Noynoy, Dont be a Grinch! Hands off the Sin Tax Bill!

PRESS RELEASE

13 December 2012

Gie Relova 

BMP-NCRR Secretary-General

0915-2792749

Militants' Christmas message to the President

Noynoy, Dont be a Grinch! Hands off the Sin Tax Bill!

MORE than three thousand protestors belonging to the anti-Sin Tax alliance, the Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation spent the whole day at the Mendiola bridge urging President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino to veto the sin tax bill and prevent the catastrophic economic effects of his signing into law of the sin tax bill.

The militant group also criticized the recently approved provisions by the Bicameral Committee Meeting for its abandonment of the safety nets meant to cushion to the impacts of the sin tax bill which will critically affect the jobs and livelihoods of those relying on the sin products. 

In a statement, PCART insisted that the Aquino government is very much aware that a vicious institutional injustice is about to be committed against millions of Filipino workers, farmers, vendors and sari-sari store owners once the Sin Tax Bill is finally enacted but the President still pushed through with the IMF-dictated tax measure.

According to Gie Relova, Secretary-General of the militant Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-National Capital Region-Rizal chapter, "Aquino did not only intentionally hand out the death warrants of our jobs and livelihoods, but also sent the dreams and ambitions of our children to the gallows. He had every reason to veto the sin tax bill and make Christmas celebration of our children turn from glum to merry but more importantly, he has to veto it before the economy turns from ugly to uglier".

“Totally unacceptable!” this was the reaction of Anthony Barnedo, National Capital Region-Rizal Secretary-General of the urban poor federation Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML-NCRR). 

“If the Sin Tax Bill is Aquino’s idea of a perfect Christmas, then his Daang Matuwid is a complete sham. If a regime that legalizes contractual labor, privatizes public hospitals, abandons the right the right to education, demolishes communities without a habitable relocation sites and now suppresses the way we make a living then logic dictates that the unbearable government such as Aquino’s is just as abusive and exploitative as its laws,” Barnedo added.

The coalition vowed to continue the struggle against an unjust and anti-poor decree such as Aquino’s regressive Sin Tax Law even during the electoral period wherein they are to launch a national negative campaign against those who supported the Malacanang-masterminded massacre of jobs and livelihoods.

SANLAKAS Hymn

SANLAKAS Hymn

by Teatro Pabrika

Sa muling pagbabangon

Kailangan ng bagong lakas

Matatag na bisig, isipang bukas

Lakas mo, lakas ko, lakas nating lahat

Halina at kumilos, pag-isahing ganap.

Koro:

Sanlakas ng damdamin

Mapagpalaya't makatuwiran

Sanlakas ng layunin at paninindigan

Sanlakas, Sanlakas ng pagsasamahan

Sanlakas ng pag-ibig sa uri at sa bayan.

Instrumental

Ulitin ang Koro ng 3x

Sanlakas

PCART rally at Shangri-La Hotel, re: anti-Sin Tax

PEOPLES' COALITION AGAINST REGRESSIVE TAXATION (PCART)

PRESS RELEASE

05 December 2012

Workers, Vendors, and Sari-sari Store Owners Offer Prayers 

for the Salvation of their Jobs and Livelihoods

Four thousand workers, takatak vendors and sari-sari store owners occupied the grounds around the Shangri-La Hotel, as Bicameral Committee Conference deliberates on the contentions of the sin tax bill. The members of the Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (PCART) offered prayers to seek compassion for their jobs and livelihoods. The anti-sin tax coalition also expressed their disappointment at the senators and congressmen who disregarded their pleas during the deliberation of the Sin Tax Bill in their respective chambers. 

The group appealed to the participants of Bicameral Committee Conference to stand with them in protecting their jobs even if the bicameral session is just a few notches before it is presented to President Benigno Aquino III. The new tax measure entails job losses and the decrease in revenue of takatak vendors and sari-sari stores owners. PCART remained optimistic that their appeal will awaken the conscience of the lawmakers and increase the possibility that President Aquino will veto the sin tax bill. 

According to Edwin Guarin, spokesperson of PCART, “The government should consider the millions of workers about to lose their jobs and the general welfare of their families. It is our duty as citizens to remind the government officials that exacerbating poverty will only make the country's Millennium Development Goals unattainable and drive our countrymen to economic misery”. 

The anti-sin tax alliance reprimanded the members of the Bicameral Committee Conference and urged them to side with our poor countrymen because the sin tax bill will be an additional burden to them and will only intensify the widening economic gap between the have and have-nots. 

Rali ng PCART sa Shangri-La Hotel, re: anti-Sin Tax

PEOPLES' COALITION AGAINST REGRESSIVE TAXATION (PCART)

PRESS RELEASE

05 Disyembre 2012

Mga Manggagawa, Takatak, at May-ari ng Tindahang Sari-Sari, Nag-Alay ng Panalangin para Masagip ang Kanilang Trabaho’t Kabuhayan

Inokupa ng apat na libong manggagawa, takatak at may-ari ng mga tindahang sari-sari ang paligid ng Shangri-La Hotel sa Mandaluyong, habang idinaraos doon ang kumperensya ng Bilateral Committee hinggil sa nilalaman ng panukalang sin tax. Nag-alay ng panalangin ang mga kasapi ng Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (PCART) upang humingi ng awa para masagip ang kanilang mga trabaho at kabuhayan. Ipinahayag din ng nasabing koalisyon laban sa sin tax ang kanilang pagkadismaya sa mga senador at kongresistang nagbalewala sa kanilang hinaing habang tinatalakay ang panukalang sin tax sa mga kapulungan nito.

Nag-apila ang nasabing grupo sa mga dumalo sa kumperensya ng Bicameral Committee na manindigan para sa kanila sa pagtatanggol sa kanilang trabaho kahit na ilang sesyon na lang ang nalalabi bagi ito ipresenta kay Pangulong Benigno Aquino III. Ang bagong patakaran sa pagbubuwis ay nangangahulugan ng kawalan ng trabaho at pagbaba ng kita ng mga takatak at may-ari ng mga tindahang sari-sari sa komunidad. Naniniwala pa rin ang PCART na ang kanilang apila ay pumukaw sa budhi ng mga mambabatas at lumaki ang posibilidad na ma-veto ni Pangulong Aquino ang panukalang sin tax.

Ayon kay Edwin Guarin, tagapagsalita ng PCART, “Dapat alalahanin ng pamahalaan ang milyun-milyong manggagawang mawawalan ng trabaho at ang kapakanan ng kanilang pamilya. Tungkulin natin bilang mamamayan na paalalahanan ang mga opisyales ng pamahalaan na kung lalala ang kahirapan, hindi makakamit ng bansa ang Millenium Development Goals at itutulak ang ating mga kababauan sa pang-ekonomyang pagdurusa.”

Binalaan ng nasabing alyansa laban sa sin tax ang mga kasapi ng kumperensya ng Bicameral Committee at inudyukan ang mga ito na pumanig sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan dahil ang panukalang sin tax ay dagdag pahirap sa masa at lalo lang magpapatindi sa lumalaking agwat sa pagitan ng mga mayayaman at mga maralita.