MEMBERS of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition will call for the resignation of President Duterte on Labor Day, May 1, 2021, just over a year before his term ends in 2022.
"The previous hope the workers saw in Duterte has resulted (in) a half a decade of failure, which has never been clearer than during this pandemic. We are no longer seeing that changes can still happen in his remaining months in Malacañang," the coalition said in a statement.
The group said around 20 million workers were affected by the protracted lockdowns, either through mass layoff, retrenchment, extended floating status and flexible work arrangements.
"There is no mass public employment program to compensate (for) the massive job losses, especially in the informal sector," they added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that 4.2 million Filipinos were unemployed and around 7.9 million others were underemployed in February 2021.
The number of displaced workers was expected to be higher in April, when the National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal were reverted to enhanced community quarantine for two weeks.
The area is under modified enhanced community quarantine until May 14.
The coalition also complained of the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities as indicated by the 4.7 percent inflation last February 2021. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)