FREE THE TAGAYTAY 5

1. Axel Alejandro Pinpin-

2006-05-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

>34 na taong gulang, residente ng Indang Cavite, may asawa at 2 anak
>nagtapos ng Agricuture ng CvSU,
>dating empleyado ng Department of Science and Technology (DOST),
>dating OFW sa Saudi Arabia,
>isang free lance writer, artist/poet.
>organizer ng Kalipunan ng mga Magbubukid sa Kabite na may opisina sa Silang Cavite, siya rin
ang isa sa mga media officer nito
>isa rin siya sa naging katulong ni Cong. Remulla sa pagbubuo ng Cavite Farmers Consultative
Council (CFCC) noong Nobyembre 2004 na ginanap sa Cavite State University.

ULILA
Matigas na ang espongha
dahil di nagagamit.
Gayundin ang Scotchbrite
nagmistula ng liha.
Maging ang mga sinampay
kaytagal na sigurong naghihintay
ng magsisilong.
Kung makapagsasalita siguro ang lampin
matagal na nyang winika:
"Hoy, sabik na ako sa ihi ni Karl!
"Maalikabok ang bentilador,
di nabunot sa outlet ang plantsa,
ang ritrato namin ni Agnes sa kuwadro,
nakasimangot.
Naiinip na wari koang krayola ni Jam.
Ulila na rin sa mainit na tubig ang termos
pinagpistahan na ng guyam ang bigas,
tanda ko pa ang tuwalya
ganitong ganito pa rin ang pagkakabalumbon
may isang buwan na yata
nang padabog ko itong iitsa
sa matigas naming kama.
Kawawa naman si Bob Marley,
at si John Lennon
di yata nasisiyahan kay Andrew E.
at Lolita Carbon.
Tsk!
Umaalingasaw na sa amag
ang nabahaw na sinaing.
Nasasabik ang aking inodoro
sa aking matagal na di pag-upo.
Wag kayong mag-alala aking mga mahal.
Andito na ako.
Ang mag-ina ko na lang ang kulang

2. Aristedes Sarmiento-

2006-05-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

>48 taong gulang, kasal kay Laura del Castillo-Sarmiento at may 5 anak.
>myembro ng Katawang Tagapag-ugnay ng Mag-aaral o KTM (isang transitory student body bago
pa mahalal noong 1978 angUPLB student council)
>nagtapos noong 1978 sa kursong B.S. Agriculture major in Horticulture sa UP Los Banos
> nagsilbing training assistant sa UPLB-Department of Agriculture makatapos ng pag-aaral
>1980 nagtrabaho sa Center for Ecumenical Development and Action Research or CEDAR bilang
researcher and organizer partikular sa pag-asiste sa mga magsasaka at mangagawang pang-
agrikultura sa industriya ng niyog.
> maagang bahagi ng dekada 80's, naging konektado din siya sa ALAMIN (isang alyansa ng mga
mamamayan sa pagsusulong ng kagalingan ng mga magsasaka and manggagawa sa industriya
ng niyog)
>1986, nagsilbing staff consultant ng Philippine Coconut Authority sa ilalim ng dating Rep. Oscar
Santos
> mula 1986, nagsilbi bilang secretary-general ng Solidarity of People's Power (isang people's
alliance para sa good governance karapatang pantao) na ang layon ng pagtatrabaho ay kaugnay
sa mga isyung may kinalaman sa Laguna de Bay degradation, land use conversion lupang
agrikultura tungong industriyal at residensyal na gamit; demolition at dislokasyon ng mga
magsasaka sa kanilang panirikan.
> naglingkod bilang project analyst/consultant para sa Bondoc Peninsula Development Project
sa mga taong 1988-1989 at 1992-1993
> naging consultant ni Senator Wigberto Tanada hanggang 1998
> freelance researcher-farming consultant/analyst mula 1999 ng mga organisasyon ng magsasaka
at mga private/government entities/personalities

3. Riel Ramos Costudio –

2006-05-19T01:04:00.000-07:00

>29 years old, isinilang noong January 15, 1977, walang asawa, at residente ng Sampaga,
Silangan, Batangas City
>nagtapos sa mataas na paaralan ng Western Philippine Colleges, Batangas City.
>kumuha ng vocational course na Welding & Fabrication sa Pablo Borbon Memorial Institute of
Technology
>nahalal na opisyal ng Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Ishida Philippines Gratig simula 1998 sa
ilalim ng pederasyong FFW
>Kamagsasaka-Ka organizer, nagpasyang tumulong mga magsasaka sa Kabite nang madalas na
makasama ni Axel sa kanyang mga lakad para sanayin sa mga iba’t-ibang linya ng gawain sa
pag-oorganisa sa mga magbubukid.

4. Enrico Ylagan Ybanez –

2006-05-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

>58 taong gulang, ipinanganak noong Setyembre 5, 1947
> kasal kay Maria Romulo, isang guro sa isang pampublikong paaralan sa Tagaytay City.
>nagtapos ng Marine Engineering sa PMI, at isa nang retired seaman.
>may taniman ng pinya
>kumikita sa pamamagitan ng pagbabaklay, pagsasabong at iba pang sugal sa Tagaytay at mga
kalapit bayan nito.

5. Michael Magnaye Masayes –

2006-05-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

>28 taong gulang, ipinanganak noong May 12, 1977, may asawa at 2 anak na edad 2 taon at 3 taon
>residente ng Brgy. Tolentino West, Tagaytay City
> kilalang mananari at “kristo” sa mga sabong sa Tagaytay at mga katabing bayan nito
> naging bodyguard ni Vice Mayor Virgilio Tolentino Ambion noong 2003- 2004
>nagtapos ng high school sa Tagaytay City Science National High School
>kumuha ng vocational course na electronics sa loob ng 6 buwan
>siya din lamang ang inaasahan ng kanyang mag-iina sa kanilang pang-araw-araw na
pangangailangan.
>anak din siya kung ituring ni Rico.

'Destabilizing' Artists

2006-05-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
‘Destabilizing’ Artists
The imprisonment of poet Axel Alejandro Pinpin and musician Alexis Uy shows the reality that artists cannot escape from political contradictions of their time.
BY DENNIS ESPADABulatlat

The imprisonment of poet Axel Alejandro Pinpin and musician Alexis Uy shows the reality that artists cannot escape from political contradictions of their time.
And in the midst of what they perceive as an attack against freedom of _expression, the Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria), a broad alliance of artists and cultural groups, stated that they cannot bring themselves "to be silent at a time when the forces of darkness have begun to haul artists to the silence of the graveyard."
Pinpin, 34, an Agriculture graduate of the Cavite State University, is a 1999 Fellow of the University of the Philippines (UP) Writers’ Workshop and author of a self-published poetry compilation titled Tugmaang Walang Tugma (Rhyming without Ryhmes). Friends say he had been compiling poems for a second book at the time he was arrested.
Meanwhile, Uy, 26, is a member of Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan (APLAYA or Cultural Artists of Fisherfolks in Southern Tagalog) which he helped organize, aside from working as a researcher for the Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK or Federation of Peasant Organizations in Southern Tagalog).
Being researchers of peasant organizations, both artists were supposed to take part in protest rallies in commemoration of Labor Day to be held in Cavite and Quezon provinces.
Pinpin and his companions – Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka or Farmer's Federation in Cavite) organizer Riel Custodio, researcher Aristedes Sarmiento, and local residents Enrico Ybañez and Michael Masayes – were nabbed April 28 somewhere in Sungay village, Tagaytay City by Philippine National Police (PNP) elements and Philippine Navy intelligence agents. Last week, they were charged with rebellion before the Tagaytay City Regional Trial Court while being detained at Camp Vicente Lim in Canlubang, Laguna.
Meanwhile, Uy together with 14 farmers belonging to Kongreso ng Magbubukid para sa Repormang Agraryo (KOMPRA or Peasant Congress for Agrarian Reform) were seized April 30 while traveling on a bus going to Candelaria and kept in isolated detention at the Philippine Army's Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) headquarters in Camp Nakar, Lucena City.
Their captors presented them to the media as New People's Army (NPA) rebels involved in an alleged anti-government "destabilization plot.”
Peasant advocates
While officials of the PNP and the military insists that they have recovered "evidences" linking the suspects to so-called "destabilizers," they did not elaborate on the connection to reinforce their claims.
On the contrary, Kamagsasaka-Ka stated, there appeared to be signs of torture inflicted on the suspects. They expressed worry after seeing on TV newscasts video footages showing Custodio limping, Sarmiento's bandaged leg and Pinpin looking as though he was suffering from asthma attacks.
They also said the police took away a large sum of money that belongs to the farmers. The cash was reserved to purchase pardo (muscovado) and kapeng barako (a native coffee variety) under the Fair Trade Agreement signed in 2004 between the farmer's group and the Vancouver-based non-government organization Shuswap Association for the Promotion of Eco-Development (SAPED) for the purpose of raising the prices of sugar cane and unrefined coffee in Cavite and Batangas.
"Nakapagtatakang hindi ipinapahayag ng pamunuan ng pulis na nakuha din nila ang halagang mahigit 400,000 piso na noong oras na maganap ang pagdukot sa lima ay nasa pag-iingat nina Pinpin at Custodio" (It is a wonder why the PNP leadership did not say that they also confiscated the P400,000 that Pinpin and Custodio were holding when the five were arrested), Kamagsasaka-Ka spokesman Rogelio Galit told Bulatlat.
Colleagues from Kasama-TK, meanwhile, said the allegation that Uy is an NPA member is false, with the latter having graduated recently from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Social Work and Community Development. In fact, Uy has been working on two research projects: one is a case study on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the Bondoc Peninsula and the other is about the coconut industry in Quezon, in preparation for the CARP's 18th anniversary on June 10.
Uy has been recently released, but is reported to be under continuing surveillance.
Resisting restraint
Citing the cases of Pinpin and Uy, the Arroyo administration is like telling artists that they "are free only for so long as they refrain from challenging the ruling clique and the manner in which it 'orders' the country," ARREST Gloria declared in a statement.
"To prohibit dissent is to curtain freedom of _expression,” the ARREST Gloria statement read. “As lawyer and historical conversationist Trixie Angeles said, 'Without freedom of _expression there can be no artist.'"
ARREST Gloria, together with the poets' group Kilometer 64 has called on artists and writers to work together for the release of Pinpin and resist all attempts by the government to impose restraint. Bulatlat

Arrested Peasant Leaders Still in High Morale

2006-05-17T02:06:00.000-07:00

Tagaytay, City (06 May, 2006). No words can describe the admiration of Cavite peasants, friends and relatives of the 3 nabbed peasant leaders (Axel Alejandro Pinpin, Aristedes Sarmiento and Riel Costudio) accused of being communists rebel last April 28 2006 in Brgy. Sungay, Tagaytay City by a joint operation of the PNP and the Navy Intelligence Security Forces (NISF).

The nabbed peasant leaders with their 2 companions during the abduction was finally brought to the arraignment at the Branch 18 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Tagaytay City yesterday after a 5 days of illegal detention, solitary confinement and incommunicado by the PNP- CALABARZON headed by Regional Director Prospero Noble.

These only shown that the PNP still practices the old school methodology of the Philippine Constabulary and the METROCOM during the Martial Law era of the late Dictatorship of Pres. Marcos.

After receiving a phone call from Pinpin, members of the Kalipunan ng Magbubukid sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka- Ka), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Cavite), Cavite Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (CEMJP), friends and relatives storms down the court to show support for the accused peasant leaders.
These ends the emotional torture experienced by their relatives after a five days non-stop police and military hopping just to locate the 3 abducted peasant leaders and their 2 companions.

The arrested peasants arrived with 5 vehicle heavily armed convoy at Court Room. Welcoming them are comrades, sympathizers and relatives who was all over the place, even outside the court premises. Pinpin was quoted saying, “Wag kayo umiyak, dapat mas magpursige tayo sa ating mga adhikain.” , telling peasant women leaders present in the court room.

After the arraignment, vehicles belonging to the relatives and other militants convoyed the vehicles up to Camp Vicente Lim in Canlubang, Laguna to assure that thay will be brought to legal detention cell and held an indignation rally afterwards.

Kamagsasaka-Ka
Kalipunan ng mga Magbubukid sa Kabite
5170-A Blumentritt st. cor. Asuncion st. Bgy. Tubuan I, Silang, Cavite
e-mail: kmgssk_k@yahoo.com SEC REG NO. ANO93-004928

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Reference Person: ROGELIO GALIT (0926.387.4196)
CELLE TOLEDO (0916.795.2991)