MAANOMALYA NA, NAKAPIPINSALA PA; SOUTHRAIL PROJECT DAPAT ISUSPINDE!

Ipinapanawagan ngayon ng Gabriela-Timog Katagalugan ang agarang pagsususpinde ng implementasyon ng proyektong Southrail sa gitna ng pagbubunyag ni ZTE-NBN witness Rodolfo Jun Lozada na maging ang proyektong Southrail overpriced ng $70 M.

 

 

“Nakagagalit para sa aming mga kababaihan ang malaman na nasisikmura pang pagkakitaan ng mga kurakot sa pamahaalan ang proyektong wawasak sa pamamahay ng humigit kumulang 100,000 pamilya sa tabing-riles sa Laguna hanggang Quezon. Hindi dapat mag-atubili sa agarang pagpapatigil sa proyektong Southrail. Maanomalya na ay nakapipinsala pa ang proyektong ito,” ani Helen Asdolo, pangkalahatang kalihim ng Gabriela Timog Katagalugan.

 

 

Sinusugan ng grupo ng kababaihan ang inihahayag na mga mungkahi sa Senado na imbestigahan ang proyektong Southrail. “Hangga’t hindi nareresolba ang mga alegasyon ng anomalya, hindi dapat magpatuloy ang proyektong Southrail.”

 

 

Inihayag ng Gabriela Timog Katagalugan na sa pagpapatupad ng proyektong Southrail ay may halos 10,000 kabahayan na ang nademolis sa bayan ng Cabuyao, Laguna noong nakaraang taon. Sa darating na buwan ng Marso at Abril nakatakda namang idemolis ang mga kabahayan sa kahabaan ng tabing-riles sa bayan ng Santa Rosa.

 

 

“Sa kanilang isinasagawang demolisyon, wala namang maayos na programa para sa relokasyon. Ang Southville housing project kung saan itinapon ng pamahalaan ang mga pamilyang pinalayas sa tabing-riles, ay katabi ng tambakan ng basura. Dito rin naitala ang maraming kaso ng dengue dahil na rin sa kawalan ng maiinom na tubig sa lugar,” dagdag pa ni Asdolo. #

 

FOUR WORKERS ILLEGALY ARRESTED, AT LEAST 16 INJURED IN HANJIN GARMENTS PICKETLINE

 

A female striker, Erika Balane along with Christopher Capistrano, Edison Alpiedam and Gerald Daria were illegally arrested as they set up their picket line at the Hanjin Incorporated garments factory in Cabuyao, Laguna early this morning.

 

In the course of the violent dispersal led by the Cabuyao PNP and the Laguna Industrial Park Police Action Group (LIPPAG) at least 16 suffered injuries including 9 women workers– Eva Occidental, Amy Capistrano, Riza Adiaton, Lilibeth Ilaga, Marife Loyola, Meljun Aquino, Rosalinda Esqulito, Marivic Cresidio, Ivy Villanueva– along with fellow strikers Arnel Vito, Ricardo Basagre, Melchor Magtibay. Still unidentified students who were on their way to the nearby Banay-banay school were also injured.

 

 

Gabriela Southern Tagalog strongly condemns this violent dispersal that clearly reveals the anti-worker character of the PNP. The PNP and the LIPPAG are without any doubt the Hanjin capitalist’s private army, tools to prevent the workers from exercising their basic right to organize and hold protest in order to air their legitimate demands.

 

HanJin workers, 75% of whom are women, arenorganized under the Aniban ng Manggagawang Inaapi sa HanJin garments (AMIHAN). They are seeking the reinstatement of around 200 workers who were supposed to be regularized but were instead, arbitrarily dismissed.

 

 

 

The HanJin management likewise violated the mandated daily minimum wage. Workers complained that while the mandated minimum wage in Cabuyao, Laguna is Php282.00, workers with 9-12 years tenure receive only Php260.00 while those working with the company for 5-9 years receive only Php160.00 per day. Other employees receive a meager Php130.00.

 

They are subjected to forced overtime to meet delivery quota requirements. Workers, including those who have been with the company for 12 years, get no benefits at all. All workers remain contractual, another clear violation of the Labor code.

Workers likewise have to contend with poor working conditions in the factory. Because of the factory’s poor ventilation, they each have to bring their own electric fans.

 

25 FAMILIES FLEE HOMES IN BATANGAS

By Niña Catherine Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 21:24:00 02/04/2008 http://inquirer.net

CALAMBA CITY – At least 25 families have left their homes in Nasugbu town in Batangas because of alleged harassment from members of the 730th Combat Group of the Air Force, a militant human rights group said on Monday.

Dina Capetillo, chair of Karapatan in Batangas, said the military in Hacienda Looc and Barangay Natipuan in Nasugbu threatened those who joined the protest march of the Calabarzon farmers on Jan. 16-22.

The victims are now encamped in front of the Nasugbu municipal hall.

In a phone interview, Maj. Arnel Villareal, group commander of the PAF’s 730th combat group, denied the allegation. “We do not tolerate those kinds of human rights violations,” he said.

“Upon declaration of Presidential Executive Order 647, which made 21 barangays of Nasugbu part of a national eco-tourism project, the military has been conducting intensive operations in the areas where a big number of farmers are opposing the project,” Capetillo said.

Since Feb. 1, military checkpoints have been set up in Calayo village, which is included in the Nasugbu-Ternate Eco-tourist Road Project. Villagers are being “stopped, interrogated and harassed,” according to Capetillo.

Citing information from Karapatan volunteers, Capetillo said that on February 1, at one checkpoint, Coche Polagan, principal of the Barangay Looc Elementary School, and her husband were forced to get off their van and made to kneel on the road.

Romy Cayao, chair of the Samahan ng Magbubukid ng Batangas, claimed that soldiers burned down on Jan. 31 the houses of three farmers from Hacienda Looc.

Villareal admitted that checkpoints had been set up and that villagers were blocked on Feb. 1.

“That was because, there was a crossfire and we didn’t want civilians hurt,” he explained.

GABRIELA CONDEMNS VIOLENT DISPERSAL OF HANJIN WOMEN WORKERS; SUPPORT DEMANDS FOR WAGES, BENEFITS AND TENURE

Gabriela Southern Tagalog expresses its support for the protesting workers of Han Jin Incorporated, a Korean- owned garments factory in Bgy. Banay-banay, Cabuyao Laguna.

We strongly condemn the violent dispersals that led protesting workers to disperse and seek refuge in the nearby St. Agustine Church. At least 21 were injured during the dispersal last January 24 while 4 more suffered blows in another dispersal last January 26. Several women have complained of sexual harassment, with their breasts being  held mashed by police elements during dispersals.

The workers led by the Aniban ng Manggagawang Inaapi sa HanJin garments (AMIHAN) started holding picket last January 24.

HanJin workers, 75% of whom are women, are seeking the reinstatement of around 200 workers who were supposed to be regularized but were instead, arbitrarily dismissed.

The HanJin management likewise violated the mandated daily minimum wage. Workers complained that while the mandated minimum wage in Cabuyao, Laguna is Php282.00, workers with 9-12 years tenure receive only Php  260.00 while those working with the company for 5-9 years receive only P160.00 per day. Other employees receive a meager Php130.00.

They are subjected to forced overtime to meet delivery quota requirements. Workers, including those who have been with the company for 12 years, get no benefits at all.  All workers remain contractual, another clear violation of the Labor code.

Workers likewise have to contend with poor working conditions in the factory. Because of the factory’s poor ventilation, they each have to bring their own electric fans.

The Han Jin management should be made accountable for years of slave-like labor that have subjected their workers to.

Moreover, police elements belonging to the Cabuyao PNP and the Laguna Industrial Park Police Assistance Group led by Col. Moises Pagaduan and Maj. Delos Santos, who dispersed the protests, reveal the anti-worker bias of the government.

Gabriela Southern Tagalog joins the HanJin workers in their demands for just wages, benefits and compensation and security of tenure. We demand justice for the protesting workers who were violently dispersed in blatant violation of the basic Constitutional rights to organize, assemble and express dissent.