Protest rallies elsewhere

Elsewhere in the country, thousands of militant activists from various groups held simultaneous protest rallies in the six provinces of the Bicol region to commemorate Labor Day and push for a wage hike and an end to contractualized labor.

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.

Casilihan said the multisectoral groups were demanding wage increases 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 were also asking again for the scrapping of the contractualization law that has been depriving employees of security of tenure.

Southern Tagalog

In Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), about 7,000 militant activists converged in Calamba, Laguna, on Friday.

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

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

Pamantik-KMU is pushing for a 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, Batangas.

The Philippine National Police said the Labor Day activities throughout the country were generally peaceful, as there were no untoward incidents reported.

PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina said this was because of the preparation of police units involved in securing the mass actions and the cooperation of the participants.

“This only goes to show that peaceful and orderly public assemblies can be held if everyone will cooperate,” Espina said.

In Metro Manila, 2,200 policemen were deployed to the mass actions mostly at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila and the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City.

The Liwasang Bonifacio is one of the freedom parks identified by the city government of Manila.

In a statement, the PNP said some groups attempted to march towards the Chino Roces Bridge on Mendiola Street but were blocked by civil disturbance management teams. Maricar Cinco and Jessica Bechayda, Inquirer Southern Luzon; and Carmel Loise Matus, Inquirer Visayas

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