PRESS RELEASE
28 February 2011
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) condemns the issuance of an ordinance by officials of Barangay Ayala Alabang against the sale of condoms. The group meanwhile welcomed the position of the Muntinlupa City council that in its review of the barangay ordinance said that it might be violation of the law and guidelines of the Department of Health.
“The officials of Barangay Ayala Alabang are obviously being dogmatic while the Muntinlupa city councillors are being prudent in their positions. The exclusive subdivisions of Ayala Alabang may put as high a wall to prevent poor people from peering but they cannot setup its own rules in contradiction with the laws of the country,” explained PM Secretary General Judy Ann Chan-Miranda.
She added that, “The need for prescription undermines the right of residents in the barangay to contraceptives. In the first place, the need for prescription to purchase condoms and pills is baseless. Matagal na itong kinategorize na over-the-counter essential medicines ng Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and even by the World Health Organization. Now, seemingly, these barangay officials have suddenly becomes medical experts.”
Yesterday more than a thousand women and men from PM and different women’s groups marched at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) office in Intramuros. On March 4, PM will hold a big assembly of women workers on the RH bill and other working women issues in preparation for the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8. PM will commemorate Women’s Day with rallies at the Senate and House and Representatives to lobby for the RH bill.
“Prescriptions are used for drugs and medicines that may put people’s lives at risk. Anong health risk mayroon ang condom? And pills? Actually, it is highly prescribed by the WHO in preventing HIV-AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.” said Miranda.
PM further explained that legislating the Catholic Church’s doctrines, even at the barangay level, is coercive. “Women, men, parents and couples have the right to decide which contraceptives to use. It is neither up to the State nor the Church to decide on these matters,” Miranda insisted.
Monday, February 28, 2011
PALEA formally asks PNoy to declare PAL outsourcing illegal
February 28, 2011
PALEA
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) formally asked anew the Office of the President (OP) to declare the planned layoff and outsourcing as illegal as the financial statements of Philippine Airlines (PAL) show that it remains profitable. PALEA made the call last Thursday in its comment to PAL’s financial statements submitted to the OP.
“Will PNoy believe PAL despite the company’s own financial records? Will the President side with big business and sacrifice workers? PALEA, other unions and workers, and the entire country await the President’s verdict,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa vice chair.
In its 55-page comment, PALEA prayed that the OP make a ruling on three issues:
1. Reverse the October 29, 2010 Order of the Secretary of Labor and Employment;
2. Declare PAL’s mass termination of more than 2,600 employees illegal; and
3. Declare PAL guilty of unfair labor practice for the implementation of the mass termination of more than 2,600 regular employees.
PAL’s first quarter profit was $31.6 million, second quarter profit was $28.2 million and third quarter profit of $15.1 million, for a total net income of $74.9 million for the months of April to December 2010. Further PALEA reported that PAL paid a loan in the amount of $46.5 million in June 2010.
“PAL’s position in this dispute will rise and fall with the truth or falsity of its claims of substantial business losses. The Department of Labor and Employment believed the company’s claims that it had to implement the mass termination to avert the collapse of the company. Now, the financial statements for the past year 2010 are out, and it clearly shows the robust business of PAL,” Rivera argued.
He added “Despite this, the company intends to terminate 2,600 employees, most of whom have rendered more than 20 years of loyal service to the company, and have waited for more than a decade during the CBA moratorium that started in 1998.”
Rivera insisted that “The fact that PAL has not been losing and instead has been earning despite being unable to proceed with the contractualization scheme disproves any necessity for the outsourcing.”
The union is pushing for collective bargaining negotiations to begin immediately and an end to the 12-year moratorium of the collective bargaining agreement. PALEA renewed mass actions with a prayer rally last February 9 with the theme “Stop mass layoff, Start CBA negotiations.”
Sunday, February 27, 2011
PM and women groups hold symbolic die-in and candle-light at CBCP
PRESS RELEASE
27 February 2011
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) women members will march today with women groups to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in a peaceful mass action for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
More than a thousand women and men from Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and different women’s groups will march at 5:00 pm today from Cory and Ninoy monuments, Bonifacio Drive corner Padre Burgos Street (across Manila Hotel) to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) office along General Luna Street in Intramuros.
The peaceful action will highlight the immediate consequences of the CBCP’s anti-RH position. A letter stating this position will be handed over to an official of the CBCP.
“We want to inform that Catholic hierarchy that its continued opposition to the RH bill has been causing 11 maternal deaths daily. Hopefully, this peaceful protest will open the eyes and hearts of the bishops and priests to the severe damage its stand has been causing Filipino women, especially poor women,” said PM Secretary General Judy Ann Chan-Miranda.
Miranda further explained that, “11 deaths per day are equal to 4,015 per year. And for more than a decade that the RH bill has been consistently opposed by the Church, almost 50,000 women have died. We sincerely hope na may puwang pa rin ang kababaihan sa puso ng mga obispo at pari at mababago ang kanilang tindig sa issue.”
After reading the letter, the die-in and lighting of 11 candles – symbolizing the maternal deaths – the group left the lighted candles and marched to the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) to disperse peacefully.
27 February 2011
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) women members will march today with women groups to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in a peaceful mass action for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
More than a thousand women and men from Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and different women’s groups will march at 5:00 pm today from Cory and Ninoy monuments, Bonifacio Drive corner Padre Burgos Street (across Manila Hotel) to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) office along General Luna Street in Intramuros.
The peaceful action will highlight the immediate consequences of the CBCP’s anti-RH position. A letter stating this position will be handed over to an official of the CBCP.
“We want to inform that Catholic hierarchy that its continued opposition to the RH bill has been causing 11 maternal deaths daily. Hopefully, this peaceful protest will open the eyes and hearts of the bishops and priests to the severe damage its stand has been causing Filipino women, especially poor women,” said PM Secretary General Judy Ann Chan-Miranda.
Miranda further explained that, “11 deaths per day are equal to 4,015 per year. And for more than a decade that the RH bill has been consistently opposed by the Church, almost 50,000 women have died. We sincerely hope na may puwang pa rin ang kababaihan sa puso ng mga obispo at pari at mababago ang kanilang tindig sa issue.”
After reading the letter, the die-in and lighting of 11 candles – symbolizing the maternal deaths – the group left the lighted candles and marched to the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) to disperse peacefully.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Workers criticize shortcomings of EDSA 1
Press Release
February 25, 2011
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) criticized the shortcomings of EDSA 1 as the government commemorates the 25th anniversary of the first people power uprising. “The people power uprising of 1986 turns silver today but it shines no more. That is because the social deficit outweighs the political benefits of simple political turnover between factions of the elite, which is the main achievement of the post-EDSA dispensation,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.
PM also commemorated the event with mass meetings of workers under the theme “Kapos ang EDSA at peke ang demokrasya hangga’t kapos ang sahod, kontraktwal ang trabaho at api ang kalagayan ng mga manggagawa.” The group is at the forefront of the current campaigns against labor contractualization and high prices.
Magtubo added that “The events in Tunisia, Egypt and that region are again showing that through unity in action people can assert their rights and win their freedoms. Is this not the spirit of EDSA? Unfortunately in the past 25 years it has been squandered because of the betrayal by the elite which hijacked the victory of people power.”
He furthered that “The post-EDSA regimes fell short of the people’s demands for social change. Since 1986 the poverty and destitution of the masses have continued and unemployment and desperation haunts the workers. The epidemic of contractualization and its ravages on the livelihood of workers is an indictment of EDSA 1.”
PM decried the situation workers under the post-EDSA push for economic liberalization and globalization. “The Marcos dictatorship is hardly any different from the post-EDSA regimes as far as sacrificing workers rights in the altar of foreign investor-led growth and the policy of cheap and docile labor,” Magtubo explained.
PM asserted that the most common grievances of workers are violations of security of tenure, such as illegal dismissal and illegal suspension; non-remittance of social security premiums, withholding taxes and employees’ compensation; and the non-payment/underpayment/late payment of 13th month pay, 5 days service incentive leave and overtime pay; lack of transparency in employment contracts; and restriction of the freedom to organize.
Magtubo called on the workers to lead the people’s struggle for system change. “Instead of the elite, the workers should take leadership and via labor power make sure that social demands are in the forefront of the next uprising in our country,” he asserted.
February 25, 2011
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) criticized the shortcomings of EDSA 1 as the government commemorates the 25th anniversary of the first people power uprising. “The people power uprising of 1986 turns silver today but it shines no more. That is because the social deficit outweighs the political benefits of simple political turnover between factions of the elite, which is the main achievement of the post-EDSA dispensation,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.
PM also commemorated the event with mass meetings of workers under the theme “Kapos ang EDSA at peke ang demokrasya hangga’t kapos ang sahod, kontraktwal ang trabaho at api ang kalagayan ng mga manggagawa.” The group is at the forefront of the current campaigns against labor contractualization and high prices.
Magtubo added that “The events in Tunisia, Egypt and that region are again showing that through unity in action people can assert their rights and win their freedoms. Is this not the spirit of EDSA? Unfortunately in the past 25 years it has been squandered because of the betrayal by the elite which hijacked the victory of people power.”
He furthered that “The post-EDSA regimes fell short of the people’s demands for social change. Since 1986 the poverty and destitution of the masses have continued and unemployment and desperation haunts the workers. The epidemic of contractualization and its ravages on the livelihood of workers is an indictment of EDSA 1.”
PM decried the situation workers under the post-EDSA push for economic liberalization and globalization. “The Marcos dictatorship is hardly any different from the post-EDSA regimes as far as sacrificing workers rights in the altar of foreign investor-led growth and the policy of cheap and docile labor,” Magtubo explained.
PM asserted that the most common grievances of workers are violations of security of tenure, such as illegal dismissal and illegal suspension; non-remittance of social security premiums, withholding taxes and employees’ compensation; and the non-payment/underpayment/late payment of 13th month pay, 5 days service incentive leave and overtime pay; lack of transparency in employment contracts; and restriction of the freedom to organize.
Magtubo called on the workers to lead the people’s struggle for system change. “Instead of the elite, the workers should take leadership and via labor power make sure that social demands are in the forefront of the next uprising in our country,” he asserted.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Workers slam shortcomings of EDSA 1
Press Release
February 24, 2011
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the anti-contractualization coalition KONTRA slammed the shortcomings of EDSA 1 in a symbolic mass action this afternoon. Scores of workers from PM and KONTRA assembled at the Ninoy Aquino monument at the corner of Timog and Quezon Avenues at around 5:30 pm.
“The people power uprising of 1986 turns silver tomorrow but it shines no more. That is because the social deficit outweighs the political benefits of simple political turnover between factions of the elite, which is the main achievement of the post-EDSA dispensation,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.
PM and KONTRA members chanted their main call “Walang demokrasya at tunay na diwa ng EDSA hangga’t kontraktwal ang mga manggagawa.” KONTRA was formed to campaign against the proliferation of contractualization and the advocate for regular decent jobs.
Magtubo added that “The events in Tunisia, Egypt and that region are again showing that through unity in action people can assert their rights and win their freedoms. Is this not the spirit of EDSA? Unfortunately in the past 25 years it has been squandered because of the betrayal by the elite which hijacked the victory of people power.”
He furthered that “The post-EDSA regimes fell short of the people’s demands for social change. Since 1986 the poverty and destitution of the masses have continued and unemployment and desperation haunts the workers. The epidemic of contractualization and its ravages on the livelihood of workers is an indictment of EDSA 1.”
Magtubo called on the workers to lead the people’s struggle for system change. “Instead of the elite, the workers should take leadership and via labor power make sure that social demands are in the forefront of the next uprising in our country,” he asserted.
February 24, 2011
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the anti-contractualization coalition KONTRA slammed the shortcomings of EDSA 1 in a symbolic mass action this afternoon. Scores of workers from PM and KONTRA assembled at the Ninoy Aquino monument at the corner of Timog and Quezon Avenues at around 5:30 pm.
“The people power uprising of 1986 turns silver tomorrow but it shines no more. That is because the social deficit outweighs the political benefits of simple political turnover between factions of the elite, which is the main achievement of the post-EDSA dispensation,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.
PM and KONTRA members chanted their main call “Walang demokrasya at tunay na diwa ng EDSA hangga’t kontraktwal ang mga manggagawa.” KONTRA was formed to campaign against the proliferation of contractualization and the advocate for regular decent jobs.
Magtubo added that “The events in Tunisia, Egypt and that region are again showing that through unity in action people can assert their rights and win their freedoms. Is this not the spirit of EDSA? Unfortunately in the past 25 years it has been squandered because of the betrayal by the elite which hijacked the victory of people power.”
He furthered that “The post-EDSA regimes fell short of the people’s demands for social change. Since 1986 the poverty and destitution of the masses have continued and unemployment and desperation haunts the workers. The epidemic of contractualization and its ravages on the livelihood of workers is an indictment of EDSA 1.”
Magtubo called on the workers to lead the people’s struggle for system change. “Instead of the elite, the workers should take leadership and via labor power make sure that social demands are in the forefront of the next uprising in our country,” he asserted.
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