On the Mindoro incident: Start at the top – not at the guardhouse

 

Photo from Daily Tribune

The incident in Oriental Mindoro where a construction site guard was blamed after preventing Governor Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor from entering a DPWH project site exposes how crooked government officials treat workers – as disposable shields to protect those truly responsible. DPWH Regional Director for MIMAROPA, Engr. Pacanan’s call to dismiss the guard is nothing less than scapegoating.

 

For us, this incident reveals a disturbing pattern, like other high-level investigations such as the fertilizer, pork barrel, war on drugs, and Pharmally scams: the blame too often falls on small workers, while the powerful and well-connected scape scrutiny. It is not under the guard’s 24/7 watch but with Pacanan’s regular and diligent inspections that DWPH projects comply with the highest standards.

 

Let us be clear: The security was doing his job. He’s not the one raking millions from padded contracts, substandard projects, and anomalous flood control programs. Yet in the middle of ongoing investigations, it is the small fries who are threatened with dismissal, while the big fish – contractors, politicians, and high officials remain untouched.

 

Furthermore, the incident shows the rotten state of governance in the country: when projects are questioned, it is the powerless who pay the price. Meanwhile, the politically connected contractors and DPWH brass continue business as usual, unaccountable for public funds wasted and communities left vulnerable to floods and disasters.

 

Kung gusto ninyong magsimulang maglinis DPWH, unahin ninyo ang sarili ninyong tanggapan dahil dyan nagaganap ang totoong tanggapan kasama ang mga contractors at politicians.

 

Hands off the workers! If DPWH wants accountability, start at the top – not at the guardhouse. Let the axe fall where it should be – on the corrupt, not the working class. 

A dynasty-filled Senate is anti-impeachment

Dismissing Sara Duterte’s impeachment case in plain view was just like re-electing Chiz Escudero. The alignment was the same. The numbers and faces who rejected the motion to keep the impeachment process alive in the Senate are the same mix of people representing political dynasties. Their votes, therefore, have nothing to do with the “rule of law” nor the representation of their “independence” as co-equal.

 

Yesterday, the Senate majority just did what Escudero wanted them to do since the 19th Congress – kill the impeachment.  Yet, it is harder to think that it was Sara Duterte who’s managing Chiz or she’s in virtual control of the Senate. That’s surely beyond her power and competence.

 

So why did the Senate majority unanimously reject a very simple “PAKIUSAP” by the minority to wait for the final decision of the Supreme Court on the motion for reconsideration? They could have simply suspended deliberations rather than put into the archive an impeachment complaint, which they also believed was non-existent.

 

There can only be one explanation for this, which we believe was driving the new Senate under Escudero. This was brilliantly explained by Cayetano’s “talunin nyo na lang si Sara sa 2028” remark, coupled with other innuendos about the possibility of endless impeachment complaints flooding the Senate in the future because of corruption. That sharp presentation in support of making the impeachment process more difficult has truly assumed consensus among dynasties in the Senate. Dynasties have their own political plans beyond the Senate, and impeachment is the least political process that they will support.

 

Clearly, the Senate they are shaping today is anti-impeachment. In other words, their votes yesterday were not just for Sara but also for themselves. Their defense of Sara is their flood control to prevent the arm of justice and accountability reaching their own dynasty walls. 

“Nakakahiya na talaga kayo!” – Workers cry foul on killed wage hike and planned dismissal of impeachment

 

The Senate of the 19th Congress has simultaneously stalled action on both the proposed wage hike and the impeachment case. Sen. Escudero effectively killed the wage hike measure, while the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte is also poised to be dismissed today.

 

At a protest in front of the Senate this morning led by Tindig Pilipinas, Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, Kalipunan, and Siklab, members of Partido Manggagawa (PM), raised their voices against the Senate inaction: “No impeachment, no wage hike? Nakakahiya na talaga kayo!”

 

“Impeach! Huwag Puro Insert sa National Budget,” a PM poster displayed, referring to reported billions of insertions to the 2025 budget allegedly orchestrated by Escudero.

 

The Senate plans to vote on whether to dismiss or not the impeachment complaint following the Supreme Court’s decision declaring the House’s impeachment process unconstitutional. But the House of Representatives filed a motion for reconsideration before the high tribunal, while several civil society organizations and former Justices also filed separate petitions for intervention and asking the Court to declare a status quo ante and the holding or oral arguments.

 

An outright dismissal is totally deplorable, according to PM Secretary General Judy Miranda, since a bad Senate decision will have deep repercussions for other equally important measures on accountability and social justice.

 

The proposed wage hike and anti-endo bills have once again been refiled in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

 

“Workers fight for their passage alongside the impeachment case, as both good governance and raising the living standards of Filipinos are constitutional duties of lawmakers,” Miranda said. 

Photos can be accessed at the FB page: Partido Manggagawa