VARIOUS labor groups held Labor Day rallies on Wednesday, May 1, in several parts of Metro Manila to air concerns over the government’s allegedly “anti-poor and anti-worker” stance.
As of 12 noon Wednesday, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Guillermo Eleazar said over 5,500 protesters from Kilusang Mayo Uno, Akbayan, Kabataan partylist, Anakpawis, among others, trooped to rallies held across Metro Manila.
The protesters, during their program, called on the government to end contractualization as promised by President Rodrigo Duterte during his campaign in 2016, pass the security of tenure law, implement the extended maternity leave bill, increase the minimum wage of workers, and junk the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law.
Eleazar said majority of them are in Mendiola while the others are gathered at the Liwasang Bonifacio.
Peaceful
The PNP said the situation remains peaceful as no untoward incidents have been recorded as of noon.
“As of midday, the PNP finds the peace and order situation nationwide to be generally peaceful and orderly, with no untoward incidents reported,” PNP spokesperson Bernard Banac said.
The PNP is on full alert to prevent crimes and immediately respond to any disaster or emergency situation.
Earlier, the PNP said they received information that communist rebels or armed groups may penetrate and join the ranks of the protesters in order to create chaos.
Eleazar said 8,400 cops were deployed in Metro Manila for the maintenance of peace and order particularly during the conduct of the rallies.
He said they were instructed to impose maximum tolerance to avoid any misunderstanding.
KMU vote
Meantime, Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Elmer Labog said candidates of the administration “will not be able to get a single vote” from the workers due to the government’s anti-worker labor system.
“We are fighting corruption, impunity and attacks against our country’s sovereignty head on by denouncing the candidates in Duterte’s slate and voting against them on May 13,” Labog said.
“Workers will resist and oppose the worsening attacks against the poor and working people and one of the ways is to vote against the candidates Duterte supports and endorses, because if they win, they will push for Duterte’s anti-poor legislative agenda,” he added.
He said the KMU will support and publicly endorse candidates who carry pro-worker platforms and legislative agenda. (SunStar Philippines)