9 Senate bets, Kabataan party-list get endorsement from labor group

MANILA, Philippines — A labor group formally endorsed nine senatorial aspirants—a mix of labor leaders and opposition candidates—and a youth party-list who will champion the welfare of Filipino workers for the May midterm polls.

Defend Job Philippines made the endorsement Tuesday, on the eve of the country’s commemoration of Labor Day.

The labor group said it would support five candidates from the Labor Win slate: Ernesto Arellano, Neri Colmenares, Leody De Guzman, Sonny Matula and Allan Montaño.

READ: Who is the Labor Win Alliance? 

It would also back the candidacies of lawyer Chel Diokno, civic leader Samira Gutoc, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay and former Rep. Erin Tañada (Quezon)—all from the Liberal Party-led Otso Diretso slate.

"In the upcoming May 2019 senatorial and local elections, Filipino workers will be as empowered and more intelligent voters as ever as we have come up with a pro-labor senatorial slate that will surely bring various key labor issues inside the halls of the bureaucracy," Christian Lloyd Magsoy, Defend Job Philippines spokesperson, said.

Defend Job Philippines says on its Facebook page that it "gives primary focus to the rights of the workers and the poor to adequate standard of living, right to work, healthcare, education, food and housing."

The group also endorsed Kabataan party-list.

"As inheritors of the society and as the future working class, it is just and rightful for us workers to support our youth in securing a congressional seat and representation in the upcoming May 2019 midterm elections to help them pave the way in enacting pro-labor legislations for their benefit and the future generations," Magsoy said.