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| Proclamation of the Makabayan + Bayan Muna coalition candidates |
Lower food prices. Higher wages across the board.
Crack down on corruption and hold those responsible to account. End political dynasties.
These form the platform of Bayan Muna party-list and
Makabayan candidates who visited Hong Kong this weekend, and launched their
global campaign for the 2025 mid-term election in the Philippines.
Leading the group was lawyer Neri Colmenares, chairman
and first nominee of Bayan Muna, an erstwhile front-runner in the party-list
vote that was dealt a severe blow in the 2022 elections, when it failed to
garner enough votes to retain a seat in the House of Representatives.
Colmenares, a human rights lawyer who also failed in
his bid to win a Senate seat in the last polls, said a second consecutive loss
for Bayan Muna will prevent it taking part in another election.
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| Colmenares answers questions from Filcom leaders at Chater Road forum |
“Babalik at
kailangang makabalik kami sa Kongreso,” said Colmenares, at the Makabayan
bloc’s Miting de Avance at Eton Hotel in Jordan on Sunday. (We will return – we
should return to Congress).
In addition to the common platform of the Makabayan
candidates, Colmenares promised to again lobby for the elimination of
government fees levied on overseas Filipino workers, particularly the mandatory
contributions to the national health insurer, PhilHealth.
Colmenares expressed alarm at the news that
PhilHealth has started sending collection notices to some OFWs, telling them
they must pay for the five years that the mandatory collection of membership
dues was suspended, plus 1.5 percent monthly interest.
If elected back to Congress, he said he would
immediately file a bill questioning the government fees that OFWs are being
forced to pay. He also said he would again push for a Php2,000 increase in the
monthly pension of SSS members and senior citizens who are not receiving any
pension.
At a time when the two most powerful political clans
in the country – the Marcoses and the Dutertes – are fighting control over the government,
Colmenares said Filipinos should not allow themselves to be caught in between the
forces of “kadiliman” and “kasamaan.”
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| Conti speaks amid a backdrop of the candidates' names and numbers on ballot |
“We are not destined to choose the lesser evil,” he said,
adding that there are many capable candidates that Filipino voters can choose,
instead of limiting their choices to those aligned with the two factions.
Later, at a meeting with Filipino community leaders on Chater Road, Colmenares said voters should assess each candidate and choose those who like them support the impeachment move against Vice President Sara Duterte, oppose the transfer of PhilHealth funds to government coffers, and other pro-people moves.
Also at the campaign launch was another human rights
lawyer and Bayan Muna’s fifth nominee, Kristina Conti.
The candidate who gained prominence for fighting for
the victims of the extrajudicial killings during former President Rodrigo
Duterte’s rule said the human rights situation in the country needs to be
improved. If the people no longer feel secure with officers in uniform, “kanino
ka pa magsusumbong?” (where else can you seek help?), she asked.
The rest of the delegation consisted of former or current
party-list representatives in Congress, who all reported on the laws they
crafted and supported, and the advocacies they championed.
They comprised Teddy Casino, current chair of Bayan
(Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) and former Bayan Muna party-list representative, Liza
Maza, a two-termer who represented both Bayan Muna and Gabriela Women’s Party,
and Arlene Brosas, the incumbent representative of Gabriela.
They presented individual platforms that included such
advocacies as getting a divorce law passed in the Philippines, providing greater
protection to rape victims, expanding the coverage of laws protecting women and
their children, raising the minimum wage for workers across the Philippines to
P1,200; a minimum salary of P33,000 for government employees and Php50,000 for
teachers, nurses and health professionals.
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| Shirt with the Bayan Muna party-list and names of Makabayan senatorial candidates |
Their records in Congress speak well of how Makabayan
lawmakers have done their jobs, said Maza.
“All the bills passed by Makabayan are breakthrough
legislation,” she noted.
Casino said Makabayan candidates are true representatives
of the people because they work on the ground and know the sentiments of
ordinary folks, unlike the incumbent senators who represent less than 1% of the
country’s population.
So, to those who ask them why they even run when
they seem have little chances of winning, Casino said it is because “Ito ang tama, ito ang dapat.” (It is
what’s right and proper).
He also noted that until the 2022 debacle, Bayan Muna was a forerunner in the party-list vote so that it did not have just one, but three seats in Congress.
Also part of the 11-member Senate slate of Makabayan
are Danilo Ramos, a farmer; Mimi Doringo, urban poor leader; Jerome Adonis, trade
union leader; France Castro, teacher; Jocelyn Andamo, nurse; Ronnel Arambulo,
fisherman and environmentalist; Amirah Lidasan, Moro activist; and Mody
Floranda, driver activist.
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