Labor group to government: Is cruelty becoming a new normal?

The rise in the number of cases involving cruel treatment by security forces against violators of quarantine protocols has alarmed the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) which sees this pattern as tolerated impunity that is becoming a new normal.

“Can’t our security forces in dreadful military uniforms act humanely before their fellow humans? Have they been instructed to apply brute force against anyone they perceive to be pasaway? There must be a new culture for a new normal being created here for these inhumane actions to be tolerated,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

The labor group reminded the government that human rights and labor rights guaranteed by the Constitution have never been demolished by President Duterte’s emergency powers under the Bayanihan Act.

According to police reports, there are more than a hundred thousand ECQ violators who have been apprehended or arrested since the lockdown has been imposed.  The most recent among them were the Makati (Parras) and Quezon City (Ragos and a fish vendor) incidents that have gone viral in the social media. There was also a PUP student leader among them, Rexlon Aumentado, who was illegally detained for 3 days.

The group also cited the police dispersal of a workers’ picketline in Cavite during Black Friday night. Dasmarinas police who refused to give their names threatened two strikers—at the Sejung Apparel Inc. factory in the First Cavite Industrial Estate—with arrest for allegedly violating the quarantine rules. “Labor rights are not suspended during the ECQ and this incident breaks all the rules of engagement, especially the guidelines on the conduct of security personnel during labor disputes,” Magtubo insisted.

PM is concerned that had there been no anonymous people posting their videos of those incidents, these human rights violations in thousands of unreported circumstances will just go unnoticed and perpetrators go unpunished.

“Bakit ba naging habit na ang pananakit? Bakit ba mayroon nang nalikhang malaki at maliit, malupit at mahina dito sa paglaban sa Covid-19,” lamented Magtubo.

“Makataong Tugon Hindi Militarisasyon” is one of PM’s “Apat na Dapat” Labor Day demands. The other demands include “Ayudang Sapat Para sa Lahat”, “Balik Trabahong Ligtas”, and “Ayudang Lagpas sa Panahon ng Lockdown.”

The group is with Nagkaisa! labor coalition which, together with Kilusang Mayo Uno, will be holding home and community protest online on Labor Day.

#MakataongTugonHindiMilitarisasyon

#MayDay2020

29 April 2020

Workers ask factory to be reopened to make facemasks

In reaction to the statement of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez yesterday that several companies are repurposing their facilities to produce personal protective equipment (PPE), workers of a garments firm that has been shuttered for the past four months are asking the government to reopen the factory to produce facemasks. In yesterday’s address by President Rodrigo Duterte, Lopez announced that at least 10 manufacturing companies agreed to repurpose and produce PPE’s, face masks and ventilators.

“We call on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to facilitate a social dialogue for the reopening of Sejung Apparel so it can produce wearable facemasks and also put hundreds of workers back to gainful employment,” Jopay Odchimar, president of the labor union of Sejung workers.

Sejung Apparel Inc., a Korean-owned firm in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas, shutdown in December last year. Last April 10, officials of the FCIE padlocked the factory gates.

“Reopening the factory will put 315 employees back to work to make PPE’s that are desperately needed at this time. We want to help others even as we lift ourselves by our own efforts. The government should not think twice about our appeal to reopen the factory and retool it for making washable facemasks,” Odchimar explained.

The DOLE has rejected the application for assistance to Sejung workers since the factory closure was not due to the covid quarantine. Ironically, the Sejung workers are also not qualified for the social amelioration for informal workers since they are technically still employed by the company.

Sejung workers have been embroiled in a long-running dispute since last year. The labor dispute is due to non-payment of 13^th month pay, last salary and union busting.

Sejung declared temporary shutdowns several times. The first shutdown in October last year occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won a certification election. The company reopened but once more closed in December 12 and has remained shutdown since then.

“For more than four months, the DOLE provincial and regional offices did not act on a clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection in December 19. The case has dragged on for so long that the covid pandemic and the resulting quarantine further aggravated the sufferings of workers,” Odchimar explained.

April 25, 2020

Contact Jopay Odchimar @ 09755769603

ECQ extension should mean extended and expanded aid

Because ECQ has been extended, it follows that government aid must not only be extended but also expanded to cover all in millions who are left behind by CAMP and SAC due to its non-universal approach and bureaucratic gridlock. The amount should also be raised approximating the level of minimum wage, or P10K whichever is higher.

The extension should also be utilized in preparing the best protocols for workers' safe and protected return to work, including enhanced capacity for conducting the most effective method of mass testing and industry compliance to OHS law and other labor standards.

As to financial difficulty facing the our covid-19 response, we call on the government to consider imposing higher taxes on private wealth of big businesses and richest families.

24 April 2020

Mass testing gamit ang RT-PCR, full coverage ng Philhealth sa kaso ng Covid-19

Mamamatay ang ekonomiya kapag hindi nakabalik sa trabaho ang mga manggagawa. Pero kapag mahawa ng Covid-19 ang maraming manggagawa, mahahawa ang buong bansa.

Kung nais ng pamahalaan na unti-unti nang luwagan ang ECQ, bumalik sa trabaho na ligtas ang mga manggagawa, muling umandar ang ekonomiya at manatiling ligtas ang buong bansa sa Covid-19, ang kailangan ay mabisang paraan ng mass testing, hindi ang mabilisan ngunit walang katiyakan na rapid antibody test.

At para mabigyan ng dagdag na kumpyansa ang mga manggagawa na bumalik sa trabaho sa kabila ng panganib, kailangan silang bigyan ng kasiguruhan na sakaling maging biktima ng Covid-19 ay sasagutin ng Philhealth ang full coverage ng kanilang pagpapagamot at pagpapagaling. Ibig sabihin, dapat baguhin ng Philhealth ang patakaran nang bumalik ito sa case rate sa kaso ng Covid-19.

Mahigpit naming sinusubaybayan hindi lamang ang mga ayudang ipinangako para sa kabuhayan ng manggagawa kundi maging ang mga hakbang medikal sa bansa at sa buong mundo upang epektibong malabanan ang virus.

Kung kayat kami ay nabahala sa naging pahayag ng Pangulo kamakailan, kasama ang kinatawan ng mga negosyante na si Joey Concepcion, na magpapatupad ng malawakang rapid antibody test sa lebel ng mga pagawaan bilang kondisyon sa pagbabalik sa trabaho ng mga manggagawa.

Mahigit apatnapung milyon (40M) na manggagawa ang babalik sa paghahanapbuhay sa ibat-ibang paraan sakaling alisin na ang lockdown. Sa kanilang ligtas na pagbabalik-trabaho nakasalalay hindi lamang ang ating ekonomiya kundi ang kaligtasan ng ating bansa.

Ito ang dahilan kung bakit tinutulan namin ang paggamit sa rapid antibody test dahil mismong ang World Health Organization (WHO), mga scientist at medical experts ay hindi rekomendado ang paraan na ito kumpara sa Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction Test (RT-PCR) na subok na sa buong mundo. Ang ating DOH mismo ay naglabas ng guidelines laban dito, kasama ang infographic na nagpapaliwanag sa kaibahan ng dalawa.  At kahit ang Food and Drug Administration na nagpahintulot sa paggamit ng limang brand ng rapid test na ito ay nagsabi na kailangan pa rin ang PCR-based confirmatory test matapos nito.

Samakatwid, ang mataas na rate ng false negatives na inaasahan ng mga eksperto mula sa rapid antibody test ay hindi lamang magsasayang ng oras at rekurso sa paraan na ito kundi magbibigay pa ito ng maling kumpyansa at magbabaliwala sa kaligtasan ng manggagawa pagkatapos ng lockdown.

Bilang alternatibo, ang dapat mas bilisan at palawakin ng pamahalaan ay ang mass testing gamit ang RT-PCR. At magiging realidad lamang ito kung sa lebel ng mga LGU ito palalawakin katulad ng inisyatiba ng lungsod ng Marikina. Ang ganitong hakbang ang dapat suportahan ng pondo ng national government at ng mayayamang may-ari ng mga industriya at negosyo, hindi ang ekspiremento ng rapid antibody test na malamang ay maghatid pa sa atin sa kapahamakan.

Habang papalapit ang Araw ng Paggawa, patuloy na nagpapahayag ng paninindigan at mga kahilingan ang Partido Manggagawa (PM) sa pamahalaan para sa kapakanan ng uring manggagawa, kasama ang iba pang mga samahan ng paggawa sa buong bansa.

Sa partikular, itinutulak ng PM ang tatlong kahilingan. Ang mga ito ay: (1) Ayudang Sapat Para sa Lahat; (2) Extensyon ng ayuda lagpas sa panahon ng lockdown at ligtas na pagbabalik s trabaho ng mga manggagawa; at, (3) Mas makataong tugon sa krisis, hindi militarisasyon.

18 March 2020

Labor coalition to gov’t: Get the numbers and system right before rolling out new cash aid program

Photo from PNA

If government can’t get the numbers and system right, cash aid program can only go unequal. 

It is unfortunate to see the actual picture on the ground, but numbers of lockdown affected workers in the formal sector reportedf earlier by the labor department are not they really are. It is only 1.4M workers before today’s termination of the CAMP program and the introduction of a new program called wage subsidy for ‘middle income workers’.

While the P51B program is a welcome relief to about 3.4 million ‘middle income workers’, the question remains as to what will happen to the millions of poorer workers in the formal sector who were left behind in the CAMP program?  We believe that unless this gap in numbers is resolved, the new wage subsidy program will suffer the same inequality encountered in CAMP.

Adding the 1.4M CAMP beneficiaries (assuming all the stranded beneficiaries get the aid) to the targeted 3.4M wage subsidy beneficiaries will only get us to 4.8M total beneficiaries in the formal sector workers.  Again, what will happen to the remaining workers in the formal sector who were left behind by these two programs yet were also affected in varying degrees by the lockdown?

The latest figure from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as cited by Partido Manggagawa (PM) in its earlier statement, 65% of the 42M employed persons in January 2020 are wage and salary workers. This is equivalent to 28M workers. In short, after subtracting the 4.8M actual beneficiaries, there remain 23M workers that can be considered as ‘stranded beneficiaries’ of CAMP and the wage subsidy program.

In a study presented by Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, an economist by profession, in introducing her P370B stimulus package bill, there are about 9M workers who are “unaffected” by the lockdown as they continue receiving their salaries such as government workers, workers in ECQ essential services, and those who work in private households.

Clearly, even if we subtract the 9M ‘unaffected’ workers from the remaining 23M, a significant number of 14M workers (74%) in the formal sector will be left behind. It also shows that only a fourth of workers in the formal sector are going to benefit from CAMP and the wage subsidy program.  We therefore demand that all CAMP applicants who were not provided support by DOLE be automatically accommodated by the DOF program.

On the other side of the coin are the 16M workers in the informal sector whose lives have only gone from bad to worse during this period.

We keep on raising this issue because we believe that unless a universal approach is utilized in providing cash aid to differentiated beneficiaries under CAMP or SAP, the majority will continue to suffer the blows of poverty and inequality during and even after the lockdown. 

Rather than continue its targeted approach which creates bottleneck and social divide, NAGKAISA! is reiterating its call for income guarantees for all those affected workers.

NAGKAISA! Labor Coalition
16 April 2020

P50B subsidy for SME workers is too little, too complicated

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the P50 billion subsidy for workers in the SME sector is “too little, too complicated.” Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, proposed instead a P10,000 wage subsidy to all wage and salaried workers.

He added that “The wage subsidy to SME workers suffers from the same problems as the social amelioration program (SAP) and covid-19 adjustment measures program (CAMP)—the amount of aid are not enough and all are difficult to implement since targeted and discriminatory.”

“A universal basic income for all Filipinos in needed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. This is the spirit behind the P10K subsidy for all formal workers,” Magtubo explained.

He insisted that “The labor coalition Nagkaisa and the rest of the labor movement is not alone in asking for this reasonable demand. The Pope Francis in his Easter message called on governments for this. Even solons such as Rep. Joey Salceda has elaborated on the need for a universal system since targeted delivery of aid suffers from implementation issues which we have all seen.”

PM pointed out to the fact that one month into the community quarantine in Metro Manila and Luzon, a lot workers that temporarily loss their jobs are still without aid from the government or their employers.

“Even the DOLE admits that not all employers have applied for CAMP since some are afraid of being cited for labor standards violations that will be exposed in their payroll. Of those that have applied, large companies are pending since SME’s are the priority. As for SAP, we all know that LGU’s are complaining that the quota given by the national government falls short of the number of poor beneficiaries. Universal not targeted aid. Ayudang sapat para sa lahat. Kailangan pa bang i-memorize ito,” Magtubo explained.

April 15, 2020

PM to DOLE: Is number of affected workers downplayed to justify big gap in distribution of cash aid?

Is it true that only 3.57 per cent of 28 million workers employed in the formal sector were affected by the lockdown? The labor group Partido Manggawa (PM) cannot believe so.

“The problem can be poor or incomplete reporting or a more scheming form of it – an arbitrary downgrading to justify the huge gap in the distribution of cash aid,” stated PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday, said that based on reports submitted by its regional offices, there are 1,048,649 workers in the formal sector nationwide who were affected by temporary business closures or flexible work arrangements. Most of the affected workers, it said, came from the manufacturing, hotel, restaurants and tourism, and education sectors.

But according to PM, the number merely represents a small fraction of the wage and salaried workers in the country and therefore can be interpreted as ‘insignificant’ as far as the lockdown impact is concerned.

The group pointed out that as of January this year, 65.2% of employed persons are wage and salary workers. This is equivalent to 28 million workers in the formal sector out of the 42.6 million employed persons throughout the country.

“One million is just 3.57% of the 28 million wage workers. That means more than 90% of our workers in the formal sector are not yet affected by the one month lockdown,” said Magtubo.

To be not affected, workers are either working continuously, at home but receiving wages from their employers, or in quarantine but with guaranteed income.

“Obviously that is not what we’re seeing at the ground level as most of our workers, except state employees and those in few large corporations who are still under payroll, are employed in unprotected and less monitored micro enterprises,” said Magtubo.

The labor leader said he can only suspect that numbers are being downplayed here to justify a small number of target beneficiaries to be covered by its cash aid program.

DOLE is rolling out a P5,000 cash assistance to affected workers in the formal sector under its Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP). The same amount goes for the informal sector under its temporary cash-for-work program called Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Displaced/Underprivileged Workers (TUPAD).

Partido Manggagawa, together with labor umbrella Nagkaisa!, is pushing for #AyudangSapatParaSaLahat demand. It also calls for the extension of government subsidies beyond the lockdown period as well as a more humanitarian rather than militaristic approach in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.

13 April 2020

Workers ask gov’t to reopen factory to make facemasks

Sejung factory gate is padlocked on April 10, 2020

Workers of a garments firm that has been shuttered for the past four months are asking the government to reopen the factory to produce facemasks. Sejung Apparel Inc., a Korean-owned firm in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas, was shutdown in December last year.

“The Bayanihan Act gave the government the power to direct the operations of a company to respond to the covid pandemic. Thus we demand that 315 Sejung employees be put back to working to make PPE’s that are desperately needed at this time,” stated Jopay Odchimar, president of the labor union of Sejung workers.

She added that “We want to help others even as we lift ourselves by our own efforts. The government should not think twice about our appeal to reopen the factory and retool it for making washable facemasks.”

Last April 10, officials of the FCIE padlocked the factory gates.

The DOLE has rejected the application for assistance to Sejung workers since the factory shutdown was not due to the covid quarantine. Ironically, the Sejung workers are also not qualified for the social amelioration for informal workers since they are technically still employed by the company.

Sejung workers have been embroiled in a long-running dispute since last year. The labor dispute is due to non-payment of 13^th month pay, last salary and union busting.

Sejung declared temporary shutdowns several times. The first shutdown in October last year occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won a certification election. The company reopened but once more closed in December 12 and has remained shutdown since then.

“For more than four months, the DOLE provincial and regional offices did not act on a clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection in December 19. The case has dragged on for so long that the covid pandemic and the resulting quarantine further aggravated the sufferings of workers,” Odchimar explained.

April 13, 2020

Police disperse picketline using lockdown as alibi

A picketline of economic zone workers in Dasmarinas, Cavite was dispersed last night using the lockdown as an alibi. From 8:00 to 9:00 pm last night, two Dasmarinas police backed up with scores of tanods of Barangay Langkaan 1 and 2 and security guards threatened two workers in the picketline, Jackie Elorde and Amer Taluba, with arrest if they will not leave the picketline. Workers of Korean-owned Sejung Apparel Inc. in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) have been on picket-protest since December for non-payment of 13^th month pay and other violations.

“We condemn the forcible dispersal of the picketline of Sejung workers in the dead of Black Friday night by modern Roman centurions—police, barangay tanods and security guards—in blatant violation of the law,” asserted Jopay Odchimar, president of the labor union of Sejung workers.

She asserted that the DOLE-PNP-PEZA Guidelines of 2011 and the expanded version of 2012 which specifically includes barangay tanods prohibit interference by any security personnel in labor disputes. “The guidelines and labor rights are not revoked or suspended just because a quarantine is in effect,” Odchimar insisted.

She added that “The dispersal is the culmination of a three-week long attempt by FCIE to harass and starve Jackie and Amer into submission. Since March 27, all attempts to bring food and water to Jackie and Amer were stopped by security guards allegedly upon orders of FCIE estate manager Raffy Malanyaon. Guards maintained a 24/7 cordon sanitaire around the picketline in violation of the guidelines which mandate that police, military and guards should be 50 meters away and not interfere in peaceful picketing.”

“For more than four months, the Department of Labor and Employment provincial and regional offices did not act on a clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection. The case has dragged on for so long that the covid pandemic and the resulting quarantine further aggravated the sufferings of workers,” Odchimar explained.

The labor dispute is due to non-payment of 13^th month pay, last salary and union busting. Sejung declared temporary shutdowns several times. The first shutdown in October last year occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won a certification election. The company reopened but once more closed in December and has remained shutdown since then.

April 11, 2020

Group condemns dispersal of picketline using lockdown as alibi

 The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the dispersal of a picketline of economic zone workers in Dasmarinas, Cavite last night. From 8:00 to 9:00 pm last night, two Dasmarinas police backed up with scores of tanods of Barangay Langkaan 1 and 2 and security guards threatened two workers in the picketline, Jackie Elorde and Amer Taluba, with arrest if they will not leave the picketline. Workers of Korean-owned Sejung Apparel Inc. in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) have been on picket-protest since December for non-payment of 13^th month pay and other violations.

“We condemn the forcible dispersal of the picketline of Sejung workers in the dead of Black Friday night by modern Roman centurions—police, barangay tanods and security guards—in blatant violation of the law,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He asserted that the DOLE-PNP-PEZA Guidelines of 2011 and the expanded version of 2012 which specifically includes barangay tanods prohibit interference by any security personnel in labor disputes. “The guidelines and labor rights are not revoked or suspended just because a quarantine is in effect,” Magtubo insisted.

He added that “The dispersal is the culmination of a three-week long attempt by FCIE to harass and starve Jackie and Amer into submission. Since March 27, all attempts to bring food and water to Jackie and Amer were stopped by security guards allegedly upon orders of FCIE estate manager Raffy Malanyaon. Guards maintained a 24/7 cordon sanitaire around the picketline in violation of the guidelines which mandate that police, military and guards should be 50 meters away and not interfere in peaceful picketing.”

“For more than four months, the Department of Labor and Employment provincial and regional offices did not act on a clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection. The case has dragged on for so long that the covid pandemic and the resulting quarantine further aggravated the sufferings of the workers,” Magtubo explained.

The labor dispute is due to non-payment of 13^th month pay, last salary and union busting. Sejung declared temporary shutdowns several times. The first shutdown in October last year occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won a certification election. The company reopened but once more closed in December and has remained shutdown since then.

April 11, 2020

Strikers being starved using covid lockdown as cover

Workers of garments factory Sejung Apparel Inc. have been on picket-protest since December. In recognition of the need to maintain social distancing, the number of people at the picketline was reduced by the union. From March 27 until today, all attempts to bring food and water to Jackie Elorde and Amer Taluba, the two workers at the picketline, have been stopped by security guards.

Sejung Apparel is a Korean-owned garments factory at the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas, Cavite (part of the industrial region just outside the capital Metro Manila). Guards have maintained a 24/7 cordon sanitaire around the picketline in violation of the 2011 Guidelines on the Conduct of Security Personnel During Labor Disputes which mandate that police, military and guards should be 50 meters away and not interfere in peaceful picketing. It appears that FCIE wants to starve Jackie and Amer into submission so as to dismantle the picketline.

On the morning of March 27, the union president Jopay Odchimar was prevented by FCIE guards from returning to the picketline to bring food. The guards said that this was upon the orders of FCIE estate manager Raffy Malanyaon and alleged due to the covid quarantine. However, workers continued to go in and out of the FCIE that day as the export processing zone was not shuttered.

After a standoff from morning to afternoon, the union president agreed not to proceed to prevent further argument. That night, FCIE guards stopped water from being given by friends from nearby factories allegedly upon the orders of the estate manager.

This is a clear case of harassment by the FCIE estate manager under the cover of the covid lockdown. Freedom of association and labor rights—including the guidelines on the conduct of security personnel—have not been revoked or suspended just because a quarantine is in effect. From a labor dispute the case has morphed into humanitarian issue.

The labor dispute is due to union busting and also non-payment of 13^th month pay and last salary. For more than four months, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) provincial and regional office has not acted on the clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection. The case has dragged on for so long that the covid pandemic and the resulting quarantine has further aggravated the sufferings of the workers.

Sejung Apparel has declared temporary shutdown for three times since October. The first shutdown occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won the certification election. Again, the circumstances point to union busting by management. But action by the DOLE has been lacking to protect freedom of association at the export processing zones.

We call on the DOLE to act immediately to bring food and water to Jackie and Amer. Further, we call on FCIE to stop the harassment of the Sejung workers and respect the right to peaceful picketing. ###

April 8, 2020

May pondo para sa ayudang sapat para sa lahat, Mr. President – labor group

There is money that can accommodate ‘Ayudang Sapat Para Sa Lahat’, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) insists in reaction to President Rodrigo Duterte’s public address Monday night. 

“Hindi ko alam kung saan ako kukuha ng pera. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang ipagbili na kung may magbibili,” Duterte told the nation in a televised address. 

But for Partido Manggagawa, the image of being penniless, if that is what the President would like to impress upon our people, should not be taken lightly as it can be used to justify delays and inequity in dispensing cash aid, or even bankruptcy during this period of emergency. 

”Siya (Duterte) nga ang nagsabi noong una na may pera tayo. Siya ang pumirma para maging batas ang P4.1 trilyon 2020 budget. At siya rin ang humingi ng emergency power sa Kongreso para sa magalaw ang badyet na ito.  Ibig sabihin, hindi kawalan ng pondo kundi tama at mabilis na paggamit nito ang usapin ngayon,” stated PM Chair Renato Magtubo. 

The group maintained that the 2020 budget can even accommodate a more universal rather than targeted system of dispensing cash aid as the allotted P200B for social amelioration cards (SAC) is but a little fraction (4.87%) of the P4.1 trillion budget. 

“Kung maitatama lamang ang paggamit sa 2020 budget ay kayang punuan maging ang ekstensyon ng subsidy lagpas sa panahon ng lockdown para naman sa recovery ng mga tao at ng buong ekonomiya,” said Magtubo. 

The group argued further that except for automatic items in the budget that cannot be realigned such as personal services, retirement benefits, internal allotment for LGUs and other essential projects, the bigger part of the budget should be re-worked or overhauled in favor of Covid-19 healing and recovery programs. 

“BBB projects and those funded by pork barrels are better discontinued and shifted toward the most pressing needs at this point in time and beyond, while debt servicing can take a back seat until the country and whole world recover,” said Magtubo. 

Partido Manggagawa is with Nagkaisa! labor coalition in pressing for the universalization of dispensing social subsidy. The coalition has earlier called for P10,000 quarantine subsidy.

07 April 2020