3 M workers to join Labor Day rallies nationwide

Three million workers are expected to take part in nationwide mass actions in celebration of Labor Day today.

Militant labor groups vowed to press their call for the ouster of President Estrada who they said has failed to provide the needs of workers, especially the minimum wage earners.

In Metro Manila, members of the Labor Solidarity Movement (LSM) will march along EDSA up to the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, where they will hold a program later in the afternoon.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) members will assemble in three different points in the metropolis before proceeding to Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

Members of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and its affiliate groups will convene at Chino Roces Bridge, which leads to Malacañang Palace.

Archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin will celebrate Mass from 9 to 10 a.m. at Quiapo Church in Manila today for participants in the Labor Day rallies.

Officials of the three labor unions said they will boycott the Labor Day celebrations to be held at Heroes' Hall at Malacañang today.

Crispin Beltran, KMU chairman, said various groups will link up today for a wider protest against the Estrada administration's anti-labor policies, especially the planned privatization of government-owned firms like the National Power Corp.

Some 30 percent of the 16,000 Napocor employees will lose their jobs even before the debt-ridden power facility is sold to the private sector, according to union leaders.

"In the era of globalization and new technologies, where the power of monopoly capital and the unholy trinity of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank-World Trade Organization rules unbridled over the lives of millions, we find the Filipino working class unswerving in the fight for the human dignity of labor," he said.

However, the Caucus for Labor Solidarity Action and Reform (Caucus) said they will attend the celebration at Malacañang to "show our wholehearted support for the President and his administration."

Caucus, a coalition of labor federations, is the only labor group that has openly supported the President in the wake of criticism of his so-called "anti-labor and pro-crony policies."

Antonio Policarpio, a Caucus official, said they have submitted a five-point "action agenda" to Malacañang to get "something concrete" in time for Labor Day.

Chief Superintendent Avelino Razon Jr., Western Police District director, has deployed 3,000 anti-riot policemen on the streets to monitor the movement of labor groups, especially the KMU and the BMP.

"We have been coordinating with these groups to make sure everything will go smoothly," he said.

He said the policemen's deployment will center in traditional rally sites in Manila like Liwasang Bonifacio, Ermita, and the Chino Roces Bridge.

Razon said the Manila police have been on alert since last night and that the policemen will remain on standby for any eventuality until tonight.

He said police were securing Malacañang, Manila City Hall, the US Embassy and other vital government installations in the city against possible terrorist attacks.

Policemen will also guard commercial establishments to ensure that criminals will not take advantage of any confusion that might arise during the mass actions, he added.

Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay, Metro Manila police director, warned policemen that they will face administrative sanctions if caught carrying firearms within the rally sites.

"I've directed the five police district directors to prevent their men from carrying firearms," he said.

Aglipay fielded 14,000 policemen from the National Capital Region Police Office and an additional 2,000 from the Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog police forces starting yesterday.

He said rallyists will be arrested if they commit vandalism, coercion, obstruction of traffic, destruction of property, and if they light bonfires on the streets.

"We urge rally leaders to coordinate their actions with us to ensure peaceful and orderly rallies," Aglipay said. "The rallyists should also police their ranks against the possible infiltration of agitators and other criminal elements who may take advantage of the situation."

In Davao City, workers in Southern Mindanao will press for a P125 legislated wage increase during a rally celebrating Labor Day today.

Felix Irag, secretary general of KMU-Mindanao, said labor groups will hold a caravan this morning to be followed by rallies this afternoon in the city's main thoroughfares.

"We call on all workers to unite and fight for their basic rights to just wages and security of tenure," he said.

Labor groups from other provinces in Southern Mindanao are expected to join the protest actions in the city.

The Davao City Public School Teachers Association said they will press for a P3,000 across-the-board legislated wage increase, saying that they need the money because of the present economic crisis.

In Butuan City, about 200 protesters will converge at Barangay Holy Redeemer today to dramatize their demands for a wage increase and other labor issues in the region.

The placard-wielding protesters are from KMU, Gabriela, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, and several other urban and rural poor organizations.

They plan to hold a vigil at Barangay Holy Redeemer tonight and later march toward Butuan City Rizal Park, where they will hold a program.

The 1,000-strong Caraga Regional Operators' and Drivers' Association and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and its affiliates will also join today's rallies.

Police and troops in the region have been placed on alert to maintain peace and order in the streets during the mass actions.

Military and police officials have warned their men to be ready for possible attacks against military detachments and police stations by communist guerrillas.

Last week, two soldiers were killed and a militiaman was seriously wounded when New People's Army fighters attacked a military detachment in Sta. Josefa in Agusan del Sur.

In Tacloban City, members of at least 11 big labor unions will be out on the streets starting at 8 a.m. today. They are comprised of peasants, teachers, youth, urban community and fisherfolk and the Philippine National Oil Co. union.

Ruben Manatad, regional chairman of the Confederation for Unity, Reform and Advancement Among Government Employees (Courage), and national board member of the National Food Authority Employees Association (NFAEA), told The STAR that hundreds of NFAEA members started to arrive yesterday.

He said Courage members will chant and wave placards in front of the Leyte provincial capitol later this morning after joining other government employees and members of non-government organizations in a parade.

He said they were opposed to the NFA's privatization, and that they were demanding a P3,000 across-the-board wage increase, equalization of benefits, full union rights, and security of tenure.

The militant National Federation of Labor Unions-KMU-Eastern Visayas will lead close to 500 people in a rally in front of Ormoc City Astrodome. - With reports from Jose Aravilla, Romel Bagares, Mike Frialde, Non Alquitran, Edith Regalado, Ben Serrano, Ulysses Torres Sabuco, Rolly Espina, Leo Solinap