Category: Free Expression – Asia

PH’s Ed Legaspi, new ED of SEAPA

mcmangahas Leave a comment

A FILIPINO with long and solid background on media freedom, human rights, and the political economy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the new executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).

The Board of Trustees of SEAPA, a network of independent media organizations in seven countries of Southeast Asia, has named Edgardo P. Legaspi, former SEAPA Alerts and Communications Officer, as new SEAPA executive director.

Legaspi formally takes over as executive director on July 1, 2015.

He succeeds Gayathry Venkiteswaran from Malaysia, who had served creditably well as executive director for over three years, a period which marked SEAPA’s implementation of its “Journalism for Change” program for journalists, Netizens, and media lawyers across the region.

The SEAPA Trustees conducted rigorous interviews with Legaspi and four other short-listed candidates in Bangkok last month. In all, 12 persons from several countries vied for the position and submitted written application letters on their vision and plans for SEAPA.

SEAPA has full and associate members from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Myanmar.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Center for Media Freedom and responsibility (CMFR), the Thai Journalists Association, and Indonesia’s Association of Independent Journalists (AJI) and Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) are founding members of SEAPA.

“I am very happy to hand over the baton to Ed, with whom I’ve had a good working relationship for the last three years. I hope you will extend to him your support and cooperation as you have to me during my tenure,” Venkiteswaran said.

In response, Legaspi said: “Thank you especially to Gaya, who encouraged me to apply. The challenges ahead for SEAPA are daunting, but have been made considerably smoother because of her work. Those are certainly higher standards to meet, but with your help, together, the tasks shall be easier. I am humbled by this.”

Before joining SEAPA in March 2012, Legaspi had worked from 2006 to 2011 as manager of the Information, Communications, and Publications Department of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and development (FORUM-ASIA), and as consultant and coordinator for its Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Programs and Peace and Human Security Program.

In 2009, he served as ASEAN Program Associate of the Southeast Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA) where he managed and implemented project to promote civil society engagement with the ASEAN.

In the Philippines from 1988 to 2004, Legaspi had worked variably as writer, editor, assistant manager, advocacy officer, and program coordinator of the Gazton Z. Ortigas Peace Institute, Asian Social Institute, and TABAK (Alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Advocates).

From October 2007 to November 2008, Legaspi had also worked with the Nonviolence International Southeast Asia (NISEA) as manager and trainer on human rights monitoring and conflict management strategy and development in Southern Thailand, as well as advisor and advocacy officer on disarmament (control of small arms and light weapons and banning landmines and cluster munitions)

Legaspi holds an Economics degree from St. Joseph’s College in Quezon City, and has done course work for Master’s degrees in economics and human rights from the Asian Social Institute in the Philippines and the Mahidol University in Thailand.

As SEAPA Alerts and Communications Officer in the last three years, Legaspi had worked as lead writer of reports on cases of free expression violations; led the development and implementation of SEAPA’s communication strategy; managed the alliance’s social media accounts, developed databases and a monitoring system for cases of free expression violations in Southeast Asia; and conducted research, orientation and training for SEAPA staff and network members on press freedom, Internet governance, media law and impunity, and secure communication tools.

Before Legaspi and Venkiteswaran, another Filipino, Roby Alampay, had served as SEAPA’s first executive director.

The six-person SEAPA secretariat based in Bangkok has staff personnel from Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar.

VIDEO: The ‘promised land’

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

ALMA Ravina is a second generation coconut farmer in Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon province. Since last year, she already owns the land their family have been toiling for years—well, at least that’s what it says on paper.

On May 15, 2015, the collective might of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) plus the Philippine National Police (PNP), and Philippine Army failed to install Luzara and other agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Hacienda Matias in San Francisco, Bondoc Peninsula.

Hacienda Matias — whose former owners are Michael Gil Matias and Cenen F. Matias Jr — is a coconut plantation that spans an area of 1,715.983 hectares.

Of the 283 ARBs, 69 members of KMBP need to be installed, or to be physically placed on their farm lot. This is because they were driven out of their farm lots by the hired armed goons of the Matiases. Some of them live near the shore of Sibuyan Sea, while the others managed to build makeshift shelters on the mountain slopes in the margins of Hacienda Matias.

For some curious reason, both the police and army could not hurdle the main gate of Hacienda Matias and effectively install the ARBs that day.

Curious, too, that a memo order, dated May 20, 2015, of Police Director Ricardo Cornejo Marquez of the PNP Directorate for Operations to “establish PNP detachment within the hacienda, escort the DAR personnel and ARBs/farmers in installing the latter to their awarded lands, conduct regular patrol within the hacienda, and implement other appropriate interventions to ensure/maintain peace and order in the area” could not be implemented by the Quezon PNP Regional Command.

DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, had texted the request for a PNP detachment inside the hacienda because “installation is futile if the area is not guarded by PNP once installed by DAR.”

Ravina is among the 283 CLOA holders in Hacienda Matias.

This video short tells their story.

‘Include FOI in short-list’

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

By Cong B. Corrales

NOW that the House Committee of Public Information has filed its report on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to the Office of the Secretary General, the bill’s authors are urging the House leadership for “extraordinary will” to calendar it for sponsorship at the soonest time possible.

In a briefing, Wednesday, Public Infomation Chair Rep. Jorge T. Almonte told reporters that they formally submitted their report (Committee Report No. 746) alongside the substitute bill (House Bill 5801) last Monday, May 25. After this, he added, the bill will go to the Committee on Rules for calendaring in the plenary session.

The bill, Almonte said, consolidates 23 FOI bills filed in Congress which includes the version filed by the Right to Know, Right Now! (R2KRN) Coalition through Direct Initiative.

FOI authors collectively made an appeal, in the briefing, to House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr and Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II to include the bill in its “shortest list of priority bills.”

Earlier, R2KRN convenor Nepomuceno Malaluan expressed concern that the bill may again be passed over especially since the election year is drawing near.

This video short features excerpts of the House Committee on Public Information briefing on the Freedom of Information Bill.

In an interview after the briefing, Ifugao Rep. Teddy B. Baguilat Jr said he shares the concern of FOI advocates that there may not be enough time since the FOI bill is just one of 24 priority bills that will have to be considered before Congress adjourns.

“We are aware na pagdating na ng October, once people file their certificate of candidacies mas mahirap na humagilap ng kongresista sa plenary. Kung makipagsalaran ka doon, medyo nakakatakot nga,” Baguilat said.

“That’s why the need for an extraordinary will or decision ng House leadership na pabilisin yung proseso. We are not saying we will not follow the process. Kahit sponsorship lang before the sine die adjournment,” he added.

“I’m sure with the remaining months left in our terms there’s going to be a mad-scramble to have all of our pet bills approved.”

Meanwhile, Parañaque City Rep. Gus S. Tambunting appealed not only to the House leadership but also to his colleagues “across party lines” to support the committee report.

“This is a dream come true. Dalawang dekada na hong naghihintay ang taumbayan para po maaprubahan itong FOI bill,” Tambunting said.

For her part, Ang Nars Partylist Rep. Leah S. Paquiz hopes that her colleagues in the partylist system will vote for the approval of the FOI committee report in the plenary since the measure is all about “transparency.”

As for Almonte, he remains hopeful that the House leadership will pass the measure into law before the 16th Congress ends.

“I do believe in miracles but I know that it will not take a miracle to pass this law,” said Almonte.

‘FOI deserves high priority’

mcmangahas Leave a comment

THE House of Representatives should not waste a day longer and act with dispatch on the Freedom of Information bill.

In fact, what the House needs to do at this time, with Congress set to go on recess on June 4, is to put the FOI bill on top priority, according to the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition of about 160 civil society organizations and leaders.

High prioritization of the FOI bill could mean a few, easy things that President Aquino, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., and other House leaders could do — “a high-level meeting, a phone call, adoption of a clear timetable, clearing-up of hold-ups and delays, mention at the State of the Nation Address, the President certifying to the necessity of immediate enactment, and ultimately, the House leadership putting the bill on the plenary agenda and mobilizing key legislators to move the process forward.”

What follows is the full text of the Coalition’s statement:

FOI Losing Time, High
Prioritization Essential

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION Chairperson Jorge T. Almonte and House FOI champions and authors were scheduled to file the Committee Report on the FOI Bill with the Secretary General of the House of Representative last Wednesday, May 20, at 3:30 pm.

However, at around 2 pm, Chair Almonte felt compelled to postpone the event, anticipating that the final vote on the BBL happening that afternoon will take longer than earlier expected. He was set to vote on the BBL, along with a number of FOI authors who are members, ex-officio members, or deputized members of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

We hope that the postponed filing of the Committee Report on the FOI Bill will happen at the soonest. The filing of the report is significant. It marks the shift of the FOI Bill from the committee level to the even more challenging work at the plenary level.

In spite of the advance of the FOI bill signified by the filing of the Committee Report, we lost important time. The last three weeks since the resumption of session on May 4, and early next week when the BBL goes through approval by the Committee on Appropriations, would have been an opportunity to start sponsorship and interpellation of the FOI bill in plenary.

The Need for High Prioritization

This brings to light the importance of a measure being given high prioritization by the leadership of Congress and by the President. The impact of high prioritization on how a measure moves in Congress, particularly for major, controversial or resisted bills like FOI, is all too clear. We saw it in RH, in Sin Tax, and now in BBL.

We attest to the hard work at the committee level of Chair Almonte, FOI authors and champion legislators and their staff, as well as of the advocates in getting the bill through the committee process. We attest to the responsiveness of the Committee on Appropriations and its Chairperson, Rep. Isidro Ungab, in the prompt approval of the appropriations provision of the bill. We also attest to the committed and untiring support from the staff of the committee secretariat. (See legislative history of the FOI bill at the committee level in 16th Congress below).

However, this is where high prioritization spells the difference. To be sure certain steps could have been speeded up if the passage of FOI is given high priority, similar to the bills we mentioned earlier.

Especially at this critical juncture when we approach the third and final regular session in a Presidential election year, the FOI bill cannot be just one of numerous priorities. It will take a very high level of prioritization and leadership if it is to finally pass.

By observation, we are all familiar with the many mechanisms by which a high level of prioritization is conveyed: a high-level meeting, a phone call, adoption of a clear timetable, clearing-up of hold-ups and delays, mention at the State of the Nation Address, the President certifying to the necessity of immediate enactment, and ultimately, the House leadership putting the bill on the plenary agenda and mobilizing key legislators to move the process forward.

The coalition sees it as a challenge for itself and concerned citizens to demonstrate a compelling strength to move our leaders to place the passage of the FOI Bill high in their priorities, as much as we see it as a matter of accountability and question of leadership for the highest leaders of this country.

FOI Tracker Rating Drops

In our FOI Tracker # 1 assessing Congress action on FOI, we said that the bill was well positioned for passage, and in the Green Zone with a rating of 85.

With the delay and anticipating that the BBL will reach plenary given its prioritization, our appeal for the completion of sponsorship and start of interpellation before the June 11 adjournment has turned difficult. Given this, the rating drops by 20 points to 65, and moves to the Yellow Zone. The FOI Tracker may be viewed at http://www.i-foi.org

Legislative History of the FOI Bill at the Committee Level in the 16th Congress

October 23, 2013, Committee organizational meeting, where a motion to create a Technical Working Group (TWG) to consolidate the FOI bills was approved

November 26, 2013,The TWG was constituted

February 6, 2014, TWG Meeting # 1

February 18, 2014, TWG Meeting # 2

March 10, 2014, TWG Meeting # 3

May 12, 2014, TWG Meeting # 4

May 19, 2014, TWG Meeting # 5

May 28, 2014, TWG Meeting # 6

June 9, 2014, TWG Meeting # 7

August 4, 2014, TWG Meeting # 8

September 2, 2014, TWG Meeting # 9, Approval of Substitute Bill

November 24, 2014, Committee Approval of the Substitute Bill
Voting: Nine (9) Yes: Reps. Abad, Aglipay-Villar, Baguilat, Bataoil, Bello, Dalog, Ferriol-Pascual, Gutierrez, Lobregat, Paquiz; Three (3) No: Reps. Colmenares, Romualdo, Tinio

November 25, 2014, Referral to the Committee on Appropriations for approval of the appropriations provision of the Substitute Bill

March 4, 2015, Approval of the appropriations provision, with amendment, by the Committee on Appropriations

March 24, 2015, Certification of Committee on Appropriations action received by the Committee on Public Information

May 14, 2015, Committee Secretariat receives back the documentation of the Committee Report from the 4-step administrative approval by the Committee Affairs Department of the House Secretariat, through the Service Director, Deputy Executive Director, Executive Director and the Deputy Secretary General for Committee Affairs

May 19, 2015, Committee Report signed by Rep. Isidro Ungab on the part of the Committee on Appropriations. Rep. Jorge Almonte, FOI authors and champions agree to a group filing of the Committee Report on May 20, 2015 at 3:30 pm, upon signing of the committee report by Rep. Jorge Almonte on the part of the Committee on Public Information

May 20, 2015, Scheduled group filing of the Committee Report with the Secretary General postponed.

‘FOI deserves high priority’

mcmangahas Leave a comment

THE House of Representatives should not waste a day longer and act with dispatch on the Freedom of Information bill.

In fact, what the House needs to do at this time, with Congress set to go on recess on June 4, is to put the FOI bill on top priority, according to the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition of about 160 civil society organizations and leaders.

High prioritization of the FOI bill could mean a few, easy things that President Aquino, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., and other House leaders could do — “a high-level meeting, a phone call, adoption of a clear timetable, clearing-up of hold-ups and delays, mention at the State of the Nation Address, the President certifying to the necessity of immediate enactment, and ultimately, the House leadership putting the bill on the plenary agenda and mobilizing key legislators to move the process forward.”

What follows is the full text of the Coalition’s statement:

FOI Losing Time, High
Prioritization Essential

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION Chairperson Jorge T. Almonte and House FOI champions and authors were scheduled to file the Committee Report on the FOI Bill with the Secretary General of the House of Representative last Wednesday, May 20, at 3:30 pm.

However, at around 2 pm, Chair Almonte felt compelled to postpone the event, anticipating that the final vote on the BBL happening that afternoon will take longer than earlier expected. He was set to vote on the BBL, along with a number of FOI authors who are members, ex-officio members, or deputized members of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

We hope that the postponed filing of the Committee Report on the FOI Bill will happen at the soonest. The filing of the report is significant. It marks the shift of the FOI Bill from the committee level to the even more challenging work at the plenary level.

In spite of the advance of the FOI bill signified by the filing of the Committee Report, we lost important time. The last three weeks since the resumption of session on May 4, and early next week when the BBL goes through approval by the Committee on Appropriations, would have been an opportunity to start sponsorship and interpellation of the FOI bill in plenary.

The Need for High Prioritization

This brings to light the importance of a measure being given high prioritization by the leadership of Congress and by the President. The impact of high prioritization on how a measure moves in Congress, particularly for major, controversial or resisted bills like FOI, is all too clear. We saw it in RH, in Sin Tax, and now in BBL.

We attest to the hard work at the committee level of Chair Almonte, FOI authors and champion legislators and their staff, as well as of the advocates in getting the bill through the committee process. We attest to the responsiveness of the Committee on Appropriations and its Chairperson, Rep. Isidro Ungab, in the prompt approval of the appropriations provision of the bill. We also attest to the committed and untiring support from the staff of the committee secretariat. (See legislative history of the FOI bill at the committee level in 16th Congress below).

However, this is where high prioritization spells the difference. To be sure certain steps could have been speeded up if the passage of FOI is given high priority, similar to the bills we mentioned earlier.

Especially at this critical juncture when we approach the third and final regular session in a Presidential election year, the FOI bill cannot be just one of numerous priorities. It will take a very high level of prioritization and leadership if it is to finally pass.

By observation, we are all familiar with the many mechanisms by which a high level of prioritization is conveyed: a high-level meeting, a phone call, adoption of a clear timetable, clearing-up of hold-ups and delays, mention at the State of the Nation Address, the President certifying to the necessity of immediate enactment, and ultimately, the House leadership putting the bill on the plenary agenda and mobilizing key legislators to move the process forward.

The coalition sees it as a challenge for itself and concerned citizens to demonstrate a compelling strength to move our leaders to place the passage of the FOI Bill high in their priorities, as much as we see it as a matter of accountability and question of leadership for the highest leaders of this country.

FOI Tracker Rating Drops

In our FOI Tracker # 1 assessing Congress action on FOI, we said that the bill was well positioned for passage, and in the Green Zone with a rating of 85.

With the delay and anticipating that the BBL will reach plenary given its prioritization, our appeal for the completion of sponsorship and start of interpellation before the June 11 adjournment has turned difficult. Given this, the rating drops by 20 points to 65, and moves to the Yellow Zone. The FOI Tracker may be viewed at http://www.i-foi.org

Legislative History of the FOI Bill at the Committee Level in the 16th Congress

October 23, 2013, Committee organizational meeting, where a motion to create a Technical Working Group (TWG) to consolidate the FOI bills was approved

November 26, 2013,The TWG was constituted

February 6, 2014, TWG Meeting # 1

February 18, 2014, TWG Meeting # 2

March 10, 2014, TWG Meeting # 3

May 12, 2014, TWG Meeting # 4

May 19, 2014, TWG Meeting # 5

May 28, 2014, TWG Meeting # 6

June 9, 2014, TWG Meeting # 7

August 4, 2014, TWG Meeting # 8

September 2, 2014, TWG Meeting # 9, Approval of Substitute Bill

November 24, 2014, Committee Approval of the Substitute Bill
Voting: Nine (9) Yes: Reps. Abad, Aglipay-Villar, Baguilat, Bataoil, Bello, Dalog, Ferriol-Pascual, Gutierrez, Lobregat, Paquiz; Three (3) No: Reps. Colmenares, Romualdo, Tinio

November 25, 2014, Referral to the Committee on Appropriations for approval of the appropriations provision of the Substitute Bill

March 4, 2015, Approval of the appropriations provision, with amendment, by the Committee on Appropriations

March 24, 2015, Certification of Committee on Appropriations action received by the Committee on Public Information

May 14, 2015, Committee Secretariat receives back the documentation of the Committee Report from the 4-step administrative approval by the Committee Affairs Department of the House Secretariat, through the Service Director, Deputy Executive Director, Executive Director and the Deputy Secretary General for Committee Affairs

May 19, 2015, Committee Report signed by Rep. Isidro Ungab on the part of the Committee on Appropriations. Rep. Jorge Almonte, FOI authors and champions agree to a group filing of the Committee Report on May 20, 2015 at 3:30 pm, upon signing of the committee report by Rep. Jorge Almonte on the part of the Committee on Public Information

May 20, 2015, Scheduled group filing of the Committee Report with the Secretary General postponed.