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THE
simultaneous and successive rallies staged by workers in
key cities around the country were orderly and peaceful
except for traffic snarls that have been created,
especially in some parts of Metro Manila.
The
National Police said that as of 4 p.m. on Thursday it
has yet to receive reports of serious violent incidents
related to the celebration of Labor Day, that was
observed by workers through rallies, with Mendiola
Street in Manila as the main target.
Director
General Avelino Razon Jr., National Police chief, also
said reports of confrontation between government
security forces and the workers who staged rallies in
Metro Manila, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Baguio
City, Calamba City, Legazpi City and Cavite were few.
“Our
preparations and the cooperation of those who took part
in the public assemblies were instrumental to the
generally peaceful outcome of the event,” Razon said.
“This only goes to show that peaceful and orderly public
assemblies can be held if everyone will cooperate,”
Razon added.
Still,
Razon ordered regional and provincial police directors
to continue the implementation of their security plans
even after the conclusion of the May 1 activities.
The
National Police, which went on full alert in Metro
Manila, and heightened alert in other parts of the
country at 8 a.m., was expecting to return to normal
alert at
7 p.m. Thursday, as ordered by Razon.
In Metro
Manila, Director Geary Barias, National Capital Region
police director, said the whole-day rallies and
demonstrations staged by members of different labor
groups that ended on Mendiola, were peaceful but that
the vehicular traffic in Pasay, Makati, Quezon City, and
Manila was obstructed.
Instead
of joining the call for an increase in wages, members of
the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), who
were clad in National Food Authority rice sacks, held a
candle march on Mendiola to commemorate the May 1, 2001
march to Malacañang by urban poor groups.
“For
years we marched in darkness, but today we break free
from the cloak of invisibility owing to worsening
hunger, poverty and inequality, as we march in daylight
to claim our right to be freed from poverty,” Luis
Granados, chairman of Kabataan Kontra Kahirapan, a
member of GCAP-Philippines, said.
Joel
Saracho, national coordinator of GCAP said they have
declared Labor Day, which is being celebrated every May
1, as Poor People’s Day.
He said
a little more than half of our work force is living in
poverty, about 16.1 million workers, given their small
and indecent salaries.
“Much
more now that we face worsening unemployment, rising
prices and food shortage” Saracho said.
However,
the Kilusang Mayo Uno and the partido Manggagawa pressed
for a P125 a day wage increase ina rally at the Liwasang
Bonifacio.
Barias
said that all in all, about 6,000 workers from different
labor groups, who started converging in areas including
Tondo, Manila, and in front of the University of Santo
Tomas on Espana Street, also in Manila, as early as 7
a.m., participated in the rallies in Metro Manila.
In
Central Luzon, the Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan
and Pambansang Katipunan ng Makabayang Magbubukid which
are allied organizations of the Kilusang para sa
Pambansang Demokrasya, led a regionwide demonstration.
The
groups took to task the Arroyo administration for the
current economic crisis that the country is facing.
Speaking
for Makabayan Central Luzon, Ludy Hamor said the current
job and food crises are the effects of shortsighted
government policies and programs that favor the rich and
elite rather than the laboring masses.
Aurora
Broquil, spokesman for Kilusan Para sa Pambansang
Demokrasya-Central Luzon, said mass actions were
simultaneously held in Olongapo, City; Mariveles, Bataan;
and in Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and General Santos cities.
(With J. Mayuga, TJ Agcaoili and R. Lazaro) |
