Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 18 June 6 - 12, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
NEWS
AT A GLANCE Protest
prompts release of ‘illegally’ detained strikers
Eighteen
workers of the Soutech Development Corporation (SDC), who were arrested after
the police broke their picket line last June 3,
were released from the Sta. Rosa Police headquarters after spending a
night in jail. Their co-workers
held a vigil outside the station prompting the police to release the detained
workers. The
Soutech Development Corporation, an automotive parts factory owned by Mr.
Ricardo Lu, was hit by a strike last May 22.
Workers under the Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Soutech, an affiliate
of Organized Labor Association in Line Industries and Agriculture-Kilusang Mayo
Uno (PMS-Olalia-KMU), went on strike to fight for the regularization of
contractual workers, recognition of their union, and the reinstatement of
12 dismissed workers. According to PMS-Olalia-KMU, SDC had been hiring
workers through labor-only-contracting. Thus,
workers who have been in the company for 5 to 8 years remain as contractuals. PMS-Olalia
President Elpidio Reponcio said 50 elements from the Philippine National Police
(PNP) Sta. Rosa and PNP Regional Special Action Force (RSAF) with FSR security
guards dispersed the strikers and dismantled their picket line at SDC. The union
claimed that 50 workers were injured after they were hit with M-16 and M-14
rifles during the dispersal operations. A
certain Chief Supt. Sanque of the PNP and a certain Capt. Quiñones of the RSAF
led the dispersal operations. The FSR security agency is owned by the vice mayor
of Sta Rosa, Laguna. * * *
GMA
can surely win but without a real mandate from the people - PCPR “Unlike
Senator-elect Mar Roxas who gained the highest votes in the senatorial race,
Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may soon be declared as winner in the presidential
race BUT WITHOUT A REAL MANDATE FROM THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.” In
its May 30 statement, the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR)
criticized officials of the Arroyo administration, the Philippine National
Police (PNP), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for accusing,
without basis, anti-fraud groups as “destabilizers” in order to “to
suppress legitimate protests against the fraudulent elections and to
cover up their accountability in the massive misuse of government resources and
machinery to secure GMA’s victory. PCPR
further criticized AFP and PNP intelligence officials for labeling the
Philippine Church People’s Response and church institutions like the National
Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP) as communist fronts. According to PCPR, these churches were
accused because they have been consistent in denouncing corruption, fraud and a
host of unjust policies and programs of the government. PCPR said it would be easy for the president to make a grab for the highest public office with the help of various government resources and the Pidal account allegedly belonging to his husband. The group however warned that “righteous outrage of the people will protest the massive plunder of the nation’s coffers by those in power.” * * *
EO seeks to reverse the culture being encouraged In
its June 3 statement, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) described
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's issuance of Executive Order 314 as a
reflection of her “ignorance of culture including values.” Issued
last April 30, Executive Order No. 314, creating the Presidential Commission on
Values Formation, states that there should be an "intensified drive against
graft and corruption, patronage politics, apathy, passivity, mendicancy,
factionalism and lack of patriotism." “Culture
emanates from the dynamics of political, economic and social conditions,”
CAP’s statement said. “When anti-imperialists are called terrorists, when
profit and capital are given more importance than decent means of living, when
funds for social services are slashed to boost military spending, when foreign
investments are the priority instead of biodiversity, when History becomes
secondary to school subjects that promote skills marketable abroad, and when
dissenters are called "agents of anarchy," the culture that is
encouraged is what EO 314 seeks to reverse.“ It was issued supposedly to establish "a strong foundation for moral value[s] formation in the government bureaucracy" but according to CAP, it, in fact, “contradicts the administration's disposition.” Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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