No to amended fisheries law

Zamboanga City – About 2,000 workers of fish canning factories and fishing vessels staged a rally Monday in front of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional office in this city to ask the President not to sign into law a consolidated House and Senate Bill that could close down canning factories and displace thousands of workers.

Jose Suan, national president of the Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PIILU) and vice president of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), warned that should the bill become law, said bill could render about 30,000 workers in the canning industry, who belong to marginal or poor families, jobless.

Suan appealed to Mr. Aquino to veto the bill amending the Philippine Fisheries Code because “all the fishing companies in the Zamboanga peninsula or Region 9, especially in Zamboanga City, will shut down or be forced to downsize and retrench workers.”

According to him, the companies that will be adversely affected by the amended law will be Universal Canning Inc., Mega Fishing Corporation, Oceanic Fishing Corporation, YL Fishing Corporation, Nancy Fishing Corporation, AMR Trade and Industrial Development Corporation, Century Fishing Corporation, OLC Fishing Corporation, E&L Fishing Enterprise, Zamboanga GMS Fishing Corporation, NCW Fishing Corporation, Jordan Fishing Corporation, Sky Ocean Fishing Corporation, Lourdes Fishing Corporation, OR Fishing, AM Fishing, S&M Fishing, Althea Fishing Golden hook Fishing Corporation, Big smile Fishing Corporation, Victory Fishing Corporation, and Walter Fishing Corporation.

House Bill No. 04536 and Senate Bill No. 2414 have been consolidated recently which seek to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 8550, otherwise known as the Philippines Fisheries Code of 1998.

“We support the President. But we were not consulted. We’re willing to sit-down to bring back this matter to the drawing table and to study it deeply by conducting proper consultation with all the affected stakeholders,” said Suan.

Meanwhile, the city government, through the City Legal Office, has prepared its official stand against the proposed amendments to the Fisheries Code that seek to increase the fines for violation of the fisheries law.

Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco said the consequences of the passage of the new law were explained to her by the officers of the Southern Philippines Deep Sea Fishing Association, Inc. (SOPHIL).

“We are assisting them to review their proposed opposition because we are looking at what legal measures that needs to be done in order to give our canning industry the opportunity to exercise freely their economic activities,” Climaco said.

“We have to prepare our documents in writing and submit it to the President,” she added, stressing that the amendment bill, if signed into law, will affect a lot of people now employed in different fishing canning factories located on the west coast of this city.

Looking out for workers

A party-list lawmaker this week called for a congressional probe into the widespread use of contractual labor by which thousands of workers in Mindanao were deprived the right to security of tenure, decent pay and other privileges under labor laws.

In his resolution, TUCP Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, vice chairman of the House committee on labor and employment, labor-only contracting is circumventing the labor code and denying workers the right to security of tenure, self-organization, collective bargaining, decent wages and occupational safety and health.

He cited the example of one fruit exporter that terminated the services of more than 2,000 of its workers in North Cotabato and simply replaced them with contractual workers from a cooperative and a manpower agency.

“The use of tax-exempt cooperatives which supplied workers to the company is clearly exploitative of the rights of the agricultural workers and exposing them to substandard wages, no overtime pay and without 13th month pay,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza’s revelations are a cause for concern, but are hardly surprising, given that most of us deal with contractual labor every time we visit a mall or patronize a fast food chain. In fact, we suggest that Mendoza’s focus is too narrow, and should be broadened to include the widespread use of contractual labor in the retail and services industry—including the media.

This same phenomenon is the subject of a bill filed by Gabriela Women’s Party Reps. Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, which was referred to Mendoza’s committee in May.

“Contractual employment has long been a bane for the Filipino workers and people,” the explanatory note in House Bill 4396 reads. “While it surely allows capitalists to rake in bigger profits, it has not brought about anything beneficial to workers. Contractuals receive wages that are lower than those received by regulars and are denied various benefits. They can be removed from work any time and therefore find a hard time forming unions and asserting their rights. Women contractuals are denied maternity benefits, especially in the havens of contractualization in the country—the export processing zones, malls and other segments of the service sector of the economy.”

For anyone who is serious about inclusive growth, these arguments are compelling.

Unfortunately for workers, the Aquino administration has done little to curb the practice of labor contracting, and has in fact clothed it in legality by issuing guidelines on its use.

This, De Jesus argued, virtually teaches private companies how to “contractualize” their workforce in a legal way, and as a result, contractual workers now outnumber regular employees.

Ilagan added that contractual employment makes it easier for companies to lay off workers, leading to widespread unemployment.

HB 4396 is a good starting point to address a serious national issue. Any attempt to move it forward, however, should be shorn of rhetoric and approach the problem in a pragmatic way that takes into account why companies turn to contractual labor—and take steps to ensure that doing so becomes economically unattractive. - By Manila Standard Today

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.