Action on killing of unionist demanded as PH remains on list of worst countries for workers

 

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the administration of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. for action on the case of union organizer Dennis Sequeña who was killed five years ago as the Philippines remained on the list of the world’s worst countries for workers for eight straight years. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the peak global body of organized labor, released the list as part of its 2024 Global Rights Index.

 

“It has been five long years of seeking justice for our friend and comrade Dennis who was shot to death on June 2, 2019 while speaking at a labor rights seminar for Cavite export zone workers in Tanza. We demand that President Marcos Jr resolve the case as the ITUC list is a wake up call for government. Further, action is needed as part of his administration’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) which conducted a probe last January 2023,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

Sequeña’s fatal shooting days before the annual ILO conference in 2019 sparked outrage among delegates and led to the decision to send the HLTM to the country to investigate the series of labor-related killings and other violations of the right to unionize in the country. It however took more than four years since that ILO decision for the HLTM to actually conduct its probe. Still, the ILO HLTM concluded that the “presence of a ‘mindset linking’ unions to the insurgency without the benefit of due process, [which] has led to a climate of impunity and violations of workers’ rights” and recommended the formation of a presidential body to resolve the 72 unsolved cases of labor-related killings as of the end of 2023.

 

“The government’s submission to the Committee on the Application of Standards which reviewed the complaints against the Philippine state at the just concluded ILO annual conference states that concrete action has been undertaken by the concerned agencies. We know that there has been none regarding the case of Dennis. This despite the fact that the provincial tripartite monitoring body resolved that the killing of Dennis was labor-related and that the AO 35 Committee headed by the Department of Justice acquired jurisdiction of the case years ago,” Magtubo explained.

 

“The brutal murder of Dennis has become a cold case after five years because of inaction by the government despite the presence of leads and findings by bodies such as the provincial tripartite body and the AO 35 Committee. His case reveals the disconnect between words and actions by the government on the prevailing impunity against union leaders and activists,” Magtubo ended. 

June 16, 2024

 

Nagkaisa Welcomes ILO Review, Lambasts DOLE for Evasion and Misrepresentation

 

Manila – Nagkaisa, the largest coalition of labor organizations in the Philippines, welcomes the review of the country’s adherence to freedom of association by the ILO’s Committee on Applications and Standards (CAS) adopted last 7 June 2024 in Geneva.

 

Held on the occasion of the 124th session of the ILO International Labour Conference in Geneva, the coalition condemned the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for its blatant evasion and misrepresentation of the issues at hand.

 

During the CAS discussion, speakers from at least ten countries raised serious concerns about ongoing labor rights violations in the Philippines. These international criticisms highlight a stark reality: that the Philippine government has FAILED to implement the recommendations of the ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM).

 

"DOLE’s leadership has failed the workers by masking the truth and allowing these violations to persist," said Nagkaisa spokesperson Renato Magtubo.

 

DOLE’s lack of action and apparent duplicity, he added, “blackened the government’s credibility” on the very day that the Philippines was elected as deputy member to the governing body of the ILO.

 

“Back home Sec. Laguesma needs to comply with the directive of the President to recite the pledge and Bagong Pilipinas hym, ‘Panahon na ng Pagbabago’, during flag ceremonies. But with his actions lacking the patriotic and collective spirit of ‘magtulong-tulong’ and ‘ayusin ang dapat ayusin’, change is far from becoming a reality in DOLE,” lamented Magtubo.

 

Nagkaisa insists that DOLE failed to deliver justice to all the 72 trade union leaders killed from 2016 to 2023. On top of that, DOLE apparently does not want to face the reality that red-tagging, abductions, surveillance and profiling and other forms of harassments persists because the Executive Order No. 70 that established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) remain firmly in place.

 

“We’d like to remind Sec. Laguesma that his inability to address long-standing labor rights issues in the Philippines have serious implications for trade and investments that President Marcos has been working out with the international community since day one,” Magtubo said, adding that the responsibility for this crisis in the making lies squarely with the leadership of the DOLE.

 

The protection and promotion of labor rights are essential to fostering a fair and just society, which in turn, is crucial for sustainable economic growth and attracting international investments.

Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

10 June 2024

Don’t take Philippines off list of countries to be monitored for labor rights—workers group

The militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) is opposing the Philippine government’s request at the ongoing International Labour Organization (ILO) annual conference to be taken off the list of countries to be monitored for compliance with international labor rights standards. “Contrary to the assertion of the administration of President Bong Bong Marcos, Jr., no concrete action on labor-related killings has been done. One illustrative case is the five-year old killing of PM union organizer Dennis Sequeña,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

“The government’s submission to the Committee on the Application of Standards which is reviewing the complaints against the Philippine government at the ongoing ILO annual conference states that concrete action has been undertaken by concerned agencies. We know that there has been none regarding the case of Dennis. This despite the fact that the provincial tripartite monitoring body resolved that the killing of Dennis was labor-related and that the AO 35 Committee headed by the Department of Justice acquired jurisdiction of the case years ago,” Magtubo explained. The ILO annual conference is currently in session in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

Sequeña’s fatal shooting days before the annual ILO conference in 2019 sparked outrage among delegates and led to the decision to send a High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) to the country to investigate the series of labor-related killings and other violations of the right to unionize in the country. It however took more than four years since that ILO decision for the HLTM to actually conduct its probe in January last year. The ILO HLTM concluded that the “presence of a ‘mindset linking’ unions to the insurgency without the benefit of due process, [which] has led to a climate of impunity and violations of workers’ rights” and recommended the formation of a presidential body to resolve the 72 unsolved cases of labor-related killings as of the end of 2023.

 

PM is calling on the ILO to reject the government’s request that the Philippines be taken off the list of countries that need to be examined by the Committee on the Application of Standards regarding compliance with international labor standards, including freedom of association and right to collective bargaining.

 

“It has been five long years of seeking justice for our friend and comrade Dennis who was shot to death on June 2, 2019 while speaking at a labor rights seminar for Cavite export zone workers in Tanza. The brutal murder of Dennis has become a cold case after five years because of inaction by the government despite the presence of leads and findings by bodies such as the provincial tripartite body and the AO 35 Committee. His case reveals the disconnect between words and actions by the government on the prevailing impunity against union leaders and activists.  We call on President Marcos Jr. to pursue the case as part of his administration’s commitment to the ILO HLTM,” stated Magtubo.

June 7, 2024

Government asked, “Where is the concrete action on labor-related killings”?

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the administration of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. for action on the case of union organizer Dennis Sequeña who was killed five years ago. “It has been five long years of seeking justice for our friend and comrade Dennis who was shot to death on June 2, 2019 while speaking at a labor rights seminar for Cavite export zone workers in Tanza. We call on President Marcos Jr. to pursue the case as part of his administration’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) which conducted a probe last January 2023,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

Sequeña’s fatal shooting days before the annual ILO conference in 2019 sparked outrage among delegates and led to the decision to send the HLTM to the country to investigate the series of labor-related killings and other violations of the right to unionize in the country. It however took more than four years since that ILO decision for the HLTM to actually conduct its probe. Still, the ILO HLTM concluded that the “presence of a ‘mindset linking’ unions to the insurgency without the benefit of due process, [which] has led to a climate of impunity and violations of workers’ rights” and recommended the formation of a presidential body to resolve the 72 unsolved cases of labor-related killings as of the end of 2023.

 

“The government’s submission to the Committee on the Application of Standards which is going to review the complaints against the Philippine state at the ongoing ILO annual conference states that concrete action has been undertaken by the concerned agencies. We know that there has been none regarding the case of Dennis. This despite the fact that the provincial tripartite monitoring body resolved that the killing of Dennis was labor-related and that the AO 35 Committee headed by the Department of Justice acquired jurisdiction of the case years ago,” Magtubo explained. The ILO annual conference is currently in session in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

PM is calling on the ILO to reject the government’s request that the Philippines be taken off the list of countries that need to be examined by the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards regarding compliance with international labor standards, including freedom of association and right to collective bargaining.

 

“The brutal murder of Dennis has become a cold case after five years because of inaction by the government despite the presence of leads and findings by bodies such as the provincial tripartite body and the AO 35 Committee. His case reveals the disconnect between words and actions by the government on the prevailing impunity against union leaders and activists,” Magtubo ended. 

June 4, 2024

Laguesma wants the accused to be the judge

Photo from Pag-ibig

 

                                                                                                             

The militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma’s rationale for excluding workers’ representatives in the newly created Inter-Agency Committee for the Protection of the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize of Workers.

 

“Secretary Laguesma wants the accused to be the judge in labor rights cases. If we follow Laguesma’s faulty logic that complainants cannot be the judge then more so the accused. Laguesma’s logic betrays his class war framework that pays lip service to social dialogue principles. The demand that workers’ representatives sit in the Inter-Agency Committee is aligned with the normative tenet of tripartism in resolving labor cases and disputes,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

On the eve of Labor Day, an Executive Order signed by President Bongbong Marcos created the Inter-Agency Committee with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin as chair, Laguesma as vice chair and includes other government agencies but excludes trade unions and employers’ groups. The security sector, specifically the Department of National Defense, National Security Council and the Philippine National Police, sits in the Inter-Agency Committee.

 

“Security forces are the usual respondents, along with several employers, in the 380 cases involving killings, abductions, arrests, harassments and red-tagging of unionists detailed in the report of the workers to the International Labour Organization’s High-Level Tripartite Mission (ILO HLTM) last January,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

He added that “Laguesma’s slip is showing. What can workers expect from a Labor Secretary that makes lame excuses for banning trade unions? This behavior may be expected of the government’s security forces but cannot be the attitude of a Labor Secretary.”

 

The creation of the Inter-Agency Committee was the government response to the ILO HLTM recommendations. The annual ILO conference next month will consider if the Philippine government had adequately responded to the recommendations.

 

Magtubo insisted that “We ask the government to heed fully the ILO HLTM recommendations, especially for a Presidential Commission that includes workers’ representatives. The clock is ticking as the ILO annual conference is due to open in a month’s time.”

 

Some 10,000 workers in last Monday’s huge Labor Day rally in Manila and similar labor unity protests in other cities called for respect for the right to unionize along with demands for a wage hike and an end to contractualization. 

Press Release

May 4, 2023

State of human rights in the country regressing further – labor group

The state of human rights in the country continues to regress under the Duterte administration, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement sent to media on the International Human Rights Day. The group joined the march by members of human rights community led by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and i-DEFEND in Quezon City. 

“Extra-judicial killings remain unchecked while harassments and actual assaults against human rights defenders (HRDs) in the trade union and other people’s organizations escalated in recent months,” said PM Secretary General Judy Miranda. 

These assaults, Miranda noted, include red-tagging, misogyny, arrest and detentions, including unsolved killings of HRDs working for trade union rights and protection of the environment. 

Last June, trade union leader Dennis Sequeña of PM Cavite was gunned down while doing lecture on basic trade union rights for EPZA workers. This incident, including other cases of trade union killings and violations, prompted the International Labor Organization (ILO) to send a high level mission to the Philippines to investigate the state of trade union repression in the country. That mission, however, is yet to be acknowledged and allowed entry by the government. 

But for the group, the biggest threat to human rights in the country is the counter-narrative being peddled against its very concept and principles by no less than the President who keeps on vilifying the HRDs as bad guys working with society’s criminal elements. 

“It’s very similar to having a company CEO who keeps on telling his workers that labor rights are bad. That mindset justifies all repressive actions while creating fear among workers that having a job is better than enjoying labor rights,” concluded Miranda.

10 December 2019

On DU30s 100th day: Church, labor groups call for ‘kabuhayan hindi patayan’

The Duterte administration should redefine itself despite the high approval rating it got from pursuing its ruthless campaign against drugs during the first 100 days.

The challenge was made by the Church-Labor Conference (CLC), an aggrupation of labor and church groups in the country, in a rally held at the Mabuhay Rotonda this morning, on the occasion of President Duterte’s 100^th day in office.  October 7 also marks the celebration of World Day for Decent Work.

In Cebu, the chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM) echoed this call. “Ang kahirapan at adiksyon ay magkarugtong na problema. Ang malawakang patayan at ang kahandaan pang pumatay ng 3 milyong pusher at adik ay hindi solusyon sa kahirapan. Ang kailangan ay bagong patakaran at konkretong hakbang na maghahango sa 26 na milyong Pilipino mula sa kahirapan, magbibigay kabuhayan at regular na trabaho sa 40 na milyong manggagawa, at buhay na may dignidad para sa lahat,” said PM-Cebu spokesperson Dennis Derige.

One of PM-Cebu's leader and organizer, Orlando "Ka Lando" Abangan, was shot and killed last September in a vigilante style killing. His killing remains unsolved.

PM national chair and CLC co-chair Renato Magtubo said the next five and a half years will be more challenging for the Duterte administration amid the sharpening contradictions between the contending classes inside and outside his administration in dealing with other social programs.

He cited as an example the strong opposition coming from local and foreign business groups against workers demand to finally end the policy contractualization and the realization of the living wage principle enshrined in the constitution.

“Sa manggagawa ay simple lang ang depinisyon ng pagbabago. Wala nito kung nariyan pa rin ang endo at mababa ang sweldo. Wala nito kung mananatiling untouchable ang mga gaya ni Lucio Tan, Henry Sy, at iba pang endo lords,” added Magtubo.

Labor groups were all opposed to the win-win solution on endo being proposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) which promotes regularization outside of the principal employers but to the third party service providers such as manpower agencies and cooperatives.

The group is also opposed to the planned imposition of regressive taxes to replace revenue loss resulting from the removal of VAT exemptions from senior citizens and the lowering of income taxes for corporations and individuals in the higher tax brackets.

Advisory: Workers to mark Duterte's 100 days with rally today

Workers on 100 days of Duterte: Killings overshadow social programs of the administration

It was a deadly 100 days.  To say otherwise is creative imagination.

 

This was the very brief description made by Partido Manggagawa (PM) when asked about its assessment of the first 100 days of the Duterte administration, noting that the number of killed in the war against drugs is obviously more graphic and chilling than the number of jobs created, number of endo lords neutralized, and number of landlords subjected to land reform.

 

“It cannot be denied that President Duterte’s deadly war on drugs overshadowed his social programs during his first 100 days in office.  His energy is there 100 per cent, leaving the social programs walk the business-as-usual course,” stated PM chair, Renato Magtubo.  

 

Magtubo said that as early as now, important social programs for workers such as contractualization and living wage were in danger of being completely compromised as powerful local and foreign business groups closed ranks to oppose such measures. 

 

“These powerful interests inside and outside the administration were behind the push for the win-win solution on endo and the removal of leftist officials in government,” said Magtubo.

 

The labor leader said, 100 days were clearly not enough to deliver on social programs, “But to be compromised is also recipe to a failure.”

 

Tomorrow marks the 100 days in office of the Duterte administration. It also coincides with the celebration of the World Day for Decent Work.

 

The Church-Labor Conference (CLC) where PM is a member is holding a rally tomorrow at the Mabuhay Rotonda to reiterate its call for a change in labor policies particularly on ending contractualization and the realization of living wage.

 

The group said that in the next five and a half years, it wanted the policy shifted to “Kabuhayan hindi Patayan”, in sharp disagreement with the recent pronouncement made by President Duterte that he will be happy to slaughter three million more in his relentless war against drugs.

 

In contrast Magtubo said:  “Mr. President, we have 100M Filipino lives to protect, 40M good jobs to create, and 26M people to lift out of poverty. If you will only consider the drug problem as both eco-social and public health issues, war against poverty is a better war to wage.”

 

The county has a population of over 100 million. Poverty incidence remains at 26%.  Most of the 40 million labor force is in non-standard employment affected by the chronic problems of contractualization, low wages, and the rising tide of informalization.

October 6, 2016