for so-called development programs in the country amid the static unemployment and underemployment statistics.”
TUCP estimates that because of “the absence of these standards, around 23,000 workers are already being affected in two ongoing country projects.”
“The bank continues to ignore very important core labor safeguards and standards on wages, health and safe working conditions, terms of employment of workers employed in Bank- financed projects. The continued absence of these core labor standards means that the World Bank will not stand in the way of those denying Filipino workers their right to organize and unionize in infrastructure projects sponsored by the Bank. It means that the Bank will not stand in the way of those retrenching workers in Bank–financed privatizations of state enterprises. We insist that these benchmarks be integrated as soon as possible, otherwise the Bank will be a party to the race-to-the-bottom in terms of the already massive de facto casualization and contractualization of workers,” said Alan Tanjusay, TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson.
The bank had organized a round of consultation with various labor unions representatives, environmental advocates, sectoral leaders of peasants, indigenous peoples, women, fisherfolk and youth in the Astoria Plaza in Pasig City last Thursday in the course of its global review and update of its environmental and social policies.
Gerard Seno, executive director of the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP, said the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) have started asserting since 1997 for the incorporation of the core labor standards in the safeguard policies of the Bank.
Commendably the World Bank has taken a position against the use of child-labor and non-discrimination in the work force due to sex, religion and political beliefs but there are still huge and gaping holes in their current draft of the “Environmental and Social Standard: Labor and Working Conditions,” TUCP said.
The bank’s board is scheduled to consider a draft in 2015 that is supposed to be inputted with ideas gathered from the consultations.
“The draft labor standard prepared by the Bank does not have the standard requirement that has existed at the bank’s private sector lending arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) since 2006 and those that have been adopted in recent years by many regional development banks,” Seno said.
TUCP-Nagkaisa Executive Director Luis Corral pointed out that there are more than 23,000 workers in the 119 electric cooperatives whose wages, working conditions and even security of tenure could be affected by World Bank grants and loans for these electric cooperatives.
Coral said, “We are concerned that the workers in these electric cooperatives are not being consulted through their existing unions. The fear of retrenchment or displacement is very real. We remind the Bank that because of the bank-sponsored privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) thousands of workers were retrenched. The Bank must proceed with more responsibility and social consciousness.”
“The World Bank has to be reminded that it is the ordinary taxpayers’ money from all the member governments that finances these Bank projects. These are taxes paid by ordinary workers. We also remind the Bank that its aim is to eradicate poverty. It will not do so if even in its own projects, it will not stand for standards that will advance decent work,” Corral added.
We wholeheartedly endorse TUCP’s proposals to the World Bank. - Manila Times
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) Ad Hoc committee hearing in Cotabato City
October 23, 2014 - Rep. Raymond Mendoza at Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) Ad Hoc committee hearing in Cotabato City with ARMM Gov. Hataman and various officials of congress and local government.
For other BBL committee schedule see link
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Peoples Action against the World Bank – Philippines
Manila – This WB safeguard review started almost 3 years ago, but communities and organizations in the Philippines barely understand its process and contents. And to our knowledge, this is the first actual official interaction with Philippine organizations. Yet, there has been too little time and lackluster effort to enable meaningful engagements. Meanwhile, Southern and Northern organizations expressed their struggles and frustrations with the dismal handling of the Bank of the safeguards review over the past 2 years. The WB meetings last Oct. 8-11, 2014 in Washington DC was a clear reflection of peoples’ deep resentment over the poor consultation and bad safeguards draft. And here is the Bank doing a repeat of the same failures in running effective consultations: you give us too short notice to prepare and incomplete documents to consult. No draft business procedures, no implementation plan, no translations.
The affected communities and their support groups demand that the WB safeguard policies must be strengthened to ensure real protections for people and the planet. The draft does not promise to deliver that.
We are concerned that right now, Filipinos are not overcoming poverty, inequality and hunger are increasing, our natural resources are threatened by industrialization and extractive industries while labor rights are diluted or informalized. Contrary to the Bank’s rosy narratives of Philippine growth linked with its financing, this growth is widening inequality. Bank financing has not helped in preventing the intensified privatization of commons and has contributed to the systematic dismantling of essential public services. It has been muted in dealing with the discrimination against marginalized groups such as PWDs, IPs, children, and sexual minorities who are the most vulnerable sectors. They have been threatened by projects that were partly-funded by the World Bank Group. Remember the Manila Sewerage Project? Remember Chico dam in Cordillera? Remember IFC’s support to a mining project in the ancestral domain of the Mamanwas in CARAGA? In many instances, safeguards were useful in ensuring some basic minimum levels of protection were available. But the Bank is moving to moving to eviscerate these basic human rights protections. You’re dumping people with more debts but you’re removing your environmental and human rights accountability.
We have watched with rising concern that your new “safeguard” proposals betray these expectations and represent the opposite. In this process, we believe that the World Bank is stepping back on its promise to reduce poverty.
Instead of ensuring protection of vulnerable communities and the project affected people, your draft proposes dismantling of even existing protections that have been built over decades of hard work, hard won protections that people have fought and died for here in the Philippines, including social justice laws for indigenous peoples, environment, land reform and people’s participation in governance.
We cannot remain mute spectators of this regressive journey and must convey to you the rising frustration and anger amongst the many communities that are facing these impacts from Bank-supported projects, and also within many people’s movements and supporting civil society groups, networks and alliances from all over the Philippines.
Our colleagues have watched with growing dismay – the increasingly insensitive responses to the passionate appeals by cornered and distressed communities affected by bank supported projects. I personally appealed that this consultation be re-scheduled to give time for communities and organizations to understand better the process and substance of the safeguards, but my appeal was rejected.
We are also alarmed by the rising talk of the Bank venturing into riskier investments, coming from as high positions as the WB President! Hundreds of indigenous peoples and forest dwellers organizations are terribly concerned with the proposed ‘opt out’ clause, and the dilution of protection hitherto given to biodiversity rich and protected areas. You also propose to venture into uncharted territory of biodiversity offsets! These are gambles more suited to a venture capital fund, not fit for a “Development Bank”, and the Filipinos cannot allow this to happen.
We, the dozens of people’s movements and organizations present here from all over the Philippines, and the many thousands we represent back from our communities, are rejecting this current draft of safeguards. The protections you now seek to dismantle, the safeguards that we fought for over decades - do not belong to you, they are not yours to throw away, they belong to the world and its vulnerable people.
We are also aware of a handful of saner voices from within the bank, and urge them to fight inside the system, for protecting the very rights they themselves enjoy – also for the people and communities around the world facing potential threats from this proposed dilution of protections. We strongly believe this protest action that we are compelled to take, will strengthen those voices and create a better environment for creating a really progressive safeguards policy. This will be in the interest of the bank itself, as well as for the entire Philippines, and the rest of the world.
That is why we are forced to take this action now and join our partners in the protest outside. Today we are going out of this consultation, to defend the safeguards and to stand with the World and against the Bank that is trying to destroy it! We sincerely hope that this will help a better tomorrow, within & outside.
Signatories:
AKBAYAN
Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA)
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
Bank Information Center (BIC)
DANGAL
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
NAGKAISA
NGO Forum on the ADB
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
SANLAKAS
The affected communities and their support groups demand that the WB safeguard policies must be strengthened to ensure real protections for people and the planet. The draft does not promise to deliver that.
We are concerned that right now, Filipinos are not overcoming poverty, inequality and hunger are increasing, our natural resources are threatened by industrialization and extractive industries while labor rights are diluted or informalized. Contrary to the Bank’s rosy narratives of Philippine growth linked with its financing, this growth is widening inequality. Bank financing has not helped in preventing the intensified privatization of commons and has contributed to the systematic dismantling of essential public services. It has been muted in dealing with the discrimination against marginalized groups such as PWDs, IPs, children, and sexual minorities who are the most vulnerable sectors. They have been threatened by projects that were partly-funded by the World Bank Group. Remember the Manila Sewerage Project? Remember Chico dam in Cordillera? Remember IFC’s support to a mining project in the ancestral domain of the Mamanwas in CARAGA? In many instances, safeguards were useful in ensuring some basic minimum levels of protection were available. But the Bank is moving to moving to eviscerate these basic human rights protections. You’re dumping people with more debts but you’re removing your environmental and human rights accountability.
We have watched with rising concern that your new “safeguard” proposals betray these expectations and represent the opposite. In this process, we believe that the World Bank is stepping back on its promise to reduce poverty.
Instead of ensuring protection of vulnerable communities and the project affected people, your draft proposes dismantling of even existing protections that have been built over decades of hard work, hard won protections that people have fought and died for here in the Philippines, including social justice laws for indigenous peoples, environment, land reform and people’s participation in governance.
We cannot remain mute spectators of this regressive journey and must convey to you the rising frustration and anger amongst the many communities that are facing these impacts from Bank-supported projects, and also within many people’s movements and supporting civil society groups, networks and alliances from all over the Philippines.
Our colleagues have watched with growing dismay – the increasingly insensitive responses to the passionate appeals by cornered and distressed communities affected by bank supported projects. I personally appealed that this consultation be re-scheduled to give time for communities and organizations to understand better the process and substance of the safeguards, but my appeal was rejected.
We are also alarmed by the rising talk of the Bank venturing into riskier investments, coming from as high positions as the WB President! Hundreds of indigenous peoples and forest dwellers organizations are terribly concerned with the proposed ‘opt out’ clause, and the dilution of protection hitherto given to biodiversity rich and protected areas. You also propose to venture into uncharted territory of biodiversity offsets! These are gambles more suited to a venture capital fund, not fit for a “Development Bank”, and the Filipinos cannot allow this to happen.
We, the dozens of people’s movements and organizations present here from all over the Philippines, and the many thousands we represent back from our communities, are rejecting this current draft of safeguards. The protections you now seek to dismantle, the safeguards that we fought for over decades - do not belong to you, they are not yours to throw away, they belong to the world and its vulnerable people.
We are also aware of a handful of saner voices from within the bank, and urge them to fight inside the system, for protecting the very rights they themselves enjoy – also for the people and communities around the world facing potential threats from this proposed dilution of protections. We strongly believe this protest action that we are compelled to take, will strengthen those voices and create a better environment for creating a really progressive safeguards policy. This will be in the interest of the bank itself, as well as for the entire Philippines, and the rest of the world.
That is why we are forced to take this action now and join our partners in the protest outside. Today we are going out of this consultation, to defend the safeguards and to stand with the World and against the Bank that is trying to destroy it! We sincerely hope that this will help a better tomorrow, within & outside.
Signatories:
AKBAYAN
Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA)
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
Bank Information Center (BIC)
DANGAL
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
NAGKAISA
NGO Forum on the ADB
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
SANLAKAS
Petilla won’t resign, vows to avert blackouts
MANILA, Philippines - Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has shrugged off a labor coalition’s call for him to resign, saying that he is committed to avert a looming power shortage in the summer of 2015.
“I won’t allow the blackouts to happen. I will do everything to fight it out because I know I am fighting for the people,” Petilla said in an interview.
He maintained that he did not deceive anyone when he said there would be a power shortage when he proposed to invoke Section 71 of the energy law last July to allow the government to tap additional power capacity through the purchase or lease of modular generator sets.
He explained that since he made the proposal in July and revealed the projected power situation next summer, additional capacity of some 437 megawatts was tapped.
“Before July, this did not exist. There was no 437 MW,” he said.
Petilla noted that President Aquino’s declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector summoned stakeholders and the private sector to cooperate and work together in finding solutions to the looming power woes.
A Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-led group called Nagkaisa has asked Aquino to fire Petilla for “deceiving the Filipino people with his manufactured power shortage scenario hitting the entire island of Luzon early 2015.”
The group said Petilla painted a wrong picture to justify the call for emergency powers.
“Secretary Petilla took the country for a ride. He bluffed the President, the Cabinet, the senators and congressmen, the business sector, the labor and consumer groups with his tall tales of thin power reserves to justify emergency powers that entail possible purchase of multibillion-peso generator sets,” Nagkaisa said in a statement.
But Petilla maintained that the power situation in the summer of 2015 is still critical with the shortage still at 700 MW, taking into account the need for reserves of 647 MW, which is the size of Sual, the biggest plant in Luzon.
“When it comes to power, supply and reserves go hand in hand,” he said.
The additional 447 MW will come from the First Gen Corp.’s Avion plant with 100 MW by April 2015, 36 MW from the upgrading of Millennium Energy’s Limay plant to be ready by March 2015, 20 MW as a result of the rehabilitation of the Bauang plant by March 2015, 10 MW from Petron’s Bataan plant to be ready by December 2014, 60 MW from JG Summit’s Batangas plant for commissioning in January 2015 and 20 MW from the Botocan hydroelectric plant in Laguna for completion in December 2014 for a sub-total of 246 MW.
The balance is estimated to come from participants of the interruptible load program. Under the ILP, big power users would use their own power to ease pressure on the grid.
Petilla said that while this is a good development, there is no guarantee that the committed capacities would come as expected and run smoothly.
“These are all photo finish. We don’t have control over this if something goes wrong, so it is very prudent for the government to have reserves,” he added. – By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) With Mayen Jaymalin
“I won’t allow the blackouts to happen. I will do everything to fight it out because I know I am fighting for the people,” Petilla said in an interview.
He maintained that he did not deceive anyone when he said there would be a power shortage when he proposed to invoke Section 71 of the energy law last July to allow the government to tap additional power capacity through the purchase or lease of modular generator sets.
He explained that since he made the proposal in July and revealed the projected power situation next summer, additional capacity of some 437 megawatts was tapped.
“Before July, this did not exist. There was no 437 MW,” he said.
Petilla noted that President Aquino’s declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector summoned stakeholders and the private sector to cooperate and work together in finding solutions to the looming power woes.
A Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-led group called Nagkaisa has asked Aquino to fire Petilla for “deceiving the Filipino people with his manufactured power shortage scenario hitting the entire island of Luzon early 2015.”
The group said Petilla painted a wrong picture to justify the call for emergency powers.
“Secretary Petilla took the country for a ride. He bluffed the President, the Cabinet, the senators and congressmen, the business sector, the labor and consumer groups with his tall tales of thin power reserves to justify emergency powers that entail possible purchase of multibillion-peso generator sets,” Nagkaisa said in a statement.
But Petilla maintained that the power situation in the summer of 2015 is still critical with the shortage still at 700 MW, taking into account the need for reserves of 647 MW, which is the size of Sual, the biggest plant in Luzon.
“When it comes to power, supply and reserves go hand in hand,” he said.
The additional 447 MW will come from the First Gen Corp.’s Avion plant with 100 MW by April 2015, 36 MW from the upgrading of Millennium Energy’s Limay plant to be ready by March 2015, 20 MW as a result of the rehabilitation of the Bauang plant by March 2015, 10 MW from Petron’s Bataan plant to be ready by December 2014, 60 MW from JG Summit’s Batangas plant for commissioning in January 2015 and 20 MW from the Botocan hydroelectric plant in Laguna for completion in December 2014 for a sub-total of 246 MW.
The balance is estimated to come from participants of the interruptible load program. Under the ILP, big power users would use their own power to ease pressure on the grid.
Petilla said that while this is a good development, there is no guarantee that the committed capacities would come as expected and run smoothly.
“These are all photo finish. We don’t have control over this if something goes wrong, so it is very prudent for the government to have reserves,” he added. – By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) With Mayen Jaymalin
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