AMID THE BACKDROP of the Mary Jane Veloso case, activist groups commemorated this year's Labor Day with protest rallies in Metro Manila, while President Benigno S.C. Aquino III traveled to Cebu to attend a job fair and the inauguration of a cement plant -- practically the same activities in Mr. Aquino's Labor Day schedule in 2014.
Mr. Aquino arrived late at Friday morning's Jobstart Philippines Forum, sponsored by the Labor department and its partners, and went around in this gathering, before proceeding to the University of Cebu Medical Center also in Mandaue City to inspect a new facility. Thereafter he went to Naga City to attend that day's inauguration of a plant by multinational cement firm CEMEX that was completed last year.
Labor Day protests followed Mr. Aquino in this province, even right outside the job fair. And in Cebu City, labor groups of different stripes joined forces in a protest rally denouncing what they called Mr. Aquino's disregard of the workforce.
“[We are calling for] justice for all workers [who] until now [are experiencing] job contractualization [and are not given] decent working conditions,” Dennis S. Derige of the Partido ng Manggagawa's Cebu chapter said in an interview.
Mr. Derige noted the diversity of the ralliers, including the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and the Bukluran ng Mangagawang Pilipino.
In Manila, labor groups under the Nagkaisa coalition marched from Welcome Rotonda to Mendiola on Friday morning. The protests here and elsewhere in the metropolis lasted well into the evening.
An officer of the Manila Police District said the morning crowd was an "estimated 1,500" and described the protests as "generally peaceful."
For its part, the TUCP reiterated its call for the government to adopt its proposals on unemployment insurance and security of tenure, among other issues that have hounded Mr. Aquino in most Labor Day celebrations on his watch. (Unemployment remains a theme this year, despite its considerable decline and downward trend, according to the latest quarterly survey by the Social Weather Stations released last month.)
Early this week, the coalition canceled its annual luncheon with Mr. Aquino, citing his inaction on these and other labor concerns since 2011, the first Labor Day celebration under his administration.
But in March, the Labor department announced a new round of increases in the mininum wage covering the National Capital Region and prompted in part by a petition by the TUCP. The group's spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay, however, criticized this P15 increase, as opposed to TUCP's proposed P136 across-the-board increase, as "revolting" and "unacceptable."
Mr. Tanjusay also lamented early Friday that Mr. Aquino "could have honored the workers" with a Labor Day message, which, to be sure, Malacañang published that day on gov.ph
Labor groups as well as the media have been attentive to any pronouncement or activity from Mr. Aquino on that occasion. In 2013, the Palace moved Labor Day activities to April 30, upon the Labor department's recommendation, "so as not to crowd the labor group activities for May 1," Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said at the time. As that year was an election year, Mr. Aquino was in his home province of Tarlac to campaign for his candidates. Last year, the Labor department held job fairs while Mr. Aquino went to Laguna to deliver his Labor Day speech at a semiconductor facility.
His Labor Day message this year said in part, “Pangunahin sa adhikaing ito ang siguruhing ligtas at may kakayahan ang ating kababayan na magtagumpay sa buhay. Saanmang sulok ng mundo sila naroroon, sinisikap tugunan ng pamahalaan ang kanilang mga pangangailangan, lalo na sa larangan ng edukasyon, pagsasanay at agarang ayuda.” (Forermost in our aspirations is to ensure the safety and capability of our countrymen to succeed in life. Wherever they are in the world, the government aims to fulfill their needs, especially in education, skills training and prompt assistance.)
Sought for comment at the continuing protest in Mendiola by Friday night, activist and former business-section editor Satur C. Ocampo also spoke within the clear context of current events: "The workers…are demanding [the abolition of] labor export policy -- the dependence of the economy to the OFWs while neglecting the development of Philippine agriculture. We are also against labor contractualization which prevents duly recruited workers from joining trade unions." -- with reports by A.M. Monzon, Elizabeth Escaño, and Jauhn Etienne Villaruel | BusinessWorld
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