Labor groups to Senate: Defer passage of NEA Reform Bill

NAGKAISA!

PRESS RELEASE

30 January 2013

  

With barely 4 session-days left, workers belonging to labor coalition Nagakaisa! trooped to the Senate this afternoon to urge feuding senators to defer passage of Senate Bill 3389 or the National Electrification Reform Bill authored by Sen. Serge Osmena on grounds that the proposed “step-in rights” to be granted to NEA is anti-democratic and anti-labor. 

Nagkaisa! members like the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines have organized unions in the country’s 119 electric cooperatives.

Josua Mata, one of Nagkaisa! convenors and the secretary general of APL denounced the Senate Bill as a Draconian measure as it grants NEA martial law powers to take over ailing ECs, replace the general manager, the entire board and even employees, appoint third persons in the board or a management team, and convert cooperatives into stock corporations.

This measure, he said, usurped the powers of the General Assembly – the highest policy-making body of the coop to decide on what options to take to make their utilities financially-viable and democratically-managed.

Louie Corral of TUCP said a close reading of the measure shows that it seeks to clothe the NEA with the same draconian powers, which for the past thirty years it has exercised over the country’s electric cooperatives. 

Section 4-B of SB 3389 states that the NEA shall have immediately step-in and take over from its Board the operations of any ailing electric cooperative, within a reasonable period after take-over, the NEA may convert the ailing cooperative to either a stock cooperative registered with the CDA or a stock corporation registered with the SEC. 

“This is privatization in the guise of reform,” said Mata, adding that with 90 percent of generation already privatized under EPIRA, big private powers now set their eyes on 9 million households connected with electric cooperatives.   Meralco has 5.5 million customer-base. 

PM chair Renato Magtubo echoed the same as the both the House and Senate versions aim at making electric cooperatives EPIRA-compliant. “Reform NEA is nothing but a privatization agenda of Osmena in the coops as explicitly provided under his bill,” said Magtubo. Osmena was also the author of EPIRA which for the past 10 years resulted to escalating rates and diminishing supply. ###

SC urged to resolve party-list row before ballots are printed

Press Release

PM COALITION

January 29, 2013

The newly formed workers party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa Coalition (PM Coalition) held a rally today to urge the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve the party-list disqualification row before the official ballots are printed. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reiterated yesterday that ballots will be printed starting next Monday, February 4.

“It is in the interest of all parties, not just the party-list groups and the Comelec but most especially the voters, that the dispute over Comelec’s disqualification of party-list groups be settled with dispatch,” asserted Bong Palad, the group’s president and also secretary of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA).

In its en banc session last week, the SC gave due course to a motion from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for partial reconsideration asking to be given until last Friday to file a consolidated comment on behalf of the Comelec. Earlier on January 8, the SC did not act on PM Coalition’s petition for a temporary restraining order on the raffle of party-list names and printing of ballots and instead asked the Comelec to comment on a non-extendible deadline of five days.

PM Coalition has been staging weekly rallies at the SC as part of its “Party List Watch” to push for its petition asking the high court to overturn the Comelec’s disqualification. Today the rallyists brought a makeshift eye made of cardboard to symbolize the “Party List Watch.”

 “We call on the high court to finish the job of cleansing of the party-list system by affirming the disqualification of BOPALs or bogus party-lists but also correcting the mistakes of the Comelec such as not accrediting a legitimate workers group like PM Coalition based on a technicality. Comelec’s disqualification of PM Coalition is in contrast with its highly questionable accreditation of some BOPALs that seem to have a much lobby power,” averred Palad.

The Comelec's Second Division dismissed PM Coalition on the ground that it failed to comply with the requirements for registration as a “sectoral coalition.” But Palad insisted that even under Comelec Resolution No. 9366 – Rules on filing of petitions for registration – requirements under Section 6. Petition for Registration, Contents states that petitioner is only required to submit names, addresses, and representatives of sectoral parties or organizations affiliated with the petitioner, which affiliates need not be registered with the Commission, but have given their consent thereto. ###

“Party List Watch” continues at SC en banc session tomorrow

Media Advisory

PM COALITION

January 28, 2013

Contact Bong Palad @ 09165740596

“Party List Watch” continues at SC en banc session

WHAT:  Rally at Supreme Court en banc session

WHEN: Tomorrow, January 29, 10:00 am

WHERE: Supreme Court, Taft Ave. cor. Faura St.

DETAILS: The newly formed workers party-list group PM COALITION will hold another a rally at the Supreme Court (SC) as part of its “Party List Watch” and to press for a decision on its pending party-list motion for accreditation.

The group is urging the SC to resolve the party-list disqualification row “with dispatch” and expects a decision on the party list row in the en banc session tomorrow.

In its last en banc session, the SC gave due course to the Solicitor General’s motion for partial reconsideration asking to be given until last Friday to file a consolidated comment on behalf of the Comelec. Meanwhile the Comelec postponed the printing of ballots to February 4 which effectively meant that it will wait for a high court ruling on the party-list row.

Workers urge SC to resolve party-list row as OSG given extension

Press Release

PM COALITION

January 24, 2013

The newly formed workers party-list group Partido ng Mangggawa Coalition (PM Coalition) urged the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve the party-list disqualification row “with dispatch” as the high court gave due course to a motion from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to file a comment.

Last Tuesday, PM Coalition held a rally at SC to push for its petition asking the high court to overturn the Comelec’s disqualification. The SC however tabled the OSG’s motion for partial reconsideration asking to be given until tomorrow to file a consolidated comment on behalf of the Comelec. In an en banc session last January 8, the SC did not act on PM Coalition’s petition for a temporary restraining order on the raffle of party-list names and printing of ballots but asked the Comelec to comment on a non-extendible deadline of five days.

“It is in the interest of all parties, not just the party-list groups and the Comelec, but the voters especially that the dispute over Comelec’s disqualification of party-list groups be settled by the next SC en banc session on January 29,” asserted Bong Palad, the group’s president and also secretary of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA).

PM Coalition welcomed the Comelec’s postponement of the printing of ballots to February 4 which effectively meant that it will wait for a high court ruling on the party-list issue. Comelec earlier said that its timetable precluded such a delay.

“We call on the high court to finish the job of cleansing of the party-list system by affirming the disqualification of BOPALs or bogus party-lists but also correcting the mistakes of the Comelec such as not accrediting a legitimate workers group like PM Coalition based on a technicality. Comelec’s disqualification of PM Coalition is in contrast with its highly questionable accreditation of some BOPALs that seem to have a much lobby power,” averred Palad.

The PM Coalition rallyists from affiliates PALEA, Samahan ng Manggagawa ng Paranaque and Zone One Tondo Organization bannered the call “Manggagawa Naman!” in its picket to express its advocacy for representation of workers in Congress and for labor issues to be put in the forefront of the national agenda.

The Comelec's Second Division dismissed PM Coalition on the ground that it failed to comply with the requirements for registration as a “sectoral coalition.” But Palad insisted that even under Comelec Resolution No. 9366 – Rules on filing of petitions for registration – requirements under Section 6. Petition for Registration, Contents states that petitioner is only required to submit names, addresses, and representatives of sectoral parties or organizations affiliated with the petitioner, which affiliates need not be registered with the Commission, but have given their consent thereto.

Workers group ask Supreme Court to rule on party-list petitions

Press Release

PM COALITION

January 22, 2013

Workers group asks Supreme Court to rule on party-list petitions

The newly formed workers party-list group PM Coalition held a rally at the Supreme Court today to appeal for a decision on pending party-list motions for accreditation. In particular PM Coalition is pushing for its petition asking the high court to overturn the Comelec’s disqualification.

Meanwhile the group welcomed the Comelec’s postponement of the printing of ballots to February 4 which effectively meant that it will wait for a high court ruling on the party-list issue. Comelec earlier said that its timetable precluded such a delay.

“We call on the Supreme Court to finish the job of cleansing of the party-list system by affirming the disqualification of BOPALs or bogus party-lists but also correcting the mistakes of the Comelec such as not accrediting a legitimate workers group like Partido ng Manggagawa Coalition (PM Coalition) based on a technicality. Comelec’s disqualification of PM Coalition is in contrast with its highly questionable accreditation of some BOPALs that seem to have a much lobby power,” averred Bong Palad, the group’s president and also secretary of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA).

In an en banc session last January 8, the Supreme Court did not act on PM Coalition’s petition for a temporary restraining order on the raffle of party-list names and printing of ballots but asked the Comelec to comment on a non-extendible deadline of five days. As per PM Coalition’s information, the Comelec has not submitted a comment.

The PM Coalition rallyists from affiliates PALEA, Samahan ng Manggagawa ng Paranaque and Zone One Tondo Organization bannered the call “Manggagawa Naman!” in the picket today to express its advocacy for representation of workers in Congress and for labor issues to be put in the forefront of the national agenda.

The Comelec's Second Division dismissed PM Coalition on the ground that it failed to comply with the requirements for registration as a “sectoral coalition.” The decision states: "A careful perusal of the petition clearly shows that PM Coalition fell short of the requirement to be accredited as a sectoral coalition. While petitioner has extensively submitted documentary evidence to support its petition, it failed to consider a material requisite to seek registration as a coalition, that is, that its member organizations should be duly registered parties with this Commission."

Palad said the poll body took no serious effort in considering the group’s motion for reconsideration which clarified the matter. He explained that even under Comelec Resolution No. 9366 – Rules on filing of petitions for registration – requirements under Section 6. Petition for Registration, Contents states that petitioner is only required to submit names, addresses, and representatives of sectoral parties or organizations affiliated with the petitioner, which affiliates need not be registered with the Commission, but have given their consent thereto.