Tag Archives: May 1

[From the web] Estado ng Kalikasan – Mayu Uno Virtual Rally – Pagbabahagi ng ATM/Kalipunan

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Estado ng Kalikasan – Mayu Uno Virtual Rally – Pagbabahagi ng ATM/Kalipunan

1 Isang maka-kalikasan at mapag-palayang araw sa ating lahat. Nakiki-isa ang ATM at marami pang ibang maka-kalikasang grupo sa paggunita ng Araw ng Paggawa. Kasama rin po natin ang KALIPUNAN ng mga Masang Kilusan sa hanay natin ngayon.

2. Maganda ang paunang paliwanag kanina ni Kasamang Josua. Naniniwala kami na batay sa syensya at mga pag-aaral, malaki ang ugnayan ng pandemya at ng nagbabagong-klima. Ang mga mapanirang gawain ng kapitalista at tao – tulad ng pagmimina, pagto-troso at pag-gamit ng maduming enerhiya galing sa coal power plants – ang nagpapabilis at nagpapalala ng “climate change”. At dahil nauubos na ang mga puno, kalbo na ang gubat, madumi na ang mga katubigan at malala ang polusyon sa mga syudad, apektado ang mga hayop at insekto. Nagbabago ang kanilang mga gawi, kilos at biolohiya, at sila ay nagdadala ng mga bagong sakit tulad ng pandemyang ito.

3. Batid din natin na ang paglala ng air pollution ay masama para sa kalusugan ng mga manggagawa na araw-araw susuungin ang trapik at init at usok sa kalsada. Mas madali tayong makakapitan ng covid19 dahil sa lumalalang polusyon.

4. Ngayong COVID19 lockdown, nakakalungkot at nakakagalit ang sitwasyon ng ating kalikasan at likas-yaman:

a. Ilegal na pagmimina sa Homonhon, Leyte, Palawan at Nueva Vizcaya

b. sa Nueva Vizcaya kung saan ang isang mapayapang protesta ng mga katutubo ay marahas na na-disperse ng mahigit 100 pulis para lang makapasok ang mga diesel sa isang minahan

c. Ang paglo-load ng coal sa Semirara, kung saan Chinese shipping vessels ang pinigilan sana na maka-daong

d. Ang mga manggagawa sa mga minahan ay exposed sa sakit, at meron tayong alam na mga minahan na nagkaroon ng kaso ng COVID19, pero tuloy pa rin ang mga operasyon.

e. Batid din natin ang kalagayan ng mga simpleng manggagawa na mahirap ang karanasan ngayong COVID19 lockdown. Mga waste workers na walang PPE (kahit na nga patuloy ang pagkolekta ng mga basura kahit lockdown)

f. Lalong pagdami ng plastic pollution dahil sa disposable na PPEs, masks at plastic bags para sa relief goods.

g. Ang pag-payag ng DENR sa pag-gamit ng incineration o pagsusunog ng mga basura ng hospital. Ito ay malinaw na paglabag sa Clean Air Act.

5. Ang ilang sa ating mga panawagan:

a. Huwag maging bulag ang DENR sa mga banta na dulot ng mapanirang industriya at ng mga maling polisiya ngayong panahon ng Covid19 lockdown. Hindi essential economic activity ang pagmimina, kaya dapat itong itigil ngayong lockdown. Sa pagsasara ng mga minahan, dapat ay siguruhin ang lahat ng benepisyo para sa mga mine workers.

b. Pangalawa, siguruhin ang sapat na ayuda sa mga apektadong komunindad, lalo na ang mga katutubo at kababaihan, kasama na ang mga manggagawang apektado ng lockdown

c. Ayusin ang koordinasyon ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno para maging kumpleto at sapat ang ayuda sa lahat ng apektado ng lockdown dulot ng Covid19

6. Sa pagtatapos, gusto naming ipaalala sa lahat na ang “bagong normal” ay naririto na. Kaya naniniwala kami, na ito na ang tamang panahon para igiit natin ang isang bagong porma at anyo ng kaunlaran na hindi dikta ng kapitalista. Ito na ang tamang panahon para isulong ang kaunlaran na hindi sinisira at sinasakripisyo ang likas-yaman. Isang lipunan at kaunlaran na tao at kalikasan ang nasa gitna. At sa pangunguna ng mulat na uring manggagawa, sigurado kami na makakamit natin ang pangarap na lipunang ito.

Magandang araw po sa ating lahat at mabuhay ang uring manggagawa!

Source: www.alyansatigilmina.net

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[From the web] Philippines: Arrests and detention Marred International Labor Day 2020 -CTUHR

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Philippines: Arrests and detention Marred International Labor Day 2020

Seventy-six (76) were arrested and detained yesterday in separate incidents, — the biggest number of arrests in the recent history of Labor Day celebrations in the Philippines.

Ten (10) volunteers of CURE COVID, a citizens’ alliance that included workers who were running a Community Kitchen and distributing food packs in their communities were arrested and detained in Marikina City. If not for the intervention of the good Mayor Marcy Teodoro, and as there was no crime committed, they were later released.

In Quezon City, eighteen (18) persons, including 4 volunteers of Tulong Kabataan simply echoing the call for livelihood, rights and health written on placards, as they were conducting relief operations were also arrested in Brgy. Central, Quezon City and detained at Camp Karingal. They were later charged of illegal assembly and violations of the lockdown rules even if they observed social distancing protocols.

Meanwhile, four (4) individuals, including Kilos Na Homeless leader Fidel Columna and 3 members of Liga ng mga Manggagawasa Valenzuela City, were arrested in Valenzuela City. They participated in an online protest and later on arrested as their pictures were seen on social media. Two (2) members of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) from Montalban, Rizal suffered the same fate.

In Jaro, Ilo-Ilo City, forty-two (42) were also arrested including a priest, Fr. Marco Sulayao when they conducted a caravan (while observing physical distancing), in grievance and protest of the brutal killing of Jory Porquia, an activist and member of Bayan Muna and a lawyer who offered his services.

While 16 workers of Coca-Cola in Laguna were falsely presented as NPA rebels who surrendered and used as black propaganda against the workers’ organizations.

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) condemns these arrests and detention and calls for their immediate and unconditional release. “To feed the hungry and to protest and criticize the government for its ineptness, especially during Labor Day is an exercise of the right to freedom of expression,” says CTUHR Executive Director, Daisy Arago.

“These arrests only unmasks this government further, that in the midst of a public health emergency and social aid chaos, all it can do is arrest, detain and threaten people who are in fact, filling in the inadequacies caused by its incompetence. Workers’ welfare and people’s health should be at the forefront of this battle against COVID19 not attack on activists and critics,” Arago added.

On May 1, 2020, amidst the pandemic and a militarized lockdown, workers successfully claimed the International Workers’ Day as a Day of voicing out their legitimate demands for mass testing, sufficient food supply, and government assistance, guaranteed income and livelihood and respect for human rights. Different labor groups and other human rights organizations used creative ways such as online protests, selfie protest, noise barrage, community kitchen, etc. while ensuring that they are abiding by precautionary measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19. “Instead of recognizing its deficiencies and listening to the demands of the people, the Duterte government chooses the easy way out – threaten to silence dissenters. If only the government has heeded the call to increase the wage of workers to P750 nationwide, eradicated contractualization and ensured freedom of association in the workplace, then the workers would have been better prepared for this crisis,” CTUHR ended.#

—
CENTER FOR TRADE UNION AND HUMAN RIGHTS (CTUHR)
Public Information and Education Department

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[Statement] Release all May 1 political prisoners now! -BMP

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Release all May 1 political prisoners now!

Socialist labor alliance Pagkakaisa ng Uring Manggagawa (PAGGAWA) strongly condemns the PNP’s arrest of labor leaders BMP Vice President Lito Rastica and Reynaldo Dulay on the morning of May 1, 2020, at Rodriguez, Rizal.

The two were arrested for leading a picket protest to mark International Worker’s Day near their residences inside Eastwind Subdivision, Barangay San Isidro. The protesters – who were calling for mass testing, sufficient government aid during the lockdown, and paid quarantine leave and hazard pay for all workers especially frontliners – followed lockdown precautions such as wearing face masks, observing physical distancing, and carrying their barangay passes with them.

Their compliance with lockdown precautions alone should have prevented authorities from penalizing their constitutional right to free speech.

Now the PNP have detained Mr. Rastica and Mr. Dulay for 2 days in San Jose Precinct and have hurled a flurry of trumped-up charges against them such as Alarm and Scandal, Violation of RA 11469, RA 11332 (Non-cooperation), Art. 151 of RPC (Resistance and Disobedience), and Municipal Ordinance 20 s. 2020 sec. 3. Their inquest scheduled for tomorrow May 4.

Far from being an isolated incident, Mr. Rastica and Mr. Dulay join the more than 80 workers and activists persecuted and arrested for peacefully celebrating International Worker’s Day and exercising their right to free speech. These include the Iloilo 42, the Marikina 10, the Quezon City 18, the Valenzuela 4, and the Sta. Rosa 16.

In stark contrast to these arrests, Mocha Uson and her opportunistic gathering of more than 300 OFW’s in Lian, Batangas last April 26 received none of the aggression and stigma that authorities gave to workers and activists on May 1.

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[Statement] WORKERS ARE NOT VIRUS-PROOF! Advocacy groups call for expanded massive testing before economic restart -PAHRA, iDEFEND, #MassTestingNowPH

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WORKERS ARE NOT VIRUS-PROOF
Advocacy groups call for expanded massive testing before the economic restart

As the nation commemorates Labor Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists, artists, youth, human rights, public health, and citizen groups join forces with the labor sector to demand the increase and expansion of mass testing capacities of the country before lifting the enhanced community quarantine protocols and reopening the economy. The government and business groups have been keen to start economic activities the soonest to save the country from further economic meltdown. However, civil society groups have expressed their concern over the risks of this move and the need to address the public’s fear and panic with the possible lifting of the ECQ for the interest of the business.

Molecular biologist Joshua Danac of Scientists Unite Against COVID-19 (SUAC-19) cited the poor execution of mass testing in the country. “There are still massive backlogs in testing centers, and results take very long to be released. The Department of Health has failed to attain its initial stated target of 8,000 tests per day.” Since the government’s declaration on the start of mass testing on April 14, Danac pointed out that there are only 19 accredited testing centers in the whole country as of April 30, with around 50 percent of those centers based in NCR alone.

Danac further said, “The actual testing capacity of our country still lags behind because laboratories and personnel have not been capacitated in the first place. For massive testing not to fail, we must ask the government to be transparent and to act on the following issues: how will capacity be increased to clear the backlogs and shorten turnaround times? How will they increase the number of tests done per day? What about funding — will the government dedicate part of its budget for increasing testing capacity by buying equipment and hiring personnel?”

Meanwhile, human rights-based health service organization Medical Action Group (MAG) pointed out that aside from incapacitated testing centers and personnel, a public health and rights-based approach was not initiated by the government as well. According to MAG Executive Director Edel Hernandez, “The lack of diagnostics and cure for COVID-19 underscores the need for the government to scale up the mass testing using international standards, protecting the health of frontliners, and improving the delivery of healthcare services around the country. Inaction on the part of the government is a disservice to the nation. The COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly creating a climate of fear and panic through restrictive, stigmatizing, and punitive measures imposed by the government as infectious disease control.” MAG urged the government to veer away from compulsory restrictions towards a human rights-based approach, centered on evidence-based response and promoting community empowerment and engagement.

The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) emphasized the demand for the government to take a human rights-based approach in tackling the COVID-19 situation in the country. According to PAHRA, while mass testing is an important step to address the public health crisis, the government must also address the social impact of the community lockdown. It pointed out that the basic human rights of workers especially their safety and security should be guaranteed by the government, not neglected. PAHRA Secretary General Rose Trajano said, “Testing, continuing assistance, and security of work are the basic human rights that should be effectively addressed by the government. Though certain limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms are unavoidable during public health emergencies, any disproportionate response can definitely lead to significant human rights violations. It amplifies the already underlying barriers that people face in protecting their health and their inability to meet basic survival needs.” Recent news reports and viral social media posts have shown arbitrary arrests and ill treatment by law enforcers to people who have breached quarantine restrictions.

With the government preparing to loosen the lockdown by May 15, the artist-activist collective DAKILA criticized plans of the government to reopen the economy without providing proper safety nets to the labor sector and the poor. Conglomerates and major business owners earlier announced Project ARK, a joint initiative to conduct massive testing on workers using rapid antibody test kits to help them assess who is fit to return to work. Medical experts have warned against the use of antibody test kits as diagnostic tools due to their tendency to display ‘false negative’ results. DAKILA spokesperson Leni Velasco said, “The return of work operations around the country is essential for the economy to run again, but to facilitate that using unreliable means will put workers into danger. The move to use to rapid antibody tests for mass screening for COVID19 will only give workers a false sense of security and run the risk of spreading the virus in the workplace — leading to a second wave of infection that our public health system won’t survive.”

DAKILA also slammed the recent statement of the Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion saying that the workers and the poor are more resilient to the virus and should be separated from those who are healthy through isolation. The statement, they pointed out, is a gross manifestation of the unjust treatment of the working poor, as well as businesses’ lack of value for laborers. “Workers and the poor are NOT virus-proof. They remain one of the most vulnerable sectors in this pandemic. In any situation, their lives must never be put in danger; it must be protected at all times. We can’t restart the economy at the expense of workers’ safety,” Velasco ended.

In line with this demand, a group of volunteers who started the campaign on mass testing named #MassTestingNowPH calls on the government to strengthen the Test-Treat-Trace approach in addressing the pandemic. The campaign urges business owners to use rRT-PCR testing to assist the return of employees to work after community quarantine protocols are lifted and they call for workers to demand the same. “Only through expanded RT-PCR testing can we have an accurate picture of the COVID-19 infection in the country. This should serve as the basis for any government decisions and actions. We should strengthen our call for mass testing, contact tracing, isolation, and treatment along with the continued provision of health and socio-economic assistance to our people,” #MassTestingNowPH said.

DAKILA, PAHRA, MAG, SUAC, and #MassTestingNowPH expressed their social solidarity with the Filipino working class which for the first time in Philippine history held Labor Day 2020 protest online in the context of the pandemic. In its unity statement, the groups said, “While the economy should be saved from further decline, it is by protecting and safeguarding the workers that can ensure the continuing lifeline of the economy. The working people are not virus proof and yet like the health workers, the government is sending them out like sacrifical lambs in this pandemic.”

The groups committed to intensifying the #MassTestingNowPH campaign until laboratories and personnel are capacitated, massive RRT-PCR-based testing is conducted, public health and rights-based approach are adopted by the government and the business sector, and the safety of workers are not put in danger amidst the desire to restart the economy.

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[Video] Watch now! LIVE – SILANG MGA KALASAG. Pagkilala.Pagkumusta.Pakikiisa sa mga #frontliners sa gitna ng #CoVid19 -iDEFEND & PAHRA

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SILANG MGA KALASAG.
Pagkilala.Pagkumusta.Pakikiisa sa mga frontliners sa gitna ng CoVid

iDEFEND Live

May 2, 2020, 4:00PM/ SEE LINKS.
SILANG MGA KALASAG

Kasama sina:

Dr. Faith Mesa Gaerlan
Emergency Room Consultant

Dr katerina Abiertas
Municipal Health Officer , Motiong, Samar
President, Samar AMHOP

Dr. Ela Romano
Psychiatrist ,
Bicol Medical Center

Dr. Nemuel Fajutagana
Chairperson,
Medical Action Group

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[From the web] Workers Demand for Guaranteed Income, Protection, Respect for Rights Before Returning to Work -CTUHR

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Workers Demand for Guaranteed Income, Protection, Respect for Rights Before Returning to Work

“This year’s International Labor Day celebration is historically different, there will be no huge demonstrations on the streets in the Philippines and in other countries as well, due to the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the calls for a living wage, job security amidst lay-off, humane conditions of work, safe workplaces, right to organize and collectively bargain that send thousands of workers to flood the streets annually are even more glaring now than ever. The pandemic deepens the problems that workers have to face even before the public health crisis and they have no one to lean on but their solidarity and strength. The system has failed them and continues to fail them, said Daisy Arago, CTUHR Executive Director.

The workers are hit hardest with the suspension of most economic activities, while others in essential services or even in business process outsourcing suffer from difficulties in transportation, inhumane work hours, and unsafe temporary accommodations. The government’s sluggish and inefficient response and assistance even to the most affected only worsened the anxiety that engulfed them. A recent study of the International Labour Organization (ILO), estimated that around 1.25 billion workers are at risk of losing their jobs due to the economic impacts of COVID-19. The ILO also calls the current situation “the most severe crisis since the Second World War.”

Before the pandemic, millions of Filipino workers are beset with unemployment and underemployment. The government continues exporting Filipino workers abroad to ease unemployment and earn from them. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of unemployed increased ten-folds but the Department of Labor and Employment estimated only an additional 2 million. Yet, government assistance only reached less than 30% of those affected. OFWs suffer from job losses overseas and are coming home and also demanding the P10,000 assistance that they have not received.

Before the crises, workers were barely surviving from low income. The minimum wage remains insufficient for the basic needs of a family. (NCR), the highest at P537 while Region 1 at P282 is the lowest, and many of them are not members of SSS – the agency appointed by the Duterte government to give wage subsidy to workers allegedly in support of SMEs. The lockdown deprives them of this meager income and made them dependent to government assistance that in many places never come. When they find the means to eat, many were arrested and called them `pasaway’, (hard-headed).

The Philippine National Police (PNP) reports say that it has documented and apprehended more than 150,000 violators of enhanced community quarantine measures. This includes informal workers who are simply trying to earn a living like Michael Rubuia, the fish vendor whose brutal arrest (because he was not wearing a face mask) was caught on video and went viral on social media. In another incident, on April 5, 19 vegetable vendors were arrested for illegal selling.

Contractualization schemes that are rampant and take away the benefits of workers from job security, social protection, and unions or organizations can be exploited in the pretense of COVID 19 response as more employers resort to that under a `new normal’ situation. Similarly, unions and those striving to unionize are attacked by both the company management and state forces under the pretext of a crisis response that can resort to more abusive practices. On top of 48 killings in the ranks of unionists, farmworkers, and labor rights defenders that CTUHR has documented.

On this day and days ahead, we join the workers in calling the Duterte regime not to use the current crisis to heighten attacks against activists and critiques. A day before May 1, a known activist in Iloilo City, Jory Parquia was murdered in his house. A union of Coca-Cola in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and several workers were forced to surrender as NPA rebels.

We reiterate our calls and echoes the demand of the people, #AksyongMedikalHindiMlitar. We demand an urgent realignment of government funds to health, to strengthen hospitals, and to conduct mass testing to curb the spread of the disease. We call on all on government and employers to test all workers before resuming work operations, hazard pay, and give the necessary protection against COVID-19. Lastly, we demand that labor and human rights be respected at all times and not be abused in the pretense of crisis management.#
—
CENTER FOR TRADE UNION AND HUMAN RIGHTS (CTUHR)
Public Information and Education Department

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[Video] Laban Manggagawa! Discussion ng mga lider-manggagawa sa Araw ng Paggawa -iDEFEND & PAHRA

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Discussion ng mga lider-manggagawa sa Araw ng Paggawa

Kasama sina:

Val Vibal
Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA)

Judy Ann Chan-Miranda
Partido Manggagawa

Atty. Luke Espiritu
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino

Joshua Mata
Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa

Ellene Sana
Center for Migrants Advocacy

Primo Amparo
Workers for Peoples Liberation

Tagapagpadaloy:
Joseph Purugganan
Focus on the Global South

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[Press Release] Akbayan Party on Labor Day: Make workers resilient with protection, just wages and strong unions

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Akbayan Party on Labor Day: Make workers resilient with protection, just wages and strong unions

Today, we celebrate Labor Day in extraordinary circumstances. When traditionally the working-class celebrates on the streets, today we are confined to our homes and social media. But our calls remain the same: for just and fair wages and benefits, for safe working spaces, for the strengthening of workers’ unions, and the end to unfair practices like ENDO.

Though these past few weeks our country has found itself sick with COVID-19, the Filipino working class has long suffered under the crises caused by the exploitative nature of capitalism and neoliberal government policies. Employment schemes like ENDO deprive workers of their right to security of tenure. Women and LGBTQIA+ individuals are prone to workplace discrimination and harassment. The past few years have seen increasing incidents of labor union harassment and violent picket dispersals by police and company administration. And instead of actively seeking to remedy these issues with key legislation, the government has simply prioritized the interests of multibillionaires and foreign corporations over Filipino workers. The weaknesses and ill effects of such a system have manifested over the past few months, with workers in both formal and informal sectors severely affected with no wages or access to basic necessities.

But this COVID-19 crisis allows us to see how we can move forward to empower our Filipino workers. It is imperative to give a voice to workers and unions disenfranchised by abusive employers or exploitative systems, and to uphold their rights to fair wages, security of tenure, workplace safety, and collective bargaining. By fighting for these rights to be upheld as national policy, we secure not just the welfare of our workers but of their families and the continuously growing Filipino labor force. Most importantly, in doing these we can slowly break down the economic and political structures that exploit labor for profit.

Akbayan Party stands with all Filipino workers, now in the time of crisis and in the continuing fight for labor rights. May our healing as a nation push everyone to work towards a more just and equitable society, and end the systems that have long disempowered and starved workers and their families.

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[Statement] Kalusugan, kabuhayan, kapakanan, at kapangyarihan sa masang manggagawa -BMP

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BMP STATEMENT MAYO 1, 2020
(Mababasa rin dito: bit.ly/mayouno2020)

Kalusugan, kabuhayan, kapakanan, at kapangyarihan sa masang manggagawa

Sa Araw ng Paggawa ngayong taon – sa gitna ng pananalasa sa maraming bansa ng sakit na COVID19 at sa malawakang kagutuman ng milyon-milyong Pilipinong hindi makapaghanap-buhay dahil sa kwarantina, tahasan nating idinedeklara na:

Makakamit lamang ng masang manggagawa ang malusog na katawan at isipan, regular na hanapbuhay na may sapat na kita, at panatag na buhay na may maalwang na kinabukasang maipamamana sa susunod na henerasyon – kapag nakamit na ng uring manggagawa, ang totoong mayorya sa lipunan, ang kapangyarihang pampulitika para distrungkahin ang kasalukuyang bulok na kaayusang nakabatay sa tubo at sa pribadong pag-aari ng iilan.

Hangga’t ang may hawak sa kapangyarihan ay ang mga kinatawan ng interes ng kapital, na organisadong pwersa ng dahas at panunupil ng iilan sa nakararami, ang batas na kanilang babalangkasin at ipapatupad ay maglalagay sa panganib sa buong sambayanan.

Ang patunay ng peligrong hatid ng paghahari ng minorya sa mayorya ay makikita kung ano ang nilalaman at paano ipinapatupad ang lockdown o kwarantina, na kanilang ipinataw sa sambayanang Pilipino.

KALUSUGAN NG MASA: ISINAKRIPISYO SA NGALAN NG TUBO
Bago pa man ang pandemyang COVID19, naghihingalo na ang health care system ng bansa. Mayroon lang tayong 101,688 hospital beds, na nakakalat sa 1,223 ospital sa buong bansa. 75% ng ospital ay pribado.

Ang ideyal na bilang ay 44 health care workers (doktor, nars, medtech) sa bawat 1,000 Pilipino. Sa ngayon, mayroon lamang tayong 19 health care workers sa bawat 10,000 katao. Ang bilang ng ventilator (na kailangan ng pasyente ng COVID) sa bansa ay nasa 1,572 lamang, kung saan 423 ang nasa Metro Manila.

Taon-taon may 26,000 nars ang nakakapasa ng board exam mula 2012 hanggang 2016. Subalit sa panahon ding ito, 18,500 nars kada taon ang lumilikas para maging OFW. Tinayang may kakulangan ng 23,000 nars sa buong bansa. Samantala, nasa 150,000 nars ang kasalukuyang nagtatrabaho sa Estados Unidos.

Kung ang transmisyon ng COVID19 ay nasa 10% sa 107 milyong populasyon, at kung 10% ng magkakasakit ang mangangailangan ng ospitalisasyon, ito ay nasa 1.07 milyon pasyente na (ibig sabihin nito, isa sa bawat sampung maoospital sa COVID19 ay walang hospital bed!).
Subalit hindi naman lahat ng nagkakasakit ay nagpapaospital, ayon sa datos, 6 sa bawat 10 Pilipino ang namamatay nang hindi nagpapakonsulta sa doktor. Lagpas kalahati (56%) kasi ang dumudukot sa sariling bulsa (own-pocket) kapag naoospital. At marami (kahit mga may-kaya) ay lumalabas sa ospital nang naghihikahos. Sabi nga ni manong taxi driver, na nainterbyu, sa simula pa lang ng lockdown, “Mahirap maging mahirap”.

Ito ay sa usapin pa lamang ng health care system, na nakatuon sa pagpapagaling ng may-sakit. Paano naman ang prebensyon ng sakit? Kailangan ay may maayos na nutrisyon at malinis na tubig.

Ang problema sa kakulungan sa nutrisyon ay ramdam sa mga kabataan. Sa bawat araw, 95 bata ang namamatay sa malnutrisyon. 27 sa bawat 1,000 bata ang hindi umaabot sa ika-limang taon. Isa sa bawat tatlong bata ang maliit kumpara sa kanyang edad. Ang dalawang taong pagkaantala sa nutrisyon ay maaring maging permanente, di na kayang maihabol pa, o nakamamatay.

Ibang usapin pa ang kawalan ng malinis na tubig, hindi lang dahil ito ay batayang pangangailangan ng katawan ng tao. Bukod dito, ang paghuhugas ng kamay sa minimum na 20 segundo ang isa sa pinakamabisang paraan para labanan ang pagkalat ng COVID19. At ayon sa World Bank, 10% (10 milyong Pilipino) ang walang akses sa malinis na tubig!

Pinalala ng COVID19 ang matagal nang mga banta sa kalusugan ng mamamayang Pilipino. Kulang sa medikal na personel. Kulang sa ospital. Kulang sa malinis na tubig. Kulang sa nutrisyon.

Bakit ganito ang nangyari? Dahil sa patakaran ng pribatisasyon. Ito ang patakaran ng pagsasapribado ng mga batayang serbisyo na dapat ay binibigay ng mura o libre ng gobyerno sa kanyang mamamayan. Tubig. Kuryente. Ospital. Paaralan. At oo, maging internet. Kapalit ng buwis na kanyang kinakaltas sa mamamayan, lalong higit sa mayayaman (na kung tutuusin, ay mas maraming ligal na paraan para makaiwas sa kanilng obligasyon sa gobyerno).

Ang pandemyang COVID19 ang pinakamatibay na argumento laban sa pribatisasyon ng mga serbisyong pangkalusugan (at iba pang batayang pangangailangan). Simula sa Mayo Uno 2020, dapat mamulat ang kilusang paggawa na tumugon ito sa panlipunang usapin – gaya ng pangkalahatang kalusugan ng mamamayan, bukod pa sa pagtitiyak sa mga probisyon sa CBA ng mga unyon ukol sa occupational health and safety, medical insurance (bukod sa Philhealth), atbp.

KABUHAYANG ITINIGIL NG KWARANTINA
Milyon-milyon ang itinulak sa kawalang trabaho at kagutuman ng biglaang pagkwarantina sa buong bansa. Mayorya kasi ng lipunan ay mga manggagawa. Walang pag-aari kundi ang lakas-paggawa. Halos lahat ng pangangailangan ay kailangang bilhin. Magkakapera lamang kung magbabanat ng buto kapalit ng sweldo.

Hindi tayo kinonsidera ng gobyerno nang ipataw nito ang kautusang mag-“stay at home”. Noong una’y nakiusap lamang ito sa mga employer na ipagamit ang ating mga sick leave at vacation leave. Suhestiyon daw na magkawanggawa sila para sa atin.

Subalit nang maobliga nang bumunot mula sa pondo ng gobyerno, maglalaan daw ng 5K para sa sahurang empleyado ang DOLE sa pamamagitan ng programang CAMP (Covid Adjustment Measures Program). Nga-nga! Employer kasi ang mag-iinisyatiba para maghain sa kanilang manggagawa. Kailan pa kinalinga ng mga kapitalista ang kapakanan ng kanilang manggagawa? Hindi nga sila nakokonsensya na magbigay ng kararampot na sweldong hindi makakapagbigay ng disente’t marangal na buhay sa ating mga pamilya! Lalo pa sa panahong hindi tayo nagtatrabaho, hindi umaandar ang kanilang negosyo, at higit sa lahat, hindi natin nililikha ang kanilang tutubuin at ating seswelduhin!

Ang masakit, nang dumagsa na ang hinain ng mga employer, sinabi ng DOLE na ubos na ang kanilang pondong P1.6 bilyon. Subalit huwag daw tayong mag-aalala. Dahil naihanda diumano ni Sonny Dominguez ng Department of Finance ang P256 bilyon para sa medium-small-microenterprises (MSMEs) na bibigyan ng wage subsidy para may ipapasweldo sa kanilang manggagawa.

Nga-nga ulit, mga kamanggagawa! Paano ang milyon-milyong sumesweldo sa mga kumpanyang hindi itinuturing na MSME ng gobyerno? Paano tayo na inabot na ng mahigit isang buwan ngunit hindi naman nakinabang sa naunang DOLE-CAMP (at hindi naman papasok sa kategoryang “poorest of the poor” para sa 4Ps program ng DSWD)?

Ganyan rin ang nangyari sa social amelioration program (SAP) ng DSWD. Makalipas ang anim na linggo, 22% pa lamang ng target ang nabahaginan ng SAP dahil sa burukratikong proseso para ma-avail nito tulad ng validation ng beneficiaries. Dagdag mo pa kung paano namamanipula ng mga pultiko ang ayudang ito. Ganito tayo suklian ng gobyerno (matapos ang mahabang panahong ang ating pagtatrabaho ang siyang pinagmumulan ng industriyal na tubo, renta sa lupang inookupa ng ating employer, interes sa kanilang utang, at buwis sa sahod at tubo! Gagawin tayong mga pulubi. Nawalan ng dangal ang paggawang lumlikha ng pangangailangan at bumubuhay sa tao!

Wala naman talagang pakialam sa ating pagtatrabaho ang nasa gobyerno.

Hindi ba’t agad nitong inutos ang pagtigil sa pampublikong transportasyon – kahit pinahintulutan ang pagtatrabaho ng tinaguriang mga magigiting ng “frontliner”? Ano ang nangyari! Ang nars, at iba pang nagtatrabaho sa mga ospital (bukod sa mga duktor na karaniwang naka-kotse) ay naglalakad para pumasok sa trabaho!?! Walang pakialam ang pala-utos na gobyerno. Kaya nga’t hindi pinaghandaan ang pagkuha ng mga kasangkapan sa kanilang proteksyon (face mask/shield, personal protective equipment, atbp.) para sa mga medical frontliner!

Ang lockdown ay nangangahulugan ng ibayong gutom para sa masang manggagawa. Kaya naman, marami ang papabor sa pag-aalis ng mga restriksyon upang pahintulutang makapagtrabahong muli ang mga tao. May mga employer nang nagpanukala nito sa dulong linggo ng Marso. Pinahinto kasi ang produksyon at distribusyon. Tumigil kasi ang sirkulasyon ng kalakal at kapital. Hindi na lumilikha ng bagong halaga ang manggagawa. At kapag walang nabebentang kalakal, hindi nila nalalasap ang tubo sa anyo ng pera.

Hindi pwedeng isakripisyo ang manggagawa sa altar ng tubo. Alam nating mas makikipagsapalaran ang manggagawa sa posibleng kontaminasyon sa COVID19 kaysa sa tiyak na gutom sa kanyang pamilya. Subalit, kailangang ilagay lahat ng proteksyon para tiyak na hindi mahawa ng manggagawa ang myembro ng kanyang tahanan kung sakaling makontamina siya ng COVID19 dahil sa pag-alis ng bahay upang makapagtrabaho.

Proteksyon sa paggawa! Ipatupad ang social distancing sa trabaho. Gastusan ng employer ang face mask/shield, o PPE kung kinakailangan. Regular na paglilinis (disinfection) sa mga sasakyan. Shuttle bus para ihatid ang mga manggagawa. At higit sa lahat, bilang pagkilala sa risko na kanilang pinapasok sa pagtatrabaho, doble o tripleng sahod bilang hazard pay!

Sa kabilang banda, may positibong ipinamalas ang lockdown sa usapin ng paggawa. Ang pansamantalang pagtigil sa pang-ekonomikong aktibidad ay nakabubuti sa kalikasan at ekolohiya. Subalit higit dito, sobra-sobra na ang nalikha ng tao kaya’t maari nang tumigil sa pagtatrabaho. Ang problema sa kagutuman at kahirapan ay hindi ang kakapusan sa produksyon ng pangangailangan; kundi nasa distribusyon nito, dahil ang mga ito ay kalakal na kailangan munang bilhin ng tao bago makatugon sa anumang pangangailangan.

Ano ang ibig sahibin nito? Sa inabot na produktibidad ng tao, may kapasidad na tayong bawasan ang oras ng pagtatrabaho sa isang araw (working day) at araw ng pagtatrabaho sa isang linggo (workweek) – nang walang kabawasan sa sahod ng manggagawa. Mula sa pandemyang COVID19, isisilang ang bagong kilusan para sa pagbabawas ng oras at araw ng pagtatrabaho. Ito ang isa sa mga kilusang maghuhubog sa tinaguriang “new normal”, sa isang post-COVID na pandaigdigang ekonomya.

KAPAKANANG HINDI PRINAYORIDAD NG ELITISTANG GOBYERNO
Ang pamamahagi ng pagkain sa populasyong gutom at nakakwarantina ang unang sukatan kung totoo ngang kinakalinga ng gobyerno ang kanyang mamamayan. Wala nang singlinaw pa sa pahayag ni Dra. Rowena Mangubat. Aniya, “Nauubos din ang mga doctors. Ipamahagi niyo ang mga pagkain para hindi lumabas ang mga tao. Kung hindi, mauubos tayong lahat”.

Ang tagumpay ng ipinapatupad ng lockdown ay nakasalalay sa pamimigay ng pagkain sa mamamamayan. Hindi ito simpleng usapin ng kawalan ng disiplina. Kahit sinong magulang, gaano man kadisiplinado, ay lalabas ng bahay at gagawa ng anumang paraan, mapatigil lamang ang kumakalam na sikmura ng kanyang mga anak.

Ang problema sa distribusyon ng ayuda ay nasa bulok na pulitika na namamayani sa ating bansa. Nakuha na ng Malakanyang ang hinangad niyang pagkonsentra ng pondo sa executive branch. Pinadaloy ito sa mga LGU o local government units (kahit pa alam ng lahat na ang mismong makinaryang ito ay tadtad ng korapsyon). Ang standard-operating-procedure (SOP) sa pamahalaang lokal ay ang paggamit sa rekurso at pondo ng gobyerno para mapanatili sa poder ang mga naghaharing pampulitikang angkan.

Sa ayuda sa panahon ng kwarantina, nag-anyo ito hindi lamang sa pagtatatak sa mukha ng pulitiko sa binibigay na relief goods. Mas masahol dito ay ang pagtitiyak ng mga makinarya ng pulitiko na mabiyayaan muna ang kanilang mga pamilya (mula sa konsehal hanggang sa ward leader ng mga barangay). Ang masakit, ang sahurang manggagawa, na hindi naman aktibo sa mga pulitika sa barangay dahil abala sa paghahanapbuhay at kapag hindi naman nabibilang sa malaking pamilyang sinusuyo ang boto tuwing eleksyon – ay siguradong hindi na mabibiyayaan ng ayuda mula sa LGU. Kahit pa ang kanyang pagtatrabaho ang pinagmulan ng sahod at tubo, na pinagkukunan ng buwis ng kapitalistang estado!

Dahil dito, ang manggagawa ang dapat manguna sa pagigiit ng audit sa lingguhang ulat na dapat na gawin ni Duterte sa taumbayan. Saan napunta ang trilyon-trilyon pisong pondo para sa COVID19? Hindi lamang ang pondo mula sa badyet ng 2020 kundi ang utang at ayuda sa mga pinansyal na institusyon gaya ng World Bank (WB) at Asian Development Bank (ADB).

May karapatan ang manggagawa sa usaping ng pampublikong utang. Una, dahil dapat siyang makinabang dito. Ikalawa, dahil kasama siya sa pagbabayad nito! Kung gayon, kaisa rin siya ng sambayanang Pilipino na kahilingang huwag nang bayaran ang nauna nang utang ng gobyerno. Bayad na ito nang higit sa prinsipal. Kalabisan nang ibayad pa dito ang pondo lubos na kailangan ngayon para iahon sa gutom at kahirapan ang sambayanang Pilipino.

Nagdulot man ng paghihikahos ang ipinataw na kwarantina. Ang ginagawa ngayong “grow your own food” ng mamamayan ay sumisilip sa mga kahinaan ng kasalukuyang “import dependent, export oriented economy”. Tayo ay isang tropikal na bansang pinagyaman ng matabang lupa at maayos na klima. Kabalintunaang umaasa tayo sa importasyon ng pagkain, laluna ng bigas. Kailangang ayusin ang plano sa paggamit ng lupa upang iprayoridad ang agrikultura kaysa sa komersyo, na pinakikinabangan lamang ng mga negosyanteng landlord at mga nagpipinansya sa kanila. Balangkasin ang panibagong ekonomyang pangunahing nakatuon sa pangangailangan ng mga Pilipino hindi sa mga dayuhang monopolyo korporasyon.

KAPANGYARIHAN SA IILAN: “SUMUNOD NA LANG KAYO” PARA SA NAKARARAMI
Gaya nang ating nabanggit sa simula, ang kailangan ng manggagawa ay pampulitikang kapangyarihan upang tiyakin ang kanyang kalusugan, kabuhayan at kapakanan – na sumasaglit sa isip ng gobyerno kung kailangan ito para lumikha ng tubo sa kapital. Malusog para magtrabaho. Sumesweldo para bumalik sa trabaho sa susunod na araw. Pinaiiwas sa sakit o delubyo para manatiling produktibo sa paglikha ng tubo, buwis, at renta para sa iilang naghahari at nagmamay-ari sa lipunan.

Teka. Iyan ay mistulang isang diktadura?! Hindi ba’t nasa ilalim tayo ng diumano’y demokrasya? Oo. May kapangyarihan ang manggagawa – bilang magkakahiwalay na botante – na pumili tuwing eleksyon kung sino ang susunod na magsasamantala at manloloko sa atin.

Sa pagitan ng mga halalan, tayo ay pinepwersang maging maamong tupa. Sinasabihan na “sumunod na lang kayo”. Kinakastigo dahil kulang daw sa “disiplina”. Ang trabaho ng mga manggagawa bilang mabuting mga indibidwal na mamamayan ay sumunod, kahit inaabuso ng mga nasa kapangyarihan, kahit binabataan ng dahas o kamatayan sa mga checkpoint, kahit binabaril ng mga abusadong pulis (gaya ng nangyari sa ex-army na si Winston Ragos).

Narito ang kahinaan ng mga ginagawa ng rehimeng Duterte laban sa COVID19. Ang taumbayan ay hindi kasali. Taliwas sa ginawa ng sosyalistang bansang Vietnam, na kahit mas maliit ang ekonomya kumpara sa Pilipinas, ay nagawang maimobilisa ang gobyerno at ang taumbayan para pigilan ang pagkalat ng pandemya. Sa Vietnam, umasa ang gobyerno hindi pasibong sa pagpapasunod sa taumbayan kundi sa kanilang aktibong partisipasyon sa mga hakbang para labanan ang pandemya.

Nakakamit lamang ng manggagawa ang ganitong kapangyarihan, kung sila ay organisado. Ito ang unang aral na natututunan ng manggagawa sa pag-uunyon. Mag-isip at kumilos para sa kapakanan ng kabuuan. Hindi sa watak-watak at kanya-kanyang indibidwal na interes. Armado ng kaisipang lahat ng manggagawa ay magkakapatid bilang uri. At dahil organisado ay may kapangyarihan at lakas para baguhin ang kanilang kalagayan.

Ang ganitong mulat na disiplina ang nagpanday sa mamamayan ng Vietnam para tugunan ang salot na COVID19, na siya ring ginawa ng kanilang mga ninuno nang talunin sa digmaan ang Estados Unidos na pinakamakapangarihang bansa sa daigdig. Ito rin ang klase ng disiplinang bakal na kinatatakutan ng mga naghaharing uri sa Pilipinas at sa buong daigdig.

Dalawang pwersa ang kailangang magsanib para iligtas ang sangkatauhan sa COVID19: (a) syensya para sa kabutihan ng lahat at (b) pagkakapatiran ng sangkatuhan. Iisa ang banta laban dito – ang interes ng mga kapitalista, ang kapangyarihan ng pribadong pag-aari. Sapagkat ang matutuklasang bakuna ay pipilitin ng mga korporasyong medikal na magiging kalakal imbes na maging serbisyo sa sangkatauhan. At magagawa nila ito, kung mananatili ang pagkakanya-kanya ng mga tao, na gagawing magkakumpetensya bilang buyer sa merkado ng naturang bakuna. Ang tanging uri na maaring lumagpas sa ganitong makitid na pag-iiisip ay ang uring manggagawa.

Kung gayon, sa okasyong ito ng Mayo Uno – at sa darating na mga araw na pagtatalunan ang mga patakaran sa ilalim ng “new normal” sa isang pandaigdigang ekonomyang sinasalanta ng COVID19, isulong natin ang mga kagyat at pangmatagalang mga kahilingang mag-oorganisa sa kapangyarihan ng masang manggagawa at magtuturo sa istorikal na direksyon ng ating pakikibaka.

Tungo sa lipunang totoong kumakalinga sa interes ng lahat ng myembro ng lipunan, hindi lamang para sa iilang may-kapital. Isang lipunang totoong asosasyon, hindi separasyon, ng mga tao. Isang lipunan ng pagkakapatiran at kooperasyon, hindi kompetisyon, sa pagitan ng mga tao. Isang sosyalistang lipunang ipupundar ng kilusang paggawa at magbabagsak sa paghahari ng kapital.

Itaguyod ang kalusugan, kabuhayan, kapakanan ng mamamayan. Kapangyarihan sa masang manggagawa!

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[In the news] Labor leader slams gov’t for ‘favoring’ capitalists over workers -INQUIRER.com

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A labor leader on Wednesday slammed the administration and the Senate for giving priority to “capitalists” rather than the labor sector.

According to Bukluran ng Mangagawang Pilipino head Leody de Guzman said that instead of solving the concerns of laborers, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is favoring the rich.

De Guzman cited Executive Order 51 which tackles issues on contractualization and specifically prohibitis illegal contracting and subcontracting of workers.

Click the link below to read more.

Labor leader slams gov’t for ‘favoring’ capitalists over workers

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[From the web] Attacks on Workers and Unionists, Sinister Move to Deflect on Duterte’s Failure to Improve Their Lives -CTUHR

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“In its 3rdLabor Day, the Duterte regime continues to fail on its election promises to end ENDO, provide substantial wage increase and halt the skyrocketing prices. Yet, it never has second thoughts on busting unions and blaming workers’ restlessness for factory closures. It astutely used Mindanao Martial Law to militarize workplaces, forced unionists to surrender and violently dispersed picket lines,” says the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR). Today, the regime’s candidates are parading what they deemed as their own accomplishments sans an end to contractualization and wage increase, perhaps scared that voters will collect them.

Left Behind, Job Cuts amidst DOLE Alleged Regularization

`Walang maiiwan, lalo na ang mga taga probinsya’ (No one will be left behind, especially those in the provinces), these are the popular campaign words by Duterte. In reality, workers are not just left behind, they are pushed further to the margins. The DO 174 and EO 51touted to axe labor-only contractors are not ridding LOCs and manpower agencies, they are ridding the workers employed by them when the companies ‘terminate’ the agency’s services or suddenly declared bankruptcy.

Some classic examples of these practices of terminating workers simultaneous to terminating agencies are Jolibee Corp. and PLDT. More than 12,000 were axed, instead of regularized. In Hanjin Shipyard in Zambales, almost 17,000 workers lost their jobs when the company instituted voluntary resignation allegedly due to its inability to pay bank loans and banckruptcy. This is on top of the 18 factories with 31,280 workers which closed down due to economic losses and additional 2,800 workers dismissed in companies retaliation for their union organizing, CTUHR monitoring revealed. This does not include the more than 900 Sumitomo Fruit Corp (SUMIFRU) workers who had been fighting day by day to keep their jobs.

Where are the 500,000 workers that DOLE regularized? Were they regularized in the company or the manpower agencies?

A recent study of think-tank IBON Foundation revealed that the Duterte administration has only created an average of 81,000 jobs per year for Filipinos. Though Malacanang assailed the data and red-tagged the IBON Foundation, it was apparent that there are more illegal Chinese workers benefitting from Duterte’s so-called jobs creation than Filipinos. Even the government’s flagship program, Build, Build, Build which they claim to provide jobs for the Filipinos are ineffective job growth-wise. They not only create temporary and informal jobs but the roads and bridges funded by China bring with them the Chinese workers. In fact, at the Senate hearing, it was noted that around 119,000 Chinese workers are illegally working here. There are reports that Chinese workers are given priority and paid higher even in the construction sector.

The PNP in a recent statement blames unions, notably Kilusang Mayo Uno for job losses due to workers’ participation to rallies and strikes. It’s a Marcos Martial Law allegations that the government pulls from somewhere when it is convenient to transfer the blame or cannot answer the workers’ demands.

`Deadma’ and Numb on the demand for national minimum wage

Since Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, again, promised to make life lighter, Duterte regime continually squeezes particularly the poor from paying taxes from everything. It also significantly cut the workers’ below minimum salary and drove them to work killer hours to augment income. TRAIN generates P1.962 trillion in government revenues in 2018, which according to the Department of Finance (DOF) still fell short of its P2.044-trillion target.

Yet, until today’s Labor Day, the government refuses to grant the P750 national minimum wage and peddling only the job fair that build, build, build projects allegedly can provide. Since January this year, fuel prices have gone up more than 10 times, and yet the government is only keen in keeping businesses or in business as usual mode, even in times of earthquake. Workers are also complaining that work in poorly ventilated manufacturing plants and in the construction sector are becoming so unbearable due to extreme heat, and yet the government, with its Climate resiliency mantra is not pushing companies to provide their workers adequate protection and assistance.

Intensified attacks against the labor sector

CTUHR underscores that cases of trade union and human rights violations` dramatically increased during Duterte’s nearly three years in office. It cited 42 victims of extrajudicial killings of workers, unionists, and organizers primarily from the agriculture sector. It added that 3,508 were arbitrarily arrested, harassed, physically assaulted or falsely accused of criminal offenses. CTUHR further noted that it documented 13 cases of direct and open attacks against workers and unionists inside and outside the strike perpetuated by either police or military forces.

Martial Law in Mindanao has inflicted heavy damages against unions. Recently, three (3) union leaders were abducted, tortured and forced to withdraw their union membership along with 150 others from KMU-affiliate local union at Musahamat Farms in Compostela Valley on March 2019. They were also forced to sign a paper claiming that they were NPA surenderees. Last year in November, union board member of SUMIFRU workers was gunned down, killing him instantly and in December, the Union President’s house was burned to ashes by soldiers of 61stIB.

Duterte’s direct tirades against unions demonizing them, especially Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) – affiliated unions, had never been as damaging as it is now. Its inability to address unemployment and poverty is matched by its unequal attacks on unions and human rights defenders in every sector labeling them as communist fronts or aiding terrorism. This clearly violates ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on right to freedom of association and collectively bargain.

CHR has cautioned the government of this red tagging, as this clearly violates the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. It brings more harm than good, it added. KMU also filed complaints at the International Labour Organization (ILO).

“This country is confronting labor and human rights crisis perpetuated by no other than the President and his administration. Thus, this labor day, CTUHR pledges again its unwavering solidarity with the workers in their continuing struggle for job security, national minimum wage, dignified work, and safe working conditions. His so-called `malasakit’ (concern) is only for bowed heads and sealed tongues and calls on workers to muster their strength and power to resist this multi-faceted assault. It reaffirms its call on companies and the Duterte government to stop the attacks against labor, human rights, and people’s rights defenders!

Source: ctuhr.org

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[Statement] #KarapatDapat na agenda ang disenteng trabaho at tuldukan ang ENDO -PAHRA/iDEFEND

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Pahayag ng iDEFEND at PAHRA sa pandaigdigang araw ng Paggawa

Ayon sa Philippine Statistics Office mahigit 2 milliong Pilipino ang walang trabaho sa nakaraang taon. Higit 75% nito ay nasa edad na 15 to 34 taon. Ang pinakamalaking bahagi ng mga manggagawa ang nasa sektor ng services at pangangalakal, pangalawang pinakamalaki ang nasa agrikultura at pangatlo ang nasa industrya. Higit sa kalahati ng namamasukan sa 31,277 establisyamento ang kontraktual o sadlak sa trabahong “endo”.

Ang tuloy tuloy na pananalasa ng trabahong ENDO (kontraktual, ‘end-of-contract’) ay labag sa karapatan ng manggagawa sa disente, regular at ligtas na paggawa. Isa ito sa pinakamalaking balakid sa pag unlad ng bansa sapagkat hindi naaabot ng karamihan ng mamamayan ang maayos na antas ng seguridad at kabuhayan. Dahil sa ENDO nakasadlak sa alanganin ang paggulong ng ekonomiyang kinakailangan upang mapagtapos ng pag aaral ang mga kabataan, maitawid ang rehabilitasyon ng mga biktima ng sakuna, masuportahan ang lokal na produksyon at agrikultura, at mag engganyo ng maliliit na negosyo.

Sa ika-1 ng Mayo 2019 panawagan ng Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) at ng In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND) ang pagtuldok sa ENDO bilang #KarapatDapat na agenda ng mamamayan sa darating na halalan. Kasama rito ang pagpapatupad ng lahat ng panuntunan ng International Labor Organization (ILO) kaugnay sa disenteng trabaho kabilang na ang sapat na sahod, regular at ligtas na trabaho, karapatan sa loob ng pinapasukan, gender equality, social protection at disenteng pabahay.

Hinahamon ng PAHRA at iDEFEND ang mga kandidato sa nalalapit na halalan na suportahan ang 10 puntong #KarapatDapat na agenda tungo sa paggugubyernong maka-karapatang pantao na tutugon sa karapatan ng manggagawa. Hinihimok rin ang manggagawang Pilipino na bumoto sa mga kandidatong tumatalima sa agendang ito. Huwag iboto ang mga kandidatong may record ng pang-aabuso, pagsisinungaling, pandarambong at pagmamalabis sa kapangyarihan. Ang kandidatong maka-karapatang pantao ay siguradong lalaban na wakasan ang ENDO, ipatupad ang ganap na pagtalima sa disenteng paggawa at iba pang karapatang pang ekonomiya, sosyal at pangkultural.

REFERENCE:
MS. ROSE TRAJANO, PAHRA SECRETARY GENERAL; Mobile: 09173082409; E-mail: pahra@philippinehumanrights.org
MR. ELLECER CARLOS, IDEFEND Coordinator; Mobile: 09176494065

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[Statement] #LaborDay2019: Migrant workers march in fury against the tyrannical Duterte regime -Migrante International

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On a global scale, the first of May is regarded by workers as a day of mass action and protest against the prevailing order of exploitation and injustice. United with all the militant unions of workers worldwide, Migrante International marks the observance of this hallowed occasion to laud the Filipino working class in its struggle to attain emancipation from the scourge of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism.

Taking part on this day reaffirms our commitment to unionize Filipino workers as well as in organizing their families and other sectors within the frame of the national democratic interests of the Filipino masses. This is also a global day of action to denounce modern-day slavery and the intensifying labor export program of the Duterte regime

In 2018, OFW remittances reached $33.8 Billion. The economy remains dependent on remittances and loans. Without financing from external sources, the economy will falter even more due to the absence of national industrialization efforts. While the Duterte regime lavishes in the profusion of state-exactions and remittances from OFWs, Filipino migrant workers continue to suffer neglect and exploitation. OFW contributions to the struggling Philippine economy are not getting translated to genuine protection of migrants’ rights and welfare.

Last year, Saudi-OFW and cancer patient Allan Rafael were illegally arrested, robbed and killed by Manila police in a police station in Quiapo, Manila. He was severely tortured by the police to coerce him to admit involvement in illegal drugs based on his frail and emaciated physical appearance. Unsafe working conditions in his former host country and poor medical services in the Philippines contributed to his physical deterioration. He fought for his life but Fascism and injustice under the blood-thirsty Duterte regime eventually led to his tragic death.

This flagrant culture of impunity under the Duterte regime was made apparent when Senior Superintendent Chito Bersaluna got promoted as Bulacan’s chief of police after leading the deadly Caloocan raid that claimed the lives of children from OFW families, Kian delos Santos, and Carl Arnaiz. Bersaluna is the same police chief behind the violent dispersal and illegal arrests of striking workers in NutriAsia in July 2018.

In the parliament of the streets, we march with indignation against the tyrannical Duterte regime and the intensifying oppression of Filipino workers under his watch. Enabled by the semi-colonial and semi-feudal conditions in the country, Duterte’s reign of terror further emboldens the big owners of capital to mercilessly exploit and imperil the lives of Filipino workers. Even a virulent earthquake last month failed to stir them to evacuate BPO and mall workers to safety.

Trade union repression, contractualization, poor working conditions and the absence of a national minimum wage aggravates the problem of forced migration in the Philippines. The terrible plight of workers in the Philippines placed the country among the world’s ten worst countries for workers according to the 2018 ITUC Global Rights Index.

The severity of excruciating labor conditions in the Philippines and the high unemployment rate drives several thousand Filipinos daily to overseas deployment. Even abroad, the Duterte regime’s voracious appetite for forced remittances through state exactions is bleeding OFW pockets dry. Aside from the rising cost of living due to Duterte’s TRAIN Law, migrant workers and their families would now have to contend with higher amounts of mandatory OFW contributions in Philhealth and SSS (Social Security System).

Recently, PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde derogated KMU and even falsely claimed that rallies, strikes and union organizing are the roots of joblessness and low investor confidence in the Philippines. To gain proof that his words are indeed blatant lies, Albayalde only has to look at the countries with the highest levels of labor union membership and militancy to find out that these are the very countries where Filipinos prefer to live and work permanently. These are the same countries that addressed the problems of landlessness and massive unemployment through genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization.

Instead of guaranteeing the rights of workers to organize and assemble freely, PNP chief Albayalde has actually chosen the side of the ruling exploiters who continue to afflict workers with poverty-wages and harsh working conditions.

As agents of trade union persecution and state-terrorism, the inclusion of AFP and PNP in the anti-worker matrix is indeed indisputable. These Fascist institutions do not serve the interests of the Filipino working class but those of the elite and their imperialist masters.

Moreover, the habitual red-tagging and black propaganda being waged by AFP and PNP against trade unions, progressive organizations, MAKABAYAN party-lists and candidates is contradictory to their non-partisanship and apolitical claims. Furthermore, murderous sycophants from AFP and PNP are among the primary culprits in state-sponsored killings through the Duterte regime’s fake war against drugs and the anti-people Oplan Kapayapaan.

The Duterte regime and his armed brutes detest seeing Filipino workers exercise their political rights in any militant form of social action. By the same token, the consistent domination of MAKABAYAN party-list and senatorial candidates in mock polls threatens Duterte’s lust for absolute control in both chambers of Congress.

This 13th of May, the Filipino people will be able to express their desire for real change through the ballot. Outside the Philippines, overseas absentee voting has already started but the utter disenfranchisement of registered Filipino overseas absentee voters is marked by delays in the arrival of mailed ballots and the burdensome cost of paying for their own postal stamps.

Overseas Filipino workers deserve pro-labor legislators who will uphold the rights and welfare of the Filipino workers both in the Philippines and abroad. Ensuring free and honest elections is in the interest of OFWs. Accordingly, Migrante International will continue to monitor and file reports and cases of irregularities and disenfranchisement.

With the heightening of imperialist greed and plunder, the global economic crises generated by neoliberal economic policies bear out the rottenness and failure of global monopoly capitalism. This corrupt economic system denies workers the right to live and work decently in their own countries as seen in the mass deployment of Filipino workers abroad through the government’s labor export program and the influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines.

The debt-ridden and overpriced infrastructure projects are not providing employment to Filipinos whom Panelo insulted as unskilled in construction. The influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines highlights the failure of Duterte’s Build, Build, Build to provide stable jobs to Filipinos. It likewise attests to the failure of China’s capitalist mode of production to secure decent lives for its citizens in their own country.

Members of the ruling elite set themselves to preserve this vile economic and societal order by pitting one group of workers against another. Lest we forget that this strife is not between exploited workers of two or three diverse races. For certain, it is a clash between the elite oppressive class and the oppressed workers of the world.

#KasamaAkoSaMayoUno for we side with the working class, the peasants and that of the other basic spheres of society to denounce imperialist domination and to overthrow Duterte’s reign of terror.

Let us then take up the cudgels and bolster our strength by uniting in solidarity for the attainment of social justice and liberation. As the real masters of production, our heroic workers stand as the creators of a new and better world where oppression and exploitation shall be no more. Rising above adversities, the triumph of our struggle for national democracy is at hand.

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[Press Release] Labor Day 2019: Common slate and platform by unified workers movement is a victory in itself, says labor groups -BMP

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Photo from Leody De Guzman FB

Labor senatoriables held a press conference at the foot of Mendiola Bridge early morning today to commemorate International Labor Day. The candidates, who have coalesced under the LABOR WIN alliance, said that the said venue was chosen not only as a message to Malacanang to persuade House and the Senate to prohibit contractualization, enact a national minimum wage, and adopt a policy of price control.

“Our assembly at the Palace gates is also a reminder to the Filipino working class that there can be no genuine social change and meaningful reforms unless political power truly serves the interests of labor. The electoral intervention by labor groups is but a small step towards this historical mission,” said Ernie Arellano of National Confederation of Labor (NCL).

Victory by Labor

An optimistic Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) national chair Ka Leody de Guzman agreed, “Kahit hindi pa naitatala ang resulta ng halalan, maari nang sabihing may nakamit nang mga tagumpay ang kilusang paggawa ngayong halalang 2019”.

The victories that de Guzman pertains to is the “higher level of unity” attained by various groups under the LABOR WIN alliance. “We have not only transcended our ideological differences and innate competition for the affiliation of local trade unions. More so, we now unite not only trade union demands but on the need for labor participation in politics, during elections and after it, in order to reach our shared vision of a prosperous, egalitarian, pro-labor and pro-poor society”.

Neri Colmenares of the Makabayan Coalition explained, “A strong and united workers’ movement that is not limited to factory struggles is an essential component in the people’s struggle against the more brazen attacks to human rights under the present regime”.

“If the election surveys are to be believed, it is evident that the hold of patronage politics, especially in the ranks of the desperate poor, is still strong. But it will soon break as workers are now beginning to vote not based on individual preferences but on their common interest as a class. Hence, we are now witnessing the blossoming of the workers’ movement as a powerful political force to change society,” Sonny Matula of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) furthered.

Allan Montano, also of FFW sums it up by exclaiming “Manggagawa na! We have long asked for pro-labor and pro-poor reforms to be passed by Congress and the Senate but our demands fall on deaf ears of lawmakers who advance profit before people. The imperative is for labor leaders to get elected into the legislature to fight for workers’ interests. History reveals that the path of electoral participation, alongside the mass struggles of the workers outside the halls of Congress, brought the legislation of various labor standards such as the 8-hour working day, the minimum wage, the right to form unions and collectively bargain, the weekend, etc.”

Manggagawa, pamunuan ang laban ng bayan!

The LABOR WIN candidates were joined in by the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), who assembled in Mendiola. The PLM is the political party that fielded Ka Leody de Guzman in the senatorial race. It is also running in the party-list elections.

PLM national chair Sonny Melencio said, “Electoral victory, to win seats in Congress and the Senate is but one of our objectives in participating in the elections. We aspire for representation inside the elite-dominated legislative branch of the capitalist state to give voice to the toiling and impoverished majority. But more than this, we will grab the opportunity provided by the elections to massively organize the workers and the poor under a pro-reform platform and to raise the discourse beyond the mudslinging and the muckraking of the trapos.

Melencio added, “In the latter half of the Duterte regime, we expect the administration to dominate Congress and the local governments. It would be harsher and ruthless in its implementation of the neoliberal economic policies of liberalization, deregulation, privatization, and contractualization in order to please foreign investors and local capitalists.

He warned that the administration’s ‘war on drugs’ , which is actually a war on the poor will only be more unrelenting coupled with its continued subservience to the whims of the Chinese government, not just in the disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea but also in its intervention on the country’s economic affairs.

To counter these attacks on labor and the Filipino people, Melencio asserted that, “the struggle against fascism needs the leadership of the labor movement. Hence, we welcome the massive support enjoyed by Ka Leody and the LABOR WIN slate, especially among the young voters, in the ongoing electoral campaign. The labor movement will be strengthened by fresh forces coming from the ranks of the youth”.

Unified Labor March by Church-Labor Conference, PAGGAWA, KMU, FFW, and BMP

In the afternoon, various groups marched thousands of workers from different assemblies in Metro Manila and converged in a unity march along Quezon Bridge before holding a joint program at Liwasang Bonifacio.

The “unity march” assembles the broadest ever convergence of the labor movement to date with the Church-Labor Conference, Pagkakaisa ng Paggawa (PAGGAWA), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), among others. ###

Reference:
Ka Leody de Guzman 0920-5200672
Sonny Melencio 0908-8173169

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[Statement] Time is up: The buck stops now with the President on the issue of endo -NAGKAISA

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Contractualization was a top billing issue during the 2016 presidential election. And it was the President who made a campaign promise that the moment he becomes the Chief Executive, contractualization will stop. The trade union movement responded with enthusiasm and accorded the President the courtesy and latitude of managing his plans by participating in all the summits, workshops, and dialogues organized by the government on this issue.

Several times he asked leaders of Nagkaisa labor coalition that he be given more time to realize his pledge – the first was on February 27, 2017; then on May 1, 2017; and the last was on February 7, 2018, where he asked for another extension until March 15. On these occasions, President Duterte would always say that contractualization is anti-labor and anti-poor as it brings in hardship and poverty upon millions of our workers.

Furthermore, it was also the President who asked Nagkaisa leaders during the Labor Day dialogue held in Davao last year to draft within 10 days an Executive Order (EO) that he can sign to correct the labor-rejected Department Order 174 issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in March last year and to rectify the more than two decades of failed framework of regulation. Nagkaisa religiously complied with all these processes and waited for the final response of the President.

Now, a few days before his self-imposed deadline and the President is no longer asking for time and more drafts but for a compromise. The buck stops now with President Duterte. The labor-drafted EO which seeks to bring back direct hiring and institutionalize prohibition as the general rule on contractualization but recognizes that there are types of jobs that can be contracted out as along as it passes through consultation with the National Tripartite and Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) is the fairest middle ground or “compromise” that labor can take. A watered-down version of an EO is unacceptable.

PRESS STATEMENT
NAGKAISA Labor Coalition
28 February 2018
Reference: Rene Magtubo
Spokesperson

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[Press Release] Workers Complain of Ill Effects of Climate Change on Work and Health,Demand Php750 Pay Hike and Better Conditions to Adapt -CTUHR

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“We cannot focus on our work and the blower in the factory is not enough to ventilate the production plant,” said Blas, a factory worker. “We can’t work any longer now reducing our income due to heat,” Regie, a pedicab driver butts in. “Our family members contract several illnesses, cough, asthma and several skin diseases due to extreme heat. The entire community feels like burning every day,” laments Divina, a working mother.

These were the collective feelings of factory workers and pedicab drivers gathered last April 28 in Punturin, Valenzuela City, to assess how Climate Change is impacting work and workers’ conditions.

In the last months, the temperature has hit between 38-41oC with heat index much higher according to PAG-ASA. While the earth is rumbling from a long drought and recent earthquakes, workers are being ‘baked’ inside poorly ventilated production lines contending with rusty blower spewing hot air in often windowless factories. In Valenzuela City, where many workers are obliged to work for 12 hours every day without a day off and paid less than the minimum wage, especially the long-term contractuals, climate change impacts are slowly killing those workers. They often go home dehydrated, as companies failed to adapt to changing temperatures without changing work systems and quotas.

In their homes – boarding houses and one cubicle so-called apartments, residents complained of skin diseases, asthma, cough, heart ailments and other illnesses caused and aggravated by extreme temperature. Their wages ranging from Php 200-P510 (USD4-10) cannot bring them to health clinics or expensive medical treatments.

“They are pushing the workers to individually adapt to climate change without recognizing that it’s the companies and corporations practices and unfettered desire for profit that’s driving global warming,” says Daisy Arago, Executive Director of Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) and one of the workshop organizers. She added that studies revealed that 100 Transnational Corporations are responsible for 71% of greenhouse gas emissions that are burning the earth. [link] Yet, workers and the marginalized poor are suffering more from the negative effects of climate change, she added.

“If workers are paid better, Php 750 national minimum wage is given, we have secure jobs, not and we can freely organize or unionize, we can better adapt to climate change. This means that we do not have to dwell along waterways, or under bridges that are dangerous and most vulnerable. Or stay in crowded communities without access to fresh air and a cleaner environment. We can send our children to health clinics,” asserted Malou Santos, Women WISE3chairperson.

Asked what else workers need to do to address climate change impacts, Glenn Bayona, one of the workers who attended said, “We need to change not only the industrial but also agricultural policies. Actually, the economic policies that give power to corporations to destroy hills and mountains, deplete the water sources, poison our air from pesticide aerial spraying & powerplants, etc, that drive us here in the cities to become contractual workers.”

Santos added that workers, especially women would continue to be vulnerable if the basic needs like wages, housing, water, energy are not addressed. It is not us individually that are responsible for heating up the planet and we demand climate justice. When we mean climate justice, the workers, women and other vulnerable sectors’ demands are met and given justice.

The workers also asserted that climate justice is one of the issues that should be addressed by the running candidates this upcoming May 13 Midterm Elections.

Reference:
Daisy Arago
CTUHR Executive Director
Tel # 0916 248 4876 / 718 00 26

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[Press Release] Aquino ‘turning a blind eye’ to workers woes – CTUHR

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Aquino ‘turning a blind eye’ to workers woes – CTUHR

CTUHR logoOn the 111th International Labor Day, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights criticized the Aquino administration’s responses concerns of Filipino workers saying that the administration is “turning a blind eye” to workers issues and demands.

CTUHR Executive Director Daisy Arago said, “Recent actions and responses of Malacanang and the Department of Labor [and employment] to workers’ clamor for substantial wage hike, decent employment and work security prove that the current government is not promoting ‘inclusive’ growth; rather, it is turning a blind eye to workers’ demands and the root causes of workers woes”

In addressing unemployment and jobless growth, Arago stated that DOLE’s ‘much-boasted’ 400,000 jobs available in job fairs this Labor Day is hardly enough to provide employment to over 4 million unemployed Filipinos. “They do this every year but joblessness in the country cannot be addressed if the government will rely on labor export and the BPOs, construction, and service sector to generate jobs. And these are the kind of jobs being offered in these job fairs,” Arago added.

Increasing working poor

Citing a report of the National Statistics Coordination Board, Arago said that the unchanged poverty incidence is clear indication that Aquino’s economic and labor programs are not pro-workers and pro-poor. “The government still does not have a plan on how it can generate decent jobs and at the same time it refuses to approve significant wage hikes for the workers when it is obvious that these courses of actions could actually improve the situation of Filipino workers.”

Arago also noted that the number of working poor in the country is as much as 10 million while approximately 8 million working Filipinos are living with less than 1 dollar each day.

Shrewd labor policies

Arago also described Aquino’s labor policies as “shrewd” guised in progressive and kind language but are essentially undermining workers’ rights and running counter to workers’ interest. Arago cited several new labor laws and policies namely the strengthening of tripartism, mandatory conciliation in labor disputes, and the two tier wage system to illustrate her point.

“The government is using the concept of tripartism to project that it is democratically discussing with the workers its labor agenda and policies. But can tripartism actually work in our current situation wherein employers and the government collude in promoting capital’s interest at the expense of workers? We fear that this mechanism will only be used by both employers and the government to legitimize anti-workers policies and programs.”

Arago also bucked the mandatory conciliation period as a way to deter workers from filing complaints against abusive employers. Arago explained that with this new law, workers are compelled to ‘negotiate’ first with their employers their complaints for a period of 30 days and only when the conciliation fails can the workers file a formal complaint at a labor court. Arago expressed that this situation is again not favorable to the workers.

“Needless to say, the two tier wage system is an outright attack, even an insult, to the workers demand for significant wage hike. It definitely shows how the government is hell-bent on inviting more investors at the expense of labor,” Arago added.

The two tier wage system introduces two levels of wages, floor wage and productivity-based wage, and practically brings down the minimum wage rates.

Continuing attack on workers

In terms of unionism and workers freedoms, Arago stressed that the situation under Aquino is no better than before.

“Unionism is still in decline because of repressive laws that hinder workers from organizing and also because of ballooning contractualization,” Arago said.

The group said that only around 8 percent of the employed population are unionized and only 230,000 workers are covered by collective bargaining agreement.

Arago also said that harassment on independent unionists has not stopped but has in fact worsened under Aquino. “Union leaders are still being harassed, criminalized and even killed,” Arago added.

The group cited that in their monitoring from June 2010 to Dec 2012, there are 301 cases labor rights violations and violation of civil and political rights committed against some 24,000 workers.

RELEASE
01 May 2012
Reference: Daisy Arago, CTUHR Executive Director, 411.0256

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[Featured Photo] NAGKAISA! Labor coalition marched from España blvd to Mendiola bridge -PhilRights

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NAGKAISA! Labor coalition marched from España blvd to Mendiola bridge

NAGKAISA! Labor coalition marched from España blvd to Mendiola bridge- Photo by PhilRights

NAGKAISA! Labor coalition marched from España blvd to Mendiola bridge- Photo by PhilRights

The workers from NAGKAISA! Labor coalition marched from España blvd to Mendiola bridge to challenge candidates for the upcoming 2013 elections and the President of the Republic of the Philippines to uphold the Worker’s Agenda. The workers demands are:

1) Regular Jobs,

2) Living Wage,

3) Labor Rights in the Public Sector and

4) Lower power rates.

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[Press Release] KAMP joins Labor Day rally to demand jobs and living wage for informal labor

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KAMP joins Labor Day rally to demand jobs and living wage for informal labor

KAMPThe Kampanya para sa Makataong Pamumuhay (KAMP) joined NAGKAISA! – the broadest labor coalition in the Philippines to date – to celebrate Labor Day yesterday. KAMP leaders and members assembled at the PLDT Bldg. along España Ave., Manila and marched to Mendiola.

Side-by-side NAGKAISA’s demand for job and employment security and labor rights for formal labor, “KAMP is pushing for employment facilitation at the local level, employment guarantees and employment generation. These are the demands of the vulnerable sectors of labor – the unemployed, underemployed, and unpaid family workers estimated to be 60% to 70% of the labor force,” explained KAMP Head Convenor Ana Maria R. Nemenzo.

“Workers in the informal sector need protection from government. That is why, besides jobs and a living wage, KAMP is also pushing for universal health care, and decent and affordable housing for the poor and marginalized,” Ms. Nemenzo added.

The activity is a start of KAMP’s campaign to push for policies and legislations versus “jobless growth” and poverty that continue to persist, firmly demonstrating that the conditional cash transfer is not sufficient. KAMP wants the government to develop and implement an economic strategy that prioritizes production for domestic needs and consumption, and at the same time is anchored on sound and equitable agricultural and industrial development to generate more jobs for the country’s growing labor force.

PRESS RELEASE
Kampanya para sa Makataong Pamumuhay (KAMP)
1 May 2013

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[Statement] P-Noy, Kontra manggagawa! Tuta ng Kapitalista – bukluranngmanggagawangpilipino.blogspot.com

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http://bukluranngmanggagawangpilipino.blogspot.com/

Noong inagurasyon ni P-Noy, sinabi niya “pwede na muling mangarap” sa pamamagitan ng “tuwid na daan” ng kanyang administrasyon. Pero makalipas ang sampung buwan, kabaligtaran ang ginagawa niya.

Deklarasyon ng gera sa manggagawang Pilipino ang order ni P-Noy na legal at management prerogative nga ang spin-off sa PAL. Ang sabwatan nina P-Noy at Lucio Tan ay magtatanggal sa 2,600 na manggagawa sa PAL.

Ang desisyong ito ni P-Noy ay nagbigay ng lisensya sa lahat ng kapitalista na magtanggal ng manggagawa nang walang due process of law. Kahit mabuti kang manggagawa at walang kaso, kapag naisipan ng management na tanggalin ka, pwede na. Iyan ang bisa ng desisyon ni P-Noy. Tahasang nilabag ni P-Noy ang Saligang Batas na naggagarantiya sa karapatan sa seguridad sa trabaho.

Ito ang patunay na hindi tayong manggagawa ang boss ni P-Noy kundi si Lucio Tan at iba pang kapitalista. Ito ang patunay na ang uring kapitalista ang uring kinakatawan ng rehimeng Aquino.

Paso na ang moratorium na ibinigay ni P-Noy sa demolisyon ng bahay ng maralita. Kabi-kabila na ang demolisyon sa pamamagitan ng pagsunog sa mga komunidad ng maralitang manggagawa. Ang mga lupang gubyerno sa Quezon City na tinitirikan ng mga bahay ng maralitang manggagawa na ibinenta kina Lucio Tan, Augusto Ayala Zobel at iba pang mga lupa sa Metro Manila na binili ng mga kapitalista para sa ekspansyon ng kanilang naglalakihang negosyo ay sinusunog para mabilis at matipid na mapaalis ang mga nakatira. Wala silang pakialam kung saan titira ang mga makakaligtas sa sunog. Wala silang pakialam kung saan kukuha ng ikabubuhay ang mga nasunugan.

Ito ang patunay na hindi tayong mga maralita ang boss ni P-Noy kundi ang mga mayayamang gaya nina Henry Sy, Lucio Tan at Augusto Ayala Zobel.

Ang Philippines Development Plan (PDP) na nakabatay sa Public Private Partnership (PPP) ay kopya lamang sa programa ng nagdaang gubyerno na makakapitalista at makadayuhan – liberalisasyon ng kalakalan, deregulasyon ng merkado, pribatisasyon ng ari-ariang publiko at pleksibilisasyon ng paggawa na magpapalala ng kontraktwalisasyon na mag-aalis sa karapatang maregular sa trabaho, makapagtayo ng unyon at CBA at laganap na pagbaba ng sweldo. Wala na rin kontrol sa presyo ng mga batayang pangangailangan sa pamilihan dahil sa deregulasyon ng merkado.

Walang puknat ang pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin. Maya’t maya ang pagtaas ng presyo ng petrolyo. Mula Enero hanggang kasalukuyan, tumaas ang gasolina ng P13.50 per liter, ang krudo P12.50 per liter, at ang LPG ay P15.45 per kilo. Sumabay na rin ang bayarin sa serbisyo tulad ng tubig at kuryente maging ang pamasahe sa bus, taxi, jeep at toll fee at susunod na ang MRT at LRT.

Hinahayaan na lang ni P-Noy ang pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin at petrolyo. Nagsisilbi pang tagapagtanggol ng mga dambuhalang kumpanya ng langis ang kanyang hepe sa Dept. of Energy.

Ito ang patunay na hindi tayong mamamayang Pilipino ang boss ni P-Noy kundi ang mga dambuhalang kapitalistang dayuhan.

Noong taong 2010, ayon mismo sa gubyerno, ang isang pamilya na may limang myembro ay nangangailangan ng P983.00 kada araw para lamang mabuhay. Ngayon, tinatayang aabutin na ito ng mahigit P1,000.00 kada araw. Subalit ang kasalukuyang sweldo ay nakapako na sa P404.00 kada araw sa NCR at mas mababa pa sa ibang rehiyon. Malayong-malayo para mabuhay ng disente ang manggagawa. Kumonti ang mabibili ng piso. Ayon din sa gubyerno, noong taong 2000, ang piso ay P1.00. Ngunit ngayong 2011, ang piso ay nagkakahalaga na lamang ng P0.60 sentimos.

Habang kapos ang sweldo ng mga manggagawa at bagsak ang kakayahang bumili nito, lumalangoy naman sa dagat ng tubo (profit) ang mga kapitalistang boss ni P-Noy. Ayon sa Forbes Magazine, ang top 1,000 corporation sa ating bansa ay lumobo ang tubo mula P116.4 bilyon noong 2001 tungo sa P416.7 bilyon noong 2008. Nagkamal ng malaking tubo ang uring kapitalista sa paghuthot nito sa lakas-paggawa ng manggagawang Pilipino.

Ngayong Mayo Uno, nagtatalo-talo pa ang mga boss ni P-Noy kasama ang Malakanyang kung magkano ang ibibigay na mumo o mismis sa nagpapakahirap nating manggagawa para sila magkamal ng super-yaman. Wala sa kanilang usapan kung paano mabibigyan ng sweldong makabubuhay ng pamilya ang manggagawang Pilipino ayon sa nakasulat sa Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas.

Muli, ito ang patunay na ang boss ni P-Noy ay hindi tayo kundi ang mga kapitalistang kauri niya.

Bola lang ang sinabi noon ni P-Noy na “pwede na muling mangarap”. Isa itong mumurahing gimik sa halalan. Kahit hindi sabihin ni P-Noy, ang bawat isa sa atin ay may pangarap – disente’t regular na trabaho, sapat na sweldo, disenteng tahanan, mapag-aral ang mga anak, may gagastusin sa oras na magkasakit at konting ipon kapag nagretiro na hindi umaasa sa limos ng gubyerno. Simpleng pangarap na imposibleng mangyari sa maka-kapitalistang administrasyon ni P-Noy.

Dahil sa mga patakaran at ginagawa ni P-Noy, ang ating simpleng pangarap ay mauuwi sa bangungot. Sapagkat ang mga akto at patakaran ni P-Noy ay ang tuwid na daan patungong impyerno.

Kamanggagawa at kababayan, iwaksi na ang ilusyong ang gubyernong maka-kapitalista ay kusang magbibigay ng ginhawa sa atin. Namnamin nating mabuti ang katotohanan na ang interes ng manggagawa ay salungat sa interes ng kapitalista. Ang pagbaba ng sweldo ay paglaki ng tubo ng kapitalista. Ang pagbaba ng badyet sa serbisyo sosyal ay paglaki ng pera at tubo para sa kapitalista. Ang pagbibigay ng lupang matitirahan ng maralita ay kabawasan sa ekspansyon ng negosyo at tubo ng kapitalista, ang pagtaas ng presyo at buwis ay pagbawi sa kakarampot na kinita ng manggagawa at paglaki ng tubo ng mga kapitalista. Ang sistemang kapitalismo ay walang puso. Hangad lang nito ang papalaki at papalaking tubo. Hindi para sa kabutihan ng manggagawa at mamamayan. At ang tagapagpatupad nito ay ang pangulo ng bansa.

Hanggang kailan tayo magtitiis sa ganitong papalalang kalagayan?

Tayo mismo anhg makapagbabago sa ating abang kalagayan, wala nang iba. Sa unang Mayo Uno ng rehimeng Aquino, salubungin natin siya ng malaki at pambansang kilos protesta. Kumilos tayo para sa pagbabago, para sa ating pangarap. Hindi natin papayagan ang ganitong kalagayan at hindi tayo dapat mag-ilusyon na kusang ipagkakaloob ang ating nga kahilingan. Kailangan nating kumilos, lumaban, palawakin ang pagkakaisa at paigtingin ang mga pakikibaka.

Halina’t sama-sama nating gawing realidad ang ating mga pangarap.

BMP – PLM – PMT – SUPER – MELF – KPML – ZOTO
AMA – MP – MMVA – PK – KALAYAAN – SANLAKAS

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