Bayan Muna slams Año: Check cops’ ‘violent’ dispersal of another picket line

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año should check the actions of policemen who are allegedly involved in the violent dispersal of another picket line, left-leaning group Bayan Muna said Wednesday.

The group’s statement comes after Año reminded Pasig City mayor Vico Sotto to do not take sides on the labor dispute between Regent Foods Corp. (RFC) and some of its workers.

The Pasig City mayor previously urged the RFC to drop charges against the striking workers, who cried foul over the company’s alleged unfair labor practices.

“Instead of chastising the laudable actions of Mayor Vico, Sec. Año should check the actions of his men, the national police, who are once again involved in the violent dispersal of another picket line,” Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite said in a statement.

Gaite then cited other dispersals which, he said, erupted in violence such as the strike of Nutriasia and Pepmaco Manufacturing Corporation.

“Anong papel dito ng mga pulis? (What’s their role here?) Instead of ensuring peace and order the police have repeatedly abetted the violence that hired goons and security men unleashed upon the workers of these factories,” Gaite said, adding that the police “are like vultures who sit and wait, and then pounce once the goons are done attacking.”

“Has Año raised a finger against this? No,” Gaite said.

The representative also pointed out that it was “ironic” for Año to plead for the respect of rights, and that the neutrality that the DILG secretary is asking for is “the type that seeks to favor the powerful, and muffles the voices of victims.”

“Año can actually learn something from the young mayor of Pasig,” Gaite said. “That is sensitivity to the plight of the marginalized and antipathy to injustice.”

Edited by JPV