Friday, August 15, 2008 Masked protesters prompted display of shotgun
THE anti-graft office is “inviting” union members to file a complaint if they are aggrieved by how Mayor Tomas Osmeña, with an open-holstered sidearm, faced their picket in downtown Cebu City.
“It is better if somebody actually comes out and files a complaint,” Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol said in an interview over dyLA. The anti-graft office is authorized to begin investigations even in the absence of complaints.
The mayor confronted a picket line outside the Gaisano South last Wednesday morning, carrying a Glock 9mm compact pistol. The Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) has complained about his “Rambo-like attitude.”
At City Hall, Osmeña said he anticipated lawsuits from the Associated Labor Union (ALU), but it won’t stop him from doing his job and responding to calls for help from Gaisano management and their employees who were harassed last Wednesday.
The mayor admitted getting a shotgun from his car when he saw the number of protesters he was up against. He also admitted having a pistol with him but said he never pulled it out from its holster, clipped on the right side of his waistband.
He denied pushing any of the protesters.
The firearms, he said, were intended for self-defense, especially because only two policemen were present at that time.
“What alarmed me was the sight of a mass demonstration where many were wearing masks. And I don’t believe in being another martyr. I had to protect myself because I was outnumbered, 30 to one. But I never pulled out the pistol. It’s standard police procedure to hold the pistol with your right hand so you can easily pull it out when you’re attacked,” he said.
Capitol security consultant Byron Garcia criticized the mayor for his move, saying it was “cowardly” that he wielded a gun when he confronted the workers.
Legitimate
The Capitol consultant said the picket was legitimate since they were merely airing their grievances against their employer, and the mayor is supposed to mediate in the conflict, and not to intimidate them.
Osmeña, however, explained that without using force, he asked the protesting workers to move back.
When asked if he would want to mediate between the management and ALU, Osmeña said he would not do so after seeing the protesting workers’ insincerity when they wore masks during the strike.
Meanwhile, Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr. met with the Cebu City Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to discuss how they can resolve the row between the management and the workers.
“This is a very complicated matter because apparently there are problems with the unions. There are two unions that claim to be the bargaining unit. Even Dole and NCMB (the National Conciliation and Mediation Board) can’t determine who the legitimate union is, so we have to find out before we take the next step,” Rama told Sun.Star Cebu.
Word of last Wednesday’s incident reached the anti-graft office, and Apostol invited “any aggrieved party” to come to his office and make a statement.
Nobody came.
‘Get out’
In the case involving the protesting union members, the mayor said he was merely “establishing his presence” because “the workers were rowdy.”
“If the mayor is enforcing the law and carrying a gun, he is actually just doing his job,” said a lawyer at the anti-graft office, who asked not to be named.
The protesters said that the mayor pushed two of them while trying to disperse the crowd.
“Nakalitan mi sa iya. Nakuyawan pud mi kay gi-ingnan mi nga ‘Get out, get out,’” said Sylvie Osabel, president of the Independent Labor Association of Workers, ALU-TUCP.
Osabel told Sun.Star Cebu that the mayor pulled a scarf off Janete Morandarte’s face and pushed her to the side while she held her placard.
“Si Janette nagpabilin lang sad siya og barog bisag nabira na iyang scarf. Dayun niingon siya ngadto ni mayor, ‘Mayor man unta ka, nganong nag apil-apil man ka?’ (Janette didn’t budge, but instead told Osmeña he had no business being there),” said Osabel.
While Osabel understood why Osmeña wanted the picket to stop, it was the way he did it that she didn’t like, she added. (KNR/LCR/EPB/GMD)
