Militants Hold Separate Rallies

Posted May 02, 2007 02:36:00(Mla Time)

Edson C. Tandoc Jr. Allison Lopez Inquirer Bureaus
MANILA, Philippines — The Labor Day rallies Tuesday were as diffused as the rainbow colors of the different groups that staged separate protests in Manila and around the country.

Personal and ideological differences and trade union “intramurals” have kept the country’s labor movement from becoming a strong voice since democracy was restored in 1986, Partido ng Manggagawa party-list Rep. Renato Magtubo said.

Holding three separate demonstrations in the capital, about 5,000 militants representing leftist groups pressed their demands for higher wages and other benefits but were turned back by riot troops in their attempt to march to the Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) Bridge near Malacañang.

In one of the rallies, banners trumpeting labor issues were outnumbered by colorful streamers of party-list groups appealing for votes in the May 14 elections.

Campaign volunteers handed out pocket calendars and stickers of senatorial wannabes, all but turning the rally into one big campaign sortie.

It was just a coincidence, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano said.

“We join Labor Day celebrations every year. It just so happened that this is an election period,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

The demonstrations were generally peaceful, except for an incident in which some protesters allegedly beat up a suspected military intelligence agent at the Liwasang Bonifacio, Commission on Human Rights official Carmelita Rosete told the Inquirer.

Symbolic bridge

In the first rally of the day, about 1,000 members of the party-list group Akbayan marched toward Malacañang but were blocked by police on Nicanor Reyes Street.

Led by Akbayan Representatives Etta Rosales and Risa Hontiveros, the group asked to be allowed to move on but were spurned. But they were permitted to hold a program consisting of speeches and songs.

“At least dito, amoy na yung Mendiola Bridge (we can smell Mendiola Bridge),” Hontiveros said.

“The bridge of Mendiola is very symbolic,” added Rosales.

Different orientations

Hours later, Anakpawis and party-list groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Suara Bangsamoro, Kabataan and others held their own protests at the Liwasang Bonifacio.

“They were never together with us every Labor Day. They always held a separate rally. We respect them for that,” Rosales said.

“We have different political orientations. We have our respective political platforms,” Mariano said.

Party-list group Sanlakas held its own rally at Plaza Miranda, announcing early on that it would march to Mendiola, only to cancel the march later.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, who was recently released by the Supreme Court after being detained on murder charges he claimed were fabricated by the military, pressed for the release of detained fellow leftist leader and Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran.

Bail for Ka Bel

The Anakpawis leader has been under hospital arrest for months on rebellion charges.

Ocampo said the government should honor the statements of key officials that they would not oppose Beltran’s bail application.

Beltran’s camp had asked the court to allow him a few hours of freedom so he could attend the rally but the plea was denied, organizers said.

The 3,000 demonstrators gathered at Liwasan included a 15-year-old boy named Raymond, who held up a streamer attached to a bamboo pole and said he would be paid P150 for his work.

Rain fell briefly in the afternoon as the protesters prepared to march to Mendiola, easing the day’s scorching summer heat.

In the Visayas

Some of the Labor Day celebrations in the Visayas also turmed into political rallies.

About 4,000 gathered in separate venues in Bacolod City, as party-list groups, such as Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Gabriela, Suara Bangsamoro, Anakpawis and Partido ng Manggagawa sought the support of the labor sector.

In Tacloban City, 500 members of different militant groups staged a march, while about 2,000 workers from government and private companies gathered inside the air-conditioned Tacloban City Convention Center.

In Iloilo City, around 3,000 protesters joined Labor Day protest rallies. Some 2,000 gathered at the provincial capitol and 1,000 at the Jaro district plaza.

Many of the protesters at the provincial capitol carried placards with pictures of missing activists Nilo Arado and Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado.

In Kalibo, Aklan, around 500 protesters led by Bayan Muna mounted a caravan from the towns of Ibajay, Tangalan and Numancia before holding a rally at Pastrana Park.

Around 1,000 protesters led by Anakpawis and Gabriela joined a similar rally at the Roxas City Bandstand in Capiz.

In Cebu City, around 3,000 workers belonging to the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP took to the streets Tuesday to call for a wage increase.

Southern Luzon

In Legazpi City, various groups that staged a rally at the Pinaglabanan Monument said the calamities that had struck the region made life even harder for every Bicolano.

In Sorsogon City, tense moments marked a multisectoral rally after its leaders confronted suspected military intelligence agents who were taking pictures of participants.

At the Crossing in Calamba City, around 2,000 farmers, workers and representatives of the urban poor gathered at 3 p.m. to press for the release of Beltran and demand a P125 across-the-board wage increase.

Multisectoral groups also staged rallies in the cities of Tanauan and Lipa in Batangas, San Pablo in Laguna and Rosario, Cavite.

In Pampanga, more than 1,200 workers from three major economic zones in Central Luzon marched and held a program in the City of San Fernando until 11 a.m.

At the rally organized by the Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan, workers spoke of low wages and the failure of many employers to pay the P230 daily minimum wage in the region.

Also in San Fernando City, more than 400 workers belonging to the Workers Alliance in Central Luzon spent Labor Day campaigning for the party-list group Anakpawis through a province-wide motorcade.

In Subic, Zambales, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas reported that 30 of its members were stopped by Army soldiers from leaving town to join protest rallies.

In Baguio City, Anakpawis launched a campaign rally by endorsing senatorial candidates who promised to pursue a wage bill should they be elected.

Fernando Bagyan, Anakpawis coordinator in the city, said they wanted the May 14 elections to be the ratification of what he referred to as “a new wage consciousness,” by campaigning strongly for the Genuine Opposition’s Manuel Villar, Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano and Aquilino Pimentel III.

Inquirer