by Ghio Ong – The Philippine Star, 17 Dec 2021
MANILA, Philippines — Fifty workers of a company in Valenzuela were reportedly forcefully dispersed and arrested on Wednesday night after they went on strike.
A video posted on Twitter by lawyer and labor leader Luke Espiritu showed civilians soaked to the skin after being hit with water cannons by men in uniform. Some of the uniformed men were seen beating the civilians with truncheons and dragging them to a police van, Espiritu said.
The arrested employees of Soft Touch Development Corp., which Espiritu said produces pasta, staged a strike after they were told they would be laid off on Dec. 24. They were hired through a manpower agency and are members of a labor union.
Espiritu, who represents the workers, told The STAR the company management said it would “maintain status quo until Dec. 30.”
The 50 employees, along with three organizers from militant groups Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino and Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms Federation, were brought to the Valenzuela police station.
Espiritu said police told him they would wait for the company to file charges of coercion against the 53 workers and strike organizers.
“Their right to strike is not a crime,” he said.
Espiritu is running for a Senate seat under presidential candidate and fellow labor leader Leody de Guzman.
Walden Bello, De Guzman’s running mate, appealed to Mayor Rex Gatchalian to release the workers.
Replying to Bello’s tweet, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said he has ordered the release of the workers. He also criticized the dispersal and maintained the action was “unilateral on the side of the chief of police,” referring to Col. Ramchrisen Haveria Jr.
“He never consulted me on his actions. I do not condone this at all. I would have done mediation… We disown this,” Gatchalian added.
Haveria has yet to respond to The STAR’s request for comment on the incident.
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
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Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
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