Thousands mount Labor Day rallies in Bicol, Southern Tagalog

LEGAZPI CITY—Thousands of militant activists from various groups held simultaneous protest rallies in the six provinces of Bicol region to commemorate Labor Day and push for a wage hike and an end to contractualization among laborers.

Vince Casilihan, Karapatan Bicol spokesperson, said nearly 17,000 protesters started their march at 8 a.m. from 60 mass action centers in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, and the island-provinces of Masbate and Catanduanes.

The protesters, who came from the ranks of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Karapatan Bicol, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Migrante, AnakBayan, and transport groups Condor and Piston, gathered at 3 p.m. for the culminating Labor Day programs at city and town centers.

Casilihan said the multisectoral groups pushed for the labor group’s demand for a wage hike for government and private sector employees, and for the minimum monthly salary to be pegged at P16,000. At present, the private sector employees in Bicol are only paid an average of P200 a day, he said.

He said the protest groups also pushed anew for the scrapping of the contractualization law that had been depriving employees of security of tenure.

Show of unity

Casilihan said in Albay, the number of protesters reached 1,450. The marchers walked four kilometers from the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital to the Pinaglabanan monument, located at the city business district, for the rally.

He said in Camarines Sur, the marchers came from nine mass action centers in nine towns in the province and converged in the central business district in Naga City where they offered flowers to workers assembled at SM City Naga. The flower offering symbolized the multisectoral groups’ show of unity for the workers celebrating Labor Day, he said.

Casilihan said in Camarines Norte, there were 610 militant activists who converged at the elevated plaza in the capital town of Daet for the 3 p.m. program. In Sorsogon, nearly 4,000 protesters from 15 mass action centers showed up while in Masbate City, around 3,000 joined the program at Magallanes Coliseum.

Casilihan said in Virac town in Catanduanes, around 800 militant activists converged at the town center.

Job fairs

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Bicol is conducting three big job fairs in Legazpi City and Naga City from April 30 until May 2.

Raymond P. Escalante, public information officer of DOLE-Bicol, said the job fairs catered to both local jobs and overseas job.

He said five local agencies signed up for the Legazpi Job Fair held at LCC mall and Metro Gaisano Mall. He said 47 local employers and 13 overseas agency signed up for May 1-2 regional local and overseas job fair at SM Naga.

‘Worst case’

In Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), around 7,000 militant activists converged in Calamba City, Laguna, on Friday for the 112th commemoration of International Labor Day.

The protesters were mostly contractual workers from various industries in the region. Alan Bagase, secretary general of Pamantik-KMU, said 70 to 80 percent of the Filipino work force had remained contractual.

In Calabarzon, “the worst case” could be found in a distillery plant in Laguna where 90 percent of employees were contractual, he said.

Pamntik-KMU is pushing for P16,000 monthly minimum wage and the regularization of workers across the country.

Earlier on Friday, Labor Day rallies were also held in Rosario, Cavite, and in Lipa City in Batangas. Maricar Cinco with a report by Jessica Bechayda, contributor