The Philippine Online Chronicles

On Labor Day, the President surprisingly woke up early, broke bread with “yellow” labor leaders, but hid from the 25,000-strong workers and activists led by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) who marched to Mendiola. He just dished out empty “gifts” that were met with howls and chants in the streets.

Elsewhere in other regions, tens of thousands also took part in Labor Day actions to assert decent wages and price controls. More than a tenth of a million Filipinos spent Sunday in protests across the nation – the people’s strongest political statement yet against the one-year-old Aquino regime.

It goes without saying that those who joined the Labor Day protests cannot be dismissed by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as another “noisy minority,” the tactless label which he gave his critics at the House of Representatives. The thousands who marched to Mendiola under the scorching heat were actually his purported “bosses”: factory workers, government employees, farmers, slum dwellers, students, young professionals, teachers and drivers who comprise the majority of the population.

The message was loud and clear: more and more people are getting disillusioned with Aquino’s rhetoric of change.

It took only less than a year since the start of the Aquino administration for such huge display of outrage to materialize. And worth noting is the fact that the demonstrations weren’t fueled by any major corruption expose or fiery call for protests by big-time politicians. There were no scathing reportage by the media. There were no congressional hearings of NBN-ZTE controversy or Hello Garci proportions – only Aquino’s brazen insensivity over rising prices and stagnant wages.

Ironically enough, the President stressed in his Labor Day speech that his administration is not insensitive. “Hindi po kasi kami manhid. May pakialam kami sa dinaaranan ng bawat manggagawang Pilipino, at nasa isip namin palagi ang lingap at ginhawang kaya naming idulot sa inyo.” Yet nowhere in his speech can we find any mention of significant wage increase for private sector workers.

“Ngayon pong Araw ng Manggagawa, may pamahalaan po kayong may ginagawa: makabuluhan, mapagmalasakit, at tunay na nakakaramdam.” Indeed, the Aquino administration anticipated well the mass protests on Labor Day and did something to deter the protest actions, deploying more than 10,000 police and military personnel in Metro Manila alone. The Philippine National Police (PNP) went on full alert status for the protests. Police and military checkpoints were set up in key thoroughfares in a vain attempt to discourage participation in protests. Take note: this was before Osama Bin Laden was killed and before security forces went on terror alert.

Along Marcos highway in Antipolo City for instance, soldiers with high-powered rifles blocked jeepneys with flags and confiscated driver’s licenses. In Brgy. Cabugaan, Bulan, Sorsogon, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s (AFP) 49th Infantry Battalion barred more than 100 workers and activists from joining Labor Day protests.

In Mendiola, truckloads of police and military personnel closely watched the thousands of protesters who marched from Liwasang Bonifacio. As pointed out by @Venzie, workers were ironically met with intimidation even on their special day.

State security forces’ paranoia and the President’s well-scripted breakfast meeting with bogus labor leaders spelled out what Aquino left out in his speech: that this government fears the people’s growing reprisal in the streets. Well, the fear is understandable, as Filipinos suffer from nonstop price hikes and slave wages and yet Aquino will receive a P50,000 monthly salary increase this June for doing nothing about this.

But again, the tens of thousands who joined Labor Day protests proved the government’s tricks to deter street demonstrations unsuccessful. Too bad for the young regime, the stage for much bigger anti-government protests was already set two months before the President brags his first year accomplishment report. By that time, Aquino would be mouthing lies and rhetoric, as tens of thousands of his disgruntled “bosses” would be up in mass protests even before he utters a thing.

Photo by Tine Sabillo. Some rights reserved.