ALAM Platform of Government
ALAB NG MAMAMAHAYAG (ALAM)
Platform of Government
Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) as a party-list representative in
the House of Representatives was founded on January 25, 2011 at National Press
Club Bldg., No. 1 Magallanes Drive, Intramuros, Manila, after Puerto Princesa
broadcaster Dr. Gerry “Doc Gerry” Ortega was assassinated on January 24, 2011
as the fifth mediaman killed during the administration of President Benigno
Simeon Aquino III.
That
particular killing served as the tipping point that completely consumed the
patience of journalists, starting with the epic proportion of the brutality
done when 32 media individuals were killed among the 57 massacred on November
23, 2009 in Sitio Masalay, Municipality of Ampatuan, Province of Maguindanao.
Thus,
it is easily seen that justice and press freedom are the top of the agenda when
a group of media leaders gathered to reflect on what had happened and what to
do.
This
was followed suit by nine more killings to date and at least three more
attempts to murder journalists in various parts of the country.
From these grotesque experiences,
the members of the press analyzed the situations and tried to identify the root
causes of the never-ending killings against members of the press and these are
intertwined with each other: Lack of True and Genuine Press and Utter
Lack of Justice.
ALAM also determined
that if these two elements are present in the country, everything else that is
good follows suit.
Primary Action Plans
True
and Genuine Press
Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM)
has resolved to devote most if not all of its manpower, efforts and resources
for the establishment of a State where the Press is true and genuine.
It is only when there is
true and genuine liberty of the press that total transparency and accountability
in government affairs is achieved.
And when this is established, there will be equal
and fair distribution through fair competition for all the privileges and
rights among the small and big businesses, rich and poor entrepreneurs, indigenous
peoples and those belonging to the major tribes, Muslims and Christians and
people of other religions, and people of all creed or ideology.
With this transparency and accountability as strong
as the Great Wall, it is easily seen that the economy will be active among all
classes to promote a number of transactions occurring a thousand times than the
present, thereby ensuring more taxes to the government because each transaction
entails tax earnings for the State.
And when total transparency and accountability is set
on solid grounds, the educated public eyes provide a strong deterrence to
discourage public men and women from engaging in any form of graft and
corruption, from discriminating against any person, from oppressing any person,
from compelling subordinates to commit illegal acts for the bosses to gain,
from committing other crimes, and from doing all other illegal or immoral acts.
At the same time, this will grow the moral, decency
and delicadeza standards of Filipinos.
It is the urgency of now for the Philippine society to
try totally-free press and see the light of day to make the government an ideal
government truly for the people, by the people, and of the people.
To achieve an ideal government is to declare
expressly that the State is sacrificing that perceived-but-less-important
interests to protect the honor of public officials or employees and making the
freedom of expression, of speech, and of the press as a matter of policy, a
matter of right, a matter of culture, a matter of tradition, and a matter of
norm.
ALAM will work for enactment of laws that remove imprisonment
and warrant of arrest for any libel, perceived or otherwise, as part of a broad
strategy to achieve a kind of government that is truly for the people, by the
people, and of the people.
ALAM will push for laws that imprison persons for
any act that restrains or stops the exercise of Press Freedom, especially if
these acts are committed prior, during or after the actual intention to
exercise the same, or even if these were to be done directly or indirectly.
ALAM will push for substantively huge freedoms to
access to all information under the control of the government to reinforce the
True and Genuine Press agenda.
Aside from making the access a solid presumption and
for the office concerned to have the obligation to prove that the data sought
must be exempt from free access, Alab ng Mamamahayag will push for a total
access to all information kept in all offices.
This total access policy includes scrapping even the
abused “executive privileges” or “deliberative privileges” upon the principle
that Public Office is a Public Trust.
ALAM will also abolish the confidentiality rule
between the boss and his confidential employee because history shows that this
only breeds contempt, corruption and crimes.
Under this principle, ALAM considers all acts as
belonging to the people’s domain, except only those matters that are proven by
the clear-and-present-danger proof that it would cause death to any person or
an end to the life of the State, matters that pertain to the preservation of
the dignity and intrinsic worth of the children and women, and those that
clearly endanger the life of secret agents.
ALAM will also push for the free zone of all kinds
of information twenty (20) years after they have been kept confidential. This means, that no matter the
confidentiality or secrecy importance, all information that are 20 years old or
older must be open to the public.
ALAM will fight any proposal to enact Right of Reply
Bill because it will work to restrain or control the exercise of press freedom
by any citizen.
ALAM will also fight for the separation of facts
from opinions in all published or broadcast items and to push for a law that
will make all opinions as ones that cannot be sources of any liability,
criminally, civilly or administratively.
This is because ALAM subscribes to the idea that “everybody is entitled
to his or her opinion.” This is also a
compliance with the Philippines’ obligation to the United Nations for signing
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that commands all states to respect
and make free the right to express of their people.
Establishment
of People’s Justice System
There is a need to
protect press freedom and any gains that may be had by Alab ng Mamamahayag
(ALAM).
The best tool that can
protect press freedom is when we are assured that justice system cannot be bent
to favor the influence peddlers, check abuses and abscesses and assured that
there will be speedy dispensation of justice.
The present justice
system sees prosecutor’s offices determined only by one man in the person of
the prosecutor and the court determined only by one man in the person of the
judge.
No matter how honest a
prosecutor or a judge he is vulnerable to influences, by fear of guns or lure of
money. It is very rare to see a person defiant to threats and allure of big
bucks.
To resolve this problem
of natural weakness, there ought to be a system that is very strong against
influences. One system is one that has been tested by time and has been labeled
as “the best tool invented by man” that can assure more that rights and
freedoms are so respected, privileges and franchises are given upon merit found
after fair competition, and that can effectively check abuses.
This system is the Grand
Jury and Trial Jury System, also called as “layman’s adjudicatory system,” but
called by ALAM as “People’s Justice System” or “Hukuman ng Mamamayan.”
This system has been
credited for the eradication of discrimination in the United States of America
(USA) and elsewhere where the system of justice is one where the people have
most direct way of participation in exercising the power to judge.
History shows that
countries that have this system have no rebellion, have least incidences of
corruption, have records of prosecuting and imprisoning even the most powerful
men.
In this “PEOPLE’S
JUSTICE SYSTEM,” it is the people who decide all factual issues through their
representatives raffled from them and screened by standard tests with the least
human intervention.
With this principle of giving back to the people
that power to judge, ALAM will do the following:
1. File a
bill for the creation of the “People’s Fact-Finding System” in
every province or city to decide who should be charged in court and who should
be spared, provided that those chosen shall serve for six months as a secret
collegial body and will be replaced every six months thereafter; and
2. File a
bill for the creation of Jury Trial where the People through their
representatives chosen in the manner stated above will be the one who will collectively
try, hear and decide the factual questions as to the guilt or innocence of the
accused, where the people involved shall be called “Hukum ng Mamamayan,”
and the presiding judge shall be left only with the duty of applying laws on
the facts determined by the people’s representatives.
The problem of the Philippines has been how to
ensure that laws are implemented. No
matter how good the laws are, no matter how many the laws are, they are good as
nothing when nothing can assure their execution. The non-implementation is due to the laxity
and the ease with which the present justice system can be fixed by money or
fear.
And if ever there is implementation of the laws,
this is either slow in coming or manipulated to cater to the needs of the
favored.
Implementations of laws that do not involve actions
by the court are also being delayed because most of the officials involved feel
comfortable that they would not be punished anyway because they can easily buy
their way out.
Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) believes that only a
strong, firm, fair and speedy justice system can compel all, including the
arrogant, the defiant, the greedy, and the wily to behave and obey the laws
made by the Congress.
Ergo, the True Justice agenda is at the heart of the
plans of action of Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM).
While the dream of People’s Justice System is not
yet gaining ground, ALAM will work for a passage of a law slapping automatic
fines against judges, fiscals, justices, arbiters, hearing officers, and board
members for every day of delay in rendering judgments, decisions, resolutions,
or orders, where the delay shall begin to run after thirty (30) days from the
day the issues were submitted. The fines
intended shall be Php1,000.00 a day.
Secondary Action Plans
Economic
Agenda
As its economic agenda, Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) will push for the enactment of “Small First Policy.”
“Small
First Policy” means that in any contest for awards of privileges,
franchises and permits the presumption is that the award shall go to the
contestant that is smaller as long as the bid price or offer is substantially
the same and the smaller bidder can do the job, provided that if the smaller
one is in second or third best it shall be given the opportunity to match the
best offer.
This
should not be mistaken for discrimination against those who have better station
in life. This is only an affirmative action seeking to place the lowly a little
bit higher to even up the playing field.
Along
the same policy, ALAM will push that in case cooperatives are involved they shall
be given priority in awards, permits, franchises and other forms of privileges
if these entities are capable of doing the task at hand or deliver the minimum
desired result.
If
the issue on whom to award the privileges and rights is between cooperatives
and non-cooperatives, the award shall be in favor of the cooperatives.
In
case the same issue is between two or more cooperatives, the one that has the
highest number of members shall get the awards.
In
implementing the “Small First Policy” in all cases of bidding for the supply of
goods and services or leases the bid price shall not be bigger than the lowest
price offer, and in all cases of bidding for purchases of materials from any office
the bid price shall not be lower than the highest bid price.
This
will encourage the spirit of cooperation among all with the end view of
fostering closer bond in the greatest number of Filipinos possible.
Labor agenda
ALAM intends to revolutionize the
wage and benefits laws for labor.
First,
it will work for scrapping of the short-contract rule for works that are
actually continuous.
Second,
ALAM will work to establish a law requiring corporations to appoint one
director of the board from the union, with the union voting in the form of a
resolution of all union members and any intended board resolution cannot be
valid without the vote of the union.
Under this setup, the union can withhold their consent or vote until
their demand for disclosure of company information is met.
Third,
ALAM will also work for the allowance of joint-venture agreements in case
workers opt to a sharing system of gross receipts provided this is approved by
the Department of Labor, to encourage entrepreneurial spirit among the workers
wanting to join hands with capitalists for any business.
Under
this idea, the works rendered by labor will be given an equivalent amount in
terms of pesos and it will be considered as workers’ contribution to the
joint-venture so that when the distribution of gains comes the employees will
get their share pro-rated on the total equivalent amount of work rendered at
the time of the sharing. However, there
will be a provision that the joint-venture must give sufficient amount as
allowances for the daily living of the workers and these allowances shall be
deducted as cash advances when the sharing comes. The sharing shall be based on gross receipts
or gross sales.
Joint-venture
shall be encouraged in service businesses and in agriculture, fish farming and
other forms of farming or husbandry.
Fourth,
ALAM will push a law that imprisons employers or any person who violate wage
and benefit laws, including delays in giving them.
Fifth,
ALAM will push a law imprisoning employers or any person committing acts of
unfair labor practice and the case must be filed without first waiting for the
decision of the labor arbiters or the NLRC that the actions being referred to
are indeed unfair labor practices.
Sixth,
ALAM will push a law of standardizing public service wages with that of the
private sector workers. It is ironical for
the government to punish acts of giving salaries below the minimum wage law in
the private industries yet it violates the same on lowly public workers.
Seventh,
ALAM will reduce or loosen the requirements in setting up a union in any
bargaining unit and it will seek a law giving right to public employees to
engage their agencies in contract bargaining agreements.
Environment
ALAM will push for a law on tree
farming to encourage Filipinos to find careers or businesses with planting
trees and harvesting them while at the same time ensuring balanced ecology.
ALAM will push a law making it a
presumption that when there is doubt as to its viability and security to the
environment, any mining activity or application shall forthwith be denied.
If
there is doubt, no mining applications must be approved.
ALAM
will push for a law identifying geographical areas that are suited for
landfills, taking into account the absence of water table and unsuitability of
the soil to farming or forest plantation. Outside these zones no such project
shall be undertaken.
ALAM
will push for a law establishing communities on higher grounds and transfer thereto
all people living in flood-prone areas and convert these low areas into
forests.
ALAM
will push for laws imprisoning persons throwing their garbage or discharging
their wastes, including sewerage from residential houses, to water bodies and
seas without first cleaning them in filtration plants.
ALAM
will push a law requiring all motors, vehicles or otherwise, to install
silencers to make the environment free of noise pollution.
ALAM
will also push for a law that requires all students and workers, government or
private, to plant at least one tree every year as part of their requirements to
pass their grade or year level for students and pupils and as a requirement for
the release of their 13th month pay for workers. Proofs of planted and nurtured trees must be
submitted by means of videos with front page of a newspaper in the background
as validating procedures. Any approving
authorities shall be imprisoned for any form of falsification of compliance
therewith.
ALAM
will push for priorities in franchises and licenses to all vehicles that do not
emit carbons to the air, giving importance as a policy to electric cars and
electric utility vehicles.
ALAM
will also push for big budget for researches whose purposes are to discover
means, ways, devices, and apparatuses that are of significant utility to man
but not emitting pollution when operated on.
Inventions that have the same effect shall be funded by the government
with loans without any interest for the purpose of mass production and mass
use.
Indigenous Peoples
Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) will push
a law making it mandatory for each town or city or province to provide schools
and roads in unreachable mountains to ensure that indigenous peoples in their
respective areas are educated, at least knowing how to read and write. All the elected officials of the local
government units concerned who failed in each year to comply with this law
shall be banned from seeking any elective posts.
ALAM will push a law requiring that
all Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) contracts required before any
exploration, development and utilization of natural resources or any joint
venture activity will be considered as valid must be accompanied with pictures
of all adult individuals in indigenous communities showing them signing for the
FPIC provided that these pictures shall have in the background the front page
of a newspaper to ensure truth as to the date of signing. The newspaper used shall be submitted as part
of the compliance procedure. This is
being pushed because many FPICs have been fabricated by NCIP officials due to
the motive of big gain, mostly from miners.
ALAM will also push for a law
requiring the government to pay for the geodetic survey requirements for the
issuance of Certificates of Ancestral Domain Title (CADTs) or Certificates
Ancestral Land Title (CALT).
ALAM will also push for strict
compliance that every town or city or province hosting indigenous peoples must
give one seat in their respective sanggunians to be elected by them with the
supervision of the Comelec.
Energy
ALAM will push a law that will give
priority approval for all applications for construction and operations of
electric power plants with the use of renewable sources of energy, particularly
solar and wind.
ALAM will push for a law revoking
the oppressive clause of fix payments to independent power providers in order
to eradicate manipulation in the grants of IPPs and to give much cheaper
electricity for all Filipinos. All IPPs,
present and future, must compete in the spirit of fairness and honesty in
business.
ALAM will also push for a law
encouraging individual homes to use stoves and lighting facilities using solar
energy.
At the same time, ALAM will also
push a law for the use of CNG (compressed natural gas) among buses and other
utility vehicles provided the gas comes from the natural resources of the
country, like that one in Malampaya gas field.
At the same time, ALAM will push a
law to encourage establishment of household distribution of natural gas for
areas reachable by the Malampaya or other gas fields that may discovered.
Transportation
ALAM will also push a law
overhauling the systems and manning of the present Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to eradicate the prevalent corruption
in granting franchises.
In the conduct of Route Measured Capacity
(RMC) surveys used as the bases in granting franchises, it shall be required
that all parties, including the oppositors, are present and the conduct shall
be videotaped with a newspaper front page in the background to ensure the date
of taking of the video footage and the date of the conduct of the surveys.
ALAM will also push for a law
unifying the LTFRB and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) under one
department.
ALAM will also push for a law that
will create the Department of Maritime Affairs to increase the standards in
approving registrations, licenses and franchises of all vessels, private, for
passengers or for cargo and to improve all ports, while at the same time
up-keeping the profession of seamen.
ALAM
will also push a law that will create the Department of Air Transport to
specialize on improving the standards of air travels and air ports.
Housing
ALAM will also push for a law that
will give lands to all residents in blighted communities with government
assistance to ensure that the new communities that will be established are
complete with all amenities, such as schools, hospitals, markets, water and
sewerage systems, electricity and transportation.
It
will also include the allocation of funds to be lent to those who would
relocate, interest-free, and all incomes earned by those individuals relocating
to the new communities shall not be taxed on all incomes for the period of
fifteen (15) years.
It
shall be ensured that interest-free funds shall be ensured to be loaned by the
government to those who want to invest in transportation, small-scale businesses
and industries.
ALAM will push a law for making the
approval as “automatic” for all applications for free patents for housing
purposes for all who occupied public lands for at least ten (10) years as
residents provided that the area is not greater than 200 square meters and that
the lots concerned are free for disposition by the government.
ALAM will also push a law
strengthening the community mortgage program to all residents in rural and
urban areas, to make the same free from land-grabbing syndicates.
Cleansing the Registries of Land
Titles
ALAM will push a law to examine and
investigate all certificates of land titles kept in the Registries of Deeds and
remove from the files all certificates of title that are found to be not
supported by patents or supported by patents or court decrees but issued at a
time when there was no disposition yet of public lands concerned to alienation
and disposition.
The Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR), particularly its land investigation teams, the CENRO,
the PENRO, the Lands Management Bureaus, and the Land Registration Authority
(LRA) shall be constituted as the team that will do these tasks.
With this, all the fake land titles
that found their ways in registries of deeds will be culled out and only those
legitimate titles will remain.
Massive agriculture
ALAM will push for a law that will
require land owners of lands suitable for agriculture to plant crops or they
will be fined or their lands shall be given for tilling to able and willing
Filipinos upon the condition that the landowners shall be given only 20% of the
shares in gross harvests. But if the landowners concerned are absent or
cannot be found, the shares from the cropping shall be deposited in trust but
which trust funds can be used by the government to loan out to people willing
to do the farming.
Political empowerment
ALAM will push for a law increasing
political positions reserved for the minorities, the underprivileged, the
underrepresented, and unrepresented.
Foremost
among these is the increasing of elective positions for memberships in all
levels of sanggunians to give seats to each of all minority sectors, including
the indigenous persons, where the representatives shall be chosen by election
among the members of their sectors, with the requirement that no ordinances or
resolutions shall be deemed as passed without the votes of these minorities
taken for or against.
ALAM
will push a law relaxing the requirements for the creations of political
subdivisions, such as towns, cities, barangays, provinces and regions like ARMM,
with the view that the smaller the local government is, the more efficient to
be managed and more people will be actively involved in the building of the
nation.
ALAM
will push to remove from the mayors and the governors that power over the
police and provide a security measure against police abuses by creating a
CITIZEN’S JURY (People’s Law Enforcement Board) for every town or city or
province to have the power to hear and decide cases against police
officers.
The
Citizen’s Jury shall be constituted by at least 15 citizens raffled by the
computer from the town, city or the province and screened through standards
procedures and shall serve for six (6) months to be replaced by another batch
every six (6) months thereafter.
Attested
to:
BERTENI CATALUÑA CAUSING
President
Alab ng
Mamamahayag
EDWIN R. ALCALA
Secretary
General
Alab ng
Mamamahayag
HERNANI Q. CUARE
Alab ng
Mamamahayag
Board
Director
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