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Juan Alexander ‘Bob’ Reyes was walking home from a meeting with a workers organization when he was abducted by plainclothesmen on June 2. Hours after, his family found him detained in Camp Crame and accused of crimes he did not commit.

Who is Bob Reyes and why would the state go through such lengths to silence his activism?

From student leader to labor organizer

Reyes is a father of three, a loving husband, and a good son. According to his mother, he was an honor student when he was in secondary school. A talented and smart child as told by his siblings. When he was in college, he became the chairperson of League of Filipino Students – University of the East Caloocan Chapter and later on, the chairperson of the university’s progressive student party, Tinig ng Silangan Party Alliance. The school served as his training ground in becoming an effective organizer.

After serving quite some time in the youth and student movement, he volunteered to work for Confederation for Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) where his skill in organizing developed even more. The years he spent as a student activist made him keen to the conditions of government employees. Eventually, he became an esteemed and effective leader. No wonder why he experienced a series of harassment by fascist state forces.

Later on, he decided to shift from the public to the private sector. He became a convenor of Defend Job Philippines and a leader of Sandigan ng Manggagawa sa Quezon City where he organized workers in their struggle against contractualization and fight for higher wages. He assisted the illegally dismissed workers of Pearl Island Corporation who are currently on strike.

Reyes is now facing trumped-up charges of arson in Agusan del sur, a place he never visited, and illegal possession of firearms and explosives in Quezon City.

Like all political prisoners, Reyes’ case is baseless and farcically fabricated. This old and continuing practice to criminalize and malign activism shows how desperate Duterte is in consolidating his fascist dictatorship.

Dismay turned to rage

The imprisonment of Reyes is a state offensive against the workers’ struggle to end all forms of contractualization and their campaign for wage increase. It is obvious that after the ‘Endo’ Executive Order fiasco, the dismay of workers turned into rage which revitalized the labor movement. The increasing crackdown against unionists and activists is a vain attempt to inculcate fear and pacify the clamor of the poor and working masses — a concrete manifestation an undeclared Martial Law.

This Marcosian strategy takes its toll in the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and National Democratic Front (NDF). Instead of discussing workers’ plight and struggles as one of the main topics in the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms, the government circumvents the issue by maliciously accusing the opposite party of “consolidating” its forces.

Government insincere about peace

Recently, the fifth round of the talks was stalled for the second time. According to the GRP panel, they are waiting for a “conducive environment” for the talks to continue. Duterte, on the other hand, demands that the talk should take place locally which violates previously signed agreements by both parties that all negotiations, formal and informal, should be mediated by a third party.

This on-and-off resumption of peace talks speaks for itself — that the GRP doesn’t want to tackle the substantial agenda proposed by the NDF to alleviate the conditions of the poor and marginalized which is first and foremost the reason why there is a revolution in the countryside and protests in the cities.

If they are seriously committed to peace and demand an enabling environment for the talks, all political prisoners must be released immediately and granted general amnesty since all of the cases filed against them are trumped-up and baseless.

Ending ‘Dutertyranny’

In the midst of Duterte’s increasingly atrocious tyrannical rule and in time for Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address, Karapatan – Metro Manila encourages all progressive individuals and organizations to unite and call for the immediate release of all political prisoners through general amnesty, especially the elderly, sickly, women, and the youth, who were falsely accused of crimes they did not commit; and the resumption of peace talks which will bring about the genuine and necessary change for the betterment of society in all aspects.

The people must strengthen their ranks and intensify the struggle for their rights and to end what is dubbed as ‘Dutertyranny’ to once and for all, establish a peaceful society based on justice.

The post Who is detained trade unionist Bob Reyes? appeared first on Manila Today.

Kabilang sa mga babaeng manggagawang tinanggal ang 42 anyos na si Lileth Salvador.

Aniya, ito ay matapos nilang maghain ng reklamo sa Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) para sa kaliwa’t kanang paglabag ng sa kanilang mga karapatan ng kumpanyang Slord Development Corp. or Slord, ang prodyuser at distributor ng Uni-Pak Sardines.

Ika-10 ng Mayo, 44 na manggagawa ang biglaang tinanggal, karamihan ay babae, matapos malaman ng management na lumapit sila sa DOLE. Ika-11 nang Mayo naman nang sinimulan na silang harangin sa tarangkahan ng kumpanya at pinagbantaang kapag nagpumilit pang pumasok ay kakaladkarin ng mga gwardiya.

Lagpas tatlong taon na rin niyang binubuhay ang kanyang nag-iisang anak sa pamamagitan ng pagtatrabaho sa pagawaan na may sahod lamang na P350 hanggang P370, kahit pa ito ay nasa loob ng National Capital Region na nag-uutos na P512 na minimum wage ang ibayad sa mga manggagawa. Hanggang noong Setyembre 2017, nasa P280 hanggang P320 lamang ang sahod nila, mababa rin sa minimum na sahod.

Nagsimula siya sa sahod na P 240 noong 2014, tapos ngayon ay P370 na ang arawang sahod niya bilang ‘extra regular’.

Taga-sort ng mga produkto, nagtatanggal ng mga baho, naglalagay ng mga label at kung minsan pa ay nagkikiskis ng kalawang—ganito ang kanyang naging gawain sa 8 hanggang 12 oras sa loob ng warehouse.

Sa isang episode ng online show ni Kris Aquino na Heart to Heart ay sinabi ng dating tinaguriang Queen of All Media na sa 80% kababaihang nagtatrabaho sa pagawaan ng Uni-Pak Sardines ay porma raw ng women empowerment.

Pero kung ayon kay Lileth, sobrang dami raw talagang nilalabag ng SDC sa kanilang mga karapatan, ngunit tinatago at tinatanggi ito ng management.

Nang mag-inspeksyon ang DOLE sa pagawaan mula noong Agosto 17, sinabihan silang magtago upang hindi sila makita. Kung makikita naman daw ay kailangan nilang sabihing minimum ang kanilang sahod at kumpleto sa benepisyo. Dahil sa takot na mawalan ng trabaho ay sinusunod ng mga kontraktwal na manggagawa ang dikta ng management.

Ngayon, iginigiit ng pagawaan sa DOLE na hindi raw nila tinanggal silang mga manggagawang ngunit,  hindi rin daw nila maibabalik sa trabaho.

Dahil sa laban para sa mas disenteng sahod at mas maayos ng kalagayan sa paggawa, nabuo nila ang Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Slord Development Corp. na tunay na lumalaban para sa kanila dahil ang unyon daw na Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Manggagawa ay unyon ng management at hindi sila tinulungan sa laban nilang ito.

Giit niya pa sa kasalukuyang administrasyon ni Rodrigo Duterte na nangako at patuloy na nangangakong wawakasan ang endo, huwag puro ang isyu sa burukrasya ang pagtuunan ng pansin. Dapat lang daw na pati sila ay mabigyang-pansin sa laban nilang ito.

The post #UniPakCampout | Lileth, extra regular sa pagawaan ng sardinas appeared first on Manila Today.

Movement Against Tyranny Metro Manila held a candle-lighting activity today in condemnation of Philippine National Police’s (PNP) “oppressive” Oplan Galugad which resulted to the massive arbitrary arrest of almost 8,000 individuals in less than a week.

The group also called for justice for Genesis ‘Tisoy’ Argoncillo who died suspiciously inside his cell 4 days after his arrest last June 15.

MAT Metro Manila decried PNP’s unlawful operations on urban poor communities as it escalate human rights violations and “targets only the marginalized”. According to reports, among the thousand arrested, most are from poor communities.

“Oplan Galugad is a ‘dry-run’ of a massive crackdown against dissent and the people; an openly coercive measure of the fascist state to impose undeclared Martial Law across the country primarily victimizing the poor and the powerless,”Movement Against Tyranny Metro Manila convenor Rev. Dionito Cabillas said.

“We are highly alarmed as the nation is placed under threat Movement Against Tyranny Metro Manila convenor the death of Kian, militarization on the countryside, Martial Law in Mindanao, killing of priests, and now the arrest of ‘tambays’. This is a rehash of a Marcos-style dictatorship,” said Rev. Cabillas .

“The death of ‘Tisoy’ is only the beginning. No one is innocent in the eyes of tyranny and darker days are sure to come,” he added.

The group also reiterated the call for the resumption of peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

They emphasized that the substantive reforms that could be achieved through the talks would resolve issues like criminality, as well as the inflating number of ‘tambays’, which is only an effect of rampant unemployment and absence of genuine national industrialization.

“It’s been two years since Duterte assumed presidency, ‘change is coming’ is his fearless forecast, still there’s nothing for the people except economic disaster and tyranny. He must be reminded that these are among the reasons why his celebrated dictator Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown,” Rev. Cabillas said.

The group also hit Duterte for criminalizing dissent and maligning activism and for his lashing out at churchpeople. “Duterte’s insensitivity towards religious belief manifests in the perpetuating attacks against priests. In less than a year three priests were killed,” Rev. Cabillas said.

“With nothing left to lose, the people are being pushed to resist and fight back; for their rights and for justice and peace,” he added.

The post Anti – tyranny group slam Dutertes’ ‘undeclared martial law’ appeared first on Manila Today.