Cause-oriented groups slammed the alleged anti-worker policies of the Duterte administration as Filipinos continue to suffer from the “unprecedented economic and health crisis.”
At a press conference Wednesday, April 28, church, workers and cause-oriented representatives lamented that the Philippine economy continues to plunge, prices of basic goods have increased rapidly, and Filipinos have lost their livelihoods.
The Church Peoples and Workers Coalition claimed that the administration’s economic managers are using the pandemic as a shield against criticism for their “anti-poor and neoliberal policies.”
“The conditions of the Filipino working class remain dire. (President Rodrigo) Duterte failed to fulfill his promises to address the demands of workers for the end of contractualization and an increase of the daily minimum wage. Duterte even tries to curb the Filipino workers’ growing resistance by waging a crackdown on trade unionists and workers’ rights activists,” the groups said.
They added, “the crisis brought to the fore the very fact that Duterte is the biggest enemy of the Filipino people, most especially the working class and the peasantry. The pandemic also highlighted the fact that the struggles of all the marginalized sectors of the Filipino are interconnected.”
They also reiterated their call to the government to immediately release cash aid for the unemployed and the urban poor.
“We are calling on all Negrosanons and the Filipino people to stand with us and to continue holding Duterte accountable for his crimes against the Filipino people. Our solidarity will liberate us from this despotic regime and from the ruins we shall strive to build a better country,” the group said.*