On their way to Davao city, workers from the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte braved road inspections, ’surprise checkpoints’ before they were able to join the Labor Day rally to express their demands for the P125 across-the-board wage increase, for government to bring down prices of basic commodities, including rice.
BY GRACE S. UDDIN
Davao Today
Posted by Bulatlat
LABOR WATCH
Vol. VIII, No. 13, May 4-10, 2008
DAVAO CITY — On their way to Davao City, workers from the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte braved road inspections, ’surprise checkpoints’ before they were able to join the Labor Day rally to express their demands for the P125 across-the-board wage increase, for government to bring down prices of basic commodities, including rice.
Workers also called on government to lift the tariffs on fuel and basic commodities and for a just and humane condition in the workplace.
Over 3,000 to 4,000 workers from Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Maragusan, Sta. Cruz, Digos, and from the Davao city areas of Toril, Calinan and Sasa converged at the Rizal Park on May 1, demanding that wages should be increased to allow workers’ families cope with the rising cost of basic commodities.
In Southern Mindanao alone, the minimum wage of 250 pesos a day could not even cover half of the region’s prevailing cost of living, pegged at 600 pesos per day, according to Dodong Basilio, chairperson of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement) in Southern Mindanao.
Basilio also cited the unfair labor practices of some companies including the trucking company Davao Integrated Transport Facilities, owned by Dole-Stanfilco, which he said, dismissed close to 200 workers from their jobs last year; Lapanday Agricultural Development Corporation in Mandug, which laid off several workers, Franklin Baker in Sta. Cruz, which retrenched 140 workers, and Unifrutti banana company, which allegedly dismissed 150 workers illegally, he said.
“The workers said the May 1 rally allowed them the time and the venue to voice out their demands from the government,” Basilio said. So, despite the obstacles on the roads, the workers persisted, said Arman Blasé, a worker of Fresh Banana Fruits Corporation of Sumitomo based in Compostela town of Compostela Valley province.
Majority of the workers came from the provinces of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley so when the workers were delayed for a long time on the road, their programs were affected.
“Because of the delay, only few mass leaders from different sectors can talk,” Basilio said.
Blasé was among the 600 workers that left Compostela town at around eight ‘o clock in the morning of May 1 aboard five buses and five Elf vehicles. They expected to arrive in Davao city at 12 noon but the ’surprise checkpoints’ that stopped them twice in Panabo delayed their arrival for two hours. Those checkpoints, which could not be seen on regular days, were put up only every time a big contingent of workers were expected in Davao city for a rally.
Blasé, 35, said the checkpoints were not so strict this year compared to the previous years but they still delayed their trip. When they arrived at the Task Force Davao checkpoint in Tibungco at around 1:30 pm, Joel Virador, a former Bayan Muna Congressman and Basilio, were already there to ensure that the inspection will not delay them further.
Virador and Basilio came over to convince the military to let them pass. In the history of labor day rallies, the Tibungco checkpoint manned by Task Force Davao used to be where the strictest inspection and security alert took place. It was also the last stop before workers finally entered Davao City.
“They asked where we were heading, how many we were, who were the leaders, how many and what vehicles we were using,” he said.
When the workers were stopped in Panabo, police forces listed Blasé’s name. The inspection, the police said, was an order from a higher unit.
Blasé said the males were asked to get out of the buses while the females’ bags and belongings were checked during the inspection. Each inspection lasted for about 20 minutes, delaying their arrival for their 1 o’ clock activity.
Domingo Diguma, member of Davao Marsman Labor Union in Sto.Tomas (Damlu), said their bus was also inspected for firearms. Diguma, 52, came along with the 400 workers from Sto. Tomas and Panabo.
Blasé’s and Diguma’s groups arrived at the assembly place in Freedom Park at around 2 p.m.
The road checkpoints happened not only during Labor Day but also during Bonifacio day, according to Blasé and Diguma. Bonifacio, whose day has been celebrated in the country on November 30, is an icon for workers. Workers usually hold big mobilizations on this date, putting police and military forces on high alert.
The previous year Diguma recalled having been stopped five times on their way to Davao city for the May 1 rally. Police put up checkpoints in Panabo, Tagum, Lasang, Bunawan before they reached the main checkpoint of Task Force Davao in Tibungco.
“The police and military were very angry. There were always checkpoints in almost every road we passed,” Diguma said.
Diguma said that the police and soldiers did not want the workers to enter the city for fear that they would only bring trouble. When workers introduced themselves as members of KMU, police accused them of being terrorists.
Once, a military found a few documents inside his bag during an inspection. But Diguma said his notebook only contained their labor union’s demands addressed to their company.
Blasé also said that before their trip to Davao city for the May 1 activity last year, the 1102nd Police Provincial Mobile Group delayed them in Nabunturan.
“They were asking if Trillanes’ support groups were with us,” Blasé said.
Blasé also said that the police were also wary of members of the New People’s Army (NPA) joining the workers’ group. “That is something that we will not allow,” he said.
In Tagum, those who inspected them wore military fatigues but introduced themselves as members of the PNP. The inspectors didn’t even wear nameplates.
“When we asked them their names, they got angry. They told us that it was none of our business,” Blasé said.
A heated argument between the inspecting officers and the mass leaders usually took place during these inspections, where workers were asked for travel permits, rally permits, among others.
“We always hear the police or the military saying they intended to delay our trip. Even if the inspection was over, they still held us up, saying they were still awaiting orders from a higher unit,” Blasé said.
Sometimes only a few policemen man the checkpoint.
“If you have twenty buses that carry more than 1,000 people, the inspection would last two to three hours,” he said.
In 2004, a military pointed a gun at them after an argument. There was only one soldier conducting the inspection while several soldiers were just hanging around. The inspection was very slow and the workers were already very hungry.
In 2005, the workers almost didn’t make it to the activity after they were stopped by a checkpoint in Lasang. They found themselves facing an amphibian patrol. It was already three in the afternoon when the workers arrived at the activity.
Blasé said that oftentimes, their Davao-based mass leaders would seek intervention from the city mayor’s office just to let them pass.
“We still join the May 1 rallies no matter what happens because we want to tell the government, especially President Arroyo, that we need just wages to help our families survive,” Blasé said. Davao Today / Posted by Bulatlat
