Workers join protests to commemorate “dark days” of martial law

Candle light protest 20 Sept 2022

 

Militant workers are joining activities to commemorate the “dark days” of martial law. Today is the 50^th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the dictatorship era was a period of labor militancy not a golden age for workers.

 

Labor and other sectoral groups are having a rally at the grounds of the Commission on Human Rights this morning before marching in the afternoon to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. Last night, delegations of workers students, women and other sectors held a candle-lighting activity at the Boy Scout rotunda in Timog Ave., Quezon City.

 

“We call on our kababayans to hold candle-lighting activities in our homes and communities tonight to shine a light on the darkness of authoritarianism and revisionism. Let us remember the sacrifices and struggles of workers and other sectors during the dictatorship,” announced Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

“There was massive discontent by workers during the martial period over low wages, high prices, insecure jobs and employer abuse. In fact, despite repression by police and soldiers under the dictatorship, workers led protests and strikes that broke the white terror of martial law. The struggles of the labor movement would open the way for multi-sectoral rallies that culminated in the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the EDSA people’s uprising. This period is well documented if not well remembered by the present generation,” explained Miranda.

 

She added that “Immediately after martial law was declared, then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. signed General Order No. 5 prohibiting strikes by workers. The American chamber of commerce was one of the first groups to congratulate Marcos on the declaration of martial law. All these reveal the class character of martial law—it was not just to outflank the liberal opposition rivals of Marcos but also to suppress the resistance of the working class to plunder and exploitation.”

 

Miranda insisted that “Contrary to the fake news peddled by social media influencers and amplified by a paid army of trolls, martial law was not a time of happiness for Filipinos nor a period of economic prosperity. A case in point, nutribuns were a response to widespread hunger and malnutrition. However, plunder of the public treasury, theft of debt-financed development projects and crony control of key industries indeed resulted in a golden age for the Marcoses.”

 

Photos of the candle lighting protest last night are here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0JwF9cF6C9hdfFnpQVF4ppRR4wTF7FVJy3vddvYnjR8LXiAM9TVfsZ2Nso3e9SqPWl

September 21, 2022

PM holds “SOtaposNA” actions to highlight plight of workers at local level

 

Localized online and offline protest activities were conducted Saturday afternoon by chapters of Partido Manggagawa (PM) in different parts of the country, two days before President Duterte delivers his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

Areas that held local online protest activities include Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, and Tagum City.

According to Judy Miranda, PM Secretary-General, this is to highlight the plight of workers and poor communities who suffered the most under Duterte’s deficient and repressive style of governance.

“Ang ating mga komunidad ay hindi gaanong napapansin sa bangayan ng pulitika sa itaas, samantalang sila ang tunay na nakakaranas ng kahirapan at saksi sa nagaganap na karahasan at patayan sa buong bansa. Nasa komunidad ang totoong SONA,” declared Miranda.

One of the issues to highlight is the unresolved killings of PM organizers. Dennis Sequena, PM leader in Cavite, was shot dead by unknown assailants in June 2019 while giving a lecture on basic trade unionism among ecozone workers. PM organizer Orlando Abangan was killed in Talisay City, Cebu in September 2016, at the height of Duterte’s drug war. It is also in Cebu where a peaceful and legitimate protest of retrenched MEPZ workers was met by arrests and detention as in the case of the arrest of “Cebu 5” on November 30 last year.  

Other unresolved killings of PM organizers were that of Victoriano Embang (2012) and Rolando Pango (2014) in the island of Negros. These killings, the group said, though they happened during the past administration, remains an agenda of justice that the present administration has the duty to resolve.

Miranda said, “unresolved and unrelenting spate of killings and intensifying trade union repression is a marked failure of the Duterte administration, notwithstanding his epic fail on the issue of endo or contractualization, wage hike, and its poor pandemic response.”

On SONA day, PM members with their “ENDO30” props will be joining the “Despedida” rally led by the Movement against the Anti-Terrorism Act (MATA) at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) grounds.

PM will also be part of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition Women’s Committee morning contingent who will submit their findings and recommendations to the CHR on the impact of COVID-19 protocols on human rights and labor rights.

24 July 2021

PM condemns violent dispersal of NutriAsia protest

Partido Manggagawa condemns in strongest terms the violent dispersal of PNP forces on the peaceful protest action of workers and their supporters which has resulted into scores of injuries and arrests.

The issue of the protest action is a legitimate one—the demand for regularization of hundreds of workers employed by manpower agencies for many years to the principal employer, the NutriAsia.

We call on the people, especially workers, to boycott NutriAsia products until the labor dispute is resolved. The boycott will not only support the legitimate struggle of workers, but more importantly, send a strong message by the public to NutriAsia, that consumers will not patronize products sold and profited by a company that is violating workers’ rights.

We call on the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the incident and file appropriate actions to those found violating worker’s constitutional right to peaceful concerted action including the right to strike.

We also call on the Department of Labor and Employment to step up their effort in mediating the labor dispute in NutriAsia with the end in view of strictly enforcing compliance with labor laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting.

Finally, we call on the Senate to prioritize the deliberation of Senate Bill 1826 in order for Congress to finally legislate a new law governing labor contracting in the country. A new law that clearly upholds worker’s right to security of tenure and effectively address widespread use of contractual labor would surely help in averting labor disputes such as in NutriAsia.

July 31, 2018

Southern Luzon network of civil society groups launch Manlaban Ka

A Southern Luzon-wide network of civil society organizations working for the promotion and protection of human rights was launched in Cavite.

Some 300 representatives of basic sectors from labor, urban poor, farmers, fisherfolks, women, youth, transport workers, church and anti mining advocates, gathered Wednesday at the historic Casa Hacienda popularly known as the Tejeros Convention Center in Rosario Cavite, to launch the Mamamayang Nagkakaisa sa Laban ng Bayan para sa Karapatan or Manlaban Ka.

Made part of the launching program is a forum on charter change and human rights with constitutionalist Christian Monsod and former Representative Erin Tanada as guest speakers. Representatives of the CHR also graced the occasion.

The formal launching of Manlaban Ka ended up with the ratification of the group’s Unity Statement and a brief discussion on the network's ways forward such as conducting grassroots education, database building on cases of HRVs, operational structures and ways forward. (see attached unity statement)

The formal launching was followed by a march of the participants to the Cavite economic zone in support of the strikebound workers of Dong Seung, a garments factory. During the past several months, a series of labor disputes around the freedom of association and working conditions have rocked the Cavite ecozone, the country's biggest publicly-managed zone.

Ecozones particularly in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Batangas employ tens of thousands of workers. Regrettably it is also in these economic havens of foreign investors in the country where rampant violations of human and labor rights go unchecked and the violators go unpunished.

The launching of Manlaban Ka is the final outcome of a five-month process of consultations and focus group discussions among the basic sectors and civil society organizations working for the promotion and defence of human rights in the Southen Luzon region. This partnership building initiatives among the CSOs is in cooperation with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) under its Governance in Justice or Go Just program.

The Southern Luzon process was facilitated by Kalipunan ng Kilusang Masa, with Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) as lead organizations.

Prior to this launching, consultation meetings were held in Calamba City last April 7-9, 2018 where participants discussed the state of human rights in their respective areas and sectors. Resource speakers were invited in this process to give inputs on the many aspects and forms of human rights issues, including the many cases of extrajudicial killings in the southern Luzon region due to the ongoing war on drugs as well as violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of our workers, farmers, urban poor, women; and the destruction of many communities due to mining and land-grabbing activities.

Representatives from Bicol, Mimaropa, and the Calabarzon areas have actively participated in the previous process leading to their decision to form this loose but highly coordinative network of organizations willing to work together for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Part of Manlaban Ka Unity Statement declared:

“NANININDIGAN ang MANLABAN KA na ang mga karapatang pantao at demokrasya kung saan maraming aspeto nito ay hindi pa namin ganap na natatamasa, ay nararapat lamang na ipagtanggol at ipaglaban sa halip na isuko sa harap ng sinumang kapangyarihan na may hayagan at tagong layunin na ito’y pahinain o kaya ay ganap na patayin.

KUNG GAYUN,  at mula sa mga batayang nabanggit, kami’y nangangahas at ngayon ay ipinapaalam sa lahat, na kaming mga sektor at indibidwal na nabibilang sa koalisyong ito, ay nakahanda nang MANLABAN sa ibat-ibang paraan katulad ng pagmumulat, pag-oorganisa, pagpapalawak at mga direktang pagkilos para ipagtanggol ang karapatan at demokrasya ng buong sambayanan.”

PRESS RELEASE

Manlaban Ka

30 May 2018

It is the 119 robots in Congress that deserve a P1,000 budget

Robots are non-humans and therefore have no human rights. Congress has 119 of them and a P1,000 budget could be more than enough for their minimal upkeep. Human rights workers are people who deserve to live a life of dignity as well as a safe and sympathetic environment.

 

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) works for the protection and promotion of human rights. The CHR, according to one of its mandates, should work closely with Congress “to recommend effective measures to promote human rights and to provide for compensation to victims of violations of human rights, or their families.” On the other hand, the function of the members of the House of Representatives (HOR) is to enact law and must uphold the law with highest integrity and standard.

 

The HOR and CHR therefore, as their mandates dictate, must work hand in hand for the protection and promotion of human rights, not the other way around.  Providing the CHR with a PhP1,000 budget based on flimsy reasons and alternative facts can only be described as an act of bigots and dishonourable men, so shameful that a total of 119 robots were successfully assembled by Speaker Alvarez to kill the right of the CHR and its workers to exist. It is a clear case of Congress’ power of the purse being used as a political tool to impose authoritarian rule.

 

This, to us, is the lowest act of the lowest kind of people in Congress who do not understand or who will never understand the universal concept of human rights. We likewise believe that the HOR leadership do not act alone in this respect as they clearly are in line with the President’s outspoken distaste of human rights.

 

Furthermore, this despicable action of Congress against the CHR, NCIP and ERC can also be deemed as anti-labor since most of the agencies’ budgets go to wages and benefits as well as the operations of their personnel. This is tantamount to constructive dismissal or political persecution at worst. In fact, this is an illegal act that warrants court actions.

 

If Congress can happily grant Mocha Uson a P106,454 monthly compensation for spreading fake news and performing live shows in the side lines, why punish human rights workers who are performing their jobs better under any administration?

13 September 2017

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.

Gen. Danilo Lim visits hunger strikers at NBP, joins call for release of political prisoners

PRESS RELEASE

16 August 2011

Former Scout Ranger commander and an ex-political detainee himself, Gen. Danilo Lim, is joining the human rights community led by the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), representatives of the Commission on Human Rights, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines - National Secretariat for Social Action –Justice and Peace (CBCP-NASSA) in a visit this afternoon to political prisoners at the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) who are now on their 23rd day of hunger strike.

Joining Lim is another ex-political detainee, Nilo Tayag, who is now a bishop of the Philippine Independent Church (IFI).

On Saturday, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged President Benigno Aquino III to free political prisoners through an executive clemency especially for those who have already served their long and unjust sentences.

Partido ng Manggagawa renewed its call for President Aquino to end the sufferings of the remaining political prisoners as many of them had been convicted on false charges of common crimes.

One of the hunger strikers, Juanito Itaas, was in jail since 1989 for the assassination of US Col. James Rowe, a charged he vehemently denied.  In prison for 22 years, Itaas is now considered one of the longest serving political detainees in the world, next to Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 27 years for sabotage and high treason. According to reports, Israel is holding the longest serving political prisoner, a Palestinian, who is serving his 34th year in prison.

According to Gen Lim, he and Itaas once shared the same prison compound as he was also detained in connection to the 1989 coup.  Itaas is now leading the hunger strike for freedom at the NBP.

On Sunday night, two more hunger strikers, Diony Sarad and Tendero Fuentes, were brought to the NBP Infirmary for severe abdominal pain.  Doctors from the Medical Action Group (MAG) who joined today’s visit are looking into the health condition of the hunger strikers.

The groups were still hopeful that President Aquino would finally heed their appeal for clemency since political prisoners are not hardened criminals who warrant continued imprisonment for life.

Human rights groups were also set to have a dialogue with the Presidential Human Rights Commission (PHRC) at Malacanang earlier this morning.  Another dialogue with the Department of Justice is scheduled this coming Friday.

Labor group hopeful of the release of political prisoners as peace talks make headway

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is hopeful the release of political prisoners can be made possible as conditions for the resumption of peace negotiations with the country’s rebel groups get a boost from the Tokyo meeting between President Benigno S. Aquino III and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). 

“We hope that political prisoners reap the early gains from the improving environment for peace talks”, stated PM secretary-general Judy Ann Miranda. 

PM together with the members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) trooped to the Department of Justice this morning to press for the release of all political prisoners.

Miranda said political prisoners should be considered by the government as “beneficiaries” of peace even prior to the conclusion of final peace agreements with the revolutionary movements.

“In fact an act of magnanimity can be extended by the government to political prisoners even without the peace talks as many of them have already served their full sentences from many years of detention,” argued Miranda, citing the case of Juanito Itaas who had been serving prison terms since 1989.

There are still more than 300 political prisoners languishing in different jails all over the country according to human rights groups.  All of them were accused of having links with either the communist or separatist movements but were held for as common criminals.

Political prisoners at the National Bilibid Prison went on hunger strike since President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) to appeal for their immediate and unconditional release.   After the dialogue with human rights groups and DOJ officials last week, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered prison officials to look into the conditions of the hunger strikers.

Labor group to P-Noy: Do a Cory, free all political prisoners

On Cory Aquino's death anniversary, militants rally at DOJ to call on PNoy to release all political prisoners

PRESS RELEASE

01 August 2011

President Benigno S. Aquino III “can do a Cory” by ordering the unconditional release of all remaining political prisoners (PPs), the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement as the country commemorates the second death anniversary of the former President.

PM joined the families of political prisoners in a rally held this morning at the Department of Justice organized by human rights groups to press for the release of all the remaining political prisoners in the country.

“Giving political prisoners a chance for new life is a good way of remembering his mother  who was credited for ordering the unconditional release of all political detainees during her time,” said PM secretary-general Judy Ann Miranda.

PM leaders visited the political prisoners at NBP’s Building 11 yesterday. Miranda said ten (10) political prisoners led by Juanito Itaas, the longest-serving political prisoner in the country, are still on full hunger strike while others are on sympathy fasting.

The labor group likewise urged Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to include this issue on top of her many priorities as she had promised to during her dialogue with the political prisoners sometime in 2009 when she was still the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights. 

All of the more than 300 political prisoners in the country were jailed for non-bailable crimes such as murder and kidnapping rather than for political offenses related to their political activities.   Itaas for instance was implicated for the murder of US Col. James Rowe 22 years ago.  He was arrested in 1989 in Davao City. 

Like Itaas, most of the political prisoners are ordinary farmers who were accused of being NPA rebels and were locked up for life on trump-up charges.

“They have suffered enough.  Many of our political prisoners have in fact served in full their life sentences and therefore are already qualified for unconditional pardon,” concluded Miranda.

Labor group to PNoy: Extend clemency to all PP’s but please don’t be late next time

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) appealed to President Benigno S. Aquino III to expand the coverage of executive clemency he gives to qualified inmates by including those who have been convicted for political crimes generally known as “political prisoners” or PPs.

The appeal came after PNoy had been criticised for having his first executive clemency granted to a dead inmate, Mariano Umbrero.  A political prisoner suffering from lung cancer during his many years of incarceration, “Tatay Umbrero” to the human rights community, finally succumbed to death on July 15, four days before PNoy granted his request for clemency.

“The last breath of life could have not been that harsh to Tatay Umbrero if he was given the chance to step out of Bilibid to rejoin his family.  Yet PNoy can ease that grief by giving hope to the collective prayer of his fellow PPs and their families.   Palayain nyo na po sila, Mr. President, at sana ay di na po late sa susunod na pagkakataon,” appealed Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chair Renato Magtubo.

Magtubo said that in a bid to get the attention of President Aquino, who happens to be the son of a former political prisoner Ninoy Aquino, 11 political prisoners went on hunger strike since July 25 at the Bilibid prison to renew their call for immediate freedom.

The hunger strikers are asking the President to grant the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners who are still languishing in different jails all over the country, as well as prison reforms particularly amendments to the Rules on Parole and Guidelines for Recommending Executive Clemency which they claim, is not in conformity with the principle of restorative justice.

Yesterday several groups including PM joined the solidarity fasting for the PPs sponsored by the human rights community in front of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) office in Quezon City. PM is also joining scheduled activities next week, including an action at the Department of Justice on Monday.

“We know that PNoy has many concerns to attend to but this is one issue which cannot wait for another government to come.  A lost day of freedom for PPs is a lost chance for the likes of Tatay Umbrero to reclaim lost productive life,” ended Magtubo.