Workers don't have to rally for wage hike
May 07, 2006
Workers set to fill the streets on Labor Day primarily to demand a wage increase have found an ally in Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.
(Philippine Daily Inquirer, Apr. 28, 2006) The Roman Catholic prelate said yesterday that pressure in the form of protest actions would not be needed in a true Christian community if only matters like wage increases were settled fairly and without anger or bitterness.
"People don't have to revolt to achieve this," he said in Filipino in a chance interview following a Mass marking the 25th anniversary of the Manila Cathedral as a basilica.
Rosales appealed to the government and businessmen to work for an increase in salaries, citing the skyrocketing prices of commodities fueled by the spike in world oil prices.
He said that a wage increase enough to sustain daily living -- a perennial appeal from the labor sector -- need not drag workers to the streets as could be the case again on Monday.
"What we need is a revolution of the heart so we can calculate how much we can do for our workers and our jobless brothers," he said.
"A Christian nation and a believer in God should, on its own, study this and give it to the workers and their families -- this is what the Church is asking for," the cardinal said.
"Prices shouldn't only be the ones rising," he said. "We should also elevate the quality of life and look after the welfare of our workers -- this is also a requirement in life."
He said employers should not only focus on profit and production costs. "We should include in the equation how we can raise salaries enough for the needs of the workers and their families."
Demand Beltran's release
Groups marching on Monday were also expected to press demands for the ouster of Ms Arroyo and to test the Supreme Court decision declaring as unconstitutional the administration's "calibrated preemptive response" (CPR) policy that police had invoked in breaking up antigovernment rallies.
Members of the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno, at the vanguard of previous May 1 rallies, announced that they would also press their demand for the release of Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran, a KMU leader who has been detained for two months on rebellion charges.
Relatives and friends demanding justice for four slain Pamalakaya leaders -- Oscar Sacdalan, Anthony Martinez, Roger Perez and Isaias Manano Jr. -- set out from Lucena City in Quezon province to join Monday's rallies in Manila.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye yesterday issued an appeal to organizers of Monday's rallies to respect the day meant for workers.
"It is not for rabble-rousers and lawless elements of our society to desecrate and destroy [the day] as part of their orchestrated efforts to bring down the government," said Bunye. He said the President met with the National Security Council on Wednesday to discuss the rallies.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the NSC had received many pieces of information on destabilization plots but had found them "not credible."
But he added that "our assessment is that we cannot discount the threats."
Deployment
The military's National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) deployed about 150 troops to the People Power Monument on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) in Quezon City yesterday morning as part of preparations for May 1, said Colonel Tristran Kison, Armed Forces chief of public information.
The command will deploy about 1,000 civil disturbance management (CDM) troops to reinforce the 5,000 anti-riot policemen mobilized for the event, Kison said.
"We don't have to explain why we're putting soldiers out there, do we? You might accuse us of sleeping on the job," said Major General Jose Honrado, Armed Forces spokesperson.
He denied the troop deployment was aimed at preempting antigovernment groups planning to hold rallies in places like the People Power Monument.
"We're out to preempt lawless elements taking advantage of rallies," he said. He admitted though that they had not monitored any specific threats of violence during the May 1 rallies.
"It's too early to say," Honrado said.
More exercises
Yesterday, the troops practiced speedy deployment from the general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo to the nearby People Power Monument in case they got a call for police reinforcement.
Similar exercises were expected around Malacañang today and another unspecified place in Metro Manila.
General Generoso Senga. AFP chief of staff, has ordered all units to be on alert in case rogue soldiers take advantage of the Labor Day rallies to unseat Ms Arroyo.
Workers don't have to rally for wage hike