PHILIPPINES: Statements by the Workers Party (PM) & Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)

Workers Vow to Continue the Struggle for System Change - the "Magdiwang" Way

by Workers Party - Philippines

Workers belonging to Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) or Workers Party - Philippines together with labor groups from LABOR – Labor Alliance for Better Order and Reforms and the newly formed group KONTRA assembled today in front of the Bonifacio Shrine to pay homage to working class hero, Gat Andres Bonifacio [ see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Bonifacio ] and launched the broadest and biggest coalition against contractualization.

PM Chairperson, Renato “Ka Rene�? Magtubo said that, “The workers are one with Senator Trillanes [ see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillanes ] and our brothers and sisters form the military and progressive groups in calling for system change. The workers continue to be the most oppressed sector in society since time immemorial. The revolution that Gat Andres started remains relevant up to these times when the majority of our people – the workers - continue to suffer from oppression and tyranny. While Bonifacio fought against tyranny and oppression from Spanish Rule, today’s generation of workers fight against the culprit of globalization and its willing puppets – the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) regime and its capitalist bourgeoisie.�?

“However, the workers believe that the revolution can only be won if the masses – the workers and the poor – unite in this struggle for change. The workers need not a messiah to win this battle but must rely on their collective strength to overthrow this corrupt regime and fight for concrete reforms that will uplift their conditions. PM calls on the workers and the people to unite for genuine system change.�?

Matubo concluded “Bonifacio started the Katipunan [ see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katipunan ] to unite the Filipino people to fight against tyranny and oppression and inspired a revolution. While we do not approve of a military junta, the workers warmly applaud and welcome Senator Trillanes call for system change. To win this revolution, the working class will ensure that when the time comes, it is the overwhelming numbers and the powerful force of the masses that will determine the right course of the struggle. This is how genuine democracy works. As we commemorate the day of our working class hero, Gat Andres Bonifacio, our pledge is to continue the struggle of Bonifacio’s unfinished revolution and the call of Senator Trillanes and our brothers in the military for genuine change. The workers accept this challenge and vow not to shirk from it�?.

http://www.partidongmanggagawa.org.ph/

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APL condemns overkill response, warns government against using situation to crackdown on legitimate dissent

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) believes that the Manila Peninsula stand-off reflects the extremes to which elements of society, in this case the military, are pushed to express their grievances and legitimate protests against the excesses of an insensitive government.

While the APL is relieved that there was a peaceful and non-violent resolution to this day’s event, it will be misleading to think that this stand-off was isolated as that the issues that brought it about has also been solved. In fact, this incident only reminds us that there is a political crisis in the country and there are still questions of legitimacy and transparency that has remain unresolved to this day.

While APL does not support a military solution, but likewise any authoritarian response with the incident must be met with the strongest condemnation and resistance. Already the fallout shows indications of strong-arm tactics on the part of government including the arrest of civil society figures, church leaders in the area and media workers merely covering the event. This response is indicative of paranoia and insecurity, and it must stop.

Instead, APL dares the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) administration to squarely face the issues that have continued to hound it to this day. Electoral fraud, the Garci wiretaps, the ZTE deal, extrajudicial killings are just among an entire list of controversies that have plagued this country. These issues must be resolved once and for all democratically and peacefully. [ see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_garci & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_National_Broadband_Network_contr... ]

What this administration refuses to see is that the legitimate grievances of the people need resolution, and in its inability to take the moral high ground, it is using nefarious schemes to crawl its way through the end of its term. It is this ruthless determination to use force to silence dissent and opposition that gravely concerns APL on its commemoration of Bonifacio Day.

Workers, disadvantaged and oppressed under the weight of a non-responsive government more concerned with survival, have very little hope of attaining improved working and living conditions. The onslaught of increased contractualization has displaced millions of regular workers, deprive job security for even more millions and eroded our purchasing power with lower wages being rammed down our throats under the threat of retrenchment or dismissal. Workers will only continue to find it harder and harder to find decent work that affords us a living wage, a just share in the fruits of our labor and a respectable standard of life for our families.

The Alliance of Progressive Labor believes that the Manila Peninsula stand-off reflects the extremes to which elements of society, in this case the military, are pushed to express their grievances and legitimate protests against the excesses of an insensitive government.

While the APL is relieved that there was a peaceful and non-violent resolution to this day’s event, it will be misleading to think that this stand-off was isolated as that the issues that brought it about has also been solved. In fact, this incident only reminds us that there is a political crisis in the country and there are still questions of legitimacy and transparency that has remain unresolved to this day.

While APL does not support a military solution, but likewise any authoritarian response with the incident must be met with the strongest condemnation and resistance. Already the fallout shows indications of strong-arm tactics on the part of government including the arrest of civil society figures, church leaders in the area and media workers merely covering the event. This response is indicative of paranoia and insecurity, and it must stop.

Instead, APL dares the GMA administration to squarely face the issues that have continued to hound it to this day. Electoral fraud, the Garci wiretaps, the ZTE deal, extrajudicial killings are just among an entire list of controversies that have plagued this country. These issues must be resolved once and for all democratically and peacefully.

What this administration refuses to see is that the legitimate grievances of the people need resolution, and in its inability to take the moral high ground, it is using nefarious schemes to crawl its way through the end of its term. It is this ruthless determination to use force to silence dissent and opposition that gravely concerns APL on its commemoration of Bonifacio Day.

Workers, disadvantaged and oppressed under the weight of a non-responsive government more concerned with survival, have very little hope of attaining improved working and living conditions. The onslaught of increased contractualization has displaced millions of regular workers, deprive job security for even more millions and eroded our purchasing power with lower wages being rammed down our throats under the threat of retrenchment or dismissal. Workers will only continue to find it harder and harder to find decent work that affords us a living wage, a just share in the fruits of our labor and a respectable standard of life for our families.

November 30, 2007

http://www.apl.org.ph/