"One cannot avoid seeing how much wealth there is in the Philippines in the office buildings and especially in the condominiums."
"One cannot avoid seeing how much wealth there is in the Philippines in the office buildings and especially in the condominiums."
If Mahatma Gandhi is the bench mark, a human being could survive without food for three weeks. But if you’re approaching the age of retirement, a week of starvation could be fatal.
The striking workers of the ritzy Pacific Plaza Towers Condominium in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig, have been waging a hunger strike for nine days as of this writing, if only to persuade the homeowners to immediately act to address the labor unrest. The workers specifically demand two things: reinstatement and regularization of the 17 illegally terminated contractual workers and recognition of their union, who have won DOLE’s certification election last month.
Among those who joined the hunger strike is maintenance worker Abdul Tambulangan, 58. Whilst his younger and bulkier comrades have more beef to lose, Ka Abdul’s body has sagged, losing at least ten pounds, and his famished facade makes him look like he’s 70. His comrades had discouraged him to join the hunger strike, but he insisted.
“Before I came to Manila, I’ve experienced poverty and hunger in Mindanao,” explained Ka Abdul. He then explained his stint as a Moro activist there, struggling for recognition and genuine autonomy. “Being Moro in the countryside is no different from being a worker in the city. We suffer from poverty, starvation, and discrimination as second class citizens.”
Ka Abdul laments that he and his fellow workers of Pacific Plaza have been long suffering from starvation wages, contractual work, and denial of the right to self-organize. He was the union auditor when it was founded in 2014 and during the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that year, management offered nothing. The negotiation did not reach a conclusion and the union collapsed due to pressure from management and demoralization of the former officers.
Earlier this year, the workers decided to take a second shot at forming the union. However, the Pacific Plaza management continued to take a hard line against the workers. Last May, they denied the entry of a duly accredited DoLE Labor Inspector after the union requested for an inspection. In July, management terminated the 17 contractual workers due to end of contract. Owing to union busting and unfair labor practices, the workers launched a strike on Aug. 6, which was initially dispersed by security personnel and the police. The workers were temporarily held at the police station, but an order from DOLE enabled the workers to successfully build its picket tent.
Ka Abdul and the workers insist that they will not eat unless management gives in to their demands of reinstatement and regularization. Even if entails their lives. Still, a ranking management officer reportedly quipped regarding the workers’ strike, “Bahala silang magpagutom.” (“Let the workers starve.”)
This is the state of Filipino workers today. And it will only worsen now that the regime is starting a crackdown against strikes and militancy. This started when Labor Undersecretary, the activist Joel Maglunsod, was fired for allegedly supporting “illegal strikes.” This claim by the President is absurd considering that Maglungsod himself assisted the Pacific Plaza strikers to ensure the legality of their strike.
Thereafter, workers of farm factory DBSN in Albuera, Leyte, were arrested and jailed for cyber-libel filed by the factory owner, Mayor Ramon Onate of Palompon town. He alleged that the workers committed libel for protesting the rampant contractualization practiced in his factory. He was ordered by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to regularize the workers yet what he did was to file a dubious criminal case.
Last Thursday, private security forces violently dispersed a group of striking workers of the Sumifru banana plantation in Compostela Valley. It is still to be determined if there were casualties among the workers as of writing time.
The bottom line is, workers have long been attacked by both capital and the State, and it seems as though things are only continuing to intensify under this regime. It is imperative, then, for all workers to fight not only against plant-level issues or unjust labor policies, but for democracy and dignity.
And it is just as important for young professionals, students, teachers, writers, and citizens from all other sectors of society to stand with workers in their fight for justice. The struggles of the workers for justice in the workplace is intimately connected with the broader struggle for democratic freedom. In these precarious times, a strong and vibrant labor movement would go a long way towards safeguarding the democratic rights of all citizens.
This is why I decided to write this column. Twice a week, this semester, I find myself in BGC and Rockwell, Makati teaching constitutional law, philosophy of law, and environmental law to young people in the University of the Philippines College of Law, De La Salle University College of Law, Ateneo School of Law, and Far Eastern University Institute of Law. In other semesters, I also teach in Lyceum College of Law also in Makati. In these places in BGC and Makati, one cannot avoid seeing how much wealth there is in the Philippines in the office buildings and especially in the condominiums. The least that I expect from the owners and residents of these condominium units and the managers of these buildings is that they treat their workers well, with respect and dignity.
Pacific Plaza is not an exception. I have special knowledge about the building and the union there because one of my relatives is connected to the latter. I have told him that there are good people who live there, some prominent ones. I sincerely believe that they care about these workers on strike, that like me, they want those workers to be silent no more, hungry no longer.
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