A gamut of issues aired in Labor Day assemblies

The rally was the message, but the issues ran a wide gamut.

Yesterday’s Labor Day rallies throughout the country, mainly spearheaded by militant groups, echoed issues beyond purely labor problems.

In Baguio City, at least 300 members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilusang Anak Pawis and other left-leaning groups lambasted the Arroyo administration for the presence of US military troops via the Balikatan exercises.

Claiming they have "totally burned (our) bridges" with the Arroyo presidency, the rallyists called for Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster, blaming her for all the problems plaguing the labor sector.

A similar anti-Balikatan mood pervaded in the Bayan Muna-led assembly in Legazpi City, with the marchers burning the pictures of Mrs. Arroyo and US President George Bush.

The Legazpi protesters also took issue against what they claimed were the growing militarization of the countryside and human rights violations against members of cause-oriented groups.

Barangay tanods, for their part, however, trained their sight on the New People’s Army which they accused of abducting and killing innocent civilians suspected of being police and military informers.

In Tacloban City, student groups called for a bigger budget for education, as Mrs. Arroyo had promised, and the scrapping of the Education Act of 1991 which they described as "anti-student."

Besides fighting for wage increases, Leyte workers also scored the series of oil price hikes and their inflationary effect on the prices of basic commodities.

Oust-Arroyo slogans reverberated on the streets of Iloilo City, with at least 3,000 rallyists rejecting the Arroyo administration under which, they claimed, "life has become harsher and more oppressive."

Health workers from all over Western Visayas, meanwhile, protested government moves to privatize and "corporatize" government hospitals.

In Calapan City, rallyists demanded the removal of the Task Force Banahaw from Mindoro Oriental, saying the presence of more than 3,000 soldiers on the island has been causing hardships to farmers and fishermen.

They burned effigies of Mrs. Arroyo and Gov. Bartolome Marasigan whom they branded a "traitor."

In Malolos, Bulacan, displaced workers of Expo-Footjoy shoe factory in Guiguinto town joined the Labor Day march, demanding the payment of their benefits. A fire razed the factory last year. — Artemio Dumlao, Celso Amo, James Mananghaya, Miriam Garcia Desacada, Ricky Bautista, Leo Solinap, Ben Serrano and Joe Leuterio