Noise barrage vs corruption resumes amidst climate devastations and Nov 30 prep

 

The White Friday Protest led by the Trillion Peso March Movement (TPMM) resumes today at the EDSA Shrine and other protest centers across the country. Contingents from Partido Manggagawa are participating in the protest centers including the EDSA Shrine.

 

The regular noise barrage, followed by the simultaneous ringing of church bells, forms part of the buildup toward TPMM’s major protest action on November 30.

 

The devastation wrought by Typhoon Tino in Cebu and across large parts of the Visayas and Mindanao has laid bare once again the extreme vulnerability of millions of Filipinos to disasters. Entire communities remain submerged or cut off, with homes, livelihoods, and public infrastructure destroyed. The tragedy has exposed not only the worsening impacts of the climate crisis but also the costly failures of governance — from the misuse of calamity and rehabilitation funds to widespread corruption in flood control and infrastructure projects that were supposed to protect, not endanger, the people.

 

Despite billions poured into flood control programs, substandard projects, ghost dikes, and overpriced drainage contracts have left communities defenseless against heavy rains and storm surges. TPMM condemns this cycle of disaster and corruption, where public funds line the pockets of officials and contractors instead of building real resilience for the poor.

 

TPMM demands immediate relief and justice for all victims of the recent calamities, alongside full accountability for those who profited from public works meant to prevent such disasters. The people’s noise will not stop until corruption and neglect are answered with truth and reform.

Workers and poor to join TPMM 10.10 protest launch

 

Organized workers and poor will join the Trillion Peso March Movement’s launch of weekly noise barrage and candle lighting today. The event today dubbed 10.10 launch will see synchronized protest actions led by the Catholic Church to push for accountability in the corruption-ridden flood control projects.

 

“Workers and poor are joining students and the rest of the nation in outrage over the waste of the people’s money by politicians, government officials and private contractors. Buwis namin, wag nakawin. Tuloy ang laban hanggang makulong ang mga mandarambong!,” explained Rene Magtubo, chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

 

He added that “We oppose the resign all and snap election call of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as this is a Sara Duterte for president maneuver. Instead, we demand accountability and change. Workers suffer from corruption, low wages, endo jobs, lack of services and undemocratic governance. Para tapusin ang katiwalian at iba pang problema ng bansa, kailangang baguhin ang sistema.”

 

PM chapters all across the country are participating in the 10.10 protest launch and are preparing to sustain the weekly noise barrage and candle lighting activities. The protest actions to be led by PM are as follows:

 

NCR

1. In front Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish (Archdiocese of Manila)

2. P.Gil corner Taft Manila (near PGH)

3. In front of Fishermall , Letre, Malabon

4. In front Citi Mall, Malabon

5. ABES Compound, Bgy. Singko Kalookan

6. Sacred Heart parish, Tugatog Malabon

7. Sitio Camachile , Bgy. Sun Valley, Parañaque

8. Bgy. 181 Pasay

9. Gawad Kalinga Multipurpose Hall, Smokey Mountain

10. Harong, Mo. Ignacia Quezon City

11. BFHAI Compound, Botong Francisco, Mahabaang Parang, Anggono

12. Sta. Rosa 1, Marilao Bulacan

 

Cebu

1. Purok Caimito Canjulao Lapu-Lapu City

2. Bgy. Buaya, Lapu Lapu City

3. Sitio Bato, Mactan, Lapu Lapu City

4. Bgy Canjulao, Lapu Lapu City

 

Bacolod City

Araneta St. Corner Magsaysay, Bacolod City

 

Iloilo

Bolilao Mandurriao, near SM City Iloilo.

Group calls for safety committees in the wake of BPO violations during Cebu earthquake

 

Photo by Lokal Cebuano

A group of call center workers demanded that safety committees be immediately formed in all BPO companies with worker members to be elected in the wake of occupational safety and health violations by companies during the recnt earthquake. “Workers must have voice and participation in the workplace, especially with regard to safety and health concerns. This will save workers’ lives,” Gilbert Romo, spokesperson for the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW), asserted.

 

The Republic Act No. 11058 or Occupational Safety and Health Law  mandates the establishment of safety committees with employee representatives. The same law stipulates fines of up to P100,000 for OSH violations. “These are two ways to ensure that this hazardous behavior does not happen again,” Romo added.

 

Thus, ICCAW is calling on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to levy fines on BPO companies which put employee lives at risk during the earthquake. Romo stated that the majority of BPOs at the Cebu IT Park and Cebu Business Park did not allow their employees to leave the premises at the height of the earthquake or called them back to work after just a couple of hours despite the risk of aftershocks. Some BPO employees resigned on the spot out of fear for their lives. “Call centers put profit above people’s lives and safety. This is unacceptable. We call on the DOLE for urgent action on this blatant violation of the OSH Law,” Romo said.

 

ICCAW called on fellow BPO workers to come forward with testimonies of the unsafe actions of the management of call centers amid the earthquake. “BPO workers are not immortal. We are humans. Similar to how BPOs ask employees to go to work despite heavy rains and widespread flooding, these companies prioritized smooth running of operations over the welfare of their employees. Working in the graveyard shift—which is common in BPOs—is already a health risk but keeping employees at work during an earthquake is too much. Hanapbuhay ang kailangan naming manggagawa, hindi hanappatay,” Romo insisted.  

  

ICCAW is an industry-wide group of BPO employees that was founded in 2013 in Cebu in solidarity with workers of a call center that abruptly shut down. It currently has members in different call centers in the Cebu IT Park. In 2014 it came out with an 8-point agenda of pro-labor reforms in the BPO industry. These include tax breaks, bond to indemnify workers in case of closure, quick reaction teams in case of sudden shutdown, hospitalization insurance, above minimum salary, regular labor inspections, elected workers representatives in a grievance machinery, and regularization of employees.

Press Release

October 7, 2025

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers

Labor groups hold Global Day of Action vs Lululemon brand

A Global Day of Action was held at the Boy Scout Circle I Quezon City this morning to apply more pressure against a global brand Lululemon, an activewear, loungewear and footwear products manufactured in the Philippines by Metrowear, a manufacturing firm inside the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Cebu.

 

Metrowear is embroiled in a prolonged dispute with workers who it prevented from organizing a union and then refused to recognize and negotiate CBA with the latter when they succeeded to unionize. 

 

Unions and solidarity groups joined hands in denouncing the anti-union policies of Metrowear and the Lululemon brand. As an expression of international worker solidarity, the action in Quezon City was joined by activists in garment producing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, and also from Taiwan where Metrowear's owner is based.

 

The internationally coordinated action is joined by unions and labor organizations from around the world, including the Asia Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Workers United, Solidarity International (SI), Australian People for Health, Education and Democracy Abroad (APHEDA), and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).

 

In Canada, labor groups such as the Canadian Labor Organization have also joined the movement by organizing protest actions at Lululemon retail outlets, highlighting the company's alleged labor rights violations.

 

Protests was also held yesterday at the gates of MEPZ 1, led by local solidarity groups including the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO Cebu), Partido Manggagawa (PM), and the Organization of Metrowear Employees for Emporwoerment ang Genuine Advoaciy – Pinag Isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anak Pawis -OMEGA–PIGLAS Union, who stand in firm support of the MetroWear workers and their fight for union recognition and workplace justice.

 

Student organizations have also lent their voices to the cause. Groups like Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS) called on their educational institutions to review and reconsider their partnerships with Lululemon and to impose sanctions in response to the reported labor abuses in the Philippines.

 

Photos can be accessed at the FB pages of Partido Manggagawa (https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa) and Listen Up Lululemon (https://www.facebook.com/ListenUpLululemon). 

Defend CSE holds mobilizations in Mendiola and Cebu for passage of Teen Pregnancy Prevention bill

Today the Defend CSE network united in a powerful demonstration in Mendiola and Cebu of solidarity, sending a clear and resolute message to legislators: support Senate Bill 1979 and accelerate the nationwide implementation of CSE. This critical piece of legislation aims to fortify adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) initiatives that are under threat by misinformation campaigns.

 

“We believe that CSE is not a threat, but a right,” said Judy Ann Miranda, a leading figure in Defend CSE and secretary general of the labor group Partido Manggagawa. She added that “This is not just about passing laws, it’s about ensuring every young person has the right to accurate, responsible, and empowering education.”

  

Defend CSE, a broad network of civil society organizations (CSOs), advocates, and stakeholders in child rights, youth development, women’s rights, health, and education, stands united in its unwavering commitment to defend Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in the Philippines.

 

“We must continue to safeguard the work of educators, policymakers, and those championing CSE in the Department of Education,” stated Miranda. She pointed out that “Fear-mongering and misinformation must not be allowed to erase the progress we’ve made in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people.”

 

In celebration of Valentine’s month, Defend CSE expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the countless advocates, legislators, families, educators, and other stakeholders who have stood strong in the fight to protect young people’s rights to accurate and empowering education. Despite the continued efforts of opposition groups to undermine CSE through fear-mongering and disinformation, Defend CSE reaffirms that these divisive tactics have no place in a dialogue built on love and care for the well-being of children and youth.

 

CSE is a vital tool for protecting young people from real risks such as gender-based violence, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections. It empowers youth with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to make informed decisions about their bodies, relationships, and future. By equipping young people with comprehensive, developmentally-appropriate, and culturally-sensitive education, CSE ensures they can build safe, healthy, and respectful lives.

 

The Defend CSE movement calls for continued advocacy and action to protect CSE against all forms of distortion and opposition. As they rally for the passage and effective implementation of Senate Bill 1979, they pledge to fight for the rights of young people and ensure CSE remains a key element of the country’s education system.

 

Defend CSE remains committed to working alongside policymakers to ensure that sexual and reproductive health education continues to be a pillar of youth empowerment, human rights, and public health in the Philippines.

 

Photos of the Mendiola and Cebu rallies today can be accessed at FB: Partido Manggagawa

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About Defend CSE

Defend CSE is a collective network of civil society organizations, advocates, and stakeholders dedicated to defending the rights of young people to access comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). The movement is committed to advocating for youth empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, and education policies that prioritize the well-being of future generations.

 

Press Release

February 5, 2025

Defend CSE

Ahead of expected signing of budget, PBBM asked to restore Philhealth subsidy

Photo from Freeman

With the expected signing of the national budget on December 30, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on President Bong Bong Marcos, Jr. to restore the subsidy for Philhealth and the budget cut for other social services.

 

“President Marcos, Jr., do you hear the people’s demand? Restoring the Philhealth subsidy and social services budget will be a great welcome gift for the new year. Do not be a Scrooge by affirming the flawed 2025 budget in toto,” stated Judy Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

She noted that the clamor for restoring the Philhealth subsidy and social services budget is widespread as workers in Cebu held a protest yesterday to highlight the demand. Members of PM and the labor group Sentro trooped yesterday afternoon to the Philhealth office at Cebu City to call for the restoration of the budget for social services.

 

Miranda criticized President Marcos, Jr.’s recent pronouncement that no Philhealth benefits will be affected even if there is no subsidy in the 2025 budget. She explained that “President Marcos Jr. is missing the point. The demand of Philhealth members and beneficiaries is the significant improvement of benefits and services. In 2025, we hope to see a 50% increase in Philhealth coverage—as was discussed in the budget deliberations and promised by Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.”

 

PM was among the coalition of labor groups, health workers and medical advocates that held a protest last Wednesday and asked for the restoration of the Philhealth subsidy in the 2025 national budget. Members of the Nagkakaisang Mamamayan para sa Pangkalusugang Pangkalahatan marched to Mendiola in Manila to call on President Marcos, Jr. to veto the budget and reform the Philhealth.

 

PM is also calling on the President to axe Secretary Herbosa and the Philhealth board for their failure to make good on their promises as well as for their inefficiency that has become an alibi by solon for the zero subsidy.

 

PM earlier joined the Nagkaisa labor coalition in filing as intervenor in the Supreme Court case to oppose the transfer of P90 billion of Philhealth’s excess funds to the National Treasury. The group has also been demanding public laundromats and whole day childcare centers to ease the burdens of employed and unemployed women.

 

Photos of the Cebu rally can be accessed at: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0iwhgYKFUvWSUtktmQjgP9bqTGigyHRJWHK2nyS3ScFH7Z9tSfYpxapzQevsJ8T37l

Press Release

December 27, 2024

Workers commemorate Bonifacio Day with call to “endo” political dynasties

Amid intense political infighting between the camps of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. and Vice Sara Duterte, the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) stated that workers choose no sides and will not join any “fake people power.” “The House of Labor does not support either the House of Polvoron or House of Fentanyl, both of which are merely interested in retaining political power for its own sake. In contrast, the House of Labor demands social justice and social change,” explained Judy Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

Members of PM joined the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition mobilization that assembled in front of Ramon Magsaysay High School in Espana, Manila this morning. The workers then marched to Mendiola at about 9 AM for a program that lasted until 12 noon.

 

PM also held rallies in Cebu City and Bacolod City. In Cebu, PM members marched around the city and held a program at Metro Gaisano in Colon St. In Bacolod, farm workers and women’s groups affiliated to PM launched an indoor gathering and later a march to the public plaza.

 

The nationwide commemoration of Bonifacio Day by PM and Nagkaisa raised the call for ending endo jobs, low wages and political dynasties. “The dominance of political dynasties is a key factor in the mass poverty and economic underdevelopment of the country. In the coming 2025 elections, we see the perverse evolution of fat dynasties into obese ones and the almost total capture of the partylist system—which was meant for representation by workers and other marginalized sectors—by power-hungry trapos. I-endo ang dynasties ng mga trapo hindi ang trabaho!” asserted Miranda.

 

She added that “If Bonifacio were alive today, he would lead the Katipunan in a fight to end political dynasties as a pathway for true independence and real development.” Miranda pointed to stark contrast between the inaction of the House of Representatives on the P150 wage hike bill and its fixation on Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war and Sara Duterte’s confidential funds. “Of course, we want Digong to be held accountable for the murder of alleged drug users and Inday Sara for her plunder of people’s money. But we know that Congress is motivated by factional infighting not good governance. And that is why Congress is deadma to proposed reforms favorable to workers,” Miranda elaborated.

 

Other demands highlighted by PM in the Bonifacio Day commemoration are Palestine solidarity and climate justice. “Stop the genocide in Palestine and arrest Banjamin Netanyahu. Robust not token funding by the Global North for climate mitigation and adaptation in the Global South which is bearing the brunt of climate change. These are our Christmas wishes,” Miranda concluded. ###

Minimum wage earners are poor according to PSA “fact reveal”

 

Photo from Rappler

The latest poverty statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) last week show that families with a minimum wage earner as a breadwinner live below the poverty line. “PSA’s ‘fact reveal’ exposes the sad truth that minimum wage earners are working poor as their families survive below the poverty threshold which is unrealistically low. Thus, the urgency of a PhP 150 legislated across-the-board wage hike for all workers,” stated PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

“The minimum wage is highest in Metro Manila, where the wage board has already granted an adjustment last month. Yet the monthly income of a minimum wage earner in NCR is just PhP 14,190 (P645 x 22 working days). This falls below the PhP 15,713 poverty threshold in Metro Manila, according to the PSA,” Magtubo explained.

 

He added that the same working poor scenario exists for minimum wage earners in highly industrialized areas like Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Cebu. “The ‘minimum wage-poverty threshold gap’ is worse for workers in Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Cebu where no salary adjustment has been granted yet by the inutile wage boards. In Calabarzon the monthly minimum wage is PhP 11,440 but the poverty threshold is PhP 15,457. In Central Luzon the wage is PhP 11,000 but the threshold is PhP 16,046. Finally, in Cebu the monthly minimum wage is PhP 10,296 while the poverty threshold is PhP 14,397. The minimum wage-poverty threshold deficit ranges from PhP 4,000 to 5,000 in a month for these industrialized areas where minimum wages are higher than the rest of the country, except Metro Manila,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

He called for a legislated across-the-board wage hike of P150 to recover the lost purchasing power of workers nationwide. PM is calling on Congress to act on the demand for a salary increase.

 

Magtubo added that “It is a scandal that the minimum wage—which is a floor supposed to protect workers and their families—fails to rise above the poverty threshold. And this holds not just for Metro Manila but for all regions. We are a nation of working poor. Sa kabila ng sipag at tyaga ng mga manggagawa, nanatiling mahirap ang kanilang mga pamilya.”

 

“Further, we can question the accuracy of the poverty threshold estimates. Suffice it to say that even Sec. Balisacan found it difficult to defend the P64 food poverty threshold and stated that it needs revision. This admission from officials is good to hear but action from government is what the working poor need,” Magtubo averred.

August 19, 2024

Workers in Cebu demand jeepney franchise extension, P150 wage hike in year-end rally

 

In a year-end action today, a delegation of workers and students rallied at the SSS Building along Osmena Boulevard in Cebu City to demand a one-year extension of individual jeepney franchises extension and the passage of the bill for a P150 wage hike.

 

“At the stroke of midnight today, 148,000 will lose their livelihoods. This is conservatively estimated as one operator and one driver for the 74,000 jeepneys units which have not been consolidated either into cooperatives or corporations, according to the Land Transportation and Franchising and Regulatory Board. This is a significant number, comprising an additional 7% to the 2,090,000 officially unemployed Filipinos as of October 2023,” stated Dennis Derige, Partido Manggagawa (PM)-Cebu spokesperson.

 

Speakers at the rally included the president of the labor union at Lami Foods and a leader of the Guadalupe Women’s Collective. Members of the Cebu chapters of PM and SENTRO joined the picket.

 

Derige explained that “In 14 out of 17 regions, minimum wages were increased by PhP 30 to Php 40 in the second half of this year, bringing them to a high of Php 610 in Metro Manila to a low of PhP 368 in Zamboanga Peninsula. However, the equivalent real wages remain depressed. The PhP 33 hike in Central Visayas raised nominal wage to PhP 468 but the equivalent real wage is only PhP 397. That is, PhP 468 in 2023 can only buy the equivalent of PhP 397 in 2018, or a gap of PhP 71.”

 

He added that “The difference between nominal and real wages is a result of inflation over the years: wage hikes have not kept up with the rise in prices and so workers’ purchasing power has been depleted. The nominal versus real wage gap ranges from PhP 63 in Zamboanga Peninsula to PhP 108 in Central Luzon. Thus the necessity for Congress to plug the gap by enacting the bill for a PhP 150 salary increase.”

 

PM is calling for a just transition for jeepney operators and drivers in the implementation of the modernization program.

 

“The government claimed that 200,000 new jobs were created as a result of investment pledges accruing from the President’s trips abroad. Assuming this is true—the administration still needs to explain how they guessed these figures—it is almost matched by the number of traditional jeepney operators and drivers who will lose their livelihood as a result of the cancellation of their individual franchises. The President does not need a 58% hike in his travel budget to PhP 1.4 billion to generate new jobs, he just needs to extend the individual franchises so that existing livelihoods are preserved,” Derige insisted.

 

Photos and a video of the rally can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0T7NQBtzk5mcHnHjCwrdawUnmXS7V9vvZgTco5wBqWuPPcznf2djmJS1trumeNfm9l and https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/videos/1567012827390462 

Press Release

December 31, 2023

Labor group asks garment exporters group to name brand leaving the Philippines

Retrenched Mactan Apparel worker. Photo from PIO Lapu-Lapu City

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Confederation of Wearables Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP) to name the global brand which it said pulled its orders from the Philippines. A few days ago, CONWEP Executive Director Maritess Jocson-Agoncillo was quoted in a news story that the unnamed global brand is shifting all its orders to Vietnam and Cambodia.

 

“We ask CONWEP to name the brand so that the 4,000 workers who have lost their jobs can demand an explanation from this multinational company. Corporate social responsibility dictates that global brands be transparent to their stakeholders, especially workers who have been loyally making garments for multinational companies,” stated Dennis Derige, spokesperson of the PM Cebu chapter.

 

Last month, the PESO of Lapu-Lapu confirmed that more than 4,000 workers were retrenched by the factories Mactan Apparel and First Flory. Both are locators in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City, Metro City. Mactan Apparel is part of the Sports City conglomerate, the biggest employer in MEZ. Another 4,000 workers were laid off across the different Sports City garment factories at the height of the pandemic in September 2022 and then 4,000 more in September 2020.

 

“While we welcome the assistance of the Lapu-Lapu PESO and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) so that the laid-off workers can engage in livelihood projects, we cannot hide the bitter truth. Shifting from formal regular work to vulnerable, insecure informal work is a huge step backwards. The normative goal is transitioning from informal to formal work. The decent work diagnostics of the DOLE and the International Labour Organization clearly states that for growth to be inclusive, the country needs to increase formal regular employment,” explained Derige.

 

PM has been pushing for a public employment program to generate jobs and a more robust unemployment insurance provided by the Social Security System. “For workers of Mactan Apparel and First Glory, guaranteed public employment is a better option in the short-term to self-employment as home-based workers, which is the livelihood program of DOLE. In the long-term, it is imperative that we have industrial policy that promotes the domestic economy instead of dependence on foreign investments which is footloose and unregulated. As CONWEP themselves admit, global brands can shift their orders on a whim thereby upending the jobs of thousands of workers overnight,” Derige insisted.

Press Release

August 7, 2023

 

Ahead of SONA, labor group slams factory closures at Mactan Export Processing Zone

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the retrenchment of some 4,100 workers at Mactan Apparel Inc. and its satellite companies. “These are factory closures, not just mass layoffs. Even though the economy is growing, workers are suffering. More than 4,000 breadwinners have lost their jobs and their families will now have to deal with all the difficulties of joblessness,” declared Dennis Derige, spokesperson of the Cebu chapter of PM.

 

He added that “With President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. due to give his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, we demand of him: Trabaho at bigas sa Bagong Pilipinas! Kung walang trabahong regular and walang murang bigas, bigo ang Pilipinas sa iyong pamumuno.”

 

PM stated that the call for job security, wage hike and cheap prices are among their calls for the counter-SONA protest on Monday. A petition for a P100 minimum wage hike has been filed in Cebu and Bohol. The wage boards have set hearings on the P100 petition on July 26 in Metro Cebu and August 10 in Bohol.

 

Different labor groups are mobilizing hundreds of workers, students and urban poor for the counter-SONA. PM, along with groups SENTRO and Akbayan, will assemble in Plaza Independencia at 8:00 am on July 24. Then they will march onto the Cebu City Freedom Park and finally merge with other organizations for the main program in Metro Colon.

 

Mactan Apparel Inc. and its sister companies, MAI Printing and FIT printing are closing down. The three factories make sportswear exclusively for the global brand Adidas and is part of the Sports City conglomerate, which is the biggest employer in the Mactan Export Processing Zone. The retrenchment at Mactan Apparel is the third wave of mass layoffs at Sports City. Some 4,000 workers were laid off across the different Sports City garment factories in September 2022 and another 4,000 in September 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

 

“We call on global brand Adidas to explain why their supplier factories are closing down. Adidas should step up, be transparent and clarify to workers who made their sportswear why they are losing their jobs. Do not make the usual alibi for not doing anything that your supplier is complying with the minimum standards set by law. If Adidas is indeed a good corporate citizen, then it must exercise responsibility for the loss of livelihood of 4,000 workers,” insisted Derige.

 

PM also argued that the series of mass layoffs and factory closures at MEPZ exposed the vulnerability of a development model founded on foreign investment and export production. “We need a paradigm shift away from export orientation. Economic and social development should be founded on a planned industrial policy that prioritizes domestic production even as it takes advantage of export markets,” Derige explained.

Press Release

July 20, 2023

Labor groups alarmed at MEPZ mass layoff

 

Labor groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) expressed their concern at the retrenchment of some 4,000 workers across five factories of the Sports City group of companies.

 

“This is alarming for workers in Cebu and elsewhere. For the biggest MEPZ employer to retrench 1/4 of of its workers may be a portent of worse things to come. What is the response of the government? Don't tell us ‘unity’,” exclaimed Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson.

 

Workers of garment firms Mactan Apparels, Inc.; Metro Wear, Inc.; Globalwear Manufacturing, Inc.; Feeder Apparel Corporation; and Vertex One Apparel Phils. Inc.—all owned by Sports City—were affected in the largest termination yet this year. Sports City is the biggest employer in the Mactan Economic Zone and supplies to global garment brands.

 

Both PM and SENTRO said that they will further investigate the claims of Sports City about the “sudden dropping and reduction of orders from our clients.” “We cannot take these claims at face value. In fact, factories traditionally increase their production in the ber months to meet the huge spike in demand during the holiday season. We will seek help from our allies abroad to check the veracity of these claims of diminished orders,” Derige insisted.

Sports City supplies apparel to global brands Adidas, Under Armour, Saucony, New Balance and Lululemon. 

 

He said that workers were caught off guard by the mass layoff. He explained that “There was no social dialogue between the employer and the employees. A better option is that negotiations transpire between employer and employee representatives so that workers have voice and participation in the basis and terms of the termination.”

 

Last year, unions were formed at Mactan Apparel, Metro Wear and Globalwear but were defeated in the certification election. PM had slammed the companies for delaying the elections for almost half a year even as an anti-union campaign was conducted using social media.

 

In the face of the mass layoff at the MEPZ and other companies, PM and SENTRO also called on the government to heed the demand for employment guarantees. The proposal of the labor coalition Nagkaisa calls for public employment, preferably in climate jobs, for unemployed workers over a period of 100 days to nine months at minimum wages or P10,000, whichever is higher. In response to this demand, the Department of Labor and Employment undertook a study of a social protection floor which has remained unimplemented.

 

“It is high time that the employment guarantee and other social protection mechanisms are enacted,” Derige ended

September 30, 2022

Group appeals for aid for Mactan ecozone workers in Cebu

The massive damage resulting from Typhoon Odette included the infrastructure of factories in Metro Cebu, the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu City and the southern part of the province. As a result, thousands of ecozone workers are temporarily out of work due to the damaged factories. “Thus, we are appealing for aid for the affected workers from the government as well as the companies too,” stated Dennis Derige, spokesperson of the Cebu chapter of the Partido Manggagawa (PM).

 

PM welcomed the announcement from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that it is extending assistance for some 25,000 informal workers worth P100 million through the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD). But Derige asserted that affected workers in the formal sector desperately need support too.

 

Citing informants from the Mactan Export Processing Zone Workers Association (MEPZWA), Derige reported that the factory of the biggest employer in the Mactan Ecozone has been damaged and as a result its more than 14,000 workers are without work until January 17. In contrast, just before Odette hit the Philippines, those workers were supposed to work through the Christmas holidays due to a large shipment of apparel. Another garment factory in the Mactan Ecozone employing more than 3,000 workers was also severely damaged and their workers too are on forced leave. Just these two companies already comprise almost a fifth of the total 100,000 workers in the Mactan Ecozone.

 

“Even outside of the Mactan Ecozone, other manufacturing and service establishments are not operating either due to actual damage from the typhoon or the lack of electricity. For example, one food processing company is closed in the meantime for lack of electricity and so its 130 employees are temporarily jobless without an assurance when they will be back at work,” Derige declared.

 

“It is the government that is in the position to provide immediate relief both to workers in the formal and informal sector. Everybody has suffered and no one must be left behind in the relief and rehabilitation effort. We hope that the DOLE hears the plea of MEPZWA and other Cebu workers,” Derige insisted.

 

He added that “Nonetheless we also ask companies to provide support to their own employees as they are more than capable. Just before Odette, Mactan Ecozone locators were already operating normally. And for a decade and half before the blip of the pandemic, business was booming for firms inside and outside the Mactan Ecozone. But while productivity rose by 50% and revenues doubled in 15 years, real wages have stagnated. At this dark hour of disaster, we call on employers to share the fruits of labor with their workers.”

 

Derige cited that one unionized mining company in Cebu already gave a P5,000 ayuda to all of its employees and extended a P20,000 calamity loan payable in one year without interest. This should be a model for others, he asserted.

December 27, 2021

Partido Manggagawa condemns arrest of 20 Labor Day rallyists in Cebu

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemned the arrest of 20 rallyists who assembled at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City this morning. Police arrested 8 miners from Carmen Copper in Toledo and 12 fishers from Talisay City on alleged violation of quarantine protocols. “The government is using covid-19 as an alibi to suppress the right to peaceful assembly of workers who are airing their demands on Labor Day,” asserted Dennis Derige, spokesperson for PM-Cebu.

 

A third group of rallyists who were workers in the Mactan Economic Zone and other factories together with student supporters were finally able to hold a short program at Plaza Independencia. All three groups, who are affiliates of PM and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), were supposed to commemorate Labor Day by marching around Cebu City. The arrests effectively scuttled the Labor Day plans of workers in Cebu City.

 

“Today’s arrests reveals the impunity of police against workers who are suffering under the economic crisis that has been spawned by the failed covid response of the Duterte administration. Similarly, the commemoration of Bonifacio Day was marred by the arrest of five union organizers who led a workers protests against mass layoffs in the Mactan ecozone. Covid is being weaponized against workers who are fighting for their rights and welfare,” stated Derige.

 

The workers in Cebu and in other major cities nationwide were to commemorate Labor Day with the theme “Tabakk ng Manggagawa Laban sa Palpak.” “Tabakk stands for Trabaho, Ayuda, Bakuna, Karapatan at Kasarinlan which are the key demands of workers in response to the economic crisis and the covid pandemic,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He added that “However, workers are also raising the political call ‘Palpak, Palitan.’ This means we are calling on the people to replace the inutile and authoritarian government with a new one which will respect political rights and respond to workers’ demand for social and economic reform.”

 

In Metro Manila, PM, SENTRO and other groups in the Nagkaisa labor coalition held a motorcade from the ABS-CBN headquarters to the People Power Monument to Mendiola and finally at Liwasang Bonifacio.

 

As of the time of writing, the release of the 20 rallyists in Cebu have been put on hold by the police despite the payment of fines for each of the workers arrested.

 

Photos can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10159032773159323

 

May 1, 2021

Hit hardest by the pandemic, women workers call for 'ayuda', jobs, and protection of labor rights

Mass layoff and income losses continue to mount despite the easing of restrictions and the initial rollout of vaccination. Needless to say, the combination of health, economic, and education crises one year under the pandemic is hitting women the hardest when they assumed added burdens as confirmed in several studies.

It is for this reason that members of the Nagkaisa labor coalition were demanding another round of ‘ayuda’ or income support, public employment program, and the protection of labor rights as the group kicks off with its celebration of the women’s month with a rally Thursday at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

“Isang taon na ang pandemya pero two months lang ang ayuda sa manggagawa. At dahil walang dagdag na ayuda at bagong trabaho, parami pa ng parami ang nagugutom at ang ekonomiya ay hindi rin makabangon. Sa gitna ng kapabayaang ito ng gubyerno ay ang walang kaparis na sakripisyo ng kababaihan bilang breadwinner, caregiver, nanay, at titser,” said Judy Miranda, head of the coalition’s women’s committee and also the secretary general of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

Joining the DOLE action, Miranda said, were women workers who lost their jobs from the continuing company retrenchments, and those who have pending cases before the labor department over illegal dismissals, union-busting, unpaid wages, 13th month, and separation pay, among others.

A scheduled dialogue with the DOLE right after the rally may give workers from the export zones in Cavite, Laguna, Cebu, as well as the teaching and non-teaching personnel in private universities, a chance to seek immediate resolution of their cases and concerns pending before the department which they accuse of imposing social-distancing with the workers.

And as tensions rise between workers and employers due to this lingering crisis, workplace and domestic violence become common, further victimizing women in varying degrees, thus, the workers’ demand for the immediate ratification of ILO’s Convention 190.

“At a time when misogyny is now being normalized in various ways, ILO Convention 190 is precisely what we need today,” said Nice Coronacion, Deputy Secretary General of the Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro). Women workers were also demanding full protection of their rights as more employers resorted to imposing austerity and anti-union schemes, including union-busting.

"Using the pandemic as an excuse, Provision Gloves Apparel closed its factory in Batangas, only to find out that their main factory remains in operation, under a different name. Management is busting our union and avoiding collective bargaining. This should stop," said Jessica Guerrero, PGA Union-FFW president said.

For her part, Annie Geron, President of the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), argued that quality public service requires a healthy and well-protected workforce both in the frontlines and administrative functions.

“Quality evades public service when bosses at the top are also the ones who deny their workers’ the right to form unions and bargain for better working conditions,” said Geron, referring to how senior government officials suppress unionization efforts of their rank-and-file members.

NAGKAISA  Labor Coalition-Women’s Committee

4 March 2021

Labor group slams PEZA and PNP for JIPCO IRR

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Joint Industrial Peace and Concern Office (JIPCO) between the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority last Monday.

 

“The signing of IRR of the JIPCO between the PNP and PEZA will mean further militarization of ecozones, harassment of labor unionists and escalation of the union busting. As far as workers are concerned, police presence in the ecozones has been to harass labor protests, disperse picketlines and arrest organizers,” stated Rene Magtubo, Partido Manggagawa (PM) national chair.

 

He added “The hugot line about forming JIPCO and sending police to the ecozones as mechanisms to promote industrial peace is just doublespeak. It is no different from the lie about police rescuing lumad children in the bakwit school in Cebu and police killing nanlaban suspected drug addicts.”

 

PM, a member of the country’s biggest labor coalition Nagkaisa!, had earlier demanded that the PNP and PEZA withdraw the program, and for DOLE to enforce labor laws in ecozones, educate officials of the bureaucracy and security forces on labor rights, and prosecute the violators whether they are state officials or owners of capital. In fact, almost exactly a year ago today, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello already wrote to both the PNP Chief and the PEZA Director General to express concern about the formation of the JIPCO in Central Luzon.

 

Magtubo cited a series of PNP and PEZA collaboration in suppressing workers’ activities within the last year or so. First, the arrest by the Cebu PNP of five labor organizers and their dispersal of a rally of retrenched workers of First Glory at the gate of the Mactan ecozone last November 30. Second, the dispersal of the picketline of workers of Sejung Apparel in the First Cavite Industrial Estate by Dasmarinas police together with security guards and barangay tanods for allegedly violating quarantine rules. The dispersal happened in the dead of the night during Black Friday of 2020. Finally, soldiers and police harassed union leaders, sent threatening letters to labor organizers and held anti-union meetings with workers of the FCF Manufacturing Corp., a factory in the Freeport Area of Bataan that makes high-end leather bags.

 

He reminded the PNP and PEZA that under the law, even employers who own the businesses and exercise direct control over their workforce are considered as mere bystanders, meaning they cannot interfere in labor activities, particularly on the right of workers to form unions as provided under the Bill of Rights and the Social Justice provisions of the Constitution. “If employers are mere bystanders in workers’ exercise of their labor rights, more so the PNP and PEZA,” Magtubo insisted.

 

He concluded that “JIPCO is hiding under the cover of peace building efforts but in reality, it is a declaration of war against the trade union movement in the country. But we will not be cowed and we will continue to organize.” 

February 17, 2021

Workers slam suspension of union elections at biggest Mactan Ecozone firm

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa slammed the suspension of the proceedings for certification election at three Sports City factories at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ). The Sports City group of companies employs some 14,000 workers and is the biggest employer at the MEZ.

 

“Sports City is using legal maneuvers to subvert the workers’ exercise of freedom of association and yesterday it succeeded in delaying the holding of an election at three of its factories on the basis of an appeal to the office of the Labor Secretary. We call on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to implement the law and the rules which absolutely guarantee the holding of a certification election despite an appeal by the employer,” stated Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson.

 

In a pre-election conference yesterday, the DOLE officer handling the petitions for certification election announced that the proceedings are held in abeyance pending the appeal to the Office of the Labor Secretary. Petitions for certification election by rank-and-file unions in Metrowear, Globalwear and Mactan Apparel, and a supervisory union in Globalwear were earlier granted and objections by management dismissed.

 

Derige added that “The certification election at Sports City is a test case for the respect for freedom of association in the ecozones. In MEZ not a single union exists with a collective bargaining agreement due to the pernicious union busting efforts of capitalists. This has led to wage stagnation for workers despite decades of economic growth and productivity rise.”

 

Aside from the four petitions in Sports City, another petition for certification election is pending at First Glory Philippines. All the unions formed at Sports City and First Glory are affiliated to PIGLAS-SENTRO. A labor dispute has erupted at First Glory after the mass layoff of 300 workers, including all of the union officers, last November 27. Last December 22, members of the First Glory labor union voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.

 

“First Glory management has taken a hardline position in all mediation meetings despite being unable to substantiate its claim of losses. We demand that First Glory reinstate all 300 workers that were retrenched as this was done in bad faith and for the purpose of busting the newly-formed union,” declared Cristito Pangan, president of First Glory labor union.

 

The latest mediation hearing yesterday, attended by no less than Lapu Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan, on the First Glory dispute again ended without any agreement. Workers in the Mactan Ecozone have been hit by a series of job losses: Sports City retrenched 4,000 workers, Yuenthai fired 2000 workers, FCO International laid off 100 workers and Kor Landa dismissed 67 workers including union officers.

 

PM however believes that “The mass layoffs and labor disputes at First Glory, Sports City and Arcya Glass in Calamba, Laguna are all symptomatic of the epidemic of labor rights violations during the time of covid. Employers are exploiting the covid-19 crisis to bust unions and shift to contract work.”

January 5, 2021