Several thousand workers joined the United
People’s Action in Luneta today to slam the repression of labor and human
rights, and the threat of dictatorship. “Workers already experienced the
repression and horrors of dictatorship under Marcos and will not allow a new
one to be installed,” averred Rene Magtubo, chairperson of Partido Manggagawa
(PM).
PM participated in today’s protest as
part of the contingents of Manggagawa Ayaw sa Diktadura and Kalipunan ng mga
Kilusang Masa. Manggagawa Ayaw sa Diktadura is comprised of labor and church organizations.
Meanwhile Kalipunan was formed by mass organizations of workers, farmers, urban
poor, women and youth to confront the looming threat of authoritarianism.
“Workers are here to make our stand not
just against the threat of dictatorship but to resist the reality of suppression
of labor and human rights. Instead of heeding the demands of the people and
implementing his promises, Duterte is all hands on deck in persecuting his
political rivals, killing the poor in the bloody war on drugs and demolishing respect
for human rights,” insisted Magtubo.
He added that “The persistence of contractualization
is a human rights violation. It is a repression of workers’ right to security
of tenure. The collapse of workers’ purchasing power due to runaway inflation
is a human rights violation. It is a suppression of workers’ right to a living
wage and decent life. Ending endo and abolishing regional wages was a promise
of Duterte. But two years have gone by and nothing except killings and
persecution left and right.”
“Workers were among the first victims of
martial law in 1972. Today, workers are again suffering under an increasingly
authoritarian rule. We vow to fight and resist,” Magtubo ended.
September 21, 2018
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