Pacquiao bats for P125 wage hike for workers

By MARYA SALAMAT
“I was once a laborer, too. I have worked at various jobs just to be able to feed my family. I know how it is to work hard and to subsist on meager wages.” – Rep. Manny Pacquiao
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By MARYA SALAMAT
“I was once a laborer, too. I have worked at various jobs just to be able to feed my family. I know how it is to work hard and to subsist on meager wages.” – Rep. Manny Pacquiao

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
"The thieves who raided the nation's coffers cannot be allowed to escape punishment. President Aquino should take a cue from actions such as this filing of criminal charges against Gutierrez and put meat into his words that he is an enemy of the corrupt.” – lawyers' group
For the militant cause-oriented movement, 2004 is not just an election year; it is also a year of “firsts” related to its entry into the electoral struggle. It will be fielding up to 20 nominees from Bayan Muna and five other new Party-list groups for House seats....
This early, the 2004 national elections have given rise to unconventional and non-traditional political figures through the party-list system. Progressive groups are in fact supporting six party list groups: Bayan Muna (People First) which topped the 2001...
Seventeen years ago last week in Mendiola at the approach of the presidential palace, Marines and police opened fire at some 30,000 peasant protesters. After the smoke cleared, 13 of the marchers lay dead. Today, organizers of that tragic rally want the massacre...

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Jeepney drivers say oil price increases and fare hikes worsen the conditions of drivers even more because they are also affected by spikes in prices of basic commodities resulting from these increases.

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Because there seems to be no end to the increases in the prices of oil products, people’s organizations are calling for a nationally-coordinated strike on March 31 saying that oil companies are lying when it cites world crude prices in justifying increases in local pump prices.

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
“The armed conflict is deeply rooted in extreme poverty and social injustice suffered by the Filipino people and should be addressed by concrete measures A just and lasting peace cannot be achieved through abstract and empty peace rhetoric.” –Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano

By MAUREEN A. HERMITANIO
The 10 who fell to their death at Lucio Tan’s construction site were contractual workers. Subcontracting and labor-only contracting are a common practice in the construction industry, where workers are thoroughly exploited.
Related Story: Work Safety Group Urges Probe of Lucio Tan Firm for Death of 10 Workers
Rep. Satur C. Ocampo, Rep. Liza L. Maza, Rep. Rafael V. Mariano, Rep. Raymond V. Palatino, Rep. Teodoro A. Casiño and Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan have filed a resolution in Congress asking government agencies to look into allegations that tycoon Lucio Tan had defrauded the government of as much as P330 billion.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
"No matter how much the Aquino government spends on the CCT, reducing poverty in the country still boils down to adequate social services and jobs creation, and more importantly, a ‘national development strategy’." – Kadamay
Sidebar: Akbayan Reps, 19 Others Flip-Flop, Sign Resolution Supporting CCT Program
President Benigno S. Aquino III can be held equally liable for what progressive groups have described as a “sham” deal involving his family’s Hacienda Luisita.

By MARYA SALAMAT
The dialogue brokered by government did not address the root causes of the unrest raised by the pilots who resigned. Instead, PAL will continue to implement its massive spin-off and contractualization schemes – approved by the Arroyo regime, not yet rescinded by the Aquino government -- that will affect thousands of PAL’s cabin and ground employees.
As the controversy over the mass resignation of Philippine Airlines’ pilots since last Saturday rages on, labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno called on President Aquino to investigate PAL owner Lucio Tan’s profits and anti-labor schemes, saying labor issues are behind...

By MARYA SALAMAT
The mass resignation of PAL pilots, the notice of strike filed by the cabin crew union, the struggle of ground employees against mass termination and contractualization -- all of these are interrelated. “It all stems from Lucio Tan’s moves to increase his profits even more by intensifying the exploitation of all his employees in the aviation industry.”
Related story: As Though 11-Year CBA Suspension Not Enough, PAL Employees Face Layoffs, Contractualization
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com The 15th Congress is extraordinary not only because of the presence of actors and actresses and even a boxing champion who got elected as representatives of their respective districts. It is also the first time in Philippine...
BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com When Jaime Fuentes, a witness of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the rebellion charges against six representatives and six other officials of progressive party-lists, removed his disguise, he was immediately recognized by...
7 of 10 farmers are landless Seven out of 10 farmers in Southern Tagalog (a region south of Manila) are landless. Peter “Tata Pido” Gonzales, spokesperson of the Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK, a farmers’ alliance in the...
The citizens’ congress that will try President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is an alternative forum that has become necessary because of the impotence of traditional institutions and processes to address the serious charges being levied against the president. BY DABET...
BY ABNER BOLOS Gitnang Luson News Service Posted by Bulatlat.com Alarmed by the unabated killing of political activists, world labor leaders will visit the country next month to investigate killings of labor leaders and organizers and repression of the labor...
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