The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called
on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello for action on the continued killings of
labor leaders a day after the fatal shooting of a union organizer in Cavite during
a meeting of workers.
“We demand action from Secretary Bello
to stop the series of extra-judicial killings of labor activists and trade
unionists. As Labor Secretary, he must raise a voice against these killings.
And we ask him to immediately convene the National Tripartite Monitoring Body (NTMB)
which has the mandate to probe labor-related EJK’s,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM
national chair.
The labor coalition Nagkaisa has
likewise called on the Department of Labor and Employment for urgent response
on the death of Sequena. The NTMB was formed in response to the recommendation
of the International Labor Organization High Level Mission (ILO HLM) in 2009 to
investigate violations of the freedom of association and killings of trade
unionists.
“The shooting of Dennis while he was
conducting a labor rights seminar is a particular blatant act of violence
against workers exercising their freedom of association. This should not be
happening 10 years after the ILO HLM,” Magtubo insisted.
Sequena is a National Council member of
PM and vice chair of its provincial chapter in Cavite. He is the second PM
labor activist killed since 2016. Orlando Abangan, PM-Cebu leader and informal
worker organizer of the labor center Sentro, was shot and killed in September
2016.
Earlier, Victoriano Embang, president of
the sugar workers association of Hacienda Maria Cecilia, Isabela in Negros Occidental
was shot and killed in December 2012. Rolando Pango, a farm worker leader in
Binalbagan, Negros Occidental was ambushed in November 2014. Both Embang and
Pango were PM leaders involved in helping workers embroiled in labor and
agrarian disputes.
The International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC) named the Philippines as one among the worst countries in
2018 for trade unionists due to systematic violations of labor rights and the
continued killings of worker leaders.
June 3, 2019
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