Hustisya, an organization of families and friends of victims of human rights violations, is in solidarity with trade unionists and other rights defenders in calling for the immediate release of unionists, labor leaders and labor organizers who are held in various prisons and jails across the country.
Of the 25 unionists and labor organizers arrested under the Duterte and Marcos Jr. regimes, 22 still languish behind bars. They include, among others, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants and veteran labor organizers Adelberto Silva and Renante Gamara; Maojo Maga of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Piston; Antonietta Dizon, Oliver Rosales and Juan Alexander Reyes of COURAGE; Gaspar Davao and Jose Puansing of NFSW; and Esteban Mendoza of OLALIA-KMU.
All, without exception, face trumped-up charges based on the perjured testimonies of witnesses who had either colluded with or been coerced into making them so that the police could ask judges for warrants to arrest the targeted unionists and search their homes or offices. All, without exception, have been slapped with bogus charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives after guns, ammunition and explosive devices had been planted by the arresting teams. On top of such charges, many of the detained unionists also face manufactured charges of rebellion, murder, arson and the like in relation to their alleged participation in armed encounters, again falsely attested to by so-called witnesses.
“These false accusations are desperate efforts by the ruling regimes to quell militant unionism and suppress workers’ legitimate struggles for jobs, decent wages and better working conditions,” said Hustisya secretary general Ofelia Beltran-Balleta.
“Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has created a task force to probe grave human rights violations against the labor sector, but has nothing to show for it,” said Beltran-Balleta. “In fact, Marcos Jr. maintains the same repressive anti-labor policies as his predecessor,” she added.
“Not only has Marcos Jr. done nothing to effect the release of unionists imprisoned under Duterte. Three more unionists have been arrested under his own watch,” averred Beltran-Balleta.
“We stand fully behind the militant trade union movement in urging the release of all unjustly detained unionists and support it in its fight for the economic rights and welfare of the working class,” said Beltran-Balleta.