Eradicating wang-wangs will not eradicate poverty

Press Statement

July 25, 2011

PNoy’s bosses are unsatisfied with the SONA. Eradicating wang-wangs will not eradicate poverty. It will not create jobs for the Filipinos nor raise the wages of workers.

Workers want a war not just against Gloria for plundering the nation but even more a war against globalization for pillaging the country’s patrimony. Labor calls for a new not just straight road. The old road of contractualization, privatization, liberalization, deregulation and globalization is at the root of the impoverishment, unemployment and hunger of Filipinos.

It is not PNoy’s leadership style that is the problem but his leadership vision that is at issue. This false vision of progress through globalization is no different from Gloria’s.

PM calls on wage board to grant wage petition as cost of living already above P1,000/day

Press Release

May 2, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Metro Manila regional wage board to grant the P75 wage hike petition as it convened for its first public hearing today. “We ask the wage board to break expectations and approve the P75 petition since our study reveals that the cost of living for a family of six in Metro Manila as of March this year is already P1,010 a day,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

Magtubo meanwhile criticized President Benigno Aquino III for Labor Day announcement yesterday. “Private sector workers got nada from PNoy. PNoy did not really break bread with labor but he broke tradition by giving nothing to workers, not even a consuelo de bobo of non-wage benefits,” he stated.

“Even if NCR wage board approves the P75 petition, it will not be enough to bridge the huge gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living. The disparity between the P404 minimum wage and the cost of living is P606 or 150% of the ordinary wage. Even if two members work—which is the buy one, take one policy of the government—then their combined income will not be enough to feed the entire family,” stated Magtubo.

PM arrived at its cost of living figure using its April 2010 survey of the daily cost of living and the National Statistics Office’s 2.6% estimate of the inflation rate from April 2010 to March 2011. “Our estimate is already an understatement since the rise in prices has been accelerating since March,” Magtubo clarified.

Beyond the immediate wage hike issue, the group is however pushing for an overhaul of the wage fixing system in the country. PM is advocating for the establishment of a National Wage Commission to replace the regional wage boards.

“The National Wage Commission will be different from the wage boards in that its mandate is to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. And despite the huge difference between the minimum wage and the cost of living, the National Wage Commission can bridge the gap by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers,” Magtubo explained.

He added that “This is a reform that is addressed to Congress. The regional wage system is a 22-year old structure that badly needs fixing. It has disadvantaged workers and fostered cheap labor in the country.”

Despite impending wage hike Pinoy workers face dim prospects under P-Noy

PRESS RELEASE

14 April 2011

Despite the labor department’s assurance that a wage hike is imminent with the wage boards ruling on the existence of “supervening event” that warrants wage adjustments, workers face an even bleaker prospects under the Aquino administration, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said. 

“Though absolutely necessary, a wage hike in the country does not necessarily lead to enjoying a happy life for a worker’s family as wages in the Philippines remain at starvation level while working conditions deteriorate further,” PM chair Renato Magtubo said.

The labor group argued that unless the government comply with its constitutional mandate to provide workers a family living wage (FLW),“wage levels in the country shall remain as such – a starvation wage just enough to make workers available for work the following day.”

PM has been proposing that the current wage fixing mechanism is replaced by a new system that would institutionalize living wage based on the current cost of living as the principal criterion for determining the basic minimum wage.

Living wage is defined as the amount of family income needed to provide for the family’s food and non-food expenditures, including a 10% proportion of "other components" to allow for savings/investments, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC).

The latest figures (September 2008) posted at the NWPC website puts the FLW in the National Capital Region (NCR) at P917 a day to as high as P1,322 in the ARMM region.

Partido ng Manggagawa’s own estimate in 2009 puts it at P1,000.  The present minimum wage in NCR, however, is only at P404.  This means that the P125 or P75 proposed wage hikes can in no way cover this huge cost of living and income gap.

“There is clearly a mismatch between the actual needs of workers and their level of income.  This is because the present system puts more premium on the ‘capacity to pay’ of an employer rather than the ‘capacity to buy’ of a worker,” explained Magtubo.  

And even if there is no strong correlation between wage hikes and impact on productivity, employers usually threatens the government to defer any wage adjustments or file unnecessary exemptions to avoid compliance.   

“I would suppose that P-Noy is even clueless about this kind of reality as he has the capacity to buy a toy car in a snap,” quips Magtubo.

Another problem, the former partylist representative said, is that wage hikes cover only less than half of the employed and more unlikely for a quarter of them who are working as part time. The other half of employed persons lives on their own either as self-employed or as unpaid laborers. 

On the other hand three million Filipinos are completely out of work, notwithstanding the exodus of returning OFWs who are expected to swell the rank of the country’s unemployed.

Magtubo likewise added that with President Aquino recent ruling on the legality of outsourcing and contractualization at the Philippine Airlines, thousands of workers shall be downgraded into contractuals and therefore shall receive lesser pay and much lesser benefits compared to what they should enjoy as regular workers.

These conditions, he said, illustrate the most likely scenario in the world of work under the Aquino administration –  a “business as usual” policy maintained while attacks on labor rights intensify.

“Is cheap and flexible labor going to be the same policy to be pursued by the P-Noy administration?  Indications are getting clear – his ‘tuwid na landas’ leads us straight back to the same failed road of freeing labor from the clutches of poverty and exploitation,” concluded Magtubo.

Women workers support RH bill

PRESS STATEMENT
1 December 2010

Working women add our voice to the chorus of support for the RH bill. The Partido ng Manggagawa asserts that the passage of House Bill 96 or “The Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2010” is critical given the impact of the global financial crisis on working people and the poor, especially women. The growing incidence of hunger and poverty only connotes that poor and working women will neither be able to afford nor access contraceptive methods, in particular, and reproductive health care services, in general.

PM supports the RH bill on the basis of women’s right to reproductive health care. The rapid increase in population due to unmet needs of married Filipino women for family planning services is a growing concern. It is different when population control is forced rather than the implicit demand of women as reflected in the following statistics:

• Women want fewer children than they actually have. The total wanted fertility in the country of 2.4 children is 27% lower than the actual total fertility rate of 3.3 children (NDHS 2008)

• 42% of women consider a two-child family as the ideal family size (2008 NDHS)

• 2.6 million Filipino women would like to plan their families but lack information and access to do so. (Family Planning Survey 2006)

• Among the poorest women who would like to avoid pregnancy, at least 41% do not use any contraceptive method because of lack of information or access. (FPS 2006)

• 22% of married Filipino women have an unmet need for family planning services (2008 National Demographic and Health Survey), an increase of more than one-third since the 2003 NDHS, among other numerous statistics and studies that have been conducted.

These data, including the fact that from the 1999 population of roughly 75 million, 10 years later after the first comprehensive version of the RH bill was filed in Congress, the country’s population has increased by 19.3 million or an annual average increase of two million every year within the decade.

And more importantly, precise and regular use of contraceptives can decrease abortion rates by as much as 85% according to Allan Guttmacher Institute. As to the Catholic Church’s irresponsible statement that modern contraception is a form of abortion, this distorts the scientific fact that pregnancy happens at implantation and not during conception as it boldly claims. Such unscientific assertion belies the Church’s claim of being not anti-scientific; it is rather relative, depending on whether it would adhere to its archaic views, regardless of it being anti-women.

This is like going back to the four centuries-old controversy (wherein the Church believed that it is the Earth rather than the Sun the is the center of the solar system) that led to thee burning of Giordano Bruno alive at the stake and the trial of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition and which forced him to recant and spend the rest of his life under house arrest. And to which, 1992, Pope John Paul II acknowledged a mistake. PM hopes that it will not take that long for the Church to admit that it is making the same mistake.

Sa harap ng mga problema sa automated elections: PM nanawagan sa mga botante na magbantay, naninindigan para sa people power

Press Release
May 4, 2010

Bilang reaksyon sa pagbawi ng 7,000 palyadong memory cards at 3,000 PCOS machines sa NCR, nanawagan ang grupong party-list na Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) na magbantay ang mga botante sa harap ng posibleng failure of elections. “Ang pagbawi ng memory cards at PCOS machines ay pinakahuli lang sa serye ng mga kababalaghang maaring mauwi sa failure of elections,” pahayag ni Renato Magtubo, tagapangulo ng PM.

Sumang-ayon din ang PM sa kontrobersyal na panawagang maglunsad ng people power sakaling maganap ang failure of elections. Nagpahayag ang grupo ng kahandaang magmobilisa ng mga manggagawa at maralita para sa isang people power laban sa itatayong gobyernong junta na kahahantungan ng failure of elections.

“Ang failure of elections ay katumbas ng failure of the system. Sa ganitong sitwasyon, ang people power ay karapatan ng sambayanan para magbigay daan sa pagbabago sa halip na nakawin ng nakaupong rehimen ang kapangyarihan,” paninindigan ni Magtubo.

Aniya, “May sarili kaming ulat mula sa Romblon na pumalpak din ang testing ng PCOS machines. Dagdag pa ito sa media reports ng palyadong makina sa NCR, Mindoro at Batangas.”

Ibinunyag ni Magtubo na ikinakasa na nila ang mga lider at miyembro ng PM para maging pollwatchers sa polling centers ng matataong depressed communities kung saan mayroon silang chapters. “Ang Workers Ballot Brigades ay pupwesto sa mga presinto ng Metro Manila at paligid nitong Calabarzon at Bulacan, at ibang sentrong syudad gaya ng Metro Cebu, Metro Bacolod at Metro Davao.” ###

Amidst concerns of election failure: PM calls on voters to be vigilant, say people power a must option

Press Release
May 4, 2010
In reaction to the recall of some 7,000 faulty memory cards and another 3,000 PCOS machines in the NCR, the labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on voters to be vigilant amidst concerns of an election failure. “The recall of memory cards and PCOS machines days before May 10 is just the latest in a series of twists that may lead to a failure of elections,” declared PM chair Renato Magtubo.

PM added its voice to the growing call for people power in the event of a failed election and in the context of a power vacuum. “A failed election would be tantamount to a failure of the whole system and under such a scenario, a people power is a must option to be able to reboot the system rather than let it hang in favor of the sitting elite faction of the ruling class,” Magtubo insisted.

He added that “We have first hand reports of PCOS machines failing tests in Romblon. This is in addition to media reports of such failures in the NCR, Mindoro and Batangas.”

Magtubo revealed that the PM is mobilizing its leaders and members to be pollwatchers in populous depressed communities in which the group has chapters. “These workers’ Ballot Brigades will be present in the precincts of Metro Manila and its vicinities Calabarzon and Bulacan, and in other cities such as Metro Cebu, Metro Bacolod and Metro Davao,” he clarified.

Magtubo said the organized and even the unorganized sections of the working class will take the streets for a gallant stand against a junta type hold over government which is the most likely outcome of failed elections.

“That is because failed institutions under the Arroyo regime cannot redeem the system from such a failure, thus, a people power is the only option that can unmake or dispose of the current rotten system, or create new institutions to save this dying nation,” concludes Magtubo.

Workers slam midnight appointment of GMA manicurist to Pag-IBIG board

Press Release
April 22, 2010

The labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed President Gloria Arroyo’s appointment of her personal manicurist, a certain Anita Carpon, as government employees’ representative to the Board of Trustees of the Pag-IBIG Fund. “This is another controversial midnight appointment and an example of GMA planting loyal people to key positions in government as she vacates Malacañang,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

Magtubo explained that “We do not criticize Carpon’s appointment because she is a lowly manicurist. Even an ordinary worker deserves to sit in important posts in government such as administering the state housing fund. But we doubt Carpon will represent the interests of public sector workers because she owes a debt of gratitude to GMA and because of their personal relation.” Magtubo was a congressman for 12 years while remaining a factory worker in the Fortune Tobacco plant in Marikina.

PM called on public sector labor groups to name government workers who they believe deserve to be state employees’ representative in the Pag-IBIG board. “Is there no one among a million government employees who can represent their interests in Pag-IBIG but does have a personal relation with GMA? It is not difficult to believe that Carpon will just be used by GMA so she can dip her hand in the P200 billion fund of workers in the private and public sector,” Magtubo asked.

PM is advocating that government employees’ representative in the Pag-IBIG board come from a short list of names recommended by public sector workers organizations. “Similar to the process of selecting the Chief Justice from those recommended by the Judicial and Bar Council, the government employees’ representative in Pag-IBIG must also come from nominees of state workers groups,” Magtubo asserted.

He said that “Should we be asked to recommend, we know of several public sector labor leaders with unblemished records who can serve as watchdog in the Pag-IBIG board.” As an organization of workers who are members of Pag-IBIG, PM announced that the group is open to participating in such a transparent and accountable process.

Mga manggagawa binatikos ang paghirang sa manikurista ni GMA sa Pag-IBIG board

Press Release
April 21, 2010

Binatikos ng party-list na Partido ng Manggagawa ang paghirang kay Anita Carpon, ang personal na manikurista ni Pangulong Gloria Arroyo, bilang government employees representative sa Board of Trustees ng Pag-IBIG Fund. “Isa na naman itong kontrobersyal na midnight appointment at ehemplo ng pagtatanim ni GMA ng kanyang mga tao sa susing posisyon sa pamahalaan bago niya lisanin ang Malacanang,” ani Renato Magtubo, ang tagapangulo ng Partido ng Manggagawa.

Paliwanag ni Magtubo, “Hindi kami tutol kay Carpon dahil siya ay abang manikurista. Kahit isang simpleng tao ay may kakayahang umupo sa importanteng posisyon sa gobyerno gaya ng pamamahala sa housing fund ng mga manggagawa. Pero duda kaming kakatawanin ni Carpon ang interes ng mga manggagawa sa gobyerno dahil sa utang na loob at personal na relasyon niya kay GMA.” Si Magtubo ay naging 12 taon na kongresista habang siya ay isang manggagawa sa pabrika ng Fortune Tobacco sa Marikina.

“Sa humigit-kumulang isang milyong empleyado ng gobyerno, wala na bang may kakayahang kumatawan sa kanilang kapakanan sa board ng Pag-IBIG nang walang personal na relasyon kay GMA? Hindi mahirap isipin na gagamitin lang ni GMA si Carpon para pakialaman ang halos P200 bilyong pondo ng mga manggagawang pampribado at pampubliko,” giit ni Magtubo.

Sa pananaw ng Partido ng Manggagawa, mas tamang magmula ang government employees representative sa Pag-IBIG board mula sa mga rekomendado ng mga organisasyon ng manggagawa sa pamahalaan. “Kung paanong may prosesong inirerekomenda ng JBC ang bagong Chief Justice, dapat may kahalintulad na nominasyon mula sa mga samahan ng government workers,” pahayag ni Magtubo. Bilang isang organisasyon ng mga manggagawa na miyembro ng Pag-IBIG, bukas ang Partido ng Manggagawa na lumahok sa ganitong proseso.

Workers assert martial law in Maguindanao will not bring justice to massacre victims

Press Release
December 9, 2009

The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa joined today’s multi-sectoral mobilization initiated by the newly-formed November 23 Movement to demand justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre and call for the lifting of Presidential Proclamation 1959 imposing martial law in the province. Calling the martial law imposed on Maguindanao as “a cure worse than the disease,” PM called on Congress to revoke the Presidential Proclamation 1959.

Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson said that “Martial law means giving full power to the military to rule over Maguindanao yet the AFP itself is suspect in coddling and colluding with the warlord clan of the Ampatuans. The large cache of buried military-issue weapons found near the property of the Ampatuans reveals their unholy alliance with AFP. How then can the military rule deliver justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has a cozy relationship with the suspect Ampatuans?”

A contingent of workers and poor from PM trooped this morning to the assembly site in front of UST Espana and then marched to Mendiola. The PM contingent brought a makeshift backhoe made of carton with the message “We will not forget the women, journalists, media workers and other victims of the Maguindanao massacre.”

PM is asking voters to watch how the senators and representatives will act on the review of PP 1959. “The elections are coming to town in just a few months and so the solons should bear in mind that people are looking who will be naughty and nice. We appeal to the people not to vote for legislators who will affirm PP 1959,” Magtubo declared.

PM argues that sustaining PP 1959 will lead to more abuses. “Already the AFP vice chief of staff for operations is recommending an extension of martial law up to the elections supposedly to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This is classic example of military intelligence. It is precisely the military-controlled areas in Mindanao which are notorious for poll cheating and stories abound of wholesale fraud in military camps where election watchers are easily intimidated,” Magtubo asserted.

“In a bid to explain the incredible, ex-General Jovito Palparan has confessed to the fact that indeed the military was arming the Ampatuans on the sorry excuse that they were allies in the fight against Muslim rebels. Yet the Ampatuans are not just allies of the AFP against the MILF, they are collaborators of GMA in past fraudulent elections. There may be a hidden agenda in the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao,” he added.

Labor party-list group warns Pampanga will be next Maguindanao if GMA becomes Speaker

Press Release
December 4, 2009

The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) warned that Pampanga will be the next Maguindanao where political dynasties rule with impunity should President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins a congressional seat in the second district of the province and later becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives.

"We ask the voters of the second district of Pampanga to be vigilant in choosing their next congressional representative. Moreover we call on the people to vote for militant party-list groups and proven anti-GMA congressional candidates so that Arroyo will not be able to control the next House of Representatives," explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson

The group said that the discovery of a cache of AFP-issued high powered firearms near the compound of the Ampatuans reveals how the administration-allied political dynasty has been able to rule by force with the full backing of the government including the army. "In Maguindanao, the AFP serves as the not-so-private army of the Ampatuans with the apparent blessing of Camp Aguinaldo and Malacanang. That is GMA's way of paying back her heavy debt of gratitude to the Ampatuans for her incredible landslide victory in Maguindanao in the fraudulent 2004 elections," Magtubo added.

The PM leader furthered that while anti-GMA congressional bets maybe trapos themselves, voting for them in so that GMA is thwarted in her bid to be the next House speaker will be a fair warning to all politicians. Magtubo insisted that "The voters must send a message that they have zero tolerance to impunity and that a decade of GMA in power is already too much. Thus a crucial step in blocking GMA’s backdoor entry into Malacanang as Prime Minister is to ensure she does not become House Speaker."

PM is also calling on voters to use the party-list ballot as an opportunity to place non-trapos in Congress who will not just oppose GMA's bid for speakership but also fight social change in the counrty. PM is running for the party-list elections on a platform of protecting workers welfare and reversing the pro-globalization policies. The group has already endorsed the senatorial candidacy of detained ex-general Danny Lim for being a "rebel with a cause."

Labor party denies support for Ebdane

Press Release
November 28, 2009

The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) denied supporting the presidential candidacy of Hermogene Ebdane as alleged by news in a tabloid.

“We do support an ex-general, but not Hermogenes Ebdane. We have endorsed Danny Lim who has track record of fighting for social change. We know Lim is a determined militant for reforms to benefit the people and the workers,” explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

The group asserted that they have not released a statement nor has any PM leader declared support for Ebdane. PM insisted that other than the detained Danny Lim, they have not endorsed any candidate yet.

The group maintained that they do not know who is behind the distorted news but they are asking Ebdane to investigate whom in his campaign headquarters or PR group concocted the idea.

PM also clarified that they are open to endorsing candidates in the coming elections but they not made any decision yet to support a presidentiable. “What is definite is that PM will participate in the party-list elections so that the working class will have a voice and vanguard in parliament,” Magtubo remarked. Yesterday PM submitted to the Comelec its “manifestation to participate in the party-list elections” after Magtubo and other PM leaders accompanied Lim in filing his own “certificate of candidacy for senator.”

PM files intent to run for party-list, endorses senate bid of Gen. Danny Lim

Press Release
November 27, 2009

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) formally files its intent to participate in the party-list elections before the Commission on Elections this morning in a bid to regain its place as the consistently independent working class voice in Congress.

According to PM Chair Renato Magtubo, his party’s proclaimed mission of defending workers’ rights and advancing their struggles for better living conditions and broader political rights, is both an “unfinished battle” and a “pressing agenda” amidst the persisting global economic crisis where so much in the world of work are at stake.

“Today’s crises call not for the usual prescription but a thorough overhaul of our economic fundamentals, and therefore the need for a new breed of representatives who will fearlessly pursue pro-poor policy changes,” said Magtubo.

The first union president to become a party-list representative, Magtubo and the PM served the 11th, 12th and 13th Congress with a record of tirelessly pushing for the enactment of the living wage and other bills on legislated wage increase, and the amendments to the Labor Code to strengthen workers’ fundamental rights to organize, collectively bargain and to strike.

Support for Lim

PM also used the occasion of its filing to announce its support to the senatorial bid of Brig. Gen. Danny Lim.

Magtubo and his followers joined Lim first in the latter’s filing of his Certificate of Candidacy before proceeding to the filing of PM’s manifestation to participate in the party-list election.

“Gen. Danny Lim deserves due recognition not only for being an outstanding officer of the armed forces but also for being an icon of incorruptible and principled fighters among our workingmen in uniform,” explained Magtubo.

The group said they will also campaign for other candidates who will come out with solid platforms for labor and the poor.

Labor party opposes tax on tiangge, political contributions

PRESS RELEASE
06 November 2009

Describing the scheme as anti-poor and oppressive, a labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), denounces the plan by Malacañang to impose taxes on tiangge as well as on political contributions for political parties, including partylists.

According to PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda, the plan to impose taxes ontiangge operations is a sinister way of shifting the burden of failed revenue collection to the poor. This was after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) admitted huge shortfall in its revenue target this year and which eventually led to the resignation of BIR Chief Sixto Esquivias IV.

“Instead of making convincing explanations on why the BIR missed its targets, Malacañang is now convincing the tiangge operators to make up for its shortfall. It’s like telling a Baclaran vendor to make up for the members of the PCCI and foreign chambers of commerce,” said Miranda.

“This is besides the fact that their buy-and-sell products have already been subjected to VAT and other taxes,” added Miranda.

Miranda said the scheme is patently anti-poor and oppressive since those who are engaged in tiangge, especially the small ones, belong to the informal sector (own account workers or the self-employed) – a big part of the of the labor force who are without regular work. Ninety nine percent of these workers are engaged in small buy-and-sell business, transport, and personal services, among others. Own account workers account for 12.083 million of the country’s labor force of 35.509 million in the July Labor Force Survey. Aside from that, most of those who render help for own account workers belong to what are called ‘unpaid family workers’, which now count to 3.828 million.

“Clearly, this sector needs support from the State not new forms of oppression through taxation especially in the face of ripping calamities,” stressed Miranda.

Meanwhile, the labor party is also opposed to the 5% tax on political contributions, saying the government should never consider counting revenue out of political exercise.

Miranda pointed out that while election-related businesses such as supplies can be considered taxable incomes, contributions to sectoral parties, like the PM Partylist whose contributions mainly came from ordinary workers, is not.

“A worker’s income have already been taxed before it reaches his hands, why tax it again if he/she contributes part of it for his/her political party?,” protested the group.

PM said Mrs. Arroyo better focus on ensuring good election process rather than generating funds from her rival parties.

Hundreds of workers hold noise barrage vs. con-ass, say “show indignation to stop the titillation”

Press Release
June 19, 2009

Different labor groups under the umbrella of the newly formed Manggagawa Kontra Cha-Cha held a labor forum this afternoon and then organized a noise barrage in the early evening. Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa and a convenor of the Manggagawa Kontra Cha-Cha said that “The people must show indignation to stop GMA’s titillation of the nation. FVR should join the protests against con-ass if she wants GMA to reveal her plans. Yet the indignation versus cha-cha should aim not just to oblige GMA to express her political intentions but force a retreat from her term extension plan.”

The Manggagawa Kontra Cha-Cha met at the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR) from 1 to 5 p.m. to consolidate organized labor’s position on con-ass. The labor groups explained that they oppose con-ass not simply because they resist GMA’s term extension but also because they fight the neoliberal agenda behind cha-cha.

Magtubo explained that “There are those in the broad movement against con-ass who approve of cha-cha for the purpose of abolishing the protectionist provisions and oppose merely GMA’s term extension. The workers however resist both perpetuating GMA in power forever and removing the protectionist provisions of the Constitution. The working class oppose cha-cha not to defend the elite democracy enshrined in the 1987 Constitution but to protect the progressive provisions on national patrimony and labor rights.”

At the end of the forum, the 200 participants marched from SOLAIR to Philcoa for the noise barrage. Members of PM made noise using tools of production used by workers such as hammers, pliers and metal sheets to symbolize labor’s resistance to charter change. The noise barrage is part of labor-led protests calling for government action on the economic recession instead of charter revision.

“Government must act on the demand for social protection for the workers instead of term extension for GMA. Today union members in the giant Keppel shipyard in Cebu went on strike while workers in the big Mactan Export Processing Zone have been holding daily protests. The challenge that government must solve is the recession not the Constitution,” insisted Magtubo.

In their manifesto, it is stated that “The workers march side by side with the multisectoral movement against con-ass but build a parallel movement with independent demands for labor protection and economic protectionism. The workers add their voice to the people’s indignation over con-ass even as we air our own slogans for system change instead of charter change.”

Scrap the VFA now!

Press Statement
February 20, 2009
Renato Magtubo
Chairperson

The secret VFA document exposed by Sen. Joker Arroyo is the latest in a string of arguments to hang the iniquitous agreement. The secret document is an insult that adds to the injury of Daniel Smith’s contempt of our justice system.

The VFA must be scrapped now. It was ratified by the Senate in 1999 and 10 years of an unequal treaty is much too long already. This secret document is slap in the face of the Philippine Senate and Filipino people since it was hidden from public knowledge. The Senate cannot waste any time in abrogating the VFA.

From the very start the VFA was one-sided. While it was approved by the Philippine Senate, the US Senate did not ratify it. Thus even its status as a bilateral treaty is questionable.

Now this secret document shows as clear as day that the VFA violates diplomatic principles of reciprocity and mutuality. An American GI who has committed a crime, like Daniel Smith, can enjoy the comforts of their embassy but a Filipino soldier can only be incarcerated in a US jail as provided for by this secret paper.

This episode of the VFA secret document and Daniel Smith’s case should be transformed into an opportunity to reorient out foreign policy. Just like how the global crisis and its deleterious impact on our economy should be an occasion for a paradigm shift in our economic model.

The VFA is no different from the unequal Military Bases Agreement and the WTO is similar to the neocolonial Parity Rights treaty. The military policy of the US seeks to advance its economic agenda not our national interests. It is high time to chart an independent foreign policy together with a development model predicated on local industrialization.

Workers oppose power rates hike

PRESS RELEASE
20 February 2009

The labor partylist group, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), denounces the Energy Regulatory Commission for granting the National Power Corporation a provisional authority to increase its tariff rates by as much as P1.00/kwh beginning this month, even as the grounds for such a petition are yet to be deliberated in subsequent public hearings, the first of which, the pre-trial hearing, is yet to convene on February 24.

The provisional authority allows the Napocor to charge the distributors (DUs) an increase by an average 46.82 centavos per kWh in Luzon and 71.47 centavos per kWh in Mindanao. The increase, according to Meralco will translate to 17 centavos for Luzon customers or an additional P34 for those who consume 200 kWh per month.

The biggest increase, an average of P1.146 per kWh, will be in the Visayas region, whose people, in particular the poor people of Negros, are facing another tiempos muertes – a period in a year where the region encounter the highest incidence of hunger. The rate increase will take effect in the February 26 to March billing period.

The petition for rate adjustments, according to the Napocor, is intended to recoup its losses from giving incentives to consumers such as the mandatory rate reduction of 30 centavos provided under EPIRA. It also has to comply with a rate of return as required under its loan covenant with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

According to the ERC, this increase would remain provisional and could still change depending on the outcome of the hearings the state regulator will be conducting on the state generator’s application for the rate increase.

But the labor party complains that the ERC is committing another abuse of discretion by issuing such a provisional authority to a petition that is yet to be heard and in complete disregard of the current conditions of the Filipino people who are already reeling from the impact of the raging global economic crisis.

“Why the haste in giving out a provisional authority and why so callous in rendering almost a blanket approval of the Napocor petition,” protested PM secretary-general Judy Ann Miranda, in a statement sent to media.

Miranda said the new power rate increase bares with it the gross insensitivity of the government to the plight of the workers and the poor who are now facing massive job loss, wage cut, and work flexibilization schemes due to the crisis.

The labor group said the power rate increase, coupled with the government’s failure to address the pressing problems of displaced and unemployed workers, is fanning labor unrest in many regions of the country, thus protests in days ahead are to be expected.

“In its petition with the ERRC, what the Napocor has in mind is its loan covenant with the World Bank and the ADB, not its social contract with the consumers. This is not only callousness but cruelty bordering to treason,” concludes Miranda.

Workers to heads of G20: Creating a better world order is no more your business

PRESS RELEASE
15 November 2008

Relegating the world’s future to the hands of same leaders who created the current global economic crisis is a recipe to further disaster, according to Partido ng Manggagawa, a militant labor party in the country which joined hundreds of other protesters in a march to the US embassy this morning in time for the G20 Summit in Washington DC.

Partido ng Manggagawa chair, Renato Magtubo, said today’s summit by the G8 + 12, an elite club of the world’s richest economies, to formulate strategy to fight the current global economic crisis, “will, to borrow from Barack Obama’s famous line against John McCain, ‘only produce more of the same.’”

“Since this is just another summit of free traders and free marketeers, workers expect no relief from this kind of meeting whose main agenda is to save corporate America and Europe and not Joe the plumber and Juana Manggagawa,” said Magtubo, a veteran trade union leader and former party-list representative.

Magtubo pointed out that for this summit to be relevant to those who really create the world’s wealth—the working class—G20 leaders must renounce neoliberal economics and proclaim a new public policy on redistributing wealth. “Without it, the summit will be a mere talking shop,” the labor leader said.

The labor leader explained that despite the current economic turmoil, the world’s wealth is still more than enough to feed, house, clothe, educate, and care for the needs of some six billion people.

“The world’s productive capacity is so vast it can produce in abundance all the goods and services needed by the world’s people. The only problem is that the world’s wealth is in the hands of a few people, who in the past decades invested their surpluses in casino capitalism and not in the real economy,” added Magtubo.

Magtubo stressed further that the summit was made more anomalous when G20 made it a super exclusive meeting as if these 20 heads of states hold the key to the salvation of six billion people.

“They will talk about bailouts that make financial sharks happy but not the poor people whom they have driven deep down the world of indebtedness. They will provide a stimulus package to resurrect the dead stock markets but not the real economy that provides jobs to billions of people,” said Magtubo.

Citing massive job loss in the US and in Europe and which is also happening now in the country’s export processing zones, Magtubo said a separate world summit of trade unions and labor leaders is more appropriate in working out a strategy for saving the people and the planet from the cruelty of the capitalist system. ###

DOLE asked to release data on effects of crisis as more layoffs reported in Cavite export zone

Press Release
November 14, 2008

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to release its data on recent permanent closures, temporary shutdowns and work rotations, and appealed to Congress to initiate an investigation on the effects of the economic crisis on the workers and compel the DOLE to publish its records on the matter.

The demand for transparency from DOLE came in as reports of lay offs of thousands of workers filter in from export processing zones. “The export processing zone (EPZ) in Rosario, Cavite, just like the export processing zone in Mactan, Cebu is reeling from the consequences of the recession in the US and the world. We know of at least four firms in the Cavite EPZ that have reduced its workers or its working days since September,” said Dennis Sequenia, secretary-general of PM for Cavite.

Sequenia revealed that the three plants of American Power Conversion, an electronics firm based in the Cavite EPZ with a total workforce of more than 5,000, implemented this November a reduction of its work week from the normal 6 days to just 4 or 5 days.

Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson, declared that “To be forewarned is to be forearmed. We anchor our demand on the principle of transparency and for the purpose of so-called stakeholders having a firm basis on which to base policy proposals so that workers can cope with the effects of the economic recession.”

Magtubo asserted that just like the case in Region VII, the DOLE-Region IV-A office did not give out any data on permanent closures, temporary shutdowns and work rotations when requested by PM local leaders. “The DOLE should not be surprised if it is accused of a cover up since it is keeping its data from the public’s eye. Or if they have not collected any information at all then they are sleeping on the job,” asserted Magtubo.

Aside from the American Power Conversion, Sequenia also said that the following factories all based in the Cavite EPZ have been affected by reduced orders from the US:

• Daeyoung: laidoff 1,000 workers last September after it merged with Greever, another garments firm which absorbed only 500 of Daeyoung’s workforce
• Daijen: retrenched 400 workers after it was absorbed by Jeonlim, another garments firm, last October
• Headline: reduced work week to just 5 days since October; garments firm with more than 300 work force

Jobert Onte, president of the United Cavite Workers Association that organizes among the export zones and industrial estates of the province, argued that the epidemic of mergers and rotation by garments and electronics firms in the Cavite EPZ are coping mechanisms by capitalists as the huge US export market contracts. He stated that “Workers are the last to benefit from an economic boom but now we are the first to be sacrificed in the midst of a global recession that was sparked by high rollers in the casino capitalism of Wall Street.”

Sequenia also disclosed that the recent reduction in workers and workdays are on top of an earlier wave of closures and rotation by factories in EPZ about six months ago. He cited the cases of Cavite Apparel with a workforce of 600 that reduced its workweek to just 2 days and is offering voluntary retirement for its senior workers, and Ultimate Fashion which closed down and threw its more than 300 employees out of work. The PM chapter in Cavite also received initial reports that a Levi’s subcontractor in the Dasmarinas technopark will have no work for the coming week due to reduced export orders.

“Women are the overwhelming majority of the workers in these garments and electronics factories and most of them are the breadwinners of their families. It is the responsibility of the state to bailout them out in their hour of need,” Onte insisted.

Magtubo, former party-list representative for three terms, called on the Senate and House Labor Committees to open an investigation on the issue for the purpose of formulating measures for legislative and executive action. “The economic calamity demands economic relief. Congress must seriously consider the call for a subsidy for workers who will be laid off due to the crisis, for tax breaks for all employees as a form of economic stimulus, and for a thoroughgoing reform of the public employment program so that the four million unemployed Filipinos can have jobs,” he affirmed.

“No new employment is being created as old jobs are being shed. We have noticed that the job ads in the leading dailies have been reduced to just a few pages in recent weeks. The layoffs in the export-oriented firm of Cebu and Cavite are just the herald of a major unemployment crisis. The worse is yet to come unless we act now to save the workers,” emphasized Magtubo.

Workers say layoffs have started at export-oriented factories

Press Release
November 13, 2008

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) disputed the declaration of Labor Secretary Marianito Roque that there have been no retrenchments yet due to the global economic crisis. Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson, said that “The Department of Labor is merely looking the other way. Labor Secretary Roque has eyes but he does not want to see.”

Leaders of PM in Cebu claim that factories in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) and the nearby industrial estates have already started reducing its workforce and its working hours because of reduced orders from the US. Greg Janginon, PM Chairperson for Cebu, argues that thousands not just hundreds of workers, many of them women, have been affected by retrenchments, shutdowns and rotation being implemented by employers.

Janginon asserts that he cannot believe that the Labor Department does not know of the temporary shutdown of Altamode, a big garments factory located at MEPZ. Around 500 workers, majority of whom were women, were thrown out of work in a move that management claims was forced by the economic crisis. Janginon also disclosed that the regional office of DOLE refused to release any data to them about companies affected by the crisis.

“While government and business nitpick about the difference between a slowdown and a recession, the initial effects of the perfect economic storm are already being felt by workers in the export-processing zones,” insists Magtubo. “Instead of the government and business arguing whether a recession or a slowdown will commence next year, we should be discussing the need for a bailout and stimulus package for the workers and the poor to counter-act the economic downturn.”

Aside from the Altamode case, PM revealed the following data:

• Cosonsa Manufacturing Inc.: furniture factory in Mandaue City that exports 30% of its products to the US and the rest to China and Europe; filed at the DOLE-Region VII for rotation; reduced work to 5 days starting October and presently on 4 days of work; 200 workers affected
• Arkaine Industries: furniture factory in Jagobiao, Mandaue City; declared a shutdown last October due to economic crisis; 200 workers affected
• Giordini del Sole: furniture factory in Mandaue City that sells to local and foreign markets; management released a memo yesterday ordering a reduction of work from 6 days to 5 days; more than 500 workers affected
• Paul Yu: factory producing lamp shades for local and export markets; located at MEPZ II; workers believe that diminishing sales and cost cutting are behind management’s plans to relocate the factory and change its name; relocation to Carmen town in the far north of the province is planned for next week; 100 regular workers and 100 contractual workers to be affected
• Maithland Smith: garments factory in MEPZ; 50 workers, majority of whom were women, retrenched last October
• Neostone: furniture and stone casting factory in Mandaue City; filed for 30-days temporary shutdown in August and then closed permanently last September; company claimed lack of capital in its declarations but workers know of reduced orders from the US before the closure; 40 workers affected

“Workers demand that the SSS, GSIS and the OWWA release funds sufficient to subsidize all private sector workers, government employees and OFW’s who will be laid off due to the economic crisis. The subsidy should last until the workers could find a new job up to a maximum of 6 months,” asserted Eddie Jumao-a, secretary of the Neostone union.

Janginon also added that “As part of a stimulus scheme, the government must declare a tax rebate for all workers equivalent to 2 months wage, in effect giving them a 14th and 15th month salary.”

Magtubo meanwhile proclaimed “As capitalists pass on the burden of the economic crisis to the workers, the simmering labor discontent will erupt sooner than later erupt into struggles and strikes.”

Militants demand bailout, stimulus package for workers and poor

Press Release
November 12, 2008

In reaction to the announcement by business leaders of a recession in the coming year, the militant group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for a bailout and stimulus package for the workers and the poor to counter-act the economic downturn.

“We should put money in the hands of the workers and the poor not simply as a measure of social justice but as the solution to the economic recession. The consumers, the overwhelming majority of whom are the workers and the poor, should be able to continue buying their necessities and thereby keep the wheels of production rolling,” explained Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.

The group clarified that their bailout and stimulus package is different from that implemented in the US which it criticized as a “bailout of the rich capitalists who engineered the crisis in the first place thereby rewarding the criminals and punishing the innocent.” Magtubo argued that “If there is a lesson to be learned from the present crisis, it is that it is time to strengthen the real economy and shutdown the casino economy.”

In particular, PM is calling for the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Overseas Welfare Administration (OWWA) to set aside funds sufficient to subsidize all private sector workers, government employees and overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) who will be laid off due to the economic crisis. The subsidy should last until they could find work up to a maximum of 6 months. The group is also demanding that the government must declare a tax rebate for all workers equivalent to 2 months wage, in effect giving them a 14th and 15th month salary.

Magtubo stated that “Big business is forecasting a recession next year but the initial effects of the perfect economic storm is already being felt by workers in the export-processing zones and OFW’s in the Middle East. We know first hand of furniture and garments factories in the export-processing zones of Cavite and Cebu who have reduced workers and hours of work because of reduced orders from the US. The export industry as a whole is collapsing with growth contracting from 6.6 % in August to just 1.2% this September. Workers are being made to bear the brunt of a crisis that is not of their own making.”

“As for the millions who were already unemployed even before the onset of the present crisis, a massive public employment program must be established. In form it will be similar to the ‘patrabaho ng gobyerno’ program the presently exists. But in substance it will be radically different. First, the patronage system must be excised from the public employment program by putting it under the control of people’s organizations instead of local politicians. Second, the salaries, benefits and working conditions should conform to labor standards instead of the present setup where contractual workers do the work for below minimum wages,” asserted Magtubo. ###

(The SSS and GSIS are the state-managed social security institutions for private sector and public sector employees respectively. The OWWA is a similar institution for overseas workers.)