Extra-judicial killings, other human rights violations persist under ‘tuwid na daan’ – Nagkaisa!

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA!

09 December 2014

A culture of impunity translated into extra-judicial killings (EJK) and other forms of human rights violations against leaders and labor organizers continue under the ‘tuwid na daan’, a coalition of major trade unions and labor organizations in the country, Nagkaisa!, said in a statement on the eve of the celebration of International Human Rights Day.

Since 2011, Nagkaisa! is engaged in dialogues with the Aquino administration on several labor issues, including some 62 unsolved cases of EJKs involving labor.

Nagkaisa! said the most recent in the cases of unsolved EJKs was the  murder of a labor organizer in Negros Occidental.  Rolando Pango, a full time organizer of Partido Manggagawa (PM) was gunned down in Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental on Novermber 29, 2014.

“Prior to his death, Pango was deeply involved in both the agrarian and labor disputes in Hacienda Salud, a 135-hectare sugar plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela leased and managed by Manuel Lamata,”said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

Aside from EJKs, Nagkaisa! is also alarmed at the resurgence of other forms of human rights violations. 

Last October,  Antonio Cuizon, president of the Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Carmen Copper, was arrested on trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.  The union and the management were then in the thick of labor dispute when the case was filed against Quizon.

 Pango was instrumental in organizing the plantation workers in Hacienda Salud who in June applied the land under CARPER coverage.  Salud workers has also filed of a case of illegal dismissal before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against Lamata for unlawful termination 41 workers.

PM and Nagkaisa is calling on both the national and local governments to render immediate justice to this case. 

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Alliance of Progressive Labor–Sentro, said Nagkaisa will be raising this issue before the Tripartite Industrial Council (TIPC) and the DOJ panel investigating the EJKs.

“Like Ruby, solving cases of EJKs in the country is a slow-grind,” said Mata.

Before Pango, another PM organizer, Victoriano Embang, leader of Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental was also killed on December 29, 2012.  A failed assassination attempt against his brother, Anterio Embang, followed  few months later, February 28, 2013.

A Negrense himself, Magtubo said Negros remains a ‘labor hotspot’ because of strong resistance by landlords to agrarian reform and their outmoded serf-type treatment of their laborers. 

“Perhaps this regional feudal context has escaped the eyes of the labor department and the national government.  Or they simply don’t care” added Magtubo.

But the most widespread of human rights violations, Nagkaisa! said, is the violation of labor’s right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

“The onslaught of state-sanctioned contractualization schemes have effectively disarmed workers of their ability to defend themselves, through their unions, against many forms of abuse and exploitation” concluded Magtubo.

Group condemns killing of labor leader in Negros

Press Release

December 3, 2014

A week to go before the observance of international human rights day, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemned the assassination of a labor leader and organizer in Negros Occidental last November 29.

“The culture of impunity thrives in our country and the extra-judicial killings of labor activists continue unabated. We ask the state—the provincial government of Negros Occidental and the national agencies Department of Justice and the Commission on Human Rights—to act with dispatch on the case and make a thorough investigation,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Rolando Pango, a farm worker leader in his hometown of Binalbagan and an organizer in the neighboring town of Isabela, was shot dead in the head by two men late in the evening of November 29. Pango on his way home after meeting farm workers who were to attend the Bonifacio Day rally when the motorcycle he was riding was blocked by a black sedan and another motorcycle in the crossing of Hacienda Garrason in Binalbagan.

“For the commemoration of human rights day, we want action not words, reform not speeches from the Aquino administration. The mastermind and perpetrators of the murder of Pango and other labor activists must be brought to justice,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chair and a Negrense from Bacolod. A 300-strong workers assembly in Bacolod resolved a day after Pango’s death to seek justice and campaign for a resolution to the killing.

PM believes that Pango’s killing arose from a labor and agrarian dispute that he was engaged in. Pango had received a death threat from an ex-NPA rebel with an alias “Mike” who now serves an armed bodyguard of Manuel “Manolet” Lamata, a landlord who had leased and manages Hacienda Salud, a 135-hectare sugar plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela.

Magtubo called on the Department of Labor and Employment and the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to table the case of Pango.

Pango was assisting farm workers in seeking coverage of Hacienda Salud under land reform and also in illegal dismissal cases against Lamata. Since last year, the farm workers had endured successive violent harassment and bribery attempts at the hands of Lamata, who heads the powerful Negros sugar planters group, as the agrarian and labor disputes festered.

Pango’s murder follows the assassination of another farm worker leader in Isabela in December 2012. Victoriano Embang, head of the sugar workers association of Hacienda Maria Cecilia, was ambushed by two men riding in tandem in a motorcycle. Embang’s workers association was also embroiled in agrarian and labor disputes with their capitalist landlord, the Montillanos.

Belmonte cha-cha, killing and jailing of unionists mark Bonifacio Day demands

Press Release

November 30, 2014

As thousands of workers commemorate the 151^st birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) highlighted labor’s demand for a rejection of the charter change initiative of House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and the continuing repression of unions by capitalists and the government.

“On the very eve of Bonifacio Day, Rolando Pango, a labor organizer in Negros Occidental was abducted and then assassinated as he was on the way to meet sugar workers who will join today’s mass actions. Meanwhile in Toledo City in Cebu province, mine union president Tony Cuizon is in jail on trumped up charges. The arrest of Cuizon and murder of Pango are symptomatic of the repression suffered by workers fighting for their rights.” stated Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Marches are also being held today in the cities of Cebu, Bacolod and Davao in coordination with the main demonstration in Manila. In Manila, PM members are joining workers from other the labor groups comprising the labor coalition Nagkaisa in marching this morning from Welcome Rotunda to Mendiola for a program until noon.

“Workers oppose Belmonte’s economic cha-cha as it carries the same old agenda of giving foreign capital more flexibility and freedom in doing business in the country. While Congress makes an x’mas rush to vote on the cha-cha as demanded by imperialist Santas, it turns a deaf ear to workers demands for enabling laws to the living wage, security of tenure and full employment provisions of the Constitution,” stated Fortaleza.

Nagkaisa is also criticizing the anti-labor policies pursued or tolerated by the Aquino administration such as contractualization, cheap labor, high cost of power, and the deepening inequality created under the general condition of jobless growth.

Pango’s assassination happened after he assisted some 40 workers of Hacienda Salud in the town of Isabela in filing illegal dismissal and labor standards violations against landlord Manolette Lamatan, who heads the Negros planters association. Cuizon has been incarcerated for more than a month now after he was arrested because a warrant for illegal possession of firearms and explosives which his union claims was planted.

PM vowed to mobilize workers in a campaign to fight the economic cha-cha. “The Bonifacio Day rally is the opening fire of the campaign to oppose Belmonte’s cha-cha and the Christmas holidays will not dampen workers resolve to resist this new attempt to tear up the token nationalist provisions of the Constitution,” Fortaleza insisted.

He added that “Belmonte and company is concocting an untested formula in constitutional amendments thru a joint resolution loaded with the sinister insertion ‘unless otherwise provided by law’ which can be utilized anytime the need for actual amendment arises. Belmonte’s cha-cha is surely waiting for an intense legal and extra-legal battle.”

PNR Rehab Affected Families to hold Picket at NHA

Press Release
June 3, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino

Families affected by the PNR Rehabilitation project from the Bicutan Segment picketed in front of the National Housing Authority Office today to demand their acceptance as beneficiaries eligible for entry to the relocation site.

Michael Dasigan, President of the Pinagkaisang Mamamayan mula sa Riles (PMR), presented documents regarding the issue, including letters to various government offices. Despite the documents, they have been denied access to the relocation site.

Michael Dasigan said that, “Iregularidad sa tanggapan ng NHA ang dahilan kung bakit wala pa rin kaming bahay magpasahanggang ngayon. Ang pagpapatupad nila ng Code of Policy na labag sa batas, ang mabagal at malabong sistema ng pagpoproseso ng aming mga requirements at kakulangan sa pagkilala sa katangian ng mga maralita sa riles ang mga ultimong dahilan kung bakit hindi episyente at magpasahanggang ngayon ay may mga pamilyang naiwan sa perokaril.”

Dasigan added, “Today’s negotiation is crucial, for the first time we will meet with Assistant General Manager, Mr. Froilan Kampitan to air our demands. If they disapprove our petition then we will also be denied our temporary shelter thus forcing us to go back to railways.”

After the dialogue they will join the farmers at the House of Representative to push for the passage of the CARPER and the protest against the passage of the con-ass resolution.

Workers slam chacha revival, calls it a Frankenstein monster

Press Release
June 2, 2009

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed the move in the House of Representatives to revive the charter change. “Chacha through Resolution 1109 is a Frankenstein monster that has been resurrected from the dead by mad trapos. Chacha is exit plan of GMA yet it is the road to perdition for the people. Revising the Constitution will pave the way not just for GMA’s perpetuation in power but also the annihilation of the token protection for labor rights and national patrimony,” argued stated Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

PM is calling on the plenary session of the Lower House to scrap Resolutions 1109 and 737. The group reiterated that the working class and the Filipino people will resist changing the Constitution “for the benefit of Gloria, the trapos and foreigners.”

“The rumored P20 million bribe for chacha’s passage is the price of the modern-day Judases who will betray the people’s interests. Instead of responding to the challenge of worsening poverty and unemployment, Congress is busy with chacha for the purpose of extending GMA’s term. We might wake up one morning with GMA returning to power as Prime Minister via con-ass or con-con,” argued Magtubo.

He added that “After Villafuerte’s necrological service for Resolution 1109 that provides for a con-ass, it is high time to bury Nograles’ Resolution 737 and other charter change proposals that will only benefit foreigners and trapos. The workers and the poor will be the gravediggers of GMA’s chacha.”

Workers led by PM joined farmers groups last week in a big mobilization to push for the extension with reform of CARP and also to oppose charter change.

Militant workers slam anti-communist solon for protest ban bid

Press Release
May 29, 2009

The militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed Pastor Alcover Jr. for filing a resolution seeking to ban rallies and pickets at the Batasang Pambansa. “Alcover should read the Constitution so he can be educated that the freedom of assembly, speech and the right to seek redress of grievances are guaranteed by the fundamental law of the land. The people can already imagine the kind of Frankenstein constitution that will be concocted by solons like Alcover if the proposed constituent assembly pushes through,” averred Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

PM was one of the groups that participated in the latest protest action in the Batasang Pambansa last Monday that was marred by violence as House security used water cannons against rallyists. Bishop Broderick Pabillo of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action led that rally against charter change and for the passage of the agrarian reform bill.

The labor group called on Congress to scrap the proposed ban on rallies at Batasan. Miranda stated “Instead of curtailing the people’s civil liberties, Congress must act on the CARP extension with reform bill and the three pending resolutions at the Senate calling for a workers bailout.”

PM also gave an “unsolicited advice” to Alcover. “As a Cebuano, the first thing Alcover should have done was to file a bill at Congress to protect workers against the impact of the economic crisis as layoffs and rotations continue unabated in and out of the Mactan export zone. If they have the interests of the workers at heart, we challenge Alcover and other Cebu solons to file a counterpart bill at the lower house providing for a bailout of the workers,” Miranda insisted.

She added that Alcover’s claims that protests are a grave threat to solons and the public is dishonest. “Rallies remain peaceful and violence only ensues when authorities try to disperse protesters. It is the anti-people laws passed by Congress that pose a clear and present danger to the people and the poor. It is only through mass action that workers and farmers can influence Congress since they do not have the lobby money dished out by vested interests like big landlords and capitalists,” explained Miranda.

“If Alcover is opposed to the positions advanced by groups that rally in Congress then he and his anti-communist group has all the freedom to undertake counter-protests. We dare him to exercise rather than suppress this freedom,” Miranda ended.

Workers join farmers in rally vs chacha, call for CARPER and bailout

Press Release
May 25, 2009

Workers, urban poor and farmers will join forces today in a big rally against moves in Congress for charter change. The rallyists will also demand the passage of the CARP extension and reform bill, and call for a bailout for those affected by the global recession.

“Revising the Constitution to benefit GMA is a scandal worse than Hayden Kho violating his girlfriends. Instead of responding to the challenge of worsening poverty and unemployment, Congress is busy with chacha for the purpose of extending GMA’s term. We might wake up one morning with GMA returning to power as Prime Minister via con-ass or con-con,” argued Renato Magtubo, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chair.

PM will lead a mobilization of 1,000 workers and poor that will merge with several thousand farmers and other rallyists at Ever Gotesco, Commonwealth by 1 p.m. today and then march to the Batasang Pambansa by 2 p.m. Catholic bishops led by Bishop Broderick Pabillo will hold a mass at the St. Peter Parish at noon and then link up with the workers and farmers rally.

The theme of the several thousand-strong joint mobilization is “No to GMA’s charter change, Yes to social change.” The rally will demand that the House of Representatives scrap Resolution 737 filed by Speaker Nograles and even proposed bills for a constitutional convention. Aside from calling for CARPER’s passage in the House, workers are also appealing that the Senate act on three resolutions filed proposing a bailout package for the displaced and unemployed.

Magtubo added that “After Villafuerte’s necrological service for Resolution 1109 that provides for a con-ass, it is high time to bury Nograles’ Resolution 737 and other charter change proposals that will only benefit foreigners and trapos. The workers and farmers movement will be the gravediggers of GMA’s chacha.”

Aside from PM, other groups to participate in the rally include the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP), Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO), Rosario Workers Association (RWA), United Cavite Workers Association (UCWA) and Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (FTLU).

Pahayag ng Pakikiisa ng Manggagawa sa Laban ng Magsasaka para sa Lupa at Hustisya

Nais ipabatid ng mga manggagawa sa nakapakahalagang okasyong ito ang aming mahigpit na pakikiisa sa pakikibaka ng mga kapatid naming magsasaka para sa lupa at hustisya. Hangad namin – at para dito ay handa kaming mag-alay ng walang sawang suporta -- sa ikatatagumpay ng inyong pakikibaka.

Sa inyo, at sa buong uring anakpawis, ay walang pag-aalinlangan ang aming pakikipag-alyansa. Ang matibay na pagkakapatiran ng manggagawa at magsasaka ang pinakamahalagang alyansang dapat mabuo sa harap ng inhustisyang nararanasan ng buong bayan sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang sistema na pinaghaharian ng mga elitista.

Itinuturing namin ang inyong pakikibakang agraryo bilang pakikibaka para sa hustisyang panlipunan. At ang hustisyang panlipunan, para sa amin, ang tanging hakbang upang ang bayang ito ay umunlad at ang masang Pinoy ay mabuhay ng may dignidad.

Hindi gaya ngayon na ang karangalan ng mga Pinoy ay umaangat lamang kapag may nana-knockout si Manny Pacquiao.

Hustisya ang kahulugan ng pakikibakang agraryo dahil mula sa maliit na minorya ay ipamamahagi ang mga lupain sa mayorya ng mamamayan sa kanayunan. Sa katunayan, ang pangarap ng mga manggagawa ay lahat ng lupain na kakailanganin para sa progresong panlipunan ay mailagay sa kontrol ng buong lipunan – na ang nakapagpapasya ay ang tunay na mayorya ng mamamayan.

Hindi gaya ngayon na ang desisyon kung saan gagamitin ang libu-libong ektarya ng mga lupain ay nasa kamay ng iilang pamilya. Gamitin man nila ito hindi sa produksyon ng pagkain kundi sa produskyon ng pabango, o kaya ay biofuel, wala tayong kinalaman. Dahil ang mga lupaing ito ay kanilang pribadong pag-aari at hindi ng lipunan.

Nakakalungkot ang ganitong larawan pero ganito ang ating sitwasyon sa nakalipas na ilang daang taon. Alam ng lahat na mali ang sistemang ito. Nakasulat sa mga libro at itinuturo sa mga unibersidad na mali ito. Alam ng simabahan na mali ito. Alam ng mga internasyunal na institusyon gaya ng United Nations na ang sistemang ito ay nagluluwal ng inekwalidad. Kaya nga sa maraming bansa, lalo na sa mga mauunlad na bansa, maaga nilang tinapos ang repormang agraryo.

Sa Japan halimbawa ay inabot lamang ng halos limang taon ang repormang agraryo. Ganundin sa Korea at maging sa China. Pero dito sa Pilipinas, tinubuan na ang CARP ng buhok at inabot na nga ng comatose pero nanatili pa ring konsentrado ang malalawak na lupain sa iilang tao. Kung bakit ganito ang mismong paliwanag kung anong sistema meron tayo.

Kung sa ibang bansa ay dagling ipinatupad ng mismong gubyerno repormang agraryo, dito sa atin ang mga nakaupo mismo sa poder ng gubyerno ang siyang ayaw ng repormang agraryo. Ayaw ng mga landlord na kongresman dahil ayaw nilang isuko ang kanilang pribadong pag-aari. Ayaw ng iba pang mga pulitiko dahil ayaw nilang mawala ang suporta ng kanilang mga padrinong landlord. Ganito kasimple ang alam naming paliwanag kung bakit di matapos-tapos ang repormang agraryo sa Pilipinas.

Sobra-sobra ang katwiran para sa repormang agraryo pero sobra-sobra naman ang lakas at kapit ng mga asendero sa gubyerno. Dahil kanila ang gubyerno. Dahil kanila ang Kongreso. At sa maraming pagkakataon, di ba’t kanila rin ang husgado?

Mga kapatid na magsasaka. Tanging kayo, kami, at sa pagkakataong ito – ang Simabahan ang magkakampi sa labang ito. Pahigpitin pa natin ang pagkakaisang ito. Anuman ang sapitin ng labang ito sa nalalabing ilang araw na ilalagi ng Kongreso bago magrecess, tibayan natin ang ating loob, palakasin pa natin ang ating hanay. At mananatili nyo kaming kaagapay hanggang sa tagumpay.

Mabuhay kayo!!

Labor Alliance for Better Order and Reform (LABOR)
May 25, 2009

Pahayag ng Pakikiisa ng PM sa Kongreso ng UNORKA

Pagbati sa pagbubukas ng kongreso ng UNORKA! Bilang mga lider ng Partido ng Manggagawa, itinuturing namin ang aming mga sarili na mga kinatawan ng mulat na manggagawa na nakikipagkaisa sa inyo na mga delagado ng mga progresibong magsasaka.

Mula noong nakaraang taon hanggang sa ngayon ay ilang beses nang nagsanib ang pagkilos ng mga manggagawa at mobilisasyon ng mga magsasaka. Nagsimula ito bandang Marso 2008 sa isang rali na urban and rural poor solidarity. Nitong huli—gaya nang nakaraang Disyembre—ay tampok ang pagsuporta ng mga manggagawa sa kahilingan ng mga magsasaka para sa Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reform o CARPER kung tawagin.

Gusto namin idiin na sinusuportahan ng Partido ng Manggagawa ang laban ng magsasaka sapagkat gusto naming mapanday ang alyansa ng manggagawa at magsasaka. Ang alyansang ito ang gulugod ng kilusang masa na may lakas na baguhin ang lipunang Pilipino.

Sa ngayon ang alyansang ito ay nasa antas ng pang-ekonomiyang laban. Dapat mapaunlad ito sa batayang anti-globalisasyon at anti-sistema. Hanggang rumurok sa pampulitikang pakikibaka para sa panlipunang pagbabago.

Pagsumikapan nating isulong ang alyansang ito dahil ito ang nawawalang salik kaya’t kapos sa pwersa at di magtagumpay ang pagpapatalsik sa kasalukuyang rehimen. Hindi alyansa ng kilusang masa sa isang paksyon ng naghaharing uri ang paraan. Lalong hindi ang shortcut ng isang kudetang militar ang sagot. Hindi rin lang ito kawalan ng isang “popular leader” na magbibigay-inspirasyon sa publiko. Ang makapangyarihang alyansa ng manggagawa at magsasaka na nagdadala ng panawagang “Palitan ang sistema” ang pupukaw sa militansya ng mamamayang Pilipino.

Habang binubuo natin ang pagkakaisa ng mga manggagawa at magsasaka para sa panlipunang hustisya at panlipunang pagbabago, mayroon lang kaming nais ilambing sa inyo.

Nakikiusap kami sa mga magsasaka na sa halip na pribadong pag-aari ng lupa ay nasyunalisasyon ng lupain ang ating isulong. Ibig sabihin ng nasyunalisasyon ng lupa ay isang rebolusyonaryong estado, ng isang gobyerno ng manggagawa at magsasaka, ang mag-aari sa lupa sa ngalan ng buong mamamayan upang ang sinumang nais magsaka ay may karapatang bungkalin ang sakahan.

Ang pribadong pag-aari ng lupa kasi ay magiging bukal ng panibagong porma ng pagsasamantala. Gaya ng nasasaksikan sa kanayunan, ang isang seksyon ng mga magsasakang nabiyayaan ng lupa ay aangat ang kabuhayan sa pagiging mayamang magsasaka at uupahan nila bilang trabahador ang mga manggagawang bukid na magmumula sa mga magsasakang bumagsak ang kabuhayan. Sa ganitong sitwasyon—na aktwal nang nangyayari sa kanayunan—magbabangga ang interes ng magsasaka at manggagawa.

Ilinaw lang namin uli. Kinukumbinsi ng mga manggagawa ang magsasaka sa kawastuhan ng nasyunalisasyon at hindi ito ipipilit kung labag sa kalooban ng mga kapatid na magbubukid. At gusto ng manggagawa ang nasyunalisasyon ng lupa kung magkakaroon ng isang rebolusyonaryong gobyerno hindi sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang bulok na sistema.

Kaya naman sa pagitan ng panawagan ng magsasaka na CARPER sa isang banda at sa kabilang banda, ang panukalang GARB at laluna ang posisyon ng asendero na patayin ang repormang agraryo, malinaw kung kanino dapat kumampi ang manggagawa.

Maasahan ng mga magsasaka ang manggagawa sa labang ito. Ang maso at ang karet ay di maipaghihiwalay sa pakikibaka para sa repormang agraryo.

Mabuhay ang pagkakaisa ng manggagawa at magsasaka! Pagtibayin ang alyansa ng manggagawa at magsasaka para sa pagbabago ng sistema!

Urban poor support rural farmers' demand for CARP extension

Press Release
December 17, 2008

Some 200 members of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) joined the farmers’ mobilization on the last day of session of Congress to back the demand for an extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The groups carried placards with the messages “Lupa, Trabaho, Pagkain Hindi Cha-Cha,” “CARP Extension Hindi Term Extension,” and “Maralita Magkaisa, Baguhin ang Sistema.”

“The urban poor and the rural farmers are brothers and sisters in the struggle for agrarian reform. An alliance between the urban and rural poor is necessary not just to push for social justice but also social change. A one-two punch by the workers and farmers will provide the knock-out blow against the rotten system and pave the way for social reform,” stated Jess Panis, spokesperson of AMP.

He added that “The urban poor does not support the so-called genuine agrarian reform bill because it is a right demand but at the wrong place and the wrong time. Pushing for it now objectively puts its proponents in alliance with the landlords that oppose agrarian reform. Its proper venue is a revolutionary government not the reactionary Congress.”

PM supports the peasants’ campaign for a continuation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The group is also demanding that Congress and Malacanang enact a bailout at stimulus package for workers and poor. Panis identified the package as “The SSS, GSIS and OWWA must subsidize all private sector workers, government employees and OFW’s who will be laid off due to the crisis that should last until they find a new job up to a maximum of 6 months. Government must also declare a tax rebate for all workers equivalent to 2 months wage. And a public employment program must be established for the four million unemployed Filipinos.”

Lakbayan ng Manggagawa merges with farmers march, calls for “Social change not charter change”

Press Release
December 10, 2008

The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa merged today with the farmers march for a joint mobilization at the Batasang Pambansa with the call “Maralita Magkaisa, Baguhin ang Sistema (Poor Unite and Fight for Social Change).” The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa by a thousand factory workers and urban started yesterday from Zapote Bacoor, passed by Redemptorist Church in Baclaran, marched through Taft and Espana in Manila and then made an overnight vigil at the Claret School in QC.

“The merging of the Lakbayan ng Manggagawa and the farmers march is an expression of the basic alliance between the workers and farmers. A one-two punch by the workers and farmers will provide the knock-out blow against the rotten system and pave the way for social change,” stated Renato Magtubo, chairperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa made a final stop at the main office of the NHA for a noise barrage at 9 a.m. to air the poor’s grievances at the failed housing program of the government. Fr. Buddy Agualada, school head of Claret, and scores of Claret students and personnel joined the workers and poor in the NHA protest.

“The sanctuary provided by the church to the Lakbayan marchers and the support of ordinary Filipinos to our demands is in sharp contrast to Malacanang and Congress which are deaf and blind to the opposition of the people to charter change. Rather than focusing on chacha in order to remove the protectionist provisions of the constitution, the government must instead prioritize protection for the workers and the poor so they could deal with the global crisis,” explained Magtubo.

The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa then proceeded to Philcoa where it combined with the peasant marchers. By 10 a.m. the workers and farmers marched together to the St. Peter Cathedral along Commonwealth Ave. for a mass be officiated by Catholic bishops at noon. The big mobilization then proceeded to the Batasan Pambansa for a program at the gates to pressure Congress to pass the proposed bill for CARP extension.

The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa participants came from PM, Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino, Zone One Tondo Organization, Samahang Nagkakaisa ng Cavite, United Cavite Workers Association and unions of Valenzuela City. PM supports the peasants’ campaign for a continuation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and slams the inaction of Congress on the proposed bill for extension. The group is also demanding that Congress and Malacanang enact a bailout at stimulus package for workers and poor.

Lakbayan ng Manggagawa starts today, to merge with farmers march tomorrow

Press Release
December 9, 2008

The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa begins today with the call “Baguhin ang sistema hindi ang konstitusyon!”(Social change not charter change!).” Around a thousand factory workers and urban poor will march through different parts of Metro Manila, make an overnight vigil and then merge with the farmers’ mobilization that will troop to the Batasang Pambansa tomorrow.

“The reduction in self-rated poverty revealed in the SWS survey does not mean the government is doing its job well. In fact it is doing its job badly and so the people are just reducing their standard of living as a coping mechanism. Rather than focusing on chacha in order to remove the protectionist provisions of the constitution, the government must instead prioritize protection for the workers and the poor so they could cope with the global crisis,” argued Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa starts with the Calabarzon contingent meeting at 8 a.m. in Zapote at the boundary of Bacoor and Las Pinas. They then marched the several kilometers to the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran where groups from depressed communities of Tondo and Camanava, and relocation areas in Caloocan, Bulacan and Rizal met them around noon. At 4 p.m. they held a program at the DOLE main office in Intramuros. By 6 p.m. the marchers stopped for a while at Welcome Rotonda for a noise barrage. The Lakbayan ng Manggagawa participants came from PM, Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino, Zone One Tondo Organization, Samahang Nagkakaisa ng Cavite, United Cavite Workers Association and unions of Valenzuela City.

Miranda explained that “The Lakbayan is the workers response to the call of the Catholic bishops for people to work for social change. The merging of forces of the workers and the peasants is not just a symbolic gesture and not simply an expression of their common struggle. No movement for social change can succeed without the basic alliance between the workers and farmers.”

PM supports the peasants’ campaign for a continuation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and slams the inaction of Congress on the proposed bill for extension. The group is also demanding that Congress and Malacanang enact a bailout at stimulus package for workers and poor.

Miranda identified the package as “The SSS, GSIS and OWWA must subsidize all private sector workers, government employees and OFW’s who will be laid off due to the crisis that should last until they find a new job up to a maximum of 6 months. Government must also declare a tax rebate for all workers equivalent to 2 months wage. And a public employment program must be established for the four million unemployed Filipinos.”

A noise barrage at several points in Metro Manila yesterday served as prelude and build up to the two-day Lakbayan. A few hundred participants to the noise barrage banged pots and pans to dramatize the opposition to chacha.