Category: News

A string of broken election promises has seen the majority of Filipinos who voted for him suffering the most

A group of urban poor settlers stage a demonstration outside the national police headquarters in Manila in this June 28 photo to protest a wave of arrests and killings in recent months. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

Inday Espina-Varona, Manila Philippines
July 23, 2018

More than 55,000 homes lie abandoned, rotting in relocation sites for informal settlers of the Philippines’ capital. Billions of pesos were spent to build these homes but beneficiaries have shied away due to dangerously shoddy construction.

Members of the urban poor group Kadamay launched a campaign in June to occupy the vacant houses. They have already built a thriving community north of Manila following a campaign last year that took the government by surprise.

Nobody else wants to live in the tenements. Instead of negotiating, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered elite policemen to guard the empty structures, telling officers to “shoot” the activists.

Duterte got 16 million votes during the 2016 elections, mostly from the poor.

Voters angered at decades of neglect and pro-rich governance could not resist his promises: a crackdown against crime groups that prey on the young, an end to labor-only contracting that has withheld social benefits and security of tenure for millions of workers, the completion of the government’s agrarian reform program, homes for the homeless, the safe return home for indigenous tribes displaced by a military working for mining and plantation interests.

As Duterte prepares for his third year in power, critics say he has delivered on only one main promise. The president, who built his fame on the pacification of a southern city via a bloody pogrom against criminal suspects, has brought his bloody act to the national stage.

Police have shot dead more than 4,000 mostly poor drug suspects. Several thousand more have been slain by assassins whom police claim are members of crime syndicates, although witnesses to several murders have tagged law enforcers.

Duterte’s drug war delivered on his threat of bloodshed. It is a big zero in terms of solution. The president promised an end to drugs in six months, then one year, and then two. Now he says it will take him all six years to rid the country of the problem.

Critics scoff at his words. Few heads of cartels have been arrested. Big drug lords have walked from jail. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs have entered the country. One scandal had customs officials facilitating a huge shipment of illegal drugs from China.

Duterte, who routinely threatens to kill corrupt government officials, promoted those responsible for the smuggling attempt.

There is no sense or reason to Duterte’s bloody campaign. Children have died, millions rounded up with no room to protest their innocence. He has drastically trimmed the budget for drug rehabilitation.

Duterte’s promise to labor groups now hounds him. At least 30,000 workers protested on Labor Day this year, the first time in decades rival organizations have united. They rejected an executive order that only touches the problem, allowing many legal loopholes to remain.

Last month, strikes broke out at a dozen big national and multinational firms, all to end labor-only contracting. North of Manila, where hundreds of workers barricaded the gates of the country’s biggest manufacturer of condiments and spices, police attacked, gravely injuring seven people and arresting more than 20 others.

There has been silence from the man in power.

The Ibon Foundation think tank reports that eight of 10 families earn less than US$526 per month. Government economists acknowledge that a family in the capital region needs at least US$843 monthly to avoid the poverty trap.

Many of the thousands of workers now at the barricades earn between US$7 and US$8 daily, well below the US$9.5 minimum wage.

The poor are exempted from paying income tax. But a tax reform program that benefits the richest burdens the poor with indirect taxes from an expanded value-tax list and higher excise taxes on petroleum products.

As a result, inflation is at a five-year high, with little end in sight. Even legislators have called for a review of the tax-reform program, but Duterte’s economic managers refused to budge. To defray the additional cost, they have given the poorest of the poor a US$3.75 monthly subsidy, not enough to cover a week’s increase in the price of rice.

Duterte has reneged on his pledge to protect indigenous peoples. He now threatens to bomb their schools for churning out alleged militant youths. Displeased at indigenous opposition to plantation and mine operations, he has vowed to open up their lands and choose investors.

After bombing the Islamic city of Marawi to smithereens, Duterte has shut out the local community from decision-making in the US$1.3-billion rehabilitation program.

Martial law in Mindanao allows shortcuts in the budget process. The military-led Task Force Rise Marawi has little oversight as it negotiates with big Chinese state firms and Malaysian investors for reconstruction.

Thousands of the 400,000 displaced residents remain in temporary shelters outside of Marawi, their children reluctant to enroll in schools where they brave discrimination against Muslims.

Faced with an inability to deal with economic problems and growing outrage, Duterte has fallen back on his solution comfort zone: draconian crackdowns.

A young man died following a round up of poor men for the crime of idling on streets, a regular activity for Filipinos who live in urban poor communities, sometimes in multi-family homes with poor ventilation.

Going around shirtless in Manila’s sweltering monsoon season has suddenly become a crime.

Responding to human rights groups’ concern, Duterte snapped back with his favorite line: Nobody tells him what to do.

The police aren’t going around seeking shirtless men in exclusive villages. The focus of the crackdown is once again the poor. A Kadamay leader believes it is a ploy, framed as another anti-crime policy, to prevent the urban poor from organizing.

The latest outrage is a proposal by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for mandatory drug tests among elementary school pupils and teachers. It is a ridiculous solution that places the onus of blame on children to cover up the failure of state mayhem to resolve crime.

As the poor reel from killings and growing hunger and poverty, the only solution Duterte has for them is more misery.

Inday Espina-Varona is editor and opinion writer for various publications in Manila.

One day before President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Purple Cross Movement was launched at the University of the Philippines Chapel. The Movement resists the culture of death and impunity brought about by the War on Drugs.

PMPI Statement

On the day he won the presidency, Rodrigo Duterte promised change for the country despite its lack of a comprehensive vision for the country’s development. Like a paper boat in a river race, he went along the tide picking up what might be possibly be good, from his own perspective and experience as a mayor, along the way. And thus, he vowed to end the decades old armed struggle of CPP-NPA-NDF rebels against the state, promised to assert the historic international ruling that the Philippines has won against China by jet skiing into our sovereign waters, ensuring the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) by involving both the MILF and MNLF, promised to end labor contractualization and strongly pledged to curb illegal drugs, criminality and corruption in the country in six (6) months.

Two years hence, indeed change has come, but in its darkest forms.

Instead, there were widespread killings, human rights abuse and attacks on the poor and ordinary people, but not excluding mayors, vice mayors, journalists, church leaders, and children. Truth is, it is not the campaign against illegal drugs per se that killed more than 23,000 poor people, claimed the life of 12 local government officials, three (3) priests, the children and youth who have become “collateral damage” in his drug war as well as the unnamed victims from IP and farmer communities, ”but his public exhortation to subdue and/or kill the lowlifes, dissenters, rebels, and his critics which led to the Philippines to become a killing field.

Likewise, our democratic institutions are demuscled and eviscerated. Most lawmakers have been coopted. Critics are dispirited. Police and military, true to its form, have become overt pawns and tools to perpetuate violence and fear. Even our judges and public lawyers have done nothing to bring the culprits to court and give justice to the victims. The highest court of the land even committed a monumental mistake of ousting their Chief through a quo warranto because the President wants her out too.

The peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF with its many twists and turns has become just like a game and strategy to lure and demobilize the Left from challenging his anti-people policies. While the passage of the BBL is being dangled, the looming outcome is a non-compliant CAB for our Bangsamoro kins.

The economic difficulties of the poor have increased many folds brought about by the TRAIN law. Cost of basic commodities have soared while wages remain low. 5.2% inflation rate, P6.9 trillion national debts, 2,000 fisherfolk displaced at West Philippine Sea, 2 million contractual workers, and the list goes on and on.

This government however does not trample upon the rights of people and human beings alone. Until now, no real actions to protect the environment has been done. President Duterte’s rant against mining industries and its destructive actions are all lip service and hallow positions. His DENR chief continue to be cordial and friendly to mining companies and coal businessmen and has no comprehensive program to protect the environment. The proposed National Land Use Act (NLUA), Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB), and Forest Resource Bills that intends to manage and protect the country’s remaining resources have not moved in the congress. In the proposed federal government, interest groups are even proposing 100% business ownership by foreigners which would involve extractive industries. Isn’t this another selling out of our sovereignty as a people the way we are acceding to China’s claims?

And while few concessions were given — partial increase in soldier and police salaries and provisions, increase in senior citizen’s retirement benefits, longer validity of passports and licenses, quick actions on small corrupt practices – but, the bigger problems, the root causes, have not been addressed.

This situation is pathetic and a result of this government’s lack of comprehensive and holistic vision of development, thus, his economic and political policies are based on whims and caprices of this President alone and with the support of an equally blinded lawmakers and civil servants.

No doubt, that cursed words, misogynistic remarks, vindictiveness and violent language are his answers to the many criticisms and questions posed on him. Revoltingly though, this sets the tone and gives rise to a culture of impunity, lack of respect for the rule of law and due processes within our democratic institutions. When you can’t give clear answers, you can’t help but defend in anger. When you proudly think that you are the smartest person in the world, so you can judge others as inefficient, “bobo” or nincompoops. When you feel you are superior compared to all the rest in the world, you can trample upon their rights and dignity.

President Duterte’s 2nd year in office is the darkest moment in the history of the Filipino people even unparalleled if not at par with Marcos dictatorship era. Nowhere in the history of the Philippines, in so short a time, that this high number of death and continuing spate of extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs and crime, the strangling of democratic institutions, maneuvers to perpetuate himself in power and his public encouragement of an inhumane butchering of children, mothers, women, church leaders, activists, journalists have led and created conditions for people to feel unsafe, and to cower in fear and silence while the rest continue to justify it. Where is the recesses of one’s soul can a justification for these realities come?

This cannot continue. We are a people with dignity. We are a people believing in a loving and compassionate God. And even as we pray from the depth of our hearts that they repent and mend their ways and open ourselves for a just forgiveness for their sins, we should hold accountable President Duterte for the cycle of violence happening in the country. We should challenge him for his unfulfilled promises of change. We should make the entire security sector responsible for their alleged involvement in this cycle of violence and their non-action to put the killers behind bars and bring justice to the victims and their families. We should decry elite-dominated political system and the slow, ineffective, and equally crooked judicial system.

We can’t be silent anymore. We have to express our dissent and outrage over this attack to human dignity and the environment that should reach the doors of Congress and Malcanang, the seat of Duterte regime and his crooked and vile minions. Lest we renege our duties as believers and as a citizen of this nation.

We encourage the Filipino people to go out and join the United People’s SONA today Monday and all other actions hence, together with the families of victims of extrajudicial killings, environment and human rights defenders, contractual workers, indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, religious groups, artists, journalists, and victims of Martial Law from Mindanao.

Together we say: Stop the killings of people and environment.

No to a dictatorship. Uphold the rule of law. Uphold and protect human dignity.

The Story of the Trojan Horse is interesting. After years of siege, the Greek could not penetrate the city of Troy , until they came up with an idea of making a big horse as a peace offering. They left it on the shore and sailed away, admitting their defeat. The Trojans were so happy at this turn of events. They brought the big wooden horse inside their city and celebrated whole night. While they were celebrating, soldiers came surreptitiously out of the horse, opened the city gates to let in their hidden comrades who stealthily sailed back, and attacked the drunk Trojans. Thus the great and impregnable city of Troy fell to the Greeks.

Duterte is presenting federalism as the magic wand to bring about prosperity to the whole country. This claim is at best dubious. But the way to bring about federalism is the change of the present constitution, cha cha, in short. I see that federalism is the Trojan horse, the smokescreen in order to bring about cha cha, which is the formula for total control of the country. It is a control that is backed up by the new constitution they are proposing! We do not yet know this new constitution but knowing the people who are behind this – Duterte and his minions – and knowing who will craft this – the present congress convened as constitutional assembly – we can already guess where this is heading. It will spell disaster to the Filipinos.

We say no to cha cha at this juncture of our history! Although our 1987 Constitution is already hailed as a very progressive constitution together with that of South Africa, it is not perfect. It can still be improved, but not at this time and not with this present congress and president.

Not at this time:

1. The atmosphere in the country is not conducive to critical participation. There is a culture of fear and bullying promoted by Duterte.
2. There is the haste to make the cha cha. They want the plebiscite to be done this year. So there is no time for transparency, proper consultation and discussion. But why the haste? There is a strong suspicion that the haste is to avoid the election of 2O19 so that those in the office can remain.

Not with this present administration.

1. Duterte is out for power. We do not believe his “promise” to resign if the cha cha for federalism is already passed. He already had so many “promises” to resign – if traffic in Manila is not solved in 3 months, if ENDO is not taken away in 6 months, if the problem of illegal drugs is not solved in 6 months, etc., etc. If he is true to his word, he should have resigned long ago! But he is one who is “strong” – and flimsy – in words but very weak in deeds. Who can believe him?
2. The Lower House is no longer independent. It is just a rubber stamp of the palace. The congressmen and women there no longer represent the people but their own families and political interests. They do not have the good of the people at heart. They cannot be trusted. Nor are they qualified too for changing the charter!
3. The present government is no longer seen as independent from foreign influence. China is seen as a real threat, and with the connivance of no less than Duterte himself.

The country is faced with real problems, like the runaway inflation, the rise in prices of the basic goods, the atmosphere of lawlessness with the continued killings of the poor, of church people and of politicians, the loss of our territorial sovereignty, the weakening of our democratic institutions, the anger at the controlled and uncalled for ranting of Duterte, etc. These should be addressed by people in government now, not cha cha nor federalism!

Bishop Broderick Pabillo

July 12, 2018

This is a very important document prepared by academicians and professors on amending the constitution. It is only a 3-5 min read. It just looks long because of the list of names of those who have penned this.

Please take the time to get involved. Our nation’s future is at stake, affecting not only our present generations but also the next, and the next, and the next, and the next…

We, the undersigned academics and professionals, are expressing our deep concern as regards the process of reviewing and possibly amending our Constitution.

We acknowledge the importance of discussing ways to improve governance in the country, particularly when it comes to a possible shift to a new, federal form of government. Some of us actually support federalism, while others oppose it. We have nevertheless united in this common statement to acknowledge the importance of evidence-based debate and discussion to root out the main benefits and costs of such a reform.

Given the far-reaching implications of this reform, we believe the process must be much more participatory—including not just those who are for this reform, but also those who oppose it. International policy experience and evidence suggests that constitutional reforms are more effective if deliberations are front-loaded at the crafting stage, rather than belatedly appended once these reforms are already ratified.

The present environment is not conducive to reforming the constitution. The most recent nationwide surveys of SWS and Pulse Asia last March 2018 show that only 25% of our citizens sufficiently understand our existing constitution, while only 37% support the shift to federalism. 64% are against charter change.. ‘Changing the Constitution’ also ranked last in the ‘most urgent national concerns’ with only 3% of the Filipinos saying that it should be acted upon immediately.

We do not support calls to channel this reform through a Constituent Assembly.

Almost 80% of Congress is comprised of political dynasties, and the empirical evidence suggests that a majority of them may face deep conflict of interest if a new constitution aims for reforms that level the political playing field. The risk of capture by vested interests affecting our present politics is too great.

We do not support calls to postpone or cancel elections in 2019.

Finally, we believe that there are more pressing and immediate policy challenges that our leaders must address. The rising death toll linked to the anti-drugs campaign, which now includes many children and young people. The killings of political leaders and priests also further raise the spectre of injustice. Rising prices of basic commodities, transportation and other needs are also hitting the poor, our workers, and millions of low income households. If these are unresolved, then how can we credibly unite around “rule of law” and “human rights” under an amended constitution?

A constitution is supposed to bind our nation in common values and a shared vision. It is the very glue that should unite us all in common purpose.. If we are to amend the constitution, we must invest not just in the outcome, but in the very process.

This is a broad discussion that must bring together our citizens from all walks of life, professions and political leanings. It is a national discourse that must allay fears, clarify concerns and bring us all towards common ground.

Signed:

Fr. Roberto C. Yap, SJ, President, Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan

Fr. Roberto E. N.. Rivera, SJ, President, Ateneo de Naga University

Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ, President, Ateneo de Zamboanga University

Fr. Primitivo E. Viray, Jr., SJ, Provincial Superior, Jesuits in the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus

Br. Armin A. Luistro, FSC, President, De La Salle Philippines

Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD, President, University of San Carlos

Edilberto de Jesus, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Asian Institute of Management   Continue reading

Dear Friends,

Greetings of peace!

On July 23, President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) before the joint session of Congress. The SONA has always been an opportune time for our people to reflect on the country’s situation and to air their various concerns and grievances.

Indeed, during these uncertain times, when our fragile democracy is once more under threat of authoritarian rule, when human rights are violated with impunity, when the EJK list continues to rise, when national sovereignty is being bartered away, when the economy is wracked by soaring prices, low wages and unemployment, and when peace and justice have become more elusive than ever, President Duterte is diverting our attention by railroading charter change via Constituent Assembly.

It is our Christian duty in a democratic society to stand firm and say “Enough!”, and make a prophetic call for genuine transformation.

In this light, we are inviting you to a peaceful yet powerful protest rally on July 23, 3-6pm along Commonwealth Ave., QC, fronting the St. Peter’s Parish Church. The Coalition for Justice will join several thousands of people representing the broadest spectrum of religious beliefs, political persuasions and sectoral interests, coming from more than 100 churches, faith-based organizations, sectoral and cause-oriented groups in a Unity March that will start from UP Diliman Campus at 2p.m., passing by various assembly points along Commonwealth Ave. to the rally site.

We invited Former CJ Maria Lourdes Sereno to speak on Charter Change during the event.

If you intend to join the Unity March and the rally, please respond to this email and indicate your group/organization, how many people from your group you expect to join, and which assembly point you intend to proceed to on July 23.

This would be the perfect time for the President, Congress and the whole nation to see and hear our various organizations, sectors and movements united in the struggle to uphold democracy, human rights, peace, and justice. We hope you can join us.

Thank you very much.

Ptr. CALOY DIÑO
Lead Convenor
Coalition for Justice

July 20, 2018

ASSEMBLY POINTS | Organizations in charge:

• Diliman Preparatory Academy| 1PM – ACT Teachers and PUP community
• Robinsons, Commonwealth (cor. Tandang Sora) |12NN – BabaeAko
• UP University Avenue | 12NN – BAYAN, MAT
• Luzon/Tandang Sora | 1PM – BAYAN QC, QC Urban Poor Network
• Ever Gotesco | Intercessors for the Philippines
• St. Peter Parish Church | 1:30PM Mass – Tindig Pilipinas, Sangguniang Laiko, Promotion of Church People’s Response, National Clergy Discernment Group, Task Force Orientation of Church Personnel, Task Force on Urban Conscientization of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Nicodemus, Rise UP, Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation Pilipinas
• Toyota Center, Commonwealth | 12:30PM – Laban ng Masa, iDefend, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Green Thumb Coalition
• 1PM – Kalipunan ng mga Kilusang Masa, Coalition for Justice

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan celebrates Mass at the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, July 19, 2018. ROY LAGARDE

By Roy Lagarde
July 19, 2018
Manila, Philippines

A Catholic bishop has condemned the murder of a drug war widow who was leading a support group for families of victims of extrajudicial killings.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan said Jennifer Taborada, 27 and a mother of two young children, was gunned down by masked killers in Caloocan City at around 8pm on Wednesday.

As shepherd of a diocese that has become a “killing field”, the bishop said he is saddened that he cannot protect his flock from the “wolves”.

“And so today in utter shame and frustration I declare I have not been a good shepherd to my flock,” David lamented in his homily during a Mass for the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization in Manila on Thursday.

“The wolves, they have been prowling the streets and alleys of Caloocan, Malabon, and Navotas for almost two years now! They have killed hundreds already, and I am unable to protect them with my life.”

“I will bow in shame if the Good Shepherd will denounce me as a mere hireling who remains very safe and very secure, who can get a good night’s sleep in his warm bed while his sheep are being slaughtered. And this is what i was saying in tears to myself last night,” he said.

Citing a report from his informant who was at the crime scene, the prelate said what’s appalling was the killers were not even rushing and just took their “sweet time”.

He claimed that the police seemed to be alerted about presence of the killers “because they are not supposed to meddle”.

“If the police wanted to pursue them, they could have, because they stayed for more than three hours,” David said.

After the killing of Taborada, he said that the killers just moved a few blocks and killed Alvin Teng, 36, at around 11:30pm.

He recalled that Taborada was one of the widows who applied for a scholarship for her kids just a few months ago.

“At that time I remember how she narrated her husband’s death, how Ryan was mutilated by the killers. He had to be abducted and tortured first. They gouged his eyes and cut off his private parts,” added David.

“Now her two little children aged five and seven, named Princess and Prince, are complete orphans,” he also said.

The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas (LAIKO) believes that the 1987 Constitution is founded on reverence to God, democracy and social justice. Therefore, in unity with all Filipinos who are freedom-loving and defenders of truth, we strongly oppose the Charter Change. We do not believe in the timeliness of the process and its lack of transparency because we are witnesses to a House of Representatives that acts as puppets of a totalitarian executive.   We do not believe in the proposal to adopt a federal form of government that would apparently guarantee a fairer distribution of resources among the regions, more participation in the political process and a better life for all, yet giving vast powers to President Duterte between 2019-2022, and impose more taxes on the people to support new structures and officials.

Based on the March 2018 Pulse Asia Survey the number of Filipinos opposed to Charter change went up from 44 percent in July 2016 to 64 % in March 2018, and the opposition to federalism went the same way, except by a larger margin from 33 percent to 66 percent. (1) LAIKO therefore joins this growing number of Filipinos to call on our legislators in Congress to STOP CHA-CHA. Instead we urge them to:

• craft enabling laws that will fully implement the provisions of the 1987 Constitution especially on the Freedom of Information and the Anti-Dynasty Law.
• make the wider consultation process in the country for the Filipinos to fully understand the effects of tampering with the 1987 Constitution
• call for a constitutional convention wherein the different sectors of society are represented and in a democratic venue express their stand without being afraid for their life.

Continue reading

Duterte’s Strongman Rule: The Gathering Storm?
A CenPEG Public Forum will be moved to July 24, 2018. Venue toi be announced. Apologies for the late update.

The policy think tank, Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), is holding its 10th State of the Presidency (SOP) – entitled “Duterte’s Strongman Rule: The Gathering Storm?” – on July 18, 2018, 8:30 a.m. -12 noon, Assembly Hall of the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), University of the Philippines, Diliman campus, Quezon City.

Bulatlat Contributors July 15, 2018

“Workers are no longer hoping for a favorable action from the government to respect their dignity.”

Part 1 of 2: Strikes, Protests erupt against worsening contractualization, wage

By ADAM ANG and MENCHANI TILENDO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — In the two years that President Duterte has been in power, two government regulations on contractualization have been released – the DOLE Department Order (DO) No. 174 and Executive Order (EO) No. 51. But most workers say these did not respond to their problems, resulting in the persistent eruption of labor disputes.

In the past two years, at least 25 workers’ protest actions and strikes have been launched, all traceable to the problem of contractualization. Of these strikes, those monitored by the labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) were disputes due to regularization, union-busting and illegal job termination.

Kilos Na Manggagawa (KNM) chairperson Jen Pajel told Bulatlat that workers’ rights are being suppressed. “Contractualization brings distress to workers and their families.”

BULATLAT FILE PHOTO by Carlo Manalansan

“In the factories, a contractual worker has no permanent livelihood, wages are low, and working conditions are unsafe.”

Finding these intolerable, some Filipino workers have launched strikes and protests.

But in the strike area, most workers are being harassed by the company they used to serve. Last June 14, the picket in Bulacan of NutriAsia workers was forcibly dispersed by the police. On July 3, in Laguna, the police and security elements also forcibly entered the Middleby factory in Laguna to dislodge the workers from their sit-down strike. For days before that, the striking workers’ food support had been barred from entering the Laguna Technopark where the workers were on strike.

Aside from launching strikes, workers have launched boycott campaigns to further raise their calls for regularization, direct employment relations with the principal, and wage increase. Laid-off workers of NutriAsia and Jolibee have asked consumers to boycott NutriAsia and Jollibee products.

“Boycotts are one of the weapons of the workers to push the capitalists and even those in DOLE to take concrete actions,” Pajel said.

Circumventing labor laws

Amid the strengthening calls for regularization and national minimum wage, the deliberate disregard of companies and establishments have intensified the labor disputes in the country.

Jollibee workers call on the public to stop patronizing the products of Jollibee and its subsidiaries until the workers are regularized. (Photo by Adam Ang/Bulatlat)

In Nutriasia, over half of its workforce, or no less than 900 workers, have remained contractuals despite working in the same company for more than a decade.

In the Pangilinan-led PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company), about 7,000 workers have been demanding for regularization for almost two years now. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) rejected the telecommunication company’s request to reverse the decision on regularizing its workers. Instead, it gave PLDT 10 days to process its compliance order.

“The compliance order has been issued to PLDT since 2016 but until now, it is one of the top companies in the country that practices illegal contracting. Based on our initial inspection, we have discovered that the company has been illegally contracting almost 9,000 workers. Time and again, we have ordered them to undergo mandatory conferences and regularize their workers”, DOLE Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod said in an interview.

PLDT is one of the country’s biggest, if not the biggest, telecommunication companies. Aside from it, 3,337 companies in the country have been identified by the Labor Department as practicing illegal contracting. These include big-brand companies such as the Jollibee Foods Corporation, Monde Nissin, Unipak Sardines, Middleby Corporation.

The Labor Department has seen that labor laws are being violated and the workers who render services for more than six (6) months remain contractuals without benefits.

“Our compliance order is inclusive not only of the regularization of thousands of the workers, but the refunding of their underpayments, salary deductions and other benefits. It should guarantee them their rights to unionize, collective bargaining, security of tenure, strike in accordance to the laws, and right to just and living wages. For numerous times, the department has already called for exit conferences to make this clear among employers, contractors, agencies, and workers”, Maglunsod said.

As for PLDT, DOLE has issued a cease and desist order to PLDT’s service contract providers, but instead of providing relief to the workers, it’s now a justification being made by the telco for poor quality service.

“They (companies) have been skirting the laws. Now they want to pin down DOLE, and claim that it was our fault. What we want is for them to comply with the law, because the workers are the ones at stake here,” Maglunsod said.

“PLDT, Jollibee, Nutriasia, and other companies that have long been practicing illegal contracting have circumvented the laws, beyond what are stated in the Labor code. The main principle is clear; if the company directly hired the workers, then they shouldn’t be transferred to agencies and other contractors. Doing so is illegal”, Maglunsod concuded. (http://bulatlat.com)

Part 2 of 2: Philippines ‘worst’ for workers – global report

By ADAM ANG and MENCHANI TILENDO Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The Philippines was among the top 10 countries across the globe to be worst for workers, according to the Global Rights Index for 2018 released last June 8 by the International Trade Union Confederation. In a scale of 1 to 5, the Philippines is a 5 with “no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of law.

The local labor rights group Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said the report “re-validated” their findings that the “Duterte administration is no different from the previous governments or even worse in its attacks against the rights of Filipino workers.”

CTUHR recorded 29 victims of extrajudicial killings in the labor sector from June 2016 to March 2018. About 3,345 individuals whose labor rights have been violated were documented by the CTUHR in 133 cases. These include “809 victims of red-tagging, 358 victims of threat, harassments and intimidation and 98 victims of arbitrary arrest and detention resulting from filing trumped up criminal charges.”

Dissent and protests, however, remain the labor sector’s recourse amid unresolved jobs crisis, contractualization and low wages.

After President Rodrigo Duterte’s contractualization order on May 1, labor groups have boldly criticized the administration’s move and described it as nothing but a ‘tokenistic’ approach to the long-time issues of contractualization in the country.

The workers’ newly constructed tent at the sidewalk across the headquarters of the Department of Labor and Employment in Intramuros, Manila (Contributed photo / Bulatlat)

“Contractualization is getting even worse because of the continuous foreign investments in the country which the government allows to implement contractualization. Because of this, they (the companies) are free to create mechanisms to exploit the Filipino workers,” Joel Maglunsod, a Labor Undersecretary who was once also a labor leader, told Bulatlat.

Maglunsod also admitted that Duterte’s DO 174 did not differ with the existing labor laws on labor-only contracting. “In essence, it only prohibits agencies to engage in illegal contracting, but it could not supersede the existing laws that allow contracting and subcontracting.”

Maglunsod defended the Labor Department for its lackluster performance in the promised banning of contractualization.

“We have submitted a workers’ version of demands to the president, even before he signed the executive order last Labor Day. It is beyond the department’s accountability if the president did not align his version with that of the workers,’” , the labor undersecretary explained.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and other labor rights’ groups have criticized DOLE’s action, calling it a mere ‘lip service.’ The labor center said they have had enough of nearly a decade of the Labor Department’s “disregard and incompetence when it comes to the employees’ calls for regularization.”

Still the same calls uniting labor: ‘Junk government laws on contracting, subcontracting’

According to the contractual workers’ alliance KNM (Kilos Na Manggagawa), the so-called “legal contractualization” or any employment of contractual workers is actually illegal.

“Any form of contractualization, whether seasonal, project-based or casual, whatever it is called, as long as you are considered contractual, it is illegal,” said KNM chairperson Jen Pajel.

Despite hyping his administration’s thrust to end ENDO (end of contract signifying contractualization), the contractualization policies issued by the Duterte government continue the old policies’ distinction between legal and illegal contractualization. On March 16, 2017, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III issued the DO No. 174 providing for stricter guidelines on contracting and subcontracting. It does not ban contractualization; it just banned labor-only contracting or “an arrangement where the contractor or subcontractor merely recruits, supplies, or places workers to perform a job, work, or service for a principal.”

On Labor Day this year, President Duterte signed the EO No. 51 which banned illegal contractualization schemes like end-of-contract. Labor groups were quick to denounce the gesture as “nonsense.”

KMU said in a statement that the order does not end all forms of contractualization but legalizes it. They also consider it to be worse than DO 174 as it sets labor contracting through agencies as the standard for employment in the country.

PLDT contractuals in a picket in front of the Department of Labor and Management office in Intramuros, Manila. (Photo from Defend Job Philippines Facebook page)

“Whatever kind of position and livelihood, all should be considered as regular workers with direct relation to the principal owner,” Pajel said.

Revealing action from the DOLE

The Duterte administration and the Labor Department may continue claiming it is taking action against contractualization. But its action reveals the opposite. For example, after the dialogue between PLDT management and its workers facilitated by the DOLE on July 2, it assured the workers the DOLE order to regularize thousands of them is final and executory.

DOLE reports that it is also intensifying its thorough inspections and assessments of various companies, especially those involved in labor disputes.

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