Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 17:42:36 +0100 (MET)
From: malecki-AT-algonet.se (Robert Malecki)
Subject: M-G: BMP Philippines Alert 3



>        BMP Philippines Alert 3
>        From Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (Solidarity of Filipino
>        Workers)
>        =============================================================>
>        Following are the latest updates from the Philippines regarding the
>        arrest of BMP chairperson Filemon "Popoy" Lagman and the continuing
>        harassment of workers and activists as the official APEC summit comes
>        near:
>
>        18 November/Tuesday
>
>        There were reports of new arrests of activists in Metro Manila today.
>        Most are student activists who were pasting anti-APEC posters on the
>        streets.
>
>        Popoy Lagman continues his hunger strike.  He has not been taking any
>        solid food since his arrest last Tuesday night (12 November), and
>        appears pale and weak during today's court hearing in Marikina.  The
>        hearing was reset for some unknown reason.
>
>        Following is Popoy's statement released to the media:
>
>        "What is six days of incarceration compared with the still unrectified
>        injustice perpetrated against my desaparecido brother, Hermon, a labor
>        and human rights lawyer, during martial rule when Fidel V. Ramos was
>        the Philippine Constabulary Chief? Only his assailants and whoever
>        ordered him to be salvaged [summary execution in Filipino parlance --
>        BA] know  how heinous was the crime they had committed.  Only labor
>        knows how much it lost with the enforced disappearance of Hermon.
>
>        "What is six days of deprivation of due process compared with the
>        unabated violations of labor standards and unfair labor practices
>        unredressed by government because of defective labor laws and
>        oppressively long legal processes?  While I have Edcel and his
>        progressive colleagues and my expert lawyers to defend me, labor is
>        virtually bereft of competent and dedicated legal defenders.  While I
>        have a name that draws the attention of government and the public,
>        countless anonymous victims of violations of local labor laws and
>        international conventions are left unattended to, vulnerable to and
>        defenseless against errant and criminal employers who go unpunished.
>
>        "What is six days of hunger compared with the year-round crunching of
>        stomachs of millions of Filipino masses?
>
>        "What does government fear about me?  Government is not afraid of
>        Popoy.  Government is afraid of a unified labor which I, the Bukluran
>        ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and the Kapatiran ng mga Pangulo ng
>        Unyon sa Pilipinas (KPUP) struggle for.
>
>        "My arrest and incarceration are a treachery not against Popoy but
>        against the working class.
>
>        "A unified and militant labor is the greatest barrier to government's
>        bargain sale of Filipino labor to foreign investors.  There is no
>        other way by which APEC member Philippines can conform with the
>        demands of liberalization and attempt to compete in the global market
>        but to lure foreign investors by cheap labor.  This, and other anti-
>        labor schemes, more particularly the systematic emasculation of unions
>        a unified labor will oppose, with or without Popoy."
>
>        Aside from letter to the Philippine embassies/consulates and to
>        President Fidel Ramos urging the release of Lagman, the BMP is asking
>        for solidarity messages and endorsement of the SLAM APEC conference
>        on November 20-25.  The conference, participated in by 2,000 union
>        presidents across the country and some international delegates, will
>        be held at the RubberWorld complex in Novaliches, Metro Manila -- a
>        factory which has recently closed down and displaced 10,000 workers.
>
>        The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the Philippines has
>        assumed jurisdiction over all industrial strikes in the country.  DOLE
>        also issued a warning to terminate the employment of workers who will
>        go on strike, for whatever reason, during the official APEC summit.
>
>        Manila Cardinal Sin of the Philippine catholic church issued a strong
>        rebuke against APEC.  He said that the institution should instead
>        serve and work for the interests of the poor in the region.
>
>        Solidarity Updates in Australia
>
>        The National Secretary of Forest and Forest Products Division of CFMEU
>        sent a message of solidarity to the BMP workers.
>
>        The Democratic Socialist Party of Australia is organizing a picket-
>        rally at the Philippine consulate office in Sydney (301 George St.) on
>        Friday, November 22, at 4:30 pm.  The action is to protest the arrests
>        in the Philippines and the "clean-up drive" (demolition of urban poor
>        houses) before the Manila APEC summit.  Everyone is invited.
>
>        ====================================>        For more information, please contact:
>
>        Sonny Melencio
>        International Officer, BMP
>        c/o LINKS, Green Left Weekly
>        Ph.  (02) 9690-1230
>        Fax  (02) 9690-1381
>        Email     links-AT-peg.apc.org
>
>
>
>
>
>




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