[APWSLMembers 515] KMU Finds the Arroyo Government Guilty On 83 Counts Of Murder of Trade Unionists and Informal Workers In The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT), in The Hague, Netherlands

[KMU International Department]

KMU News Release
22 March 2007
Reference: Joselito Ustarez
                       Executive Vice Chairperson

KMU Finds the Arroyo Government Guilty On 83 Counts Of Murder of 
Trade Unionists and Informal Workers In The Permanent Peoples’ 
Tribunal (PPT), in The Hague, Netherlands

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno or KMU (the May First Movement) today 
assailed the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Government for its fork-tongued 
statements about the positive prognosis of labor in the country and 
condemned the same for its principal role in the gross violations of labor 
and human rights in the country.

In his speech at the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal at the Hague, the 
Netherlands, KMU Chairperson Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog said: “Failing in 
its initial efforts to suppress the workers thru desecration of their 
economic rights, the desperate Arroyo regime with its armed butchers, 
commits the most heinous of crimes of extra-judicial killings without 
hesitation.”  

To date, the independent Center for Trade Union and Human Rights  
(CTUHR) has recorded 83 cases of killings of trade unionists, informal 
workers and activists under Arroyo’s term.  It has also recorded 130 
incidents and 220 cases of trade union and human rights violations in 
2006 victimizing 2,012 workers.  Regions with numerous troops 
deployment account for the most number of cases of political and trade 
union repression. First in the list are Southern Tagalog Region, Southern 
Mindanao Region, Central Luzon Region, and National Capital Region.”
 
“At the visit of United Nations Human Rights Council Commissioner on 
extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions Prof. Philip Alston’s in 
January 2007, we have reported to him the documented cases of 83 
killings in the labor sector.  And it seems that there’s no end to this 
killings at the moment.  In the last four (4) months, one person weekly has 
been killed by suspected military operatives,” Labog said at the closing 
of his statement in the PPT in the Hague, Netherlands.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Arroyo government for 
its direct complicity in the economic and political crimes against the 
working people of the Philippines.  And more pressingly we find her 
guilty on 83 counts of murder of labor leaders, organizers and activists.” 
Labog concluded.

Labor Assails Arroyo’s Economic Crimes

In his speech, Labog further adds that “the penchant for telling long tales 
seems to be one of the main predispositions of the Gloria Arroyo 
administration. Its constant perjuries put to shame even the worst 
pathological liar in the world, but it does however, describes aptly her 
method of peddling the false promises of the neo-liberal globalization 
doctrine.”  Some facts about the conditions of the workers are plainly 
seen in government statistics itself, yet instead of suffering and poverty, 
Arroyo sees a different picture.

Meanwhile, KMU Executive Vice Chairperson Joselito “Ka Lito” Ustarez 
said that “the workers have suffered the worst in terms of their economic 
and democratic rights throughout Arroyo’s term in Malacanang.” Ustarez 
said that Malacanang thru the Secretary of the Department of Labor and 
Employment (DOLE) have interfered in almost 413 Collective Bargaining 
Agreements (CBAs) so that the benefits and increase in wages which 
the workers won in their CBAs would not be granted.

“The Arroyo government’s explicit statement of turning down any version 
of the P125 across-the-board nationwide wage increase bill filed by 
Congressman Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran and approved by the Congress 
and endorsed by the Senate, is a clear denial of the right of the working 
population and their families to decent living. This despite the fact that 28 
percent of the population is going hungry as stated in recent surveys.” 
Ustarez said.
 
The labor condition is exacerbated by the fact that utilities such as water 
and electricity and the basic commodity have all gone up, raising the 
cost of living in key cities in the Philippines from Php 575 to Php 798 per 
day, while wages are nailed to PhP 300 or even much lower in many 
areas of the country.

Labog asserted that termination, replacement by contractual workers 
and suspension of workers’ rights are the initial arsenals of threat by 
which the capitalists and the state are bent on doing to stifle labor 
agitation and union organizing. These dubious methods effects efficient 
control of labor by fear and denial of opportunities, leaving workers 
cheap and docile.###