President Duterte’s signing
of the anti-terror law and his veto of the anti-endo bill reveals that he is
undeniably an enemy of labor rights. The contrast is remarkable. Duterte made a
promise to abolish endo only to drag his feet and at the crucial juncture shoot
down the bill that will limit contractualization. Now, labor activists fighting
for regular jobs and workers’ rights are threatened by the vague provisions of
the anti-terror law.
Even without an anti-terror
law, labor rights are already under attack by the agents of the State. In the
middle of the lockdown, at the height of Black Friday last April 10, elements
of the Dasmarinas police threatened to arrest two workers manning the picketline
in the First Cavite Industrial Estate if they don’t abandon the protest. In
January this year, the PNP and the Philippine Export Zone Authority launched the
Joint Industrial Peace and Concern Office (JIPCO) in Central Luzon to prevent
militant unionism in the export zones. Two years ago, photos of three women
union leaders were posted under the heading “wanted” at the gate of the Mactan
Economic Zone in Cebu.
All these flagrant violations
of labor rights by agents of the State will be enabled by the restriction of
civil liberties under the draconian provisions of the anti-terror law. Thus workers
have a stake in resisting and defying the slide to authoritarianism.
Workers will fight back and
push back against the restriction of civil liberties and suppression of labor
rights. Last June 30, workers held a global day of action against the
anti-terror bill. On July 7, workers will join others sectors in a bigger
action to protest the authoritarianism.
July 4, 2020
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