Bato hit for indifference to 11K ABS-CBN workers

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today slammed Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa for his indifference to the predicament of some 11,000 workers of ABS-CBN who will be affected by a shutdown of the network.

“Wag pagmatigasan ni Bato ang mga manggagawa ng ABS-CBN. If Senator Bato is does not care about 11,000 ABS-CBN workers losing their jobs then he also does not care about the Filipino people. The plight of 11,000 ABS-CBN workers are a microcosm of the the conditions of some 26 million wage and salary workers in the country who together with their families definitely comprise a majority of the Filipino people,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

On Monday, PM and other groups like Kalipunan and I-Defend are mobilizing to call for resistance to the repression of democratic rights and defense of freedoms such as a critical press and the right to unionize. Unions are being red-tagged and strikes are being dispersed around the country, the group observed.

Magtubo made this remark in answer to Senator dela Rosa’s contention that the interests of the Filipino people trump concern over the livelihood of the ABS-CBN workers. He added that “It is obvious that the threat to shutdown ABS-CBN is rooted in President Duterte’s personal grudge and does not have anything to do with the national interest. Bato himself said that he lives or dies with President Duterte so his loyalty is just to one person not the entire nation.”

“Higher wages and better working conditions for ABS-CBN workers and the regularization of some 10,000 so-called talents in the network are the same popular demands of Filipino workers. Survey after survey reveal that regular jobs and decent wages are desired by the Filipino people,” Magtubo explained.

The group joined the clamor against the threat to shutdown ABS-CBN. “Stop the threat to end the franchise of ABS-CBN but the company must also stop endo among its workers,” demanded Magtubo.

The group called on regular and contractual ABS-CBN workers to forge an alliance and for the talents to organize so that they have voice and representation. “Neither the Lopezes nor Duterte, or his lackeys like Bato, can be relied upon to treat ABS-CBN workers fairly. Whatever happens to ABS-CBN, the workers are protected if they are united and organized,” stated Magtubo.

February 19, 2020

Labor group slams House’s move allowing foreigners 100% ownership of public utilities

The labor group, Partido Manggagawa (PM), warns as ‘unFilipino’ and ‘dangerous’, the plan by members of the House of Representatives to relax foreign limitations on ownership of public utilities in the country by way of a killer amendment to the Commonwealth Act, otherwise known as Public Service Act of 1936. 

The House plenary on Tuesday passed on second reading House Bill 78. A majority-backed bill that passes the second reading is almost sure of passing the third and final reading at any moment.  The bill has a similar counterpart in the Senate. 

The killer amendment is aimed at differentiating “public utility” from “public service”, thereby avoiding the 60-40 limit set by the 1987 Constitution on ownership of public utility. Under the proposal, the secretariat of National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) will have the power to recommend before Congress the reclassification of public utility as a ‘public service’. 

“Our present lawmakers are trying to make themselves economically profound yet are very confused of what a public utility is. But let’s believe our instincts here. Their confusion comes not from the grey side of the law but from their vacillating standpoint that we Filipinos can stand on our own,” stated PM spokesperson, Wilson Fortaleza. 

Fortaleza asserted that as a matter of fact, the global agenda of trade union and social movements around the world today is de-privatization as decades of globalization (liberalization, privatization and deregulation) processes did not only weaken the capacities of poor nation-states but also created the most outrageous level of inequality among peoples, where less than 1% of the population owns more than half of the world’s wealth. 

“There is now a Brexit in EU and perhaps, a Frexit and Grexit soon. Trump on the other hand is pulling the US inwards to make America great again. The main proponents of globalization are now moving to the right by talking left as this is the only way to distance their selves from a failed project. Yet here are our smart politicians trying to save this failed and evil system in the Philippines,” said Fortaleza. 

The group cited as an example the failed privatization of the country’s water and power sector, which control by oligarchs and their foreign partners, is now the favourite subject of President Duterte. 

“The oligarchs are very happy we gave them the best of our public utilities in the 1990s onwards. They want more, of course, in the same way the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Americans and Europeans would want to take their slice of the pie that Congress under Cayetano is willing to surrender as one,” lamented Fortaleza. 

The labor group raises the fear that if Congress is not seeing these examples as something that would make them rethink of a better alternative other than reliance to foreign, particularly Chinese investments, then this country really fits the narrative of being a Republic of Endo, Province of China.

19 February 2020

Shutdown POGOs, protect victims of crime and labor rights violations – Partido Manggagawa

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) added its voice to the growing public clamour to shutdown the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country, both legal and illegal. But at the same it urges the government to protect and save their workers, both foreign and local, from further injustice after having been victimized by human trafficking and other crimes committed against them by their recruiters and operators.

“Kahit saan tingnang anggulo, batay sa pagdinig sa Senado ay operasyong sindikato ang lumalabas na pag-iral ng mga POGO na ito sa ating bansa. Sino mang protektor ng operasyong ito ay dapat malantad at maparusahan,” declared PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.

POGO operations in the country has come under close scrutiny from the public after news of their illegal operations, tax evasion, and the proliferation of crimes related to it such as human trafficking, sex trafficking and kidnapping, among others, began to surface one after another.

“History would tell us that high-end gambling operations, legal or not, are always accompanied by crimes especially against women as most of the victims of human trafficking, prostitution and sexual abuse are women. Whoever is allowing these things to happen should be guilty of the same crime hence must be prosecuted,” said Miranda.

The group argues that closer ties with China should not make the country more tolerant of these kinds of crimes, including violations of labor rights.

Crimes against women and violations of labor standards, Miranda stressed, have no boundaries hence the Philippine state is duty-bound to apply them to all workers, local or foreign.

“Hindi dahil malayang pinagnenegosyo ng administrasyon ang mga POGO sa bansa ay malaya na rin nilang mapagsamantalahan ang mga manggagawa,” concluded Miranda.

18 February 2020

Shutdown POGOs, protect victims of crime and labor rights violations – Partido Manggagawa

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) added its voice to the growing public clamour to shutdown the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country, both legal and illegal. But at the same it urges the government to protect and save their workers, both foreign and local, from further injustice after having been victimized by human trafficking and other crimes committed against them by their recruiters and operators.

“Kahit saan tingnang anggulo matapos ang pagdinig kahapon sa Senado ay operasyong sindikato ang lumalabas na pag-iral ng mga POGO na ito sa ating bansa. Sino mang protektor ng operasyong ito ay dapat malantad at maparusahan,” declared PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.

POGO operations in the country has come under close scrutiny from the public after news of their illegal operations, tax evasion, and the proliferation of crimes related to it such as human trafficking, sex trafficking and kidnapping, among others, began to surface one after another.

At a public hearing conducted Wednesday, a female worker who was a victim of human trafficking told the senate committee that she was also a victim of sexual abuse in her workplace. Said witness also mentioned a ‘powerful protector’ of POGO operations in the country.

“History would tell us that high-end gambling operations, legal or not, are always accompanied by crimes especially against women as most of the victims of human trafficking, prostitution and sexual abuse are women. Whoever is allowing these things to happen should be guilty of the same crime hence must be prosecuted,” said Miranda.

The group argues that closer ties with China should not make the country more tolerant of these kinds of crimes, including violations of labor rights.

Crimes against women and violations of labor standards, Miranda stressed, have no boundaries hence the Philippine state is duty-bound to apply them to all workers, local or foreign.

“Hindi dahil malayang pinagnenegosyo ng administrasyon ang mga POGO sa bansa ay malaya na rin nilang mapagsamantalahan ang mga manggagawa,” concluded Miranda.

13 February 2020

Militant group welcomes end of VFA despite wrong reason for its termination

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) today welcomed the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States despite it being ended by President Rodrigo Duterte as a retaliation for the cancellation of the visa of ally Senator Bato dela Rosa.

“Militant workers and women workers do not shed a tear for the death of the VFA even if it was terminated for the wrong reason by President Duterte. We look forward to no more Jennifer Laudes killed and Nicoles raped by US soldiers in the Philippines,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

PM was active in the campaign for justice for Nicole, the accuser in the so-called Subic rape case by a US Marine in 2005. Then in 2014, another US Marine killed transgender Jennifer Laude in Olongapo.

Miranda averred that “Moreover, we demand that aside from the VFA, the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement be abrogated too. We stand for an independent foreign policy founded on preserving and protecting our country’s sovereignty and national interest, and cooperation with other nations on the basis of common concerns.”

The termination of the VFA and other pressing social issues in the country will be the subject of an assembly by PM this afternoon. More than a hundred union, urban poor, women and youth leaders in the NCR, Calabarzon and Central Luzon are meeting in QC Memorial Circle for a discussion of the national situation. PM is also celebrating its 19^th anniversary.

Miranda added that “We would have wanted President Duterte to tear up the VFA because he stood up for Philippine sovereignty. But that is wishful thinking of a President who also cannot defend our country against China’s incursions.”

“Those who argue that the VFA is needed to defend ourselves from China are wrong. The VFA did not stop China from militarizing the West Philippine Sea. It is not war or warmongering that will resolve the WPS dispute. Instead the Philippines needs to muster a coalition of Southeast Asian nations for a multilateral agreement on the WPS,” Miranda explained.

The group also took to task the senators who are trying to save the VFA. “It would have been better if these senators had agreed with the termination of the VFA on the right basis of advancing Philippine sovereignty. But again it is too much to ask of these weak-kneed politicians. Apparently their loyalty to Tatay Digong ends where their loyalty to Uncle Sam begins,” Miranda insisted.

February 12, 2020