“Like most victims of extrajudicial killings, the police used the story line that he resisted arrest and was killed. But our initial findings reveal that he was killed on purpose. He was considered as ‘enemy of the state’ under the Marcos Jr. administration."
Since its launch in June 2017, several groups have continuously protested against the government's public transport modernization program (PTMP). In Cagayan de Oro, a few jeepney operators were forced to sell their units, losing interest in the program.
"If the LTFRB only knows about extensions, what’s stopping the government from just scrapping the whole program instead of repeatedly deceiving and playing us around?”
From previously having 500 personnel, only 23 were retained for the monitoring unit. Sixty of the retrenched employees filed a complaint to the regional office of CSC in the Western Visayas, which BACIWA responded by declaring their positions “redundant” through an office order. On August 21, 2021, the CSC ordered the reinstatement of 60 employees “without loss of seniority and shall be entitled to full pay from the time of their separation until actual reinstatement.”
“There is nothing new for workers in Bongbong Marcos’ ‘Bagong Pilipinas’. Workers still face repression, illegal retrenchment, and other forms of exploitation.”
"Many of the dismissed employees had been with the company for years, contributing to its growth and stability," said Fajardo, emphasizing that "the layoffs are a clear attempt to weaken the union and silence workers' voices."
For a breadwinner in a five-member family in Metro Manila, this falls short of P686.49, as the family daily living wage in NCR is P1,190, according to the economic think tank IBON Foundation.
Minimum wage earners in five regions earned less than P300 a day in January 2023, and less than P310 in 2024, after inflation.
It has been more than a month since his disappearance but Lariosa remains missing. The effect of his abduction rippled down to other organizers in the Southern Mindanao region. The United Nations (UN) has identified that enforced disappearance is a frequently used strategy to spread terror, not only to the close relatives of the disappeared but also to their communities.
Jao Clumia of the AHW said, the prolonged delay in receiving these benefits affects the morale and service of healthcare workers. They feel disheartened, leading to the exodus of frontline workers.
“Peaceful and justified,” these are the words of Azrael de Guzman, one of the six arrested youth activists during the May 1 protest, in an open letter to the public, calling for their immediate release.
Jeepney drivers and operators group Piston said that those who refuse to join the unjust public transport modernization program are being "designated as illegal, or colorum, by the very same government entrusted to safeguard the rights of the working class."
Gabriela Secretary General Clarice Palce said, "The police prevent us from getting near the US Embassy but American troops freely occupy our land and seas," she said in Filipino, referring to the Balikatan exercise with the US.
“Most members in my group are seniors,” he said, “My father is 72 years old, yet he drives every day because he doesn't want to rely on his children. He needs money for medication, electricity and water to survive. Where will they find a livelihood? I’m sure no company would want to hire them anymore, right?”
For single-unit operators like Chel Mallonga, 45, the impact of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) would be drastic. Once consolidation pushes through, single-unit operators will no longer be granted franchises.
The fact-finding team on the disappearance of a labor organizer said that there are eyewitness reports that the Philippine military is involved.
A global research showed how more than 70 percent of industrial greenhouse gases have been linked to only 100 companies since 1988.
The lay-offs are set to begin while Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations are underway.
For workers in Southern Tagalog, repression is as normal as resistance.
"Jude Thaddeus Fernandez was organizing workers in communities to enjoin them to campaign for wage increases and other workers’ rights. He is a labor organizer and does not bear arms.”
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