Partido Lakas ng Masa
Philippines left: In wake of Typhoon Pablo, global South demands 'reparations and climate justice'
Typhoon hits the Philippines, December 4, 2012.
By Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring Masses), Philippines
A total ban on all logging and mining activities!
Implement massive reforestation and a sustainable development plan!
Climate justice now!
We demand full reparation from rich countries and their corporations!
December 11, 2012 -- The Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) extends full sympathy to the victims of Typhoon Pablo: to the families of those killed and missing, and to the millions suffering from the destruction of their homes and crops and those still waiting for relief. The PLM demands answers to serious questions raised by the government’s response to the catastrophe.
These include: why, despite the authorities warning of the impending disaster in advance, no concrete evacuation plans were in place; evasiveness about the death toll; delays in getting food and other supplies to survivors and diversion of resources to prevent small-scale looting by desperate survivors rather than providing food.
A protest in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, on November 15, 2012, called for an end to Israel's attacks on Gaza.
The Noynoy government must condemn Israel’s actions and support build-up of international pressure to stop Israeli aggression!
Statement byPartido Lakas ng Masa (PLM, Party of the Labouring Masses, Philippines)
Solidarity statements: 'A vital victory for Chavez, Venezuela and the Bolivarian revolution'
Brigadistas from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network brigade get ready for the massive march in Caracas, October 4,Philippines: PLM officially recognised as political party of the marginalised sectors
Statement by Sonny Melencio, chairperson, Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring Masses)
Video: Class and climate catastrophe in the Philippines
August 30, 2012 -- GreenLeftTV/Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Sonny Melencio, chairperson of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring masses), reflects on the politics of class and catastrophic climate change in the wake of the 2012 Manila floods. Interview by Peter Boyle.
Philippines: Lessons from Manila floods -- interview from the climate-change frontline
Sonny Melencio (second from left) distributes flood relief supplies.
Peter Boyle interviews Sonny Melencio
"People’s solidarity is a latent component that exists even in the capitalist system. We have to nurture it and provide an environment for it to fully develop by changing the system."
August 13, 2012 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/Green Left Weekly -- While the Philippines government dithered and made excuses for its grossly inadequate response to the catastrophic floods -- which inundated 80% of the country's capital, Manila -- Sonny Melencio was leading a people's relief effort that brought the first food supplies in days to some of the poorest and most badly effected communities. Together with other activists from the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM, Party of the Labouring Masses), Melencio went to a string of urban poor communities along the flood-breached Marikina River with supplies collected from ordinary folk, whose upsurge of solidarity was in sharp contrast to the official response.
Philippines flood disaster: A political response is urgently needed
PLM activist Sonny Melencio (right) distributes flood relief.
Statement by the Partido Lakas ng Masa
Philippines: Climate change crisis hits world's poor hardest -- again
Philippines: Progressive organisations express concern over ‘Southeast Asian Sea’ tensions
[For background to the Spratly Islands issue, see "China, Vietnam and the islands dispute: What is behind the rise of Chinese nationalism?"]
United Voices of Concern (amidst the sounds of fury over the Southeast Asian Sea)
World Peace Bell, Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City, Philippines
May 25, 2012 -- The contending states claiming territorial jurisdiction over sections of the "Southeast Asian Sea" [Spratly Islands] are only heightening regional tensions to a frightening degree. In particular, the contentious row between the Philippines and China is being amplified by certain quarters to a near-conflict level for seemingly nationalistic, but in fact chauvinistic reasons. And as the almost daily sounds of fury raise the stakes for the region’s masses of humanity, many more sober voices of concern must now come out to be heard and not be silenced by the sabre-rattling of a deluded few.
