Pahayag ng grupong PAGGAWA sa Ika-157 Kaarawan ni Gat Andres Bonifacio

Press Release

30 November 2020 

BONIFACIO DAY MARCH 2020: 

LABOR GROUPS DEMAND COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTION OF WORKERS AND POOR FROM PANDEMIC, RECESSION, AND CLIMATE-INDUCED DISASTERS

Socialist labor coalition Pagkakaisa ng Uring Manggagawa (PAGGAWA) marched to Mendiola on Bonifacio day to call for comprehensive solutions to the intensifying problems of the working class due to the ongoing economic, health, and climate crises. 

The group held a ceremonial wreath-laying at the Bonifacio shrine in front of Tutuban to honor the national hero before merging with other groups and marching towards the Mendiola Peace Arch. 

PAGGAWA Spokesperson Ka Leody de Guzman declared, "Workers are facing a crisis of epic proportions. We are up against a multiple headed monster that threatens our health, jobs and livelihood, rights and liberties, and the very lives of our families. The labor movement must realize the narrowness and limitations of craft-level and localized trade unionism, which could not fully address the ravages of the pandemic, recession, fascist attacks against trade union and human rights, and climate-induced disasters. Hence, PAGGAWA has collectively resolved to fight for a comprehensive overhaul of state policies and laws in order to protect the rights and welfare of the working class and their families".  

Stop trade union repression, repeal terror law

Among their demands was the immediate end to trade union repression and red-tagging, the defunding of the NTF-ELCAC, and the repeal of the Anti-Terror Act. KASAMA Federation's Larry de Guzman of explained, "The Anti-Terror Law is not only meant to stifle opposition to the Duterte regime, it also gives blanket protection to abusive capitalists, who are now more brazen in their attempts to bust unions and depress labor costs, using the recession and pandemic as pretext". 

Itigil ang tanggalan, kontraktwalisasyon wakasan!

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) President Atty. Luke Espiritu averred, "Employers have been taking advantage of the current crises by terminating their regular workers and unionists and replacing them with contractual workers. The DOLE must declare an immediate moratorium on mass-layoffs. They must impose stricter regulations and verification processes to ascertain that companies are not just exploiting the economic crisis to undermine security of tenure and unionism". 

The group also registered its opposition to the current version of the so-called security of tenure bill (House Bill 7036), "which is being railroaded in Congress in order to expressly legitimize the practice of contractualization". He added, "The lowly condition of cheap and docile contractual workers is proof that the principal employers use third-party service providers (manpower agencies, service cooperatives, job contractors) to rescind from their obligations to regular workers, and in effect, extract more profit from their employees. What we need is not a stricter definition for legitimate contracting nor to impose higher penalties for labor-only contracting, which is now prohibited by the Labor Code, but to abolish this anti-labor practice altogether. We demand an end to all forms of contractualization. 

Public healthcare and aid amid pandemic and climate calamity

Kilusan ng Manggagawang Makabayan (KMM-Katipunan) President Nathanial Clores stated that the recent successive typhoons have worsened the poverty and misery of the Filipino majority, who have been reeling from the effects of the pandemic and the reccession. "In allocating government budget to reinvigorate the economy, the immediate needs of the workers and the poor must enjoy primacy over the clamor of the propertied elite for bailouts from actual and projected loss. Continuous aid must be given to typhoons and hte unemployed. The state must invest to strengthen our its systems for public health and disaster resiliency. Initiate the transition from dirty energy to clean renewable energy. These thrusts will generate decent and green jobs that can ensure our protection from future crises," said Clores. 

The march was also joined in by unions of various private hospital workers, who called for free mass for all workers and higher hazard pay and benefits for health workers and frontliners. 

Just transition for transport modernization

PAGGAWA also called on the government to allow the return to operations of provincial buses and Jeepneys and immediately involve drivers and conductors in the planned modernization of public transport. Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO) Vice President Eduardo Laurencio explained, "Our drivers and conductors are not opposed to modernization. However, this modernization process must not leave our transport workers to fend for themselves. No one must be left behind! A just transition can only be achieved if transport workers and operators are involved in the decision-making processes regarding reforms towards cleaner and modern public transport". 

Laurencio added, "Transport workers are aware of the need for an systematic and organized approach in public transport to lower the risks of COVID19 transmission. But with the gradual opening up of the economy, the current suspension of traditional PUVs is only promoting anarchy as commuters scramble for a ride with the decreased volume of jeepneys and public buses. Dyip at bus, Ibalik sa pamamasada!," Laurencio added. 

Pampublikong serbisyo hindi negosyo, disente at ligtas na pabahay sa maralita

Socialista President Eding Villasin criticized government inaction in the recent hikes in the prices of food, water and electricity rates, the increasing occurrence of demolition to urban poor communities, amid the overlapping crises brought by the pandemic, recession, and successive typhoons. "Unregulated markets would not only lead to profiteering by opportunistic capitalists but the denial of basic needs to a desperate population. The government should not leave the needs of its citizens at the mercy of market forces especially in times of multiple crises. One such need is for safe living spaces to poor families in urban areas, who are usually regarded as a hindrance to progress but are actually the essential but lowly paid workers that drive commerce in densely-populated cities. Price control! Decent safe housing!"

Multisectoral demands, Fight as One

The labor-led PAGGAWA march was joined in by organizations from different sectors such as multi-sectoral groups Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), farmers' group Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA), and the youth activist group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK). Among the demands that they raised are the repeal of rice tariffication law, academic break for all students, and holding government officials criminally liable for neglect, mismanagement, and the bungled response to the health, jobs, and climate crises. 

Ka Leody concluded, "Sa araw ng dakilang manggagawa na si Gat Andres, nananawagan tayo sa ating mga kamanggagawa't kababayan na magkaisa’t lumaban para sa kanilang kalusugan, kabuhayan, kaligtasan! At the onset of emergencies, the instinctive reaction for individuals is to secure themselves and their loved ones. But our collective experience - with nine months under a pandemic, three quarters of negative economic growth, and a recent string of super typhoons - should be enough to highlight the need for solidarity, as a class and as a people. Divided, we will perish. But united, we are a force for change. We must fight as one and compel the Duterte regime to protect the Filipino people, especially the workers and the poor, from the intertwining crises on our health, jobs, and lives". # 

PAGGAWA is composed of the following labor centers and federations: Associated Trade Unions (ATU), Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Katipunan ng Samahang ng mga Manggagawa (KASAMA), Kilusan ng Manggagawang Makabayan (KMM-Katipunan), Metro East Labor Federation (MELF), National Union of Builders and Construction Workers (NUBCW), Socialista, Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (SUPER), Workers Advocates for Struggle, Transformation and Organization (WASTO). # 

For reference, please contact: Ka Leody De Guzman

Kwento - Bakit ako ang magsasalin ng RA 7270 o UDHA? Dapat KWF dahil sila ang ahensya sa wika!

BAKIT AKO ANG MAGSASALIN NG RA 7279 O UDHA? DAPAT KWF DAHIL SILA ANG AHENSYA SA WIKA!

Maikling kwento ni Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.

Isang hapon iyon nang kinausap ni Igme si Igor dahil nais niyang isalin ni Igor sa wikang Filipino ang Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) o Republic Act 7279. “Igor, maaari mo bang isalin ang UDHA upang mas maunawaan ng kapwa natin maralita kung ano ba ang batas na itong nakakaapekto sa kanila.”

Sumagot si Igor, “Aba, oo. Malaking karangalan sa akin ang pagsasalin ng batas na iyan sa wikang Filipino. May kopya ka ba ng UDHA upang masimulan ko nang isalin?”

“Eto, o.” At ibinigay ni Igme kay Igor ang kopya ng UDHA.

Sa bahay, binabasa ni Igor ang dokumento, hanggang sinimulan niyang isalin ang bawat salita, bawat artikulo, at bawat seksyon. Kinailangan pa niya ng diksyunaryong Ingles-Filipino dahil may mga salitang duda siya kung tama ba ang salin. Sa katagalan, napapaisip siya. Tanong niya sa sarili, “Batas ito ng bansa para sa mga maralita. Pag isinalin ko ba ito ay pakikinabangan ng maralita? Sino ang magpopondo nito? Kung ang samahan lang namin ni Igme ang makikinabang, paano ang iba? Baka may iba pang nagsasalin sa ibang organisasyon, o baka naman may salin na ito sa wikang Filipino, ay hindi namin alam.”

Nasa gayon siyang pagninilay nang makita siya ng kanyang asawa, at tinanong siya kung anong ginagawa niya. At sumagot siya, “Hiniling ni Igme sa akin na tagalugin ko itong UDHA para mas maunawaan ng ating mga kapitbahay at kapwa maralita kung ano ang batas na ito. Kaya lang napapaisip ako, mahal ko. Pakikinabangan ba ito ng mas nakararami pag natagalog ko na, o kami lang ang makakaintindi? Hindi ba dapat ang mga batas ng bansa ay hindi isa-isa nating isinasalin. Baka sabihan pa ako ng mga mas nakakaalam na bara-bara lang itong salin ko .”

Sumagot si Ingrid, “Sige lang, tagalugin mo, at malaking tulong iyan sa ating mga maralita dahil UDHA iyan. Diyan nakalagay sa seksyon 28 niyan kung paano ang proseso bago idemolis ang isang lugar?”

“Iyon nga, eh, kaya ba nakasulat sa Ingles ang mga batas natin ay upang hindi natin maintindihan ang mga batas na nakakaapekto sa masa, sa ating maralita, tulad nga niyang Seksyon 28 ng UDHA hinggil sa demolisyon. Napapaisip nga ako, sino ang maglalathala ng tinagalog ko upang maunawaan ito ng mas marami, kahit nasa probinsya.” Ani Igor.

Sumagot si Ingrid, “Tulong mo na iyan sa samahan. Kaya ituloy mo lang ang binigay ni Pangulong Igme sa iyo.”

Muling nagsalita si Igor, “Napapaisip din kasi ako. Dapat ba sa bawat batas na tatama sa maralita, o iyang Labor Code ng manggagawa, o Local Government Code, bakit lahat nakasulat sa ingles, at paghirapan nating intindihin. Ngayon, pipilitin nating tagalugin. Hanggang mamilipit tayo. Dapat ang gobyerno mismo ang magsalin ng mga ito. Mungkahi ko nga, dapat ang Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino o KWF ang dapat magsalin ng lahat ng batas ng bansa, dahil sila ang ating ahensya sa wika. KWF dapat ang bigyan ng mandato sa pagsasalin ng lahat ng batas ng bansa. Isalin nila sa wikang Filipino, o Tagalog para sa mga nasa NCR, Gitnang Luzon, at Timog Katagalugan. Isalin din ang mga batas natin sa Igorot, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Bikolano, Ilonggo, Cebuano, Tausug, Maranao, at iba pang wika sa ating bansa. Halimbawa, iyang IPRA o Indigenous People’s Rights Act, katutubo ba ang magsasalin niyan upang maunawaan nila? O iyang KWF.”

“Paano iyan magagawa, eh, wala yata sa batas na naglikha sa KWF na sila ang magsalin? Kung meron, dapat ginagawa na nila.” Ani Ingrid.

“Tama ka, mahal ko,” ani Igor, “kailangang kumausap tayo ng mga kongresista at senador na gagawa ng batas upang gawing opisyal na tagasalin ng mga batas ng bansa iyang KWF.”

“Kausapin muna natin si Pangulong Igme,” Ani Ingrid. At nagtungo naman sila sa pangulo ng samahan.

Ani Igor, “Sinimulan ko nang isalin ang UDHA. Subalit bakit ako ang magsasalin ng batas ng bansa. Hindi ba dapat ang Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino dahil ito ang ahensyang pangwika ng pamahalaan? Baka hindi ito maipamahagi sa iba, o baka isiping bara-bara lang ang salin ko?”

“Tama ka, Igor,” ani Igme. “Mungkahi ko, gumawa tayo ng petisyon na lalagdaan ng ating mga kasapian, at ipadala sa mga gumagawa ng batas na hinihiling nating amyendahan ang batas na lumikha ng KWF, at italaga ang KWF bilang opisyal na tagasalin ng lahat ng batas ng ating bansa. Bukod sa pagsasalin mo ng UDHA ay isa iyan sa ating kampanya upang mas maunawaan ng masa ang mga batas na apektado sila.”

* Unang nalathala sa pahayagang Taliba ng Maralita, ang opisyal na publikasyon ng pambansang samahang Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML), Nobyembre 16-30, 2020, pahina 14-15.