PLM Women - polyeto sa RH Bill

RH BILL, SUPORTAHAN!

IPASA ANG RH BILL! NGAYON NA!

A. Bakit sinusuportahan ng Partido Lakas ng Masa ang “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development Act of 2011 (o Ang Batas sa Responsableng Pagmamagulang, Reproduktibong Kalusugan, at Populasyon at Pag-unlad ng 2011)”

Naninindigan ang Partido Lakas ng Masa sa pagsusulong at pagpapalaganap ng kalusugan ng kababaihan at ng bata at ng reproduktibong kalusugan at karapatan ng kababaihan. Naglalaman ang “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development Act of 2011” ng mahahalagang panukalang batas upang isulong ang kalusugan ng kababaihan at ang reproduktibong karapatan. Kapag pumasa ang panukala, makatutulong ito sa mahihirap na kababaihan na palaging nagdusa sa kinahihinatnan ng di-inaasahang pagbubuntis, kamatayan ng ina sa panganganak, nakunan, at di ligtas o mapanganib na aborsyon.

B. Ano ang “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development Act of 2011”?

Sa ilalim ng batas na ito:

• Maglalaan ng modernong pamamaraan ng pagpaplano ng pamilya sa lahat ng sinertipikahang pasilidad pangkalusugan (health clinics),

. Para sa maralitang kababaihan, ito'y dapat na libre at sapat na pagsubsidyo ng PhilHealth at tulong pinansyal ng pamahalaan;

• Ang mga suplay at produkto hinggil sa pagpaplano ng pamilya ay isasama sa regular na pagbili ng mga importanteng gamot at kagamitan sa lahat ng ospital;

• Bibigyan ng LGUs ang mga maralitang pamilya ng abot-kayang serbisyo para sa pagpaplano ng pamilya;

• Darami ang bilang ng mga hilot at may kasanayang tagapangalaga upang kamtin ang minimum na rata ng 1 buong oras na tagapangalaga sa panganganak sa bawat 150 isinisilang bawat buwan;

• Pag-upgrade ng emergency obstetric care at pagpapaunlad ng kakayahang maabot ito ng mga maralita,

• Pagpapaunlad ng mobile na serbisyo para sa kalusugan at pagkakaloob sa bawat distritong konggresyonal ng kahit isang Mobile Health Care Service van;

• Ang reproduktibong karapatan at edukasyong seks, kasama ang mga paksa hinggil sa kasarian at responsableng pakikipagrelasyon at pagmamagulang, ay ituturo sa mga paaralan ng mga gurong may kasanayan sa pamamagitan ng angkop na kurikula, mula Baitang 5 sa elementarya hanggang ika-4 na Taon ng high school;

• Dapat igalang ng mga employer ang mga karapatang reproduktibo ng mga nagtatrabaho at maglaan ng bayad na kalahating araw sa pre-natal at medikal na pagliban sa bawat buwan ng pagbubuntis ng manggagawang kababaihan;

• Ang karapatan sa impormasyon ng bawat indibidwal hinggil sa pagkakaroon ng serbisyo sa reproduktibong karapatan, kasama ang pagpaplano ng pamilya at pangangalaga bago panganak, ay dapat magarantiyahan ng pamahalaan.

• Mas higit na pamumuhunan at pagbibigay ng prayoridad sa pagpaplano ng pamilya at mga serbisyo sa reproduktibong kalusugan sa pamamagitan ng programang laban sa kahirapan.

C. Masasagip ng batas ang buhay ng maralitang kababaihan at mga bata.

Kapag naipasa ang batas at naipatupad, makakasagip ito ng maraming buhay. Kapag gumamit ng modernong pamamaraang kontraseptibo ang lahat ng kababaihan, ito'y makatutulong:

• Mabawasan ang maternal na pagkamatay ng 2,100 kada taon;

. Mabawasan ng 800,000 ang di-planadong pagbubuntis;

. Mabawasan ng 500,000 sapilitang aborsyon;

. Mabawasan ng 200,000 ang makukunan.

Ito ang dahilan kung bakit sinusuportahan ng Partido Lakas ng Masa ang “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development Act of 2011”. Nananawagan kami sa aming mga kasapian na sumama sa kampanya upang suportahan ang Panukalang Batas, mag-organisa ng mga aktibidad upang ipaalam at turuan ang mga komunidad at konseho ng barangay, at sumama sa mga mobilisasyong inorganisa ng RHAN at iba pang samahang kababaihan, suportahan ang pagpapasa ng lehislasyon sa Kongreso at Senado. Ipinakikita ng mga ebidensyang ito ang totoong mabuti at tamang gawin.

[1] Ang datos ay mula sa publikasyong Policy Brief ng Likhaan. Pinagkunang website ang www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2009 “Meeting Women’s Contraceptive Needs in the Philippines”.

PARTIDO LAKAS NG MASA

PLM-WOMEN

Pebrero 10, 2011

Stop the Plunder! Revamp the AFP Now!

Statement of the Partido Lakas ng Masa

Stop the Plunder! Revamp the AFP Now!

THE FUNDAMENTAL role and character of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has been brought into question by the latest revelations of the colossal scale of corruption, nay, plunder of state and people’s resources by the general command of the AFP.

Lt. Col. George Rabusa, the former Philippine military budget officer, has revealed a fraction of this plunder, as well as one of the mechanisms by which it takes place: the payola (slush) fund, known as the provisions for command-directed activities (PCDA), which has a fund of around half-a-billion pesos yearly. Through this PCDA fund, General Angelo Reyes helped himself to 50 million pesos when he retired in March 2001, after just 20 months in office. Generals Villanueva and Cimatu were given a 10 million pesos start-up fund each. All three generals also received a P5 million monthly allowance from the fund during their term in office. Some 160 million pesos "pabaon" (send-off money) was given to General Villanueva when he retired in May 2002. In total, Rabusa had converted into dollars and handed out to the generals almost one billion pesos from the payola fund.

Perhaps even more alarming are the revelations of former Commission on Audit officer Heidi Mendoza. Mendoza states that an even larger amount of millions of dollars of overseas funding from international agencies, such as the United Nations, slated for Philippine troops on peacekeeping missions overseas, have been siphoned off into dubious accounts in the Philippines. This includes a single check for $5 million, which was “picked up” in the US by an “unidentified AFP officer”. Former comptroller General Carlos Garcia, who has been pinpointed by Mendoza, was the main operator who was fronting for several top generals, and not only Angelo Reyes.

High ranking officials of the AFP are now claiming that the plunder was stopped through the abolishment of the PCDA in 2005. But this sounds more like damage control on the part of the serving AFP top brass, to contain the situation from further damaging and undermining the institution. However, these plunder charges prove that there is something fundamentally flawed about the AFP as currently constituted. The AFP, far from being the protector of the people seems to be the very anti-thesis of this, plundering the resources that belong to the ordinary soldiers and the masa. Ordinary rank-and-file soldiers put their lives on the line every day and their families scrimp on meagre wages and are deprived of much needed benefits, while the top brass, their wives and children, wallow in plundered wealth.

We think that a genuine government of the people will act and take some immediate measures to revamp and fundamentally transform the AFP. These include the following actions:

· Press for the resignation of the top generals.

· Replace them with a younger generation of junior officers, with the commitment and will to serve the people.

· Abolish not only the slush funds, but all the discretionary funds of the generals, and channel the funds to the rank-and-file soldiers’ welfare and benefits, i.e. medical benefits, housing and salary increases.

· Review the defense budget with the aim of re-channelling the savings towards people’s welfare expenditure, such as education and health.

· Investigate the financial dealings of the top generals, with the view to charging them with corruption and plunder of the people’s resources.

These are the most immediate and practical measures that are necessary to revamp the AFP and transform it into a genuine protector of the people’s interests.

February 2, 2011