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Labor feds unite, vow to hold biggest rally in decades

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Labor federations vowed to hold their biggest Labor Day protest on Tuesday after agreeing to jointly march against President Duterte’s failed promise to end contractualization.

In a press conference in Manila Friday, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said as many as 60,000 workers in Metro Manila and 150,000 all over the country will march as one on May 1.

“The growing frustration, disappointment and dissatisfaction of workers over President Rodrigo Duterte’s failure to fulfil a promise have only bonded workers,” KMU and Nagkaisa said.

Long rivals, the federations have formed an alliance after Duterte turned on his promise to end labor only contracting and issue an executive order ending the practice.

KMU and Nagkaisa said their joint May 1 protests are an “historic first.”

“This year’s commemoration of Labor Day will be different. It will be a national day of solidarity and action of leaders, members, allies and supporters of Nagkaisa and KMU and all citizens who have been frustrated over the injustices committed against workers and the Filipino people and government’s continued inaction and negligence,” Nagkaisa and KMU said in a joint statement.

“For two years, we participated in labor summits called for by ( the Department of Labor and Employment), dialogued with the President three times, drafted an Executive Order (EO) on contractualization, negotiated with him through five drafts—all to no avail,” KMU and Nagkaisa said.

The groups said they also intended to engage Congress on the issue but were stopped when informed by Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development chairperson Senator Joel Villanueva that Congress will act based on Malacañang’s ”signal”.

“Now that a directive by way of an EO that would declare direct hiring as the norm has been shelved, the Senate might just follow this lead,” the federations said.

“We are utterly frustrated. Despite our desire to continue sitting at the negotiating table and follow reason, the President has decided on retaining business-as-usual, by siding with local and foreign investors who have no respect for security of tenure,” the groups added.

“(Duterte) has agreed to the false ‘win-win solution’ of (the Department of Trade and Industry) that encourages manpower agency regularization and not direct hiring with the principal employers,” Nagkaisa and KMU said.

In an April 19 press briefing, DOLE secretary Silvestre Bello III said the President will no longer sign an EO but will instead certify as urgent a pending bill in Congress ending contractualization.

KMU earlier said legislators would only ensure such laws would be watered-down and mangled.

Nagkaisa and KMU said protesters will start marching from various points as early as six o’clock in the morning and will converge at Morayta Street at about 10 am before proceeding to Mendiola Tuesday. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

AGAW WEN Episode 3 – ENDO

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Panoorin ang ikatlong nakakamatay na episode ni Agaw Wen sa kaniyang pagtalakay sa infinite war ng milyun-milyong manggagawa laban sa Endo. Video ng Kilab Multimedia.

 

I-click ito para mapanood si ‘Gaw Wen

Health workers protest vs TRAIN law

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The Alliance of Health Workers held a protest action in front of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute last April 26 to protest the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

The protesters revealed that the so-called tax reform law has increased health care expenses for Filipinos and must be scrapped as anti-health and anti-people.

They also demanded a higher budget for health services.

Supporters hold rally at BI for Australian missionary

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Activists held a rally in front of the Bureau of Immgration in Manila last April 26, assailing the arrest and detention of Australian missionary Sr. Patricia Fox, NDS.

They called on immigration officials not to deport the nun, saying she has not violated her missionary visa in expressing solidarity with farmers and peasants.

The BI nonetheless ordered Fox’s deportation in line with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s wish to deport the missionary.

‘No plan, no heart’ in Boracay closure, envi group says

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Environmental activist group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) held a picket Tuesday at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) main office in Quezon City to protest the impending closure of Boracay island.

The group said the arbitrary six-month closure had no comprehensive scientific rehabilitation plan, but will displace thousands of workers in the process.

“Duterte’s Boracay closure order is like bar-drunk swagger that had no comprehensive, scientific basis and no heart for the 36,000 workers it will displace. His yes men are struggling to come up with rehab, security, and even completely illogical land reform plans, but these cannot justify the full closure of the island,” Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment national coordinator Leon Dulce said.

“With no comprehensive rehab plan whatsoever, we see Duterte’s closure order will benefit the only Boracay projects that have full plans and in full implementation, the Chinese-backed mega casinos,” Dulce added.

The environment group noted that the planned casino of Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment will be built on an inland forest area of Boracay and still has a provisional permit from the government in effect up to present.

“What kind of environmental rehab plan would allow the conversion of native tree forests into a mega casino? Despite the Department of Tourism’s claim the Galaxy casino is searching for a new location, locals report the company’s local partners recently continued to acquire land in Boracay. The DILG’s guidelines on the closure do not even include a moratorium for new construction projects which makes the closure order even more suspect,” Dulce said.

Part of the protest action at the DENR Tuesday. (Kalikasan PNE photo)

A Fact-Finding Solidarity Mission (FFSM) was conducted last week by environmental groups and people’s organizations to investigate the circumstances and effects of the impending closure of Boracay on the people.

The Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) was among the groups that joined the mission.

“Despite repeated requests by various organizations and even media outfits, President Duterte and the DENR has not yet divulged any plan or paper which details how exactly they are going to embark on rehabilitating the island, or as to why they arbitrarily chose six months as the supposed recovery period,” CEC researcher Lia Alonzo said.

“There was not even a public consultation held prior to Duterte’s verbal pronouncements on closing the island. Up to the present, there is still no order or legal basis for the closure,” she added.

Kim-Sin Tugna, of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) – Aklan, who was also part of the FFSM, reported that the deployment of 630 fully-armed police only sowed fear and terror among the populace.

“Despite the absence of a writ of eviction, which can only be issued by the courts, the DENR escorted by police forces have been asking residents to leave since their houses were said to be built on wetlands. The residents wondered why they were being evicted now when they have been paying taxes for the land they were occupying,” Tugna said.

“The intimidation of the police in fatigue uniforms and bearing high powered rifles caused fear and panic among the residents. During our public consultation, residents reported to that the police told them that they will ask for the deployment of soldiers and turn Boracay into a ‘new Marawi’ if the residents will resist,” Tugna added.

“Although the rehabilitation of the Boracay is indeed much needed, any move to help the islands heal should also not leave behind the livelihood concerns of the residents who have no other means to earn decent income in the first place,” Dulce said.

“But with a casino to be built on Boracay’s forest itself, the closure order only reveals that the Duterte regime’s environmental pronouncements are a sham. Moreover, we castigate the Duterte regime for enforcing its arbitrary closure order using draconic and dictatorial methods which only terrorize the people,” Dulce concluded.#

Thanks, but peace talks first, Sison tells Duterte

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for the latter’s offer for him to return to the country, but said such may be premature without substantial advancements to the peace talks.

“I thank President Duterte for his expressed wish for my soonest homecoming and for his assurances of hospitality and guarantees for my safety,” Sison said, adding he has long wished they could meet again and cooperate closely in enabling the peace process to advance from one item to another in the substantive agenda.

“I declare that I will certainly return home when a significant advance in the peace negotiations has been achieved within the framework of The Hague Joint Declaration and when my comrades and lawyers are satisfied with legal and security precautions,” Sison said.

Sison said that that if he return to the Philippines prematurely, he would expose not only himself but also the entire peace process to extremely high risks of violent sabotage and termination by spoilers who are out to terminate the peace process once and for all.

Over the weekend, Duterte again invited his former professor to return to the Philippines and possibly resume the peace negotiations in the country.

“I created a small window, 60 days. My proposal to Sison is that I no longer go to…We are talking about the Philippines here. So you come home,” Duterte said before motorcycle enthusiasts in Albay.

Duterte said Sison will be safe while in the Philippines.

“I will molest no one. I will order the military and the police to be nice to you,” he said.

Sison, however, said the important common task in the next few weeks is for the NDFP and Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiating panels is to prepare for the resumption of the peace negotiations by doing the following:

  1. Making a memorandum of agreement to respect existing agreements prior to Proclamation 360 (which terminated the peace process) and to remove the obstacles and hindrances to the participation of a significant number of NDFP negotiators, consultants and experts in the peace negotiations.
  2. Drafting the mutually satisfactory agreements on ceasefire and amnesty of the political prisoners as well as the parts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development and National Industrialization and Economic Development.
  3. Signing and approving the agreements well within the 60-day frame that President Duterte has set by way of resuming the peace negotiations.

Duterte terminated negotiations November last year and moved to have NDFP allied organizations, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army, proscribed as terrorist organizations.

Last Thursday, Duterte said he ordered the possible resumption of formal negotiations because he does not want GRP soldiers dying and in response to the NDFP’s desire to resume the peace talks.

Sison said he is confident that the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels, consultants and drafting teams will be able to produce in the next few weeks the documents necessary for resuming the peace negotiations and making the peace process strong and stable.

Meanwhile, the NDFP is set to celebrate its 45th founding anniversary on Tuesday, April 24. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Amid price hikes: Minimum wage insufficient vs. rising family cost of living — IBON

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The onslaught of price hikes since early this year has made the mandated minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) even more inadequate for millions of Filipino workers to decently support their families, said research group IBON.

IBON computations show that the NCR nominal minimum wage still falls considerably short of the rising family living wage (FLW).

As of March 2018, Php1,168 is needed daily to support a family of six, while Php973 is needed for a family of five.

Worsening inflation has increased the FLW needed from the same period last year by Php57 for a family of six and by Php48 for a family of five–a 5.2 percent increase for both.

The minimum wage however has not kept up with the rising cost of living.

The NCR nominal minimum wage of Php512 is just 43.8 percent of the Php1,168 FLW in March this year.

This translates into a significant wage gap of Php656 or 56.2 percent, said the group.

For a family of five, the gap was nearly half (47.4 percent) of the FLW.

These wage gaps grew despite the regional wage board’s approval of a Php21 minimum wage increase from Php491 to Php512 last October 2017.

IBON said that the wage discrepancy is just as wide as the same period last year. In March 2017, the nominal minimum wage in the NCR of Php491 was 44.2 percent of the Php1,111 FLW for a family of six.

This was a wage gap of Php620 or 55.8 percent.

The group also noted that the average daily basic pay of wage and salary workers in NCR has declined under the Duterte administration. Latest official figures show that the NCR average daily basic pay fell from Php557.46 in July 2016 to Php542.16 in July 2017.

Workers’ minimum wages cannot cope with the higher prices that are driving up inflation and the cost of living, said the group.

The 5.2 percent inflation rate for the NCR in March 2018 is so far the highest in five years according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

IBON said that there should be an immediate, substantial and across-the-board minimum wage increase against the high inflation.

The government should approve and mandate the Php750 national minimum wage that workers groups are calling for.

Implementation of TRAIN Package One which is among the drivers of inflation should also be suspended and the law reviewed towards being amended to become genuinely progressive.

It should also ensure job security, necessary benefits, better working conditions, as well as much-needed social services that will assist Filipino workers and their families in meeting their basic needs, said the group. #

 

Activists press high court to dismiss petition vs chief justice

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Activists and other civil libertarians held a rally last April 17 to press Supreme Court justices to dismiss the quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

Accusing President Rodrigo Duterte’s government of masterminding efforts to oust Sereno, the protesters said quo warranto proceedings was meant to remove elected officers from office.

They added officials appointed by the Constitution, such as magistrates of the high court, should not be subject to ouster petitions through quo warranto cases.

‘Not surprised,’ KMU says of Duterte’s turnaround on endo promise

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Militant labor denounced Rodrigo Duterte’s decision not to issue an order ending contractualization of workers, saying the President’s move is a complete turnaround from his repeated promise to end the practice.

Following labor secretary Silvestre Bello III’s announcement Thursday that Duterte decided to leave it to Congress to decide on labor-only contracting, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairperson Elmer Labog said the government is bent on maintaining the status quo in the labor sector.

“Duterte wants contractual labor to remain the norm while regular employment is just the exemption,” Labog told Kodao.

“He sweet-talked us for such a long time, but it all comes to nothing,” Labog added.

In a statement, Kilusang Mayo Uno said it was Duterte himself in a dialogue last May 1, 2017 who asked the labor sector to draft an EO that he would immediately sign.

“However, like his other promises and pretensions, Duterte refused to deliver. This further proves that his tough-talk against contractualization was a mere publicity stunt to woo workers’ votes like all other traditional politicians,” KMU said.

In his press briefing, Bello said three drafts of the executive order were submitted to the Office of the President through the Office of the Executive Secretary.

Bello said Malacañan however ultimately decided to instead certify as priority a Senate bill on the security of tenure of workers.

Earlier, the Palace announced that Duterte will finally issue an order to end contractualization, or non-regularization of workers. It later said Malacañan decided to postpone Duterte’s signing of the order last April 15.

No order was signed and issued last Sunday, however.

In justifying Duterte’s decision, Bello said the Senate bill is a reinforcement of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Department Order 174 meant to address the issue of unlawful contractualization anyway.

Bello said the DOLE order and the Senate bill may end contractualization “if there is an effective and honest-to-goodness implementation.”

Labog, however, said militant labor has no illusions about the prospective anti-contractualization law.

“Wala na iyan. Lututuin lang iyan sa Kongreso,” Labog said. (That’s nothing. It will just be mangled in Congress.)

Labog warned that more workers would be disappointed and angry at Duterte.

“It will not only be KMU who gets angry with Duterte, but all the other workers who are victims of contractualization,” Labog said.

Labog added KMU’s International Labor Day activities will start at nine o’clock in the morning at Liwasang Bonifacio.

“Our main sectoral call is, of course, for the junking of contractualization,” Labog said.

KMU said Duterte’s mockery of Filipino workers and of our legitimate demands will never be forgiven.

“On May 1, International Labor Day, hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers across the country will show their outrage over Duterte’s rejection of our demands for regular and decent jobs in a nationwide workers’ and people’s protest,” KMU’s statement said.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Sr Pat’s message to supporters

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Sr. Patricia Fox of the Sisters of the Notre Dame of Sion issued this statement after her release from the Bureau of Immigration last April 17.

President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted in a speech yesterday that the nun’s arrest and detention were upon his orders.

Nonetheless, Fox said she intends to stay in the Philippines to continue her mission in helping the poor.

Watch this video by Nadja de Vera of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura.

Mensahe ni Sr. Patricia Fox para sa lahat ng sumusumoprta sa kanya. #HandsOffSrPat

Posted by Nadja De Vera on Wednesday, April 18, 2018