STOP TRADE UNION AND POLITICAL REPRESSION IN THE PHILIPPINES!

SIGN ON LETTER: STOP TRADE UNION AND POLITICAL REPRESSION IN THE PHILIPPINES!

RESPECT THE FILIPINO WORKER’S TRADE UNION AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS!

H.E. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

We, trade unions, workers organisations, migrant organizations, support groups and concerned individuals, express our grave concern on the rampant trade union and political repression in the Philippines.

In particular, we are outraged that 64 of our colleagues in the trade union movement and informal workers association have been killed since 2001. They are part of the more than 750 victims of political killings in the Philippines recorded as of Sept 2006. We strongly condemn and denounce political killings as the worst form of political repression. It is an outright violation of an individual’s right to life. Political killings violate all norms and international standards for the respect of human rights and has no place in a democratic society.

We are equally alarmed of other cases of trade union and human rights violations such as abductions, harassment, intimidation, grave threats, illegal arrest and militarization in the workplaces and communities. Workers who assert for their democratic rights and fight for social justice and transformation are being branded as terrorists, communists and “enemies of the state” and are being attacked with impunity under the guise of counter-terrorism.

We are deeply concerned at the continued illegal detention of KMU Chairperson Emeritus and Anakpawis Rep. Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran who was arrested without warrant on Feb. 25, 2006, a day after a state of emergency declaration. Ka Bel was arrested without warrant on the basis of trumped-up charges dating back two decades and already quashed by the Philippine courts. We demand that Ka Bel be given justice and that he be freed from his illegal detention.

As a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, to the United Nations Covenant on civil and political rights and to the International Labor Organization Conventions 87 and 98, the Philippine government must ensure that the Filipino workers right to organize, to bargain collectively, to exercise his other democratic rights and to live a life with dignity is recognized and respected.

We then call on you, as the President and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to take concrete steps to stop the political killings, harassment, intimidation and all forms of trade union and political repression committed against leaders, members, organizers and supporters of trade union organizations and informal workers associations as well as other legitimate organizations in the Philippines.

We will continue to monitor the situation in the Philippines and will be urging our respective governments to withdraw support and stop giving financial aid to the Philippine government, until political killings and other forms of human rights violations in your country are stopped. We refuse to use our money to aid the Philippine government and become an instrument to attack and kill our Filipino brothers and sisters who are fighting for social justice.

Thank you for your attention.

 

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