Comelec's Suspension of PI Proceedings: Merely a Truce in an Escalating Power Struggle

 

In the midst of an intensifying power struggle between the competing dynasties of the UniTeam coalition, the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition views the recent suspension of the people's initiative (PI) proceedings by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as nothing more than a temporary truce.

 

The labor group stated this view while holding another picket outside the Senate Building on Tuesday, coinciding with the scheduled committee hearing on alleged irregularities in the PI process.

 

The Senate action was also part of Nagkaisa’s continuing campaign to press for the enactment of the P150 across-the-board wage hike, end to endo, and other economic measures to address the rising cost-of-living crisis, which for them requires immediate action from Congress and the Executive rather than to revising the Constitution at this point in time.

 

“Chicha hindi chacha ang kailangan ng mga manggagawa, lalong hindi ang pumili sa pagitan ng polvoron o fentanyl,” asserted Partido Manggagawa (PM) Secretary General Judy Miranda, as she dismissed claims about the benefits arising from constitutional amendments.

 

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), observed that the recent counter-rally in Davao on January 28 has further intensified the conflict between former allies within the UniTeam, and it looks like the war of dynasties has reached the point of no return.

 

“Hindi pa patay ang PI,” Mata insists, noting that the Comelec’s suspension of PI proceedings might only be a tactical move to buy more time for both sides to strategize.

 

Both Miranda and Mata emphasized the importance of exposing the political and economic motives behind the House-led push for charter change through PI, at the same time cautioning against allowing the anti-charter change narrative to be co-opted by the Duterte dynasty for their own political gain.

 

Addressing President Duterte's shifting stance on charter change, they remarked, "Duterte may attempt to rebrand himself as an opponent of charter change, but his track record speaks volumes about his true intentions."

 

They reminded the Senate that it was Duterte who vetoed the Security of Tenure bill passed by Congress, failed to fulfill his promise of abolishing the provincial rate system in wage setting, and destroyed unions through red tagging during his term, “therefore making him a sham ambassador of the anti-chacha campaign that he wants to elevate into a war against Bongbong Marcos and Martin Romualdez.”

 

In conclusion Nagkaisa! urged the Senate to prioritize pressing issues such as the proposed P150 wage hike and highlights the importance of distinguishing authentic agenda to improve the lives of workers from the personal and partisan political interests of the warring political dynasties.

PRESS RELEASE

Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition

30 January 2024

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Bagong Pilipinas Kick-off Rally 'Politically Linked' with PI – Partido Manggagawa

 

While there exists no legal prohibition against a sitting President organizing his political base, the kick-off rally for the Luneta Park launching of Bagong Pilipinas on Sunday, January 28, is deemed ‘politically linked’ with the House-led people's initiative (PI) to revise the 1987 Constitution, stated the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) on Friday.

 

PM Chair Renato Magtubo drew a political connection between the two campaigns, citing reports of barangay officials in Manila and other areas who remain engaged in the PI signature campaign and have received invitations from City officials and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to join the Luneta Rally on Sunday.

 

"Based on our local monitoring, the PI campaign in barangays continues unabated, despite the Senate's initiative to entertain charter change (chacha) via ConAss. The invitation, with its directive tone to barangay officials to attend the Bagong Pilipinas rally at Luneta on Sunday, to be attended by the President himself, cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence," said Magtubo.

 

PM obtained a screenshot copy from a reliable source of a memorandum dated January 21, 2024, issued by DILG-Manila, inviting "All Punong Barangays, Sangguniang Barangay Members, Sangguniang Kabataan Chairpersons, SK Members, Barangay Secretaries and Treasurers, Barangay Tanods, and other Barangay Employees in the City of Manila" to attend the "Grand Launching of the Bagong Pilipinas Campaign".

 

The invitation is for them to attend "this historic gathering" graced by His Excellency President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr., who will "illuminate the President's vision for societal and governmental transformation, paving the way for inclusive and sustainable development."

 

The DILG memo, properly endorsed by city officials, directed barangay officials to register for the Bagong Pilipinas campaign link and advised them to wear barangay uniforms or white-polo shirts and be at the venue before the scheduled lockdown by 3:00 PM.

 

PM observes that although the "Bagong Pilipinas" (BP) tagline has been promoted even before the President's Second State of the Nation Address in July last year, its elevation into a "Campaign" for this Sunday rally, as indicated in the DILG memo, "can only be politically linked with the most active, well-organized, administration-led PI campaign for chacha," emphasized Magtubo.

 

Magtubo cautioned that the intertwined PI and BP campaigns would be distractive, divisive, and deceitful.

 

"Until prices of goods and services are made affordable, lost wages are recovered, and full employment with living wages and full protection of labor as mandated by the 1987 Constitution is implemented and realized, rebranding the old ‘Bagong Lipunan’ with Marcos Jr.’s 'Bagong Pilipinas' is dynastic entertainment at the very least. But when aligned with the PI campaign, centralizing and perpetuating power to the incumbents could be its most dangerous political outcome," explained Magtubo.

 

Labor groups consistently oppose the numerous attempts to revise the 1987 Constitution, stating that all these maneuvers lack sincerity in advancing authentic social change.

 

"Those in power continue to blame the Constitution for the country's chronic poverty when they themselves, along with capitalistic and dynastic political systems they maintain, enable them to live in luxury and political security while keeping the people poor. Sadly, since 1987, nobody sees a push for chacha to be prompted by mea culpa from among the trapos," concluded Magtubo. 

 

Partido Manggagawa

26 January 2024

Senate’s chacha dance unnecessary, out of step – Nagkaisa!

Leading the charter change (chacha) dance this time is totally unnecessary and out of step for the Senate, the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition declared in a statement, a week after Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri himself led the Senate majority in the filing of Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RBH 6) which aims to amend the economic provision of the 1987 Constitution through a Constituent Assembly (ConAss).

 

Protesting outside the Senate gates on Tuesday, Nagkaisa! members called on Zubiri to redirect his focus to the pressing demands of workers, including a wage hike, an end to labor contractualization (endo), and employment guarantees to address the chronic jobs crisis in the country. Their rallying cry: "Sahod itaas, Chacha i-atras!"

 

Josua Mata, Convenor of Nakakaisa! and Secretary-General of Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), expressed disappointment, stating, "SP Zubiri made significant promises to workers last year, vowing to enact a P150 across-the-board wage hike. Now, it seems he's shifting focus to cha-cha, an agenda unrelated to labor concerns."

 

Mata cautioned against a dubiously assembled ConAss, suggesting it could veer off course, impacting not only the economic provisions but also the political structures, catering to trapos’ (traditional politician) perpetual lust for power.

 

Addressing the diversionary tactics, Judy Miranda, Nagkaisa Women Committee Head and Partido Manggagawa (PM) Secretary-General, accused cha-cha proponents of diverting attention, energy, and resources from issues directly affecting 99% of Filipinos. She emphasized the urgency of prioritizing the P150 wage hike bill and creating more jobs, especially for women, over alien bids to acquire 100% land ownership and control of Philippine businesses.

 

Citing survey results from Pulse Asia and OCTA, Miranda underscored that over two-thirds of Filipinos are more concerned about inflation, wage hikes, and job creation than constitutional changes. She also criticized politicians for denying their complicity in maintaining poverty under a capitalist system that concentrates 90% of national wealth in the hands of the 0.1%.

 

Nagkaisa Chair and Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Sonny Matula reiterated the call he made earlier that the government rather address workers' core concerns: higher wages, job security, and the freedom to organize for collective bargaining. He criticized the Charter change initiative for diverting attention and resources away from these pressing issues.

 

Nagkaisa! pledged to actively oppose moves to revise the Constitution, announcing plans to collaborate with broader sectors to build an anti-cha-cha movement. The group aims to present workers' agendas as a compelling counter-narrative against pro-alien and pro-dynasty arguments. ###

 

Photos and videos of the rally can be accessed here:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid027Q4VBzy2jgGxFQeYmwfC4J1Gs4sRPWwR8nMnn1smBNTc2W7KWs1Sc44WCasaF9fal&id=100010005647238

 

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PRESS RELEASE

NAGKAISA! Labor Coalition

23 January 2024

 

P.I. mode of chacha a dangerous national concern – Partido Manggagawa

 

Screengrab of paid TV ad for charter change

“More than wasting government money and buying people’s will, proponents of charter change via the people’s initiative (P.I.) are destroying the essence of direct democracy with the mockery of the P.I. process itself,” stated Partido Manggagawa (PM) in a statement sent to media Wednesday.

 

“We hate to acknowledge the probability that aside from electing officials through fraudulent electoral means, Marcos Jr.'s New Philippines may also get a new Constitution through vote-buying! This is truly a P.I. in commercial terms – a purchased initiative by all indications,” protested the group in reaction to the barrage of information about the well-oiled P.I. campaign orchestrated on the ground in full speed through the LGUs.

 

PM Chair, Renato Magtubo, warned of the dangerous political and social consequences once traditional politicians (trapo) succeeded in raiding the people’s initiative and appropriating that stolen power for selfish political and business end.

 

“If they can easily purchase a new constitution via P.I., then what will prevent them from making another purchase to perpetuate themselves in power,” lamented Magtubo.

 

The labor group called on the people to oppose and stay away from this trapo-led initiative, by demanding government’s decisive actions on the most urgent national concerns expressed by most Filipinos in the latest survey.

 

Published the other day, survey results showed majority of Filipinos were unhappy with the way the Marcos government is addressing the problems of inflation, and nothing indicates charter change to be one of their most urgent national concerns.

 

At the top of Pinoy’s most urgent concern is controlling inflation (72%), increasing the pay of workers (40%), creating more jobs (28%), reducing the poverty of many Filipinos (25%), and fighting graft and corruption (19%).

 

“These results belie what proponents of the people’s initiative would claim as a groundswell of grassroot support for charter change. “Hindi P100 kada pirma kundi mahigit P100 na wage increase at trabaho ang nais ng mga Pilipino,” emphasized Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chair Renato Magtubo.

 

The labor leader, now Marikina City Councilot, pointed out that as Filipinos bid farewell to 2023, they were hopeful for positive changes in 2024 and beyond. He stated, "Nowhere did we hear a clamor for charter change from the grassroots to address the issues highlighted in the survey. What we are certain about is that the initiative is an organized campaign orchestrated from the higher echelons of power." 

PRESS RELEASE

10 January 2024

Workers vow to fight chacha at counter-SONA rally

At the top of issues to be raised by workers at the counter-SONA rally today is the opposition to charter change. “Chicha hindi chacha. The government must attend to the problem of hunger and poverty instead of term extension and foreign ownership which are the agenda of charter change,” declared Rene Magtubo, chair of the group Partido Manggagawa (PM).

PM is participating in the coalition United Workers SONA which will mobilize this afternoon. The United Workers SONA coalition will then join up with other broad networks for the United People’s SONA.

The group is also joining the rally by human rights group at the Quezon City Hall by 10:30 am to cry justice for the victims of extra-judicial killings and also demand action on the death of Cavite labor organizer Dennis Sequena.

In Cebu, PM is joining a broad coalition of groups Sentro, Kalipunan and Bayan for a rally that will echo the demands of the United People’s SONA at Commonwealth. The counter-SONA in Cebu City will be at Colon St. by 9:00 am.

Magtubo averred that that “Duterte may repeat in the SONA the unsubstantiated claim by the Labor Department that 500,000 workers have been regularized. Where is the evidence and particulars? The truth is that companies such as PLDT and Philippine Airlines have appealed in the courts the orders to regularize thousands of agency workers. The Philippines is still a Republic of Endo, a Province of China and a puppet of the US.”

He added that “Up to now, President Duterte has not signed the SOT bill due to the powerful lobby of employers for a veto. Should President Duterte surrender to the demand to veto the bill, then he reveals where he stands on the class war between the workers and capitalists on contractualization. A presidential veto will just be another betrayal of his promise to workers. But even if the Security of Tenure bill is signed or lapses into law, endo will persist since the legislation is a watered-down version.” Thus the group averred that among workers demands for the SONA mobilization is a stronger law to stamp out contractualization.

In the counter-SONA rally, aside from pushing for an end to endo, workers are also clamoring for a reform of the wage-setting mechanism.

“We welcome the announcement by the Department of Labor and Employment that it will undertake a study on the current wage system in response to the calls to abolish the regional wage boards. Although we fear that powerful lobby by employers will once more scuttle any real reform,” asserted Magtubo.

PM is batting for the abolition of the regional wage boards and its replacement by a National Wage Commission which will fix a national minimum wage based on the cost of living. The group is also calling for the provision of a minimum basic income for workers in the SME sector which is unregulated and exempted from the minimum wage setting.

July 22, 2019

Labor group slams Drew Olivar of “Pepedederalismo” for cyber libel

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today slammed for cyber libel the blogger Drew Olivar who recently hit the news for the controversial “Pepedederalismo” video together with PCOO Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson.

Olivar, in a Facebook post last September 30, 2017 on his “Drew Olivar Blog” accused Ver Estorosas, a PM leader, of absconding after allegedly receiving P8 million to mobilize people for a September 21, 2017 in Luneta. A picture of Estorosas in a rally was maliciously entitled “WANTED” in bold letters in Olivar’s blog post.

“Blabber blogger Drew Olivar is not just an indecent promoter of Pepedederalismo in cahoots with Mocha Uson but is also a thief of images for the profitable production and distribution of fake news. Ver Estorosas, as chairman of the PM Bulacan chapter, is not a fugitive but on the contrary active in leading actions of urban poor for their housing demands and NutriAsia workers for their job security,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that the group is consulting with lawyers for the appropriate course of action to defend the rights of Estorosas and stop Olivar from peddling libelous posts.

Magtubo insisted that “Olivar’s accusation is an outright lie and a figment of his imagination. He stole the photo from a rally of housing applicants in NHA Bulacan led by PM that was covered by mainstream media such as CNN Philippines and Rappler. PM was not even a participant to the September 21, 2017 rally in Luneta that was called by the Movement Against Tyranny.”

Olivar’s libelous post was brought to the attention of PM by members of the workers association BPO Shield (formerly Inter-Call Center Association of Workers) who dug into Olivar’s account after the “Pepedederalismo” video went viral.

“The Pepedederalismo video is a waste of taxpayers’ money that was squeezed from the people through TRAIN. We vow to mobilize workers and the poor against the charter change campaign of the Duterte administration. The shift to federalism is a scheme to perpetuate Duterte and trapos like Gloria Arroyo in power. The answer to mass poverty and social inequality is system change not charter change. Chicha hindi chacha!,” argued Magtubo.

“We warn Olivar against stealing more photos of rallies for his business of peddling fake news,” Magtubo cautioned as PM today held a mobilization of workers at the Senate in time for the sponsorship speech by Sen. Joel Villanueva of the security of tenure bill.

August 7, 2018