“What is happening right now is like an epidemic, a calamity,” added Maglunsod, also a leader of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement), who holds a degree in economics and philosophy from the Malaybalay College Seminary. “It is not a natural calamity, but a man-made calamity. It is not the workers’ fault that there is now a crisis: the crisis is the result of the greed of foreign capital in cahoots with the local comprador bourgeoisie and the big landlords.”
He said that because of the Philippines’ character as a “semi-colonial and semi-feudal” society, it has long been in a “permanent” crisis that was only aggravated by the global economic and financial crisis. The solution to the Philippines’ plight, he said, ultimately lies in implementing a program of national industrialization and genuine agrarian reform.
Maglunsod brings with him to Congress a long history of activism and other forms of social and political involvement.
He was already active during his college days as an organizer of Basic Christian Communities (BCCs), and this work led to his eventual involvement in the people’s movement. After graduation, he taught social science at St. Joseph’s College in Bukidnon, while at the same time serving as a volunteer instructor to farmers’ groups. In 1982 he became an organizer for the United Lumber and General Workers of the Philippines (ULGWP), of which he would eventually become the national assistant director.
In 1984, he was arrested and detained on charges of subversion, rebellion, and insurrection. The charges against him were dismissed in 1986, following the historic People Power revolt which toppled the Marcos dictatorship.
He immediately returned to his activity in the workers’ movement after his release from detention, and in the 1990s served as secretary-general of the Nagkahiusa Mamumuo sa Mindanao, KMU’s Mindanao formation. He was KMU’s national secretary-general before assuming his post as Anakpawis representative.
With this record behind him, Maglunsod admits, it has not been easy to adjust to the new environment in which he has to mingle with a totally different set of people – a Congress dominated by landlords and other affluent people. “But it should not be too much of a problem because that is part of the work,” he said. (Bulatlat.com)
