Groups to Marcos: Raise wages, end ‘endo’

Several groups called on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to lay down his plans to address economic issues and post-pandemic plans during his first State of the Nation Address next week.

In a press briefing Thursday, the groups said unity is not the sole answer to the country's recovery efforts from the COVID-19 impact.

“Alam ng lahat na hindi sapat ang magkaisa lamang para malutas ang mga suliraning ito, katulad sa hiningi sa sambayanan noong nakalipas na halalan,” they said.

(Everyone knows that it is not enough to just unite to solve these problems, as was demanded of the people in the last election.)

“Ang hiling ng batayang mga sektor sa bagong pamunuan ay makatotohanang solusyon sa krisis sa pagkain, kalusugan, trabaho, karapatan, at kalikasan,” they added.

(The demand of every sector in the new leadership is a realistic solution to the crisis in food, health, employment, rights, and the environment.)

Jobs and food security

Labor group Nagkaisa urged the Marcos administration to keep its promise to get rid of short-term employment contracts.

“Hiling namin ay itigil ang endo, itaas ang sweldo, at lumikha ng mga trabaho, kabilang ang guaranteed employment,” Nagkaisa stressed.

(We want to stop endo, raise wages, and create jobs, including guaranteed employment.)

It noted that the “rightsizing” plan in government offices would not be justified without consultations with employees and without addressing contractualization in every department.

World March on Women convenor Jean Enriquez said the Marcos administration should protect the rights of all workers both domestic and abroad.

“The thrust should no longer be on labor export but on the protection of all workers, domestic and abroad, including their comprehensive reintegration once they go back home,” Enriquez pointed out.

As part of their structural policy agenda, the groups said they want to make domestic food production a main priority of Marcos administration.

They also wanted to scrap deregulation and privatization of essential services “as escalating costs weigh heavily on the rising cost-of-living.”

Human rights

Meanwhile, human rights group iDEFEND said the Marcos administration must back the passage of House Bill 77 or the Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Protection Bill.

“Kaharap niya ngayon ang usapin ng pananagutan sa human rights violations ng nagdaang administrasyon, kabilang ang pagharap sa International Criminal Court ng dating Pangulong Duterte, pagsikil sa press freedom, red tagging sa human rights defenders sa iba't ibang sector at mga community leaders, kabilang ang patuloy na pagpiit kay Senator Leila De Lima,” said Judy Pasimio of iDEFEND.

(He now faces the issue of accountability for human rights violations by the previous administration, including the appearance in the International Criminal Court of former President Duterte, suppression of press freedom, red tagging of human rights defenders in various sectors and community leaders, including the continued detention of Senator Leila De Lima.)

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, principal author of the HRD Protection bill, said the measure gives meaning and efficacy to the nine core international human rights instruments on the protection and promotion of human rights.

Lagman said the approval of the measure would curb "the prevailing impunity on the extrajudicial killings and extreme harassments of human rights defenders."

Among the key provisions of the bill is prohibiting all public authorities from participating, by acts of commission or omission, in violating human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The President earlier said that he would ensure a high-level of accountability in the aspect of human rights during his meeting with Ambassador Gustavo Gonzalez, the UN representative to the Philippines.

Likewise, the network called for the strengthening and expansion of other rights, including social protection especially for the elderly, PWDs, women, youth, and those who live in IP communities.

Housing, environment

Urban poor group Kilos Maralita, for its part, demanded adequate government funding for socialized housing in urban poor communities and support for their transition on the use of renewable energy.

To protect the environment, Alysana Tigil Mina wanted Marcos to ban open-pit mining as well as the country’s withdrawal from Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative.            

“Kaugnay nito ay magpatawag ang bagong administrasyon ng environmental summit, nang sa gayon ay mapag-usapan hindi lamang ang kwestyunableng mga kontrata sa pagmimina, kundi maging ang pagpasa ng Kongreso sa Alternative Minerals Management Bill, Sustainable Forestry Management, National Land Use Act, at Indigenous and Community Conservation Act,” ATM said.

(In this regard, the new administration must hold an environmental summit to discuss not only the questionable mining contracts, but also the passage by Congress of the Alternative Minerals Management Bill, Sustainable Forestry Management, National Land Use Act, and Indigenous and Community Conservation Act.)

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has earlier lifted the four-year-old ban on open-pit mining, a policy initiated by the late former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez in 2017.

In DENR Administrative Order No. 2021-40 issued on December 23, 2021, former Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu overturned Administrative Order No. 2017-10, which banned the mining method for the extraction of copper, gold, silver, and/or complex ores in the country.

Further, Akbayan Youth national chairperson RJ Naguit called on the Marcos administration to correct the failed pandemic response of the Duterte administration in the wake of planned face-to-face opening of classes and further economic reopening.

“Hinihiling namin sa pagbubukas ng klase ng kabataan at pagbabalik trabaho ng marami ay palawakin ang pagpaplano lagpas sa pagbabakuna kundi sa pagpapalakas pa ng ating healthcare system, kagalingan ng ating healthcare workers, sapat at ligtas na transportasyon, at ayuda sa mga bulnerableng sektor,” Naguit stressed.

(As students head back to schools and as more workers return to offices, government should expand planning beyond vaccinations but also strengthen our healthcare system, attend to the well-being of our healthcare workers, provide adequate and safe transportation and assistance to vulnerable sectors.)—LDF, GMA News