Workers urge the nation to never forget ‘karahasan at kahirapan’ under martial law

Members of Partido of Manggagawa (PM) joined other human rights defenders under the umbrella of In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (IDefend) in urging the nation to never forget the atrocities committed under the martial law regime imposed by Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.

 

The call was made during a rally held last night at the People Power Monument in Quezon City on eve of the 51st anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law.

 

But more than the violence and atrocities that continue to persist even under the administration of the son, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., PM remembers the grueling poverty endured by Filipinos during that dark period, including the rice crisis and the debt problem.

 

"Hindi lang dahas ang mayroon sa ilalim ng diktadura ni Marcos, Sr. at sa administrasyon ni Marcos, Jr. ngayon. Pareho ding may krisis sa bigas sa kanilang panahon," said PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.

 

Miranda added that under the present administration, the cost-of-living crisis is deteriorating faster yet the first family and other top government officials are always seen just enjoying their grand display of wealth and power.

 

“Workers’ wages are eroded by high prices of food and other services, but the President and Vice President’s confidential funds were rising at exponential levels since 2022,” said Miranda.

 

She also lashed out at the way security forces today conduct themselves with impunity, citing as an example the two environmentalist youths who were kidnapped by the military in plain sight.

 

“With these illegal activities being tolerated by the higher ups in the chain of command, including the commander-in-chief, we all must be reminded that our human rights are seriously threatened under another Marcos and another Duterte, thus the need to fight back,” Miranda concluded.

21 September 2023

Kapatiran hits measly wage hike in Calabarzon, denounces price control on wages

Photo from Agence France Press

 

The Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa or Kapatiran on Friday said the P35-P50 wage increase for Calabarzon areas under Wage Order No. IVA-20 issued last September 1 failed to meet the principal demands for wage recovery and living wage of the wage petitioners in the region which amount ranges from P100 to P750 per day.

 

The increase, which takes effect on September 24, sets the new minimum wage in the region between P385 to P520 for the non-agricultural sector and from P385 to P479 for the agriculture sector.

 

“Kulang ang umentong ito ito kahit para sa isang kilong bigas sa isang araw at ni hindi makababawi sa nawala na at patuloy pang nawawalang halaga ng sahod ng manggagawa sa rehiyon. Sa kabila ng increase, ang tunay na halaga (real wage value) ng minimum wage ngayon sa Region 4-A ay P428.80 lamang,” said Kapatiran Chair Rey Almendras.

 

Almendras also criticized the numerous wage classifications in the region that make enforcement and compliance very complicated, notwithstanding the blanket exemption available for firms employing not more than 10.

 

“Para na ring bigas na may regular, well-milled, at premium na klasipikasyon ang sistema ng pasweldo sa bansa dahil kahit nasa iisang kalagayan lamang sa buhay ang mga manggagawa sa isang rehiyon ay magkakaiba ang halaga ng kanilang sweldo,” lamented Almendras.

 

Kapatiran argued that the wage hike in Calabarzon, and earlier the P40 in NCR, mirror the structural defects of the prevailing wage system in the country under RA 6727 where the financial health of employers is given more importance than the workers’ capacity to live and their right to a rising standard of living.

 

“Kung mayroon mang hindi makatwiran at mapang-abusong price control na ipinatutupad sa bansa noon pa man, hindi ito ang P41-P45 per kilo na ipinapataw ngayon sa presyo ng bigas kundi sa presyo at tamang pasweldo sa mga manggagawa,” bewailed Almendras, pointing to how the economic managers justifies the price caps on rice today but objecting to wage hikes because it would do more harm on the economy.

 

Kapatiran fears the NCR and Calabarzon wage orders will become the template for other regions, thus, the need to shift to battle for a legislated wage hike and reforms in the wage-setting mechanisms in the country.

 

Pending before Congress are the P150-P750 wage hike bills. Senators, including Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, vowed to pass the measure while the House of Representatives has yet to conduct hearings on the pending wage hike bills.

PRESS RELEASE

KAPATIRAN (Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa)

08 September 2023

Partido Manggagawa slams Duterte’s tete-a-tete as propaganda

The Duterte-Panelo “talk show” yesterday at Malacañan Palace did not address what workers and the poor desire to hear from the President: tangible solutions to the rising prices of rice and other basic commodities that have impacted negatively on income and the cost of living.

Worse, the President blamed workers strikes for lack of foreign investors. It is such a lame excuse. Investors invest in a country primarily because of profitability and political stability. Moreover, a strike—though a guaranteed workers’ right under the Constitution—is highly regulated by the government. Thus it will not be a major factor to affect the country’s stability and employers’ profitability. In most cases, a strike occurs because of employers’ unfair labor practices and the deprivation of workers’ just share in the fruits of their labor.

The “talk show” was primarily designed to strike back against Trillanes— laying the ground for the government to make the arrest after the Supreme Court referred the latter’s case to the Makati regional trial court. The address was not about arresting problems brought about by runaway inflation.

Moreover, the “talk show” tried to sow fear in the public’s mind based on an imagined destabilization plot against his government. The President by “selling hard” his theory of destabilization plot has exposed his real aim of “an authoritarian rule” in order to effectively govern the country.

We rate the “talk show” as “SPG”: striktong propaganda ng gobyerno. Indeed, as many media practitioners lament: an interview done to a government official by another government official is pure propaganda.

12 September 2018

Personal grudge nor personal ambition can’t justify term extension – labor group

PRESS RELEASE

14 August 2014

Seeking a prohibited term extension out of personal bitterness against the Supreme Court would be erroneous if not a fatal political move for the sitting President, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement. 

President Aquino the other day made it categorical that he is considering a second term via a constitutional amendment, purportedly to check on the powers of the Supreme Court which he claimed exercise restraint “more often” against the co-equal branches of the government.

The group likewise disclosed, based on reliable sources, that a broad movement aligned to the cause of extending the “tuwid na daan” will be launched soon to create an artificial clamor for continuing reforms and at the opportune moment PNoy will make a major announcement that he has listened to his “bosses” to finally seek a term extension.

This is the nth time PNoy vented his outburst against the Supreme Court after the latter declared his Disbursement Accelelartion Program (DAP) unconstitutional. 

But for PM, pushing a personal political agenda out of personal grudge against the justices won’t justify a still non apparent social objective of reforming the entire political system.  

“We, too, do not believe that the ‘Lords of Faura’ holds the paragon of righteousness in this country.  They are dressed in robes, as crook lawmakers are also clad in barongs, to cover their sins and partiality to the ruling class. Yet cleansing the whole system does not necessarily require having a second term. This is more the task of a revolutionary government, a power that his mother failed to exercise correctly in 1986,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

Magtubo said workers have always been victims of delayed justice and unjust court rulings.  And similarly the two other branches of government consciously take the side of the capitalist class. 

“This situation did not change under PNoy’s term.  For the past four years wala pang naitutuwid, wala pang naitatawid,” declared the group.

PM said workers have more bad things to say about the country’s rotten political and economic system.  But they will neither look at the term extension nor the plan to amend the Constitution based on personal desires of few persons and big corporations as a sound option,” said Magtubo.