Kabuhayan, Hindi Patayan, Kalayaan hindi Diktadurya, Chicha hindi Chacha!
Laiko file
These calls sum up the position expressed by Partido Manggagawa (PM) before participants of the on going “Dasal at Ayuno” held at the People Power Monument. Today’s discussions deal mainly with the social justice provisions on labor under the 1987 Constitution.
According to PM, the state policy as well as the social justice provision of the present constitution provides not only for full employment and full protection to labor but also treats the working class as the country’s primary economic force. Unfortunately, this social policy never assumed real meaning for the working people as unemployment, low wages and rampant violation of labor rights remain the norm in this country.
“This problem is systemic in nature and no amount of changes in the constitution can break the level of impunity being enjoyed by the exploiting classes under any administration. Kaya nga po kabisado ng manggagawa ang kasabihan na ‘walang magpapalaya sa manggagawa kundi ang kapwa manggagawa’,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.
Fortaleza explained that this is the main reason why the Filipino working class never danced to chacha (charter change) initiatives initiated by the previous administrations.
The group is also opposed to ConAss as the manner in proposing changes in the constitution as Congress, past and present, can never be an agent but a subject of the much needed reforms.
The current chacha moves, the group said, can be more sinister than the previous ones as they cover a wide range of political and economic proposals that may only benefit the same classes that rule the country for ages. These include the well-entrenched political dynasties and rent-seeking economic elites whose wealth and power transcends time and territorial boundaries.
“Contractualization, low wages and high prices of basic goods and services are problems that are systemic rather than territorial in nature so that they cannot be addressed by mere decentralization of government functions. Business tycoons and landlords impose the same rules wherever they are in this country. The problem, therefore, is not form of government but class rule,” argued Fortaleza.
Fortaleza explained further that demand for chacha was never a demand by ordinary Filipinos as confirmed by previous surveys prior to and right after the 2016 elections. Until today, the top 5 concerns of Filipinos remained to be:
- controlling inflation;
- improving or increasing the pay of workers;
- reducing poverty;
- creating more jobs, and
- fighting graft and corruption in government
According to PM, workers are demanding not a change in the constitution but the implementation of its social justice provisions on living wage and full protection. Chacha is also not among the demands submitted by labor groups in official summits/dialogues held during the past and even in the present administrations.
“Kung ganun, bakit mas abala ang Palasyo at Kongreso sa chacha na hindi naman hinihingi ng manggagawa at hindi maibigay ang matagal nang hinihingi nito at ng iba pang sektor? Mali ang chacha kung iba ang agenda ang nasa isip ng mga proponent nito,” concluded Fortaleza.
Ka Rene Magtubo
Chairperson, Partido Manggagawa
Co-Chair, Church-Labor Conference
Spokesperson, Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition
