Militant groups burn the effigy of President Aquino during the Labor day celebration at Mendiola, Manila.
ARNOLD ALMACEN
About 2,000 workers, students and activists marched on Friday from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila to press for higher wages and jobs at home to prevent Filipinos from heading into outright danger overseas.
The Labor Day protests coalesced around the theme of job opportunities in the country because of the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the 30-year-old Filipina who narrowly escaped execution in Indonesia this week for drug crimes.
The ralliers, carrying “Oust Aquino” and “Save Mary Jane” banners, placards and tarpaulins, spent more than an hour calling for the resignation of the absent President Benigno Aquino III, who was observing Labor Day in Cebu this year, and justice for Veloso.
There was to be no surprise package of benefits for the Filipino workers from the President this year. Instead, Mr. Aquino shared his elation at seeing the results of his government’s “straight path” policy, especially in job generation, during his two-day swing through Negros Occidental and Cebu provinces.
Mr. Aquino said his trip to the Visayas was worthwhile “because we saw the fruits of our efforts to uplift the lives of our Bosses. I am happy to see the results of the straight path, especially today, Labor Day.”
He said economic growth in the past few years had increased investors’ confidence in the country.
“The emergence of new businesses would create more jobs and give a better opportunity for more Filipinos to improve their lot. The effect is this: Government will be able to collect more taxes which would be the funds for more infrastructure and development for social services. This is what we call the ‘virtuous cycle,’” he said.
Jobs crisis
Renato Reyes, the secretary general of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said the case of Veloso highlighted a “very severe jobs crisis” that forces poor Filipinos to go abroad.
“Filipinos are forced to work abroad because of the lack of opportunities in the country and the high prices of commodities brought about by privatization and deregulation policies,” said Roger Soluta, secretary general of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).
“People want Aquino out of power because of the dangers he has caused,” he said. Yesterday’s protests were led by militant groups KMU, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and All Workers Unity (AWU).
Veloso and other migrant Filipino workers are considered “Bagong Bayani” (new heroes) but the government is not doing its part in helping them with the cases, he said.
“She was not given due process. It was only after her case was heard that she was provided with a lawyer,” Soluta said.
Overseas Filipino workers give life to the economy, they’re the reason why our economy is improving yet they are not given enough benefits and support, he added.
K to 12 assailed
Filipinos will continue to seek greener pastures because their work here can’t provide for their families, said AWU spokesperson Rea Alegre.
“The people need decent jobs and a living wage to ensure that there will be no more Mary Janes that [become] vulnerable to desperation for their family’s survival,” Alegre said.
The different labor groups called for a P16,000 monthly minimum wage.
Student groups under the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in the University of the Philippines (Stand-Up) also joined the protest.
“While acting blindly on its duty to address unemployment, Aquino enforces its labor-export policy to push more Filipinos to seek perilous work opportunities overseas,” LFS national spokesperson Charisse Bañez said.
Some student protesters wore boxes, ribbons and chains to show how the Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K to 12) program allegedly promoted the export of Filipinos.
“For export: Best Domestic Helper, quality assured by Aquino Government,” read a ribbon worn by one student.
The LFS and the Anakbayan youth group demanded the junking of the K to 12 program which they claimed “reinforces the labor-export policy of the country.”
“Aquino uses K to 12 to train students for overseas employment. It reengineers basic education toward directly providing the needs of foreign countries and corporations for cheap labor,” Bañez said.
Red flags
At 4 p.m., the crowd, most of them wearing red and carrying red flags and banners, began moving to Mendiola, carrying with them an effigy of President Aquino called “Commandeath-in-Chief” which was to be burned in what the organizers said would be a much bigger mass action of almost 50,000 protesters Friday night.
In Lapu-Lapu City, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President did not go to Cebu to avoid the May Day rallies against him in Manila.
“The President’s visit to Cebu was just ‘a new approach’ to celebrate Labor Day,” he said.
“He is the President of all Filipinos. As President, he would like to reach out to our countrymen in as many regions and provinces of the country,” he told a news conference in Cebu yesterday.
It was not the first time that Mr. Aquino has decided to commemorate a national celebration outside Metro Manila.
Last year, Mr. Aquino decided to hold the commemoration of the first People Power Revolution of 1986 in Cebu instead of Manila.
Schedule
Mr. Aquino started his day on Friday by attending a forum on Filipino youth in the labor market followed by an inspection and tour of the new facilities of the University of Cebu Medical Center.
At his third and last engagement at the inauguration of the plant expansion project of Cemex Philippines in Naga City, Cebu province, the President said the cement company’s P3-billion investment for the facility employed 800 construction workers. The cement factory currently employs 950 people.
On Thursday, Mr. Aquino was in Negros Occidental, where he attended the inaugurations of the Negros First Rice Processing Center in Bago City and the Negros First Cyber Center building in Bacolod City.
Mr. Aquino said that with job creation comes the honing of the skills of the Filipino worker, which government does through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
He said that this was to ensure that the hardworking Filipino has the right skill set to be able to find “in-demand employment.”
Tesda training
According to the President, from June 2010 to December last year, 7.15 million students have completed a Tesda course and of this figure, 65.3 percent have found jobs.
He made special mention of a young single mother he met yesterday at the JobStart Philippines Forum in Mandaue City.
The President said the woman, a high school graduate, told him that she had found a good job thanks to the training she received from the labor department and Tesda.
“When it used to be that she faced problems every waking moment, she now has a bright future,” Mr. Aquino said.
In Naga City, Mr. Aquino said a potential strike of the workers of Kepco Salcon Power Corp. over low pay and union busting had been averted with the help of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
A strike at the 200-megawatt Kepco power plant could have resulted in a power outage in Mactan and Negros island.
“We should be able to calmly resolve [the issues] so that these would not be disruptive. Kepco is a power producer and power is quite important for the continued growth of the economy,” Mr. Aquino said.
In his speech, the President praised Baldoz for her efforts to maintain harmony between employers and employees.
He said that in 2013, only one labor union held a nationwide strike, “the lowest in the history of Department of Labor and Employment.” With reports from Maricar B. Brizuela and Julie M. Aurelio
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