“Our demands are just,” Adonis said. “To fight for a living wage, secure jobs, and workers’ rights is just. To resist is just.”

MANILA — Labor groups said the issuance of arrest warrants against labor leaders Jerome Adonis and Jacq Ruiz is the latest sign of what they described as the Marcos administration’s intensifying campaign against dissent.

The warrants were issued against Jerome Adonis, chairperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Jacq Ruiz, spokesperson of Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK), and Sandigan ng Manggagawa ng Quezon City member James Anajao, over charges of violating Article 153 of the Revised Penal Code, or “Tumults and Other Disturbances of Public Order,” in connection with the Labor Day protest near the U.S. Embassy held on May 1, 2026. 

KMU denounced the decision of Judge Bernadette A. Eugenio-Tumacder, arguing that the court acted on allegations filed by the Manila Police District without first conducting a preliminary investigation to determine their validity. 

The labor group also stressed that the same charges were already dismissed by the Office of Prosecutor for lack of evidence. The same charges were filed against Adonis, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan’s Renato Reyes Jr. and Raymond Palatino, Mody Floranda of Piston and Anajao over the May 1 rally this year. The Office of the Prosecutor dismissed Tumults and other Disturbances of Public Order against all five respondents but filed in court a case for violation of BP 880. 

On August 13, the police attempted to arrest Adonis. 

“Remarkably, the government timed the release of the warrant just as workers’ protests for a substantial wage increase are intensifying,” Adonis said in Filipino.

The labor leader linked the warrant to the broader struggle for a living wage, regular employment, and labor rights amid rising prices and worsening economic conditions.

Reyes on the other hand raised questions surrounding the filing of the case. He said that Adonis, Ruiz and Anajao did not receive notice of the new complaint and were therefore unable to submit counter-affidavits before the case was filed in court and the warrant issued.

“How could the police know the respondents’ addresses in one case yet fail to notify them in another case involving the same incident?” Reyes asked, saying the circumstances point to a “glaring weaponization of the law to harass activists and prevent public protests.”

Reyes noted that the May 1 rally near the U.S. Embassy protested the U.S. war on Iran and its impact on oil prices and the worsening economic burden on Filipino workers.

‘Criminalizing protest’

KMU said the warrants should be viewed in the context of what it described as a continuing assault on the people’s right to protest. 

The group cited violent dispersals and mass arrests during major mobilizations, including Labor Day protests and demonstrations held during Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address.

The labor leader said workers would continue to organize despite what he called government intimidation.

“The government cannot silence the voice of the people,” he said. “The only answer to repression is to strengthen our resolve and continue our protest.”

The national women’s alliance Gabriela also condemned the warrants, describing them as judicial harassment intended to criminalize protest and suppress demands for a living wage, job security, union rights, and national sovereignty.

Gabriela said the targeting of Ruiz, a woman labor leader, reveals the “macho-fascist character” of the Marcos administration. The alliance linked the case to a wider pattern of repression that it said has included police actions against protests during International Working Women’s Day, Labor Day, and the recent SONA demonstrations.

“While the Marcos Jr. regime plunges the nation deeper into economic crisis, subservience to foreign dictates, and corruption, it responds to legitimate grievances not with solutions but with harassment, intimidation, and legal persecution,” the group said in a statement.

Gabriela called on women’s organizations, human rights advocates, and the public to oppose what it described as fascist tactics and to demand the dismissal of all charges against Ruiz, Adonis, and other activists facing prosecution.

KMU insists that workers’ demands for living wages, regular jobs, and protection of labor rights, are legitimate and rooted in worsening social conditions. The group said no warrant or criminal charge can extinguish the growing movement of workers and activists pressing for economic justice.

“Our demands are just,” Adonis said. “To fight for a living wage, secure jobs, and workers’ rights is just. To resist is just.” (AMU, RVO)