Group slams “police harassment”
CEBU, Philippines - The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed as harassment the police raid last Friday of the office of the union of the giant mining company Carmen Copper in Toledo City, Cebu.
The raid followed a similar raid on the house and resort of the union treasurer last Tuesday wherein four persons were arrested.
“With a month to go before Labor Day, the union repression in Cebu sadly highlights the state of workers rights in the Philippines. Truly the Philippines is the second most dangerous place for trade unionists in the whole world,†PM national chairman Renato Magtubo Renato Magtubo said in statement sent to The FREEMAN.
PM is also demanding the release of the four people arrested in last Tuesday raid.
The group is accusing the police of planting a .45 caliber pistol allegedly found in the union office last Friday morning and other arms supposedly seized in the raid last Tuesday.
PM-Cebu spokespeson Dennis Derige said that the police raid of the residence of union treasurer Roldan Cansancio was supposedly due to his involvement in the killing last month of a ward leader of former Senator John “Sonny†Osmeña, who is now running for mayor in Toledo.
“The police, in collusion with certain elements in Carmen Copper management, are trying to divert the real issue which is the brewing labor dispute. They are also trying to silence one of the very vocal critics of management’s contractualization scheme and unfair labor practices,†Derige said.
Derige said that labor relations at the said mining firm started to get strained late last year when management started to implement a contractualization scheme that affected regular jobs.
He said that the union, Panaghugpong sa Mamumuo sa Carmen Copper (PAMCC), also became increasingly critical of the impact to the environment of the company’s open pit mining.
“A full blown labor dispute erupted when it was discovered that management formed a company union in a bid to bust PAMCC,†he said.
Derige further alleged that elements of the PNP are “being used by powerful interests†of the mining company to criminalize the labor row.
He said that Cansancio is “maliciously linked†to the killing last month of a certain Rene Embranilag, who is not an employee of the said mining company nor related to the labor dispute, to justify the entry of PNP to the labor problem.
PAMCC president Tony Cuizon condemned the raid and defended Cansancio.
Cuizon said that the PNP Regional Intelligence Division has no business intervening in the labor dispute.
Cansancio and PAMCC declared that they are readying their own charges against those responsible for the raid.
PAMCC and PM also announced protests are to be held in the coming days.
“We cannot take this sitting down. The raids have a chilling effect not on PAMCC but also to the labor movement in general. We call on the Department of Labor and Commission on Human Rights to intervene and investigate this act by the police. Certainly, the PNP violated our human rights and rules on labor disputes,†Cuizon added. — (FREEMAN)
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