Leody De Guzman hoping farmers, workers will realize his platform has been their fight

As he continues to trail in the presidential preference surveys, labor leader Leody De Guzman is still hopeful that he would win the presidency in Eleksyon 2022.

Told of his low ranking in the presidential polls, De Guzman said he was expecting farmers, workers, poor folk, drivers, and women to realize that his platform was for their welfare.

"Umaasa ako na manalo,  na bago mag-eleksyon, mag-sink in sa isip ng manggagawa, ng mga magsasaka, ng mga maralita, ng mga drayber, ng mga kababaihan, 'yung aking plataporma ay deka-dekada na nilang laban," De Guzman said at the SMNI presidential interview on Saturday.

(I hope to win. I hope that before the elections, it will sink in among workers, farmers, the poor, the drivers, the women, that my platform is what they had been fighting for for the past decades.)

If they won, De Guzman said he and his running mate Walden Bello would allocate P125 billion to support, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to aid those who had lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Guzman also vowed to reopen the manufacturing industry particularly for shoes, garments, and steel.

He urged capitalists not to take advantage of their employees.

"Ang pakiusap natin sa kanila, huwag naman masyadong mapagsamantala. Ipakilala natin na dapat 'yung mga manggagawa ituring na partner batay doon sa ating Konstitusyon, batay sa ating Labor Code, na nandoon 'yung nakasulat na klaro 'yung mga karapatan, na dapat ang mga manggagawa ay may just share sa fruit of production," De Guzman said.

(We urge them not to exploit workers. We will introduce that workers should be treated as partners based on the Constitution, based on the Labor Code, where rights were clearly written, that workers should have a fair share in the fruit of production.)

De Guzman said he was against contractualization, and the transferring of responsibilities by some companies to the manpower agencies. —NB, GMA News