Aquino told: Tell Canada to take back toxic trash

RETURN TO SENDER Protesters tell Canada to take back tons of garbage illegally shipped to a port in Manila from Canada two years ago. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines–Labor groups on Monday joined environmental organizations in asking President Aquino to tell the Canadian government to take back illegal trash shipped to Manila two years ago.

Aquino leaves for a state visit to Canada on Wednesday. He will take a side trip to the United States on May 7 to 9.

Ban Toxics, Greenpeace, EcoWaste Coalition and Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives protested in front of Malacañang in Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City, and the Canadian Embassy in Makati City to drum up interest in the issue in time for Aquino’s visit to Canada.

They urged the President to take up with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper the return of containers full of trash that were illegally shipped to Manila two years ago.

“This is a rare opportunity for President Aquino to assert his authority as head of state and demand that Prime Minister Harper take back Canada’s waste,” said Angelica Carballo-Pago, spokesperson for Ban Toxics.

PH demand dropped

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje told the Inquirer last week that the government has dropped its demand that Canada take back “for the sake of our diplomatic relations” the 50 containers loaded with what authorities said were household waste and scrap plastic.

Four labor groups joined their voices to the calls from environmental and public health advocacy groups in asking the President to include the trash issue on his Canadian visit agenda.

The trash has been rotting at the Manila and Subic ports since June 2013 pending a decision in a case brought against the local counterpart of the Ontario-based exporter Chronic Inc. and negotiations between the Philippines and Canada.

The groups Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino and Partido ng Manggagawa said the government’s decision to drop its demand for the return of the trash to Canada was tantamount to “an open invitation to garbage smugglers.”

Take trash back

Since last year, EcoWaste Coalition, Ban Toxics, Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy, and Ang NARS party list have been holding rallies, asking the Canadian government to take back the trash.

EcoWaste coordinator Aileen Lucero said the garbage dumping was a “blatant case of environmental injustice” in light of an international treaty signed by the Philippines and Canada that seek to prevent developed nations from dumping trash in developing nations.

“This is one agreement that should be on Aquino’s priority list, a tangible indicator by which the success of his trip will be judged,” Lucero said.

In an earlier interview, Paje said the government was waiting for clearance from the Manila Regional Trial Court, after government prosecutors in February asked that the trash be disposed of in local landfills while the case continued.

Paje said the Bureau of Customs would dispose of the trash, and that the cost would be charged to the importer, Chronic Plastics.

He said the Canadian government would not shoulder the cost, nor would the exporter, adding that the government could go after the importer only.

‘Private matter’

The Canadian Embassy has refused to take back the garbage, saying the issue is a “private commercial matter” between a Canadian exporter and its Philippine importer-partner.

“The issue is as friendly countries, would you insist on hurting diplomatic relations if there is another way?” Paje said.

“They promised they would prevent a repeat. Canada will also look into their policies to avoid a repeat. They will go after their exporter,” he added.

On fears that the government’s handling of the issue could serve as a precedent, Paje said he believed the court case brought against the importer would discourage trash shipments.

“Isn’t that a major deterrent? How can we be a dumping ground when we’re vigilant. They were caught. Who else will have the courage to import if they will be caught?” he said.– Dona Z. Pazzibugan With a report from Nathaniel R. Melican | Philippine Daily Inquirer

Workers to PNoy: Labor justice needs powerful execution, not endless dialogue

A big march to Malacanang with simultaneous actions in other cities nationwide marked today’s celebration of Labor Day as workers protested the government’s failure to address their bottom line issues such as jobs and job security, living wage, trade union rights, and decent working and living conditions.

In Manila, thousands of workers from different federations and labor organization comprising the Nagkaisa! coalition marched from Mabuhay Welcome Rotonda to Mendiola under the theme, “Hustisya sa Manggagawa at Sambayanan.”

The cry for justice, according to Nagkaisa!, is labor’s summation of failed engagement with President Aquino, whom the group insisted, “never stood on the side of labor since the PAL dispute in 2011” despite the rhetoric of ‘tuwid na daan’.

“President Aquino should have learned a valuable lesson from his last minute intervention on Mary Jane’s case. That in order to move a quixotic boulder up the mountaintop, a firm decision and solid determination is needed — a resolve he never had in addressing labor problems during the last five years in office,” said Partido Manggagawa (PM) chair Renato Magtubo and one of Nagkaisa! convenors.

The group disclosed earlier that none of labor’s bottom line issues such as contractualization, low wages and power rates reduction have been addressed by Malacanang after four years of dialogues.

“During the last five years we didn’t ask President Aquino to produce miracles. Yet a simple certification of pro-labor measure such as the Security of Tenure bill to regulate contractualization did not even warrant his attention,” said Frank Mero, President of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (Sentro), another convenor of Nagkaisa!

Labor justice, he added, needs a powerful execution not an endless dialogue.

Another convenor, Annie Geron of the Public Services Labor Confederation (PSLINK), public sector unions are disappointed that the President was not even aware of the fact that the government bureaucracy itself is implementing a widespread and worst kind of contractualization called ‘job orders’.

However, Nagkaisa! conceded that President Aquino has earned credits for saving the life of Mary Jane Veloso. But the group said that won’t change the fact that beyond his buzzer beater intervention on Mary Jane’s behalf, many labor issues that translate into social problems like human trafficking and the exodus of Filipinos to foreign lands persist.

“Filipino are hopelessly enmeshed in an unchanging political system serving the affluent elite and betraying the destitute millions. They sense that no one is fighting for them,” said Gerard Seno, Vice President of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa!

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) President accused the Aquino administration of perpetuating the old system of elite rule.

“PNoy has resolutely protected controversial allies and lifted no fingers on political dynasties. But never had he shown a grain of disposition for the working class,” said De Guzman.

Other than Manila, labor marches were also held in the cities of Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, General Santos, and in Cavite and Laguna provinces.

25,000 'frustrated' workers to march on Labor Day vs govt failure to address poverty, inequality

MANILA, Philippines -- A labor coalition that counts the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said it will field 25,000 workers, including those from the informal sector, in a Labor Day protest “to express their collective frustration at President Aquino’s failure to initiate policy reforms to address deepening poverty and widening inequality in the country.”

Gerard Seno, vice president of TUCP-Nagkaisa, said in a statement that, on the fifth Labor Day under President Benigno Aquino III, “for the excluded basic social sectors there is still no one in government they can trust or run to. For them as the majority of Filipinos, the message to our President: ‘This is just not acceptable, we can do better’.”

Nagkaisa counts 49 labor groups in the private and public sectors.

The coalition’s May 1 protest will begin with a march from the Welcome Rotonda on Espana to Mendiola for a rally.

Earlier, Nagkaisa member organizations announced they were scrapping the annual Labor Day breakfast dialogue with Aquino over his “failure to deliver the workable and time bound 8-point policy agenda proposed by the group finalized in 2012 designed to mainstream the country’s economic growth down to the grassroots level.”

The 8-point agenda seeks the streamlining of the contractual job scheme, an increase in private and government workers’ wages, a reduction in rates and reliable supply of power, the implementation of an agro-industrial plan to create stable jobs, and the enforcement of the international convention allowing public sector workers to unionize.

“The eight policy issues have been painstakingly tackled and validated by bilateral technical working groups between Nagkaisa labor organizations and the different government agency policy people,” Seno noted. “What the President must do is approve and implement them or veto it altogether but he must not keep these groups waiting.”

Because of Aquino’s perceived inaction, he added, “TUCP-Nagkaisa sees a uniting thread of disengagement from the administration within the basic sectors of our society from labor to the farmers to the urban poor, to the middle class. The feeling that no one in government really cares, that everyone is a victim in system where personal control over their destiny has been lost, that nameless bureaucrats in a faraway, unknown office determine what will be and that each and every Filipino is hopelessly enmeshed in an unchanging political system serving the affluent elite and betraying the destitute millions. They sense that no one is fighting for them.”

Nagkaisa said it has other pending demands: expanding the coverage of tax exemptions, reforming the wage-setting mechanism, passing the Freedom of Information bill, in-city relocation for informal settlers, addressing migrant workers’ concerns, and a quarterly dialogue between workers and the Office of the President.

In the same statement, TUCP-Nagkaisa executive director Louie Corral noted a March survey by Pulse Asia highlighted the fact that four of Filipinos’ top five concerns “relate to the daily survival needs” of people: the high prices of basic needs, low wages, the lack of decent jobs, and the lack of substantial poverty reduction.

The fifth concern was corruption in government.

Corral also accused the administration Liberal Party and the opposition United Nationalist Alliance of “merrily plotting for 2016, “setting up the electoral circus in the hope that we will all forget that the unemployment level has been mired at 7.1 percent, the underemployment rate stuck at 22 percent, and that the daily minimum wage in (the National Capital Region) just increased by P15 from P466 to a still “unliveable” P481.” - InterAksyon.com TV5

Aquino has not achieved anything to uplift the lives of the workers - TUCP

MALACAÑANG dismissed Monday the allegation of a labor group that the Aquino administration has not achieved anything to uplift the lives of the workers.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that the government has been trying to address the labor issues being raised by different groups, such as the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

He said some of them might not be fully satisfied with what the government has been doing, "but we have certainly addressed a number if not most of the issues that they have raised; and we will continue to do so.

"I will certainly disagree with them that we have not done anything to improve the plight of workers in this country," he added.

Lacierda said that the Department of Labor and Employment has beefed up the labor standards and has made sure that employers complied with the law.

He also cited that since 2010, the number of strikes per year has been limited to less than 10.

"In 2014, for example, out of 159 notices of strike and lockout, only two finally pushed through. This is a result of the agency’s efforts in implementing the Single Entry Approach or SEnA, through which filed labor cases go through a 30-day conciliation-mediation period," the Palace official added.

TUCP has said that they would stop holding dialogue with the government as what they used to do in time for Labor Day, May 1.

The group has said that there was "no substantial progress" on the issues that they have raised during the past five years of the Aquino government.

TUCP is one of the members of Nagkaisa, an organization of labor federations planning to mobilize some 25,000 people for a protest march on Labor Day.

Nagkaisa spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said the march from España to Mendiola in Manila will start at 8 a.m.

Simultaneous protests will also be held in Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Cavite and parts of Southern Tagalog. - SunStar (SDR/FP/Sunnex)

Palace digs in for court battle over train fares

THE Aquino administration said it is ready to defend its decision to increase the fares for Metro Manila’s elevated train systems (LRT Lines 1 and 2 and MRT-3) before the Supreme Court.

This was the Palace reaction after the leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Riles Laan sa Sambayanan (RILES) Network and the Train Riders Network (Tren) said they would file a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court today to seek a temporary restraining order against the fare increase.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma also appealed to those who will join the anti-fare hike protests to avoid obstructing commuters.

“We appeal to those who plan to join the protest action to take into consideration the over-all welfare of our citizens and not to obstruct traffic flow and be a nuisance to our commuters,” he said.

“The government respects the right of citizens to express their sentiments on the issue of fare hike in the LRT and MRT, including their reported plan to file a petition before the Supreme Court,” Coloma added.

The Palace official noted that lawmakers have supported the fare adjustment, saying it was an “exercise in political will.”

“Because of the delay in implementing the fare adjustment, previous administrations were not able to buy new coaches and upgrade the facilities of our mass transport systems,” Coloma said.

Members of the leftist youth group Anakbayan led a sit-down protest at the MRT North Avenue station yesterday as the fare hike took effect.

“No sane president will want to unjustly burden his people like this,” Anakbayan national chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said.

“The Aquino administration should be held accountable for approving these fare hikes despite the deteriorating state of our train lines and despite the fact that Filipinos cannot cope with these new and higher fares given the current economic situation,” he added.

MRT-3 fares increased from P15 to P28 for the 17-kilometer stretch from North Avenue Station in Quezon City to Taft Avenue Station in Pasay City.

For LRT-1 from Baclaran Station in Paranaque to Roosevelt Station in Quezon City, the maximum single journey fare increased to P30 while the fare for LRT-2 from Rizal Avenue Station in Manila to Santolan Staion in Pasig rose to P25.

“Not only is this fare hike a bad way to start the year, it is truly detestable, given that the current state of our train systems is far from being agreeable. President Aquino and his Cabinet are out of their minds if they think that the riding public will take these fare hikes lightly,” Crisostomo said.

In a radio interview Sunday, Senator Grace Poe attacked the LRT and MRT management for imposing a fare hike amid the deteriorating services to commuters.

She also slammed the authorities for imposing the hike on a weekend when there were no courts that could stop them.

“They have not been forthcoming about this,” Poe said.

Poe, a member of the Senate public services committee investigating the woes of train riders, said they would summon Abaya and officials of the Budget Department to answer questions about the fare hike.

The hearings would begin after the visit of Pope Francis, she added.

Also on Sunday, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said it would join a big labor coalition to support the RILES Network today to protest the fare hikes.

Alan Tanjusay, TUCP spokesperson, said the Nagkaisa Coalition, composed of 49 labor groups and workers’ organizations, is calling on Abaya to consider the welfare of the workers and to stop the rate increase.

The working poor will become poorer with the fare hike, he added. – By Joyce Pangco Panares With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja

#MRTprotest - Protesters vs MRT-LRT fare hike go full blast, to file TRO at Supreme Court today

MANILA - Protesters against the fare hike at the Metro Rail Transit and the Light Rail Transit train lines on Monday went full blast in their protest actions, including going to the Supreme Court to file a petition against the fare hike.

“Today we fight back,” said Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), which is spearheading the protests, in a statement.

Protest actions are planned at various MRT stations. Partido Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and Federation of Free Workers (FFW) will lead the protest at Pasay-Taft station, while Sentro and other members of the labor coalition Nagkaisa! will take the North Avenue (Trinoma) Station, and the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) will have its protest action at the Cubao Station.

Tagging the fare hike as “Aquino’s Great Train Robbery,” Bayan called on commuters and taxpayers to “resolutely oppose” the fare increases for the MRT3, and the LRT 1 and 2 train lines.

“These added burdens, treacherously announced and implemented during the holidays, are without legal basis and are patently anti-commuter. These increases merely serve the profit interests of the private stakeholders in the train system while justifying government’s abandonment of its responsibility to provide affordable and efficient mass transportation for the people,” Bayan said.

The multisectoral group said the 50% to 87% fare hike will take P2.1 billion from at least 1.3 million commuters who use the three train lines every day.

“Today and in the coming days, we will stage mass protest actions to air the people’s outrage over the unjust fare increases. Today, we file a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Supreme Court seeking a stop to the fare hike,” it said.


A broad array of groups and individuals united to challenge the fare hike before the High Court and seek a temporary restraining order.

Petitioners include Bayan, represented by its secretary general Renato Reyes Jr., activist and former lawmaker Teodoro Casiño, former LRT Administration chief Melquiades A. Robles, Kilusang Mayo Uno chair Elmer C. Labog,

RILES Network spokesman Sammy T. Malunes, Courage chairman Ferdinand R. Gaite, Anakbayan chair Vencer Crisostomo, Alliance of Health Workers president Jossel I. Ebesate, Kadamay chair Gloria G. Arellano, businessman Herman Tiu Laurel, Myrleon E.Peralta,

SSS union president Amorsolo L. Competente, commuter advocate Elvira Y. Medina, commuters Maria Donna Grey Miranda and Angelo Villanueva Suarez of Tren, labor leaders Atty. Jose Sonny G. Matula of the FFW and David L. Diwa of National Labor Union, journalist James Bernard E. Relativo of TREN and Giovanni A. Tapang of Agham.

“The fare hike is without legal basis. The DOTC and its secretary cannot be the fare hike proponent, approving body, and implementor all at the same time. The fare hike cannot be valid without a proper public hearing where the proponents present all the bases for the fare hike and the public is given the opportunity to oppose it,” the group said.

The protesters said the fare hike only seeks to benefit the private stakeholders of the train system.

“It has nothing to do the improving the services of the trains. Congress already appropriated some P9.3 billion for the improvement and rehabilitation of the train system. Why increase fares when Congress has already allocated increased budget?” it said, quoting Senator Francis Escudero, head of the Senate finance committee.

The group explained that the fare increase is due to the privatization scheme being upheld and implemented by the Aquino government.

“The MRT 3’s Build-Lease-Transfer Agreement entered into under the Ramos government had guaranteed the private stakeholders of MRTC a 15% return on investment. This is where the bulk of government subsidy goes, to ensuring the profits of private companies,” the group said.

“It is the same case with LRT 1 whose operations have been privatized in favor of the Ayala Corporation and Metro Pacific. They are now entitled to collect and utilize the fares as a part of a P65 billion privatization deal. The LRT2 is also up for privatization and the same will apply,” it added.

The Aquino government has so far guaranteed the profits of a few while guaranteeing the misery of millions of low and middle-income commuters who depend on the train, it said. Aquino invokes the neo-liberal notion of “users-pay” where the public is forced to spend more while government cuts back on subsidy.

“It is time to stop this unjust fare hike dead on its tracks. It is time to put the brakes on the privatization of the train lines. We will not be run over by a callous and anti-commuter regime,” the group said. -  - InterAksyon.com

Workers up against ‘assault on labor’ on first working day of 2015

Labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa! are set to welcome the first working day of 2015 with a protest against what they consider as government’s assault on workers’ living condition – the implementation of fare hikes in the MRT and LRT system.

The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) proceeded with the implementation of the rate hike yesterday, amid oppositions from labor, commuter groups and legislators.

Based on surveys, lowly-paid workers and students make up the bulk of regular train riders.

Members of Partido Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) will be leading the protest at the MRT Pasay-Taft station while the Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (SENTRO), Public Sevices Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), PM and other members of Nagkaisa are taking the MRT North Avenue station. The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) is taking the Cubao station.

Aside from the mass action, Nagkaisa! will be distributing leaflets explaining why commuters should reject the fire hike and how they can express their protest.

In opposing the fare hike Nagkaisa! contends that:

· Fare hike is not meant for service upgrade but for debt payments to a private concessionaire;
· Most of train riders belong to lowly-paid workers;
· Government cutting MRT/LRT subsidy but hiking travel budget of public officials;
· Fare hike is a move towards privatization

The group said commuters can express their opposition in various forms including:

· Making selfies or group pics holding mini posters and posting it on their social media accounts accompanied by #MRTprotest hashtag;
· Joining online petitions addressed to the DOTC, Malacanang and Congress;
· Seeking remedy from the courts; and
· Joining scheduled mass actions

“The fare hike is the first oppressive policy of the year, the first assault by government on workers’ living condition. Workers were first to pay their taxes but they were also the first to carry the burden of budget cuts and other unjust policies by government,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

He added: “Sa daang matuwid, manggagawa ang tinitipid.”

On his part PALEA President Gerry Rivera, lamented that while fares in other modes of transportation, including airlines, are dropping significantly because of the sharp drop in oil prices, but fares in the MRT and LRT are rising by as much as 87%.

SENTRO Secretary General and Nagkaisa! convenor Josua Mata said, “The true logic of removing the MRT subsidy is the government shifting to the role of shameless facilitator to the transfer of public money to private hands. In this particular a case, the commuters subsidizing the guaranteed returns of private investors.”

The Nagkaisa in a series of dialogues with the President has called for a cost-effective and efficient mass transport system since the heavy traffic has been eating up a lot of productive hours of workers.

“The PNoy administration has not only failed to address the traffic mess, it is shamelessly adding a three-fold burden to workers who will have to shell out more for their own train fare and that of their children who go to school,” said Julius Cainglet of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW).

Several labour forums to protest against train fare hike

The North Avenue Station platform area

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa will join other groups in holding mass action against the impending fare hike in the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3) and Light Rail Transit to pressure the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to defer the fare adjustment, which it described as “anti-people and oppressive.”

Alan Tanjusay, TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson, said they are set to join a big labour group coalition in holding protest actions in MRT and LRT stations until Monday.

Last month, the DOTC said it will increase rates for the two rail lines effective January 4, 2015. With the new fare scheme, rates for end-to-end trips on the MRT-3 will increase to P28 from P15 (from North Avenue to Taft Avenue and vice versa); P30 from P20 for LRT-1 (from Baclaran to Roosevelt and vice versa); and P25 from P15 on LRT-2 (from Recto to Santolan and vice versa).
Tanjusay said minimum wage earners will be the hardest hit by the fare increase.

He explained that the P466 daily wage rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) is already affected by inflation and by the mandatory salary deductions, thus, workers’ take home pay is only P362.

“With no wage hike in sight and no immediate measure for the government to cushion the impact, minimum wage earners will be hit hard by the fare adjustment,” Tanjusay noted.

He lamented that the government failed to consider the plight of minimum wage earners when it decided to increase rail rates.
With the MRT 3 and LRT fare increase, Tanjusay said “the working poor (will) remain poor.”

“In fact, not a soul from labour groups such as the TUCP-Nagkaisa and other large workers’ representative organisations were invited for a public consultation for the planned increase if there were any. But a big chunk of their take home pay will be taken away from them by Secretary Abaya without their consent and approval. So this fare increase is an open robbery of workers, anti-people and very oppressive,” he added.

Citing the Government Family Income and Expenditures Survey in 2009, the TUCP official said data showed that a family of six needs at least P1,200 a day in order to survive. - By Robertzon F Ramirez/Manila Times

Groups to plan protest actions vs train fare hike

MANILA, Philippines - Various labor and people's organizations will launch protest actions against the impending Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) fares increase next year.

Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (Sentro) and one of the convenors of labor alliance Nagkaisa, said the fare hike is "anti-labor."

"The timing is not just bad. The policy itself is very bad, it's anti-labor," Mata said.

He said labor groups under Nagkaisa will meet after Christmas to come up with protest plans against the fare hike.

Mata noted that majority of the city's train riders belong to the working class who are the ones suffering daily from the poorly maintained railway systems.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) also scored the scheduled increase while the workers' wages stagnated to the barest minimum.

"We believe pulling money out of a worker's pocket through a fare hike is an incentive to private concessionaires. We will gain nothing from it, not even improved services," FFW president Sonny Matula.

Another Nagkaisa convenor, the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP, hit the fare hike, saying it shows the government's repeated blunders in running public utilities because of over-reliance to private concessionaires.

Meanwhile, Renato Reyes Jr. of the militant group Bayan said they will contest the fare increase at the "soonest possible time."

"The DOTC's (Department of Transportation and Communicatios) treachery prevents oppositors from getting a TRO (temporary restraining order) because of the holiday season. Nonetheless, we will protest and challenge the fare hike," Reyes said.

The government hopes to generate around P2 billion from the fare hike which ranges from 50 percent to 87 percent.

Reyes alleged that the reason for the increase is not to give better service to the train ridership but to assure profit to the private companies.

"The users-pay principle government is invoking basically tells the commuter to fend for himself as no government subsidy is forthcoming. It's simply government abandonment of the taxpayers," he said. - By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

Various groups protest Metro Manila elevated train fare hike

Manila: Various groups are opposing the government’s move to hike fares for Metro Manila’s intracity elevated train service as they accused the Aquino administration of favouring the interests of big business rather than those of commuters.

The “Nagkaisa,” (United) said a move of the Department of Transportation and Communications to allow a substantial increase in fares for the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transport (MRT) would hit commuters, especially at a time when they needed the elevated trains to get around the metropolis for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The groups opposing the train fare hike said the rate increase had come at a bad time.

“The rate of every crushing ride in MRT and LRT will be rising at a time rates in other public utility transport are falling because of plummeting prices of fuel oil. The timing is not just bad,” said Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (United Workers Centre or Sentro).


On the part of the Associated Labour Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), it said the issue is a matter of confused priorities and an ill-effect of the past and present government’s lack of foresight to invest in vital public infrastructures on its own without reliance from the private sector which has its own business interests to look after.

Quite simply they said, the issue of elevated train fare hikes is indicative of the clashing interests of the private
businesses that own and developed the MRT.

The LRT was started during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos in the early 1980s. It was developed to provide cheap and fast transport to commuters in Metro Manila. To do this, the then government had to socialise the infrastructure, in effect “subsidising” a portion of the fares for every train rider.

The MRT on the other hand, which was developed during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos in the 1990s and started operation during the presidency of Joseph Estrada in 2000 was put up mainly from money from private investors rather than the government as in the case of the LRT.

The two public utility infrastructures were from separate and distinct business models and the current government is now trying to blend these two to provide transport to Metro Manila residents and visitors.

“Again, this is another example of the government leading from the back.The result: Over reliance on a greedy, socially irresponsible private sector concessionaire. We are at the not so tender mercy of a government that does not have regulatory resolve,” said Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of ALU-TUCP.

The left-wing umbrella Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance or Bayan) said the matter concerning the fare hikes is an issue of public interest over private sector gain. Fare hikes are much of a political as well it is an economic concern in a developing country such as the Philippines.

Renato Reyes, secretary general of Bayan said the train fare hikes are an “insult” to the commuter riders, most of whom are from the working class, who have to bear riding in unsafe trains.

In the case of the MRT, Japanese experts said the train has increased chances of being involved in a disastrous accident as its rails and overall running systems have been poorly maintained.

Last August 14, a train of the MRT overshot its tracks at the Taft station. The accident caused injury to a number of people. Fortunately there were no fatalities. - By Gilbert P. Felongco - Gulf News

Organized labor opposes MRT/LRT rate hike

The country’s biggest labor coalition Nagkaisa is adding its voice to the growing opposition to the impending rate hikes in the metro rail transport system.

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa or Sentro and one of the convenors of Nagkaisa likened the plan to a “wrecking ball” that will smash the train riders en masse come 2015.

“The rate of every crushing ride in MRT and LRT will be rising at a time rates in other PUVs are falling because of plummeting prices of oil. The timing is not just bad. The policy itself is very bad, it’s anti-labor,” said Mata.

Mata said labor groups under Nagkaisa will be meeting after Christmas to come up with protest plans against the fare hike.

Majority of the city’s train riders belong to the working class. They are the ones who suffer the daily violence of riding an beyond-capacity and poorly maintained railway system.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) likewise assailed the planned increase while workers wages stagnated to the barest minimum.

“We believe pulling money out of a worker’s pocket through a fare hike is an incentive to private concessionaires. We will gain nothing from it, not even improved services,” said FFW President Sonny Matula.

Another convenor, the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP, bewailed the fare hike, saying it shows the government’s repeated blunders in running public utilities because of over-reliance to private concessionaires.

“Again, this is another example of PNoy leading from the back. Over reliance on Cabinet Secretary Abaya who not only doesn’t get, but is nowhere to be seen and heard. Result: over reliance on a greedy, socially irresponsible private sector concessionaire. Same thing in power: no policy leadership, ergo emergency powers request by another lackey in the person of Petilla who is letting the private power sector dictate supply policy. We are at the not so tender mercy of a government that does not have regulatory balls,” said Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of ALU-TUCP.

On his part, Partido Manggagawa (PM) spokesman Wilson Fortaleza argued that the government should rather increase, not remove, the subsidies being enjoyed by train riders and at the same time put more money in developing the country’s deteriorating mass transport system.

“To us, subsidizing at least 500 million rides of workers a year is more productive than subsidizing the comfortable travel of 500 VIPs in government,” said Fortaleza, adding that all taxpayers pay for at least P8-billion a year of travel subsidy for our public officials.

In 2012, some 219 million rides were recorded in MRT-3, with an average 600,000 daily passengers. LRT 1 and 2 have 241 million combined.

Jeepney fare cut by P1, Bigger rollback possible – LTFRB; adjustment draws mixed reactions

BACK TO P7.50 — The minimum fare in jeepneys is back to the P7.50 as shown here by a ‘barker’ at the terminal on Leon Guinto Street in Manila, yesterday. Top photo, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Winston Ginez holds the order slashing P1 from the previous minimum fare. (Ali Vicoy and Michael Varcas)

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday approved a P1 provisional fare rollback for jeepneys plying in Metro Manila.

The fare cut will take effect immediately, LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said.

From P8.50, the minimum fare will now be P7.50 for the first four kilometers. However, the rate for succeeding kilometers will remain the same.

The fare roll back will also be applicable to senior citizens and students, who are entitled to 20-percent discount.

Ginez said the LTFRB will issue as soon as possible a fare matrix to serve as guide to passengers and drivers alike.

In the provinces, Ginez said the LTFRB regional or provincial offices will have to implement their own fare rollback because diesel prices in these areas vary.

“We have directed them to initiate their own proceedings. Within 30 days, they have to report to the board what they have done with regard to the fare rollback. We would like that their decisions be based on regional prices,” said Ginez.

The LTFRB chairman said the rollback now is similar to 2011 when diesel prices were in the range of P34-P35, and the minimum fare was P7.50.

Ginez said the provisional rollback for now “is effective until further notice” but there is a possibility that jeepney fares might have bigger reductions in the future.

PALACE WELCOME ROLLBACK

Malacañang welcomed the P1 provisional fare rollback.

“That’s a timely decision from the LTFRB and will certainly be welcomed by the riding public,” Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.

The fare rollback was also a welcome development for transport and consumer groups.

Elvira Medina of the National Center for Commuters Safety and Protection said it’s “about time” the rollback was implemented.

George San Mateo of Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) expressed the same sentiment. However, he is concerned that the sudden implementation of the fare rollback might cause a ruckus in the streets.

He appealed to the LTFRB to set a proper date for the implementation of fare rollback to avoid discord within the streets, especially since not all drivers and passengers are aware of this provision.

Obet Martin of Pasang Masda said that the price rollback is just right since it is in accordance with diesel prices now. But like San Mateo, he is concerned that arguments might arise between drivers and passengers with the sudden implementation of the rollback.

MIXED REACTIONS

While Malacañang, consumers, and transport groups welcomed the rollback, the labor sector had mixed reactions.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesperson Alan Tanjusay lauded the fare cut as an early “Christmas gift” for workers.

“The jeepney fare rollback is a welcome development for workers at this economically difficult period. This is a Christmas gift for minimum wage earners who commute everyday for work,” Tanjusay said.

“It’s a small amount but it’s a big relief for working people,” he added.

But the militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) demanded a higher fare rollback, saying it is not “commensurate” with the decrease in the global prices of petroleum products.

“Oil rollback should be more or at one-time not in installments.That’s cheating by big oil cartels,” KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said.

Labog also said the other private transportations like airlines, Metro Rail Transits (MRT), and the Light Rail Transits (LRT), should also follow the example of PUJs in reducing their fare rates.

He also said other private companies should also reduce prices of their services or goods to relieve workers of their financial woes.

“It’s high time for other quarters to follow suit. Like businessmen who should lower the prices of their commodities and services,” he added.

Negros Oriental Rep. Manuel Iway had earlier filed a petition seeking a reduction in jeepney fare.

Iway had asked the LTFRB to reduce the minimum fare from P8.50 to P8 for the first four kilometers, and the succeeding kilometer rate from P1.50 to P1.40 for jeepneys in Metro Manila, Regions 3 and 4. - by Czarina Nicole O. Ong (With reports from Genalyn D. Kabiling and Samuel P. Medenilla)

Extra-judicial killings, other HR violations persist under 'tuwid na daan' - groups

President Aquino signs the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act at EDSA in this Feb. 25, 2013 file photo. On the eve of the 2014 International Human Rights Day, various groups assailed his administration's record in human rights.

MANILA - On the eve of International Human Rights Day, a coalition of major trade unions and labor organizations assailed the "culture of impunity translated into extra-judicial killings (EJK) and other forms of human rights violations" that it said prevailed in a country once hailed as the beacon of democracy in the region.

The alleged rights violations target, among others, leaders and labor organizers under the Aquino administration's ‘tuwid na daan [straight path]’, the Nagkaisa! coalition said in a statement Tuesday.

Since 2011, Nagkaisa! said it had engaged the Aquino administration in dialogues on several labor issues, including 62 unsolved cases of EJKs involving labor.

The most recent involved the murder of a labor organizer in Negros Occidental. Rolando Pango, a full time organizer of Partido Manggagawa (PM) was gunned down in Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental on November 29, 2014, according to a Nagkaisa! statement.

“Prior to his death, Pango was deeply involved in both the agrarian and labor disputes in Hacienda Salud, a 135-hectare sugar plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela leased and managed by Manuel Lamata,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

Pango had helped organize the plantation workers in Hacienda Salud who in June applied to have the land under CARPER coverage. Salud workers had also filed a case of illegal dismissal before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against Lamata for unlawful termination of 41 workers.

PM and Nagkaisa urged both the national and local governments to render immediate justice in Pango's case.

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Alliance of Progressive Labor–Sentro, said Nagkaisa will raise this issue before the Tripartite Industrial Council (TIPC) and the DOJ panel investigating the EJKs.

Before Pango, another PM organizer, Victoriano Embang, leader of the Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental, was also killed on December 29, 2012. A failed assassination attempt against his brother, Anterio Embang, followed a few months later, February 28, 2013.

Magtubo, a Negrense himself, said Negros remains a labor hotspot because of strong resistance by landlords to agrarian reform and their outmoded serf-type treatment of their laborers.

“Perhaps this regional feudal context has escaped the eyes of the labor department and the national government. Or they simply don’t care,” added Magtubo.

March to Mendiola

Meanwhile, human rights organizations are mobilizing a big march to Mendiola on Wednesday morning to mark the International Human Rights Day.

Groups will start to assemble at the UST Espana footbridge in Manila starting at 8 a.m. to be at Mendiola by 9:30.

Protesters will deliver a GUILTY or “BAGSAK” verdict on human rights records of the Aquino administration, including impunity on climate justice as one major human rights issue facing our country, according to an advisory from the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA).

Aside from EJKs, Nagkaisa! said the "resurgence of other forms of human rights violations" is also alarming.

Last October, Antonio Cuizon, president of the Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Carmen Copper, was arrested on trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The union and the management were then in the thick of labor dispute when the case was filed against Quizon.

But the most widespread of human rights violations, Nagkaisa! said, is the violation of labor’s right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Anakpawis: implement agreements with NDFP

In observance of International Human Rights Day, Anakpawis Partylist representative Fernando “Ka Pando” Hicap urged the Aquino administration to honor and implement the agreements between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Hicap is particularly referring to the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (Carhrihl) signed on March 16, 1998 and Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) agreed earlier on February 24, 1995.

“Kung kinilala lamang ni Aquino ang mga resulta ng peace talks, sa isang antas ang paggalang sa human rights ay mapo-promote at maiiwasan ang mga paglabag,” (If Aquino had only recognized the results of the peace talks, respect on human rights would somehow be promoted and further violations could be avoided)," Hicap said at a protest led by Karapatan human rights group in Mendiola.

Hicap invoked article 12 of the Cahrihl, “The GRP shall respect the rights of peasants to land tenure and to own through land reform the land that they till, the ancestral rights of the indigenous peoples in the areas classified as public domain and their rights against racial and ethnic discrimination, the right of the poor homesteaders or settlers and the indigenous people to the areas of public domain on which they live and work and the right of poor fisherfolk to fish in the waters of the Philippines.”

"If Aquino had only respected this provision, Lumad and Mindanao farmers need not to protest against massive militarization here in Manila, farmers rights in Hacienda Luisita, Looc, Yulo and other haciendas across the country could have been protected," Hicap said.

Anakpawis is also demanding the immediate release of NDFP consultants Benito and Wilma Tiamson; and political prisoners whose immunity, it said, are provisioned by the Jasig: Alan Jazmines, Leopoldo Caloza, Emeterio Antalan, Eduardo Serrano, Tirso Alcantara, Ma. Loida Tuzo Magpatoc, Ramon Patriarca, Edgardo Friginal, Jaime Soledad, Eduardo Sarmiento, Alfredo Mapano, Pedro Codaste, Renante Gamara and Roy Erecre.

Anakpawis said Aquino’s implementation of Oplan Bayanihan only resulted in more human rights abuses and demanded justice for the victims.

Anakpawis urged Aquino to resume formal peace talks with the NDFP and start discussing the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser). - InterAksyon.com

Extra-judicial killings, other human rights violations persist under ‘tuwid na daan’ – Nagkaisa!

A culture of impunity translated into extra-judicial killings (EJK) and other forms of human rights violations against leaders and labor organizers continue under the ‘tuwid na daan’, a coalition of major trade unions and labor organizations in the country, Nagkaisa!, said in a statement on the eve of the celebration of International Human Rights Day.

 

Since 2011, Nagkaisa! is engaged in dialogues with the Aquino administration on several labor issues, including some 62 unsolved cases of EJKs involving labor.

 

Nagkaisa! said the most recent in the cases of unsolved EJKs was the  murder of a labor organizer in Negros Occidental.  Rolando Pango, a full time organizer of Partido Manggagawa (PM) was gunned down in Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental on Novermber 29, 2014.

 

“Prior to his death, Pango was deeply involved in both the agrarian and labor disputes in Hacienda Salud, a 135-hectare sugar plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela leased and managed by Manuel Lamata,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

 

Pango was instrumental in organizing the plantation workers in Hacienda Salud who in June applied the land under CARPER coverage.  Salud workers has also filed of a case of illegal dismissal before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against Lamata for unlawful termination 41 workers. 

 

PM and Nagkaisa is calling on both the national and local governments to render immediate justice to this case.  

 

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Alliance of Progressive Labor–Sentro, said Nagkaisa will be raising this issue before the Tripartite Industrial Council (TIPC) and the DOJ panel investigating the EJKs.

 

“Like Ruby, solving cases of EJKs in the country is a slow-grind,” said Mata.

 

Before Pango, another PM organizer, Victoriano Embang, leader of Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental was also killed on December 29, 2012.  A failed assassination attempt against his brother, Anterio Embang, followed  few months later, February 28, 2013.

A Negrense himself, Magtubo said Negros remains a ‘labor hotspot’ because of strong resistance by landlords to agrarian reform and their outmoded serf-type treatment of their laborers.  

 

“Perhaps this regional feudal context has escaped the eyes of the labor department and the national government.  Or they simply don’t care,” added Magtubo.

 

Aside from EJKs, Nagkaisa! is also alarmed at the resurgence of other forms of human rights violations.  

Last October,  Antonio Cuizon, president of the Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Carmen Copper, was arrested on trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.  The union and the management were then in the thick of labor dispute when the case was file against Quizon.

 

But the most widespread of human rights violations, Nagkaisa! said, is the violation of labor’s right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

 

“The onslaught of state-sanctioned contractualization schemes have effectively disarmed workers of their ability to defend themselves, through their unions, against many forms of abuse and exploitation,” concluded Magtubo.

Protests mark Bonifacio Day

CAUSE-ORIENTED groups marched on some Cebu City streets yesterday to commemorate the 151st birthday of Andres Bonifacio. The groups also continue to push for the abolition of the pork barrel and to amend the Oil Deregulation Law.

At 9 a.m., the Partido ng Manggagawa held a protest rally on Colon St.; at 1 p.m., the groups of Anak Pawis and Bayan Muna also marched from Fuente Osmeña rotunda toward Colon St.

For both rallies, police estimated the crowd to be about 300.

Jaime Paglinawan of Bayan Muna said that their theme for the 151st birthday of the national hero was “Diwa ni Bonifacio, inspirasyon alang sa padayong pakigbisog sa tinuod na pagbag-o.”

Other groups that participated in the Bayan Muna-initiated rally were Grabriela and Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston)-Cebu.

Paglinawan told Sun.Star Cebu that he hopes that the commemoration of Bonifacio’s birthday will serve as an instrument for the concerned government agencies to listen to their sentiments.

“Based on this year’s theme, we want change, a change in our nation,” said Paglinawan.

Paglinawan said his group vows to continue the revolution initiated by Bonifacio to protect the rights of the workers.

Greg Perez, a Piston representative, also tackled the local issue that concerns the drivers–the increase of penalties for traffic violations.

He said his group will not stop protesting against the increase until the government would listen to their appeal.

Jenny Fabroa, 20, a college student from one of the universities in the city, was among those who also joined yesterday’s activity.

The concern she raised was about tuition increases.

Cebu City Police Intelligence Branch Chief Romeo Santander said at least 20 policemen were deployed during yesterday’s rallies to ensure order.

Meanwhile, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) urged private sector employers to give their workers the correct payment “as their fair share of the fruits of production.”

ALU-TUCP spokesman Art Barrit said they hope the employers would possess the conviction, values and principles of Bonifacio, whom they honored yesterday, “as he (Bonifacio) knew that a nation is built on the back of its workers.” - SunStar Cebu By Elias O. Baquero and Jill Tatoy-Rabor

Workers deplore lack of “Bonifacio-type” leaders

Hanap ng Manggagawa: Makamanggagawang Lider ng Bansa 

The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition celebrates Gat Andres Bonifacio by marching from Mabuhay Rotunda in Quezon Avenue to Mendiola Manila in Malacanang. The group calls for a pro-labor stance from the leaders of the country.

With the 2016 elections occupying the air and time of most of the country’s politicians, the labor coalition Nagkaisa! today hit both the current administration and political wannabes, “for putting their personal political ambitions above the pressing demands of the working class.”

Nagkaisa!, the biggest labor coalition in the country today, led a march by thousands of workers from the Mabuhay Welcome Rotonda to the historic Mendiola Bridge, in commemoration of the 151st day of working class hero, Andres Bonifacio.

“Despite its open channels for communication with labor, we remain disappointed with this administration because the weight of anti-labor policies remain in full force. And this early we feel the same degree of apprehension seeing the possible 2016 line up, practically the same parties and personas,” said Nagkaisa! in a statement.

Marching under the theme, “Hanap ng manggagawa: Makamanggagawang lider ng bansa”, workers from different unions and labor organizations voiced out their indignation over the anti-labor policies that remain intact under the Aquino administration which include:

• the intensifying degree of contractualization,
• cheap labor,
• high cost of power and other goods and services, and
• the deepening inequality under the regime of jobless growth.

The group said the same problem will hound the 2016 candidates, adding that the more the working class are getting frustrated with the presumed failure of “tuwid na daan” the more they will be looking for better ones. 

“Unfortunately we still don’t see ‘Bonifacio-type’ leaders from the present crop of politicians,” conceded Nagkaisa!

The group cited as example the way the foreign-backed economic cha-cha is winning the vote of the members of Congress (possibly before Christmas as announced by Speaker Belmonte) compared to the workers’ wage hike and security of tenure bills. 

The group said when they say ‘Bonfacio-type’, they refer to men and women leaders who will commit themselves to the immediate and long-term agenda of the working class. 

“They who can provide full protection to labor; say NO to the dictates of IMF-WB and foreign powers; dismantle political dynasty; stop corporate fraud; and provide quality public service to all our people,” stressed the group.

The group is preparing for direct actions next year. At the same time it will craft political strategies for effective electoral intervention come 2016.

Combating Precarious Work

In cooperation of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung , the NAGKAISA held a 2-day  Workers’ Symposium on Policies and Regulations to combat Precarious Employment

Some types of precarious employment arrangements would include:
• outsourcing, contracting-out or subcontracting
• casualization, contractualization, contingent or fixed-term contracts, leading to the creation of a large pool of permanently 'temporary' employees
• use of labour agencies
• bogus “self-employment” and independent contractors
• abusive use of seasonal and probationary employment and traineeships

Precarious work in all its forms - when it is not being praised, encouraged and promoted for contributing to labour market 'flexibiilization' - is usually discussed in relation to declining living standards, discrimination, the feminization or poverty etc.

A typical example would be "Precarious employment is employment that is low quality and that encompasses a range of factors that put workers at risk of injury, illness and/or poverty. This includes factors such as low wages, low job security, limited control over workplace conditions, little protection from health and safety risks in the workplace and less opportunity for training and career progression." (Gerry Rodgers & Janine Rodgers, Precarious Jobs in Labour Market Regulation; the Growth of Atypical Employment in Western Europe, 1989).

Campaign goals:

• To stop the massive expansion of precarious work
• To make wages and conditions of precarious workers equal to those of regular workers
• To get workers directly hired and discourage indirect employment
• To limit precarious employment to cases of legitimate need

TUCP blames World Bank for 23,000 retrenchments

WE are daring to criticize the revered and mighty World Bank again.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) has rebuked the World Bank (WB) during its shareholder consultation last Thursday “for excluding core labor standards in its project and policy loans intended for so-called development programs in the country amid the static unemployment and underemployment statistics.”

TUCP estimates that because of “the absence of these standards, around 23,000 workers are already being affected in two ongoing country projects.”

“The bank continues to ignore very important core labor safeguards and standards on wages, health and safe working conditions, terms of employment of workers employed in Bank- financed projects. The continued absence of these core labor standards means that the World Bank will not stand in the way of those denying Filipino workers their right to organize and unionize in infrastructure projects sponsored by the Bank. It means that the Bank will not stand in the way of those retrenching workers in Bank–financed privatizations of state enterprises. We insist that these benchmarks be integrated as soon as possible, otherwise the Bank will be a party to the race-to-the-bottom in terms of the already massive de facto casualization and contractualization of workers,” said Alan Tanjusay, TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson.

The bank had organized a round of consultation with various labor unions representatives, environmental advocates, sectoral leaders of peasants, indigenous peoples, women, fisherfolk and youth in the Astoria Plaza in Pasig City last Thursday in the course of its global review and update of its environmental and social policies.

Gerard Seno, executive director of the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP, said the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) have started asserting since 1997 for the incorporation of the core labor standards in the safeguard policies of the Bank.

Commendably the World Bank has taken a position against the use of child-labor and non-discrimination in the work force due to sex, religion and political beliefs but there are still huge and gaping holes in their current draft of the “Environmental and Social Standard: Labor and Working Conditions,” TUCP said.

The bank’s board is scheduled to consider a draft in 2015 that is supposed to be inputted with ideas gathered from the consultations.

“The draft labor standard prepared by the Bank does not have the standard requirement that has existed at the bank’s private sector lending arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) since 2006 and those that have been adopted in recent years by many regional development banks,” Seno said.

TUCP-Nagkaisa Executive Director Luis Corral pointed out that there are more than 23,000 workers in the 119 electric cooperatives whose wages, working conditions and even security of tenure could be affected by World Bank grants and loans for these electric cooperatives.

Coral said, “We are concerned that the workers in these electric cooperatives are not being consulted through their existing unions. The fear of retrenchment or displacement is very real. We remind the Bank that because of the bank-sponsored privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) thousands of workers were retrenched. The Bank must proceed with more responsibility and social consciousness.”

“The World Bank has to be reminded that it is the ordinary taxpayers’ money from all the member governments that finances these Bank projects. These are taxes paid by ordinary workers. We also remind the Bank that its aim is to eradicate poverty. It will not do so if even in its own projects, it will not stand for standards that will advance decent work,” Corral added.

We wholeheartedly endorse TUCP’s proposals to the World Bank. - Manila Times

Peoples Action against the World Bank – Philippines

Manila –  This WB safeguard review started almost 3 years ago, but communities and organizations in the Philippines barely understand its process and contents. And to our knowledge, this is the first actual official interaction with Philippine organizations.  Yet, there has been too little time and lackluster effort to enable meaningful engagements.  Meanwhile, Southern and Northern organizations expressed their struggles and frustrations with the dismal handling of the Bank of the safeguards review over the past 2 years. The WB meetings last Oct. 8-11, 2014 in Washington DC was a clear reflection of peoples’ deep resentment over the poor consultation and bad safeguards draft. And here is the Bank doing a repeat of the same failures in running effective consultations: you give us too short notice to prepare and incomplete documents to consult. No draft business procedures, no implementation plan, no translations.

The affected communities and their support groups demand that the WB safeguard policies must be strengthened to ensure real protections for people and the planet. The draft does not promise to deliver that.

We are concerned that right now, Filipinos are not overcoming poverty, inequality and hunger are increasing, our natural resources are threatened by industrialization and extractive industries while labor rights are diluted or informalized. Contrary to the Bank’s rosy narratives of Philippine growth linked with its financing, this growth is widening inequality. Bank financing has not helped in preventing the intensified privatization of commons and has contributed to the systematic dismantling of essential public services. It has been muted in dealing with the discrimination against marginalized groups such as PWDs, IPs, children, and sexual minorities who are the most vulnerable sectors. They have been threatened by projects that were partly-funded by the World Bank Group. Remember the Manila Sewerage Project? Remember Chico dam in Cordillera? Remember IFC’s support to a mining project in the ancestral domain of the Mamanwas in CARAGA? In many instances, safeguards were useful in ensuring some basic minimum levels of protection were available.  But the Bank is moving to moving to eviscerate these basic human rights protections. You’re dumping people with more debts but you’re removing your environmental and human rights accountability.

We have watched with rising concern that your new “safeguard” proposals betray these expectations and represent the opposite.  In this process, we believe that the World Bank is stepping back on its promise to reduce poverty.

Instead of ensuring protection of vulnerable communities and the project affected people, your draft proposes dismantling of even existing protections that have been built over decades of hard work, hard won protections that people have fought and died for here in the Philippines, including social justice laws for indigenous peoples, environment, land reform and people’s participation in governance.

We cannot remain mute spectators of this regressive journey and must convey to you the rising frustration and anger amongst the many communities that are facing these impacts from Bank-supported projects, and also within many people’s movements and supporting civil society groups, networks and alliances from all over the Philippines.

Our colleagues have watched with growing dismay – the increasingly insensitive responses to the passionate appeals by cornered and distressed communities affected by bank supported projects.  I personally appealed that this consultation be re-scheduled to give time for communities and organizations to understand better the process and substance of the safeguards, but my appeal was rejected.

We are also alarmed by the rising talk of the Bank venturing into riskier investments, coming from as high positions as the WB President! Hundreds of indigenous peoples and forest dwellers organizations are terribly concerned with the proposed ‘opt out’ clause, and the dilution of protection hitherto given to biodiversity rich and protected areas.  You also propose to venture into uncharted territory of biodiversity offsets!  These are gambles more suited to a venture capital fund, not fit for a “Development Bank”, and the Filipinos cannot allow this to happen.

We, the dozens of people’s movements and organizations present here from all over the Philippines, and the many thousands we represent back from our communities, are rejecting this current draft of safeguards.  The protections you now seek to dismantle, the safeguards that we fought for over decades - do not belong to you, they are not yours to throw away, they belong to the world and its vulnerable people.

We are also aware of a handful of saner voices from within the bank, and urge them to fight inside the system, for protecting the very rights they themselves enjoy – also for the people and communities around the world facing potential threats from this proposed dilution of protections.  We strongly believe this protest action that we are compelled to take, will strengthen those voices and create a better environment for creating a really progressive safeguards policy.  This will be in the interest of the bank itself, as well as for the entire Philippines, and the rest of the world.

That is why we are forced to take this action now and join our partners in the protest outside.  Today we are going out of this consultation, to defend the safeguards and to stand with the World and against the Bank that is trying to destroy it!  We sincerely hope that this will help a better tomorrow, within & outside.

Signatories:

AKBAYAN

Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA)

Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)

Bank Information Center (BIC)

DANGAL

Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)

NAGKAISA

NGO Forum on the ADB

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)

SANLAKAS

 

Petilla won’t resign, vows to avert blackouts

MANILA, Philippines - Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has shrugged off a labor coalition’s call for him to resign, saying that he is committed to avert a looming power shortage in the summer of 2015.

“I won’t allow the blackouts to happen. I will do everything to fight it out because I know I am fighting for the people,” Petilla said in an interview.

He maintained that he did not deceive anyone when he said there would be a power shortage when he proposed to invoke Section 71 of the energy law last July to allow the government to tap additional power capacity through the purchase or lease of modular generator sets.

He explained that since he made the proposal in July and revealed the projected power situation next summer, additional capacity of some 437 megawatts was tapped.

“Before July, this did not exist. There was no 437 MW,” he said.

Petilla noted that President Aquino’s declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector summoned stakeholders and the private sector to cooperate and work together in finding solutions to the looming power woes.

A Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-led group called Nagkaisa has asked Aquino to fire Petilla for “deceiving the Filipino people with his manufactured power shortage scenario hitting the entire island of Luzon early 2015.”

The group said Petilla painted a wrong picture to justify the call for emergency powers.

“Secretary Petilla took the country for a ride. He bluffed the President, the Cabinet, the senators and congressmen, the business sector, the labor and consumer groups with his tall tales of thin power reserves to justify emergency powers that entail possible purchase of multibillion-peso generator sets,” Nagkaisa said in a statement.

But Petilla maintained that the power situation in the summer of 2015 is still critical with the shortage still at 700 MW, taking into account the need for reserves of 647 MW, which is the size of Sual, the biggest plant in Luzon.

“When it comes to power, supply and reserves go hand in hand,” he said.

The additional 447 MW will come from the First Gen Corp.’s Avion plant with 100 MW by April 2015, 36 MW from the upgrading of Millennium Energy’s Limay plant to be ready by March 2015, 20 MW as a result of the rehabilitation of the Bauang plant by March 2015, 10 MW from Petron’s Bataan plant to be ready by December 2014, 60 MW from JG Summit’s Batangas plant for commissioning in January 2015 and 20 MW from the Botocan hydroelectric plant in Laguna for completion in December 2014 for a sub-total of 246 MW.

The balance is estimated to come from participants of the interruptible load program. Under the ILP, big power users would use their own power to ease pressure on the grid.

Petilla said that while this is a good development, there is no guarantee that the committed capacities would come as expected and run smoothly.

“These are all photo finish. We don’t have control over this if something goes wrong, so it is very prudent for the government to have reserves,” he added. – By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) With Mayen Jaymalin