Marching under the theme “Kalayaan Mula sa Pulitikong Kawatan,
Delubyong Kahirapan, Trahedyang mula sa Kalikasan”, some 5,000 members
of the broad labor coalition NAGKAISA (United) took to the streets today
to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the plebeian hero Andres
Bonifacio.
The protest, which assembled in the morning at the Mehan Garden for a
short program and wreath-laying, marched to Mendiola at noon to call on
President Aquino to urgently address corruption, poverty and climate
crisis.
The group also demanded that their hero be declared as the first president of the Philippine republic.
Turning in his grave
Josua Mata, NAGKAISA convenor and Alliance of Progressive Labor
(APL-SENTRO) Secretary-General, said the miserable state of Filipino
workers and the dark clouds of hopelessness hovering above the nation
are enough for Bonifacio to be turning in his grave.
“NAGKAISA thus call on the Aquino administration to address the
problems of low wages, contractualization, spiraling electricity and
water rates, uncontrolled oil prices, forcible demolition of informal
settlers and, political patronage and corruption,” said Mata.
He added that the State not only has the duty of providing full
protection but also of raising the dignity of labor. “One step to
dignify labor’s role in our struggle for independence is to rectify
historical errors and proclaim the late Supremo as the first president
of the Philippine republic,” he said.
Corruption and elite rule
Among the issues highlighted at the protest was the controversial
pork barrel scam. Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) president
Leody de Guzman said, “Workers are being made to believe the so-called
‘tuwid na daan’ of the Aquino regime. Yet, despite the all-too familiar
critique against the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for
breeding political patronage, this seemingly anti-corrupt administration
doubled it in 2010”. The Supreme Court declared the PDAF
unconstitutional last November 19.
De Guzman added, “We owe this victory against the PDAF to the
thousands that participated in the anti-pork barrel protests since the
August 26 Million People March in Luneta. Although we welcome the recent
decision of the Court, we call on the people to remain vigilant.
Traditional and elitist politicians like senate president Drilon and
budget secretary Abad are now seeking loopholes to retain the
legislative largesse and the entire pork barrel system. Don’t expect
political dynasties to go down without a fight”.
Poverty, low wages and contractualization
At the NAGKAISA mass action, speakers tackled gut-issues such as
contractualization, starvation, wages and high power rates. Gerry
Rivera, president of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association
(PALEA) stated, “PALEA has lifted our picket lines because we have won
the battle at PAL through the collective solidarity of NAGKAISA and the
entire labor movement. But the fight for regular jobs is not yet over,
the scourge of contractualization remains as the number one threat to
workers’ rights and welfare”.
Last November 14, PAL management settled with PALEA which members
have daringly fought and resisted the company’s outsourcing,
contractualization program for 26 months. The settlement wins back the
union and its members’ status as regular employees. Renato Magtubo of
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), meanwhile, criticized the Aquino
administration for preserving starvation wages.
“Wage Order 18 of the NCR wage board is the lowest pay hike for
minimum wages in its entire history. Last May 2012, after Labor Day,
Noynoy echoed the capitalist blackmail line against wage increases by
threatening us with retrenchment and closures. This yellow government
maintains wages far below the cost of living in adherence to its tacit
policy of cheap labor,” Magtubo avowed.
Alan Tanjusay, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)
spokesperson added that the purchasing power of current wages is falling
due to spiraling commodity prices and electricity rates. He said,
“Electricity rates in the country are among the highest in Asia, causing
not only the unabated increase in prices and the decrease in real
wages. High power rates are the single most deterrent to investments
thereby preventing job creation that is essential to genuine inclusive
growth”.
Climate change and man-made calamities
Nagkaisa bewailed that a century and half hence the birth of Gat
Andres Bonifacio and the nation is still in shambles. Super typhoons
have become the new normal due to climate change and global warming. The
recent disasters brought by earthquakes and storms revealed the
government’s ineptitude to respond to natural calamities.
“Unless the Aquino administration becomes an active player in the
global campaign for climate justice, for lower carbon emissions from
advanced countries and for reparations to devastated Third World
countries, it will be forever remembered in history as the worst
man-made calamity to hit the nation,” Mata concluded.
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