B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Statement
Read by Jon Nieto, Vice-Chair, at the May 1 rally in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Statement on May Day 2008

May 1 , 2008

Warm and militant greetings from the B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines!

It is with great honour and pride that we stand with all of you today united in our calls to expose and oppose the exploitation of migrant, immigrant & undocumented labour; to say no to flexible labour; and to build genuine international solidarity against imperialism!

As a formation of Canadians and Filipino-Canadians who are building support and solidarity for the struggle of the Filipino people for national and social liberation, it is imperative for us to join with you on May 1 – International Workers’ Day – to celebrate the ongoing resistance and struggle of workers everywhere, particularly those in the Philippines and in other Third World countries.  For we believe that it is the workers of the world who are the true makers of history!

It is also fitting that we are taking to the streets today, just as millions of workers will all around the world.  In the Philippines, the militant tradition of May 1 is alive and well.  The first May 1 celebration in the Philippines was held 105 years ago, when 100,000 workers led by the Democratic Labour Union of the Philippines (Union Obrera Democratica de Filipinas) demonstrated against US imperialism.  Ever since then, Filipino workers have gathered on May 1 to call for jobs and justice, land and livelihood, to call for the building of genuine international solidarity, but most importantly to name imperialism as the system that is the root cause of their exploitation and oppression.

This year is no different.  All around the Philippines, workers led by the May First Movement (Kilusang Mayo Uno) took to the streets to call for the ouster of the Philippine President Gloria Arroyo.  Her regime’s anti-people and pro-business, pro-foreign interest policies have wreaked havoc on the lives of Filipino workers and their families.  By implementing the policies of neo-liberal globalization, the Arroyo regime has caused the price of rice and other basic commodities to skyrocket.  The UN Food and Agriculture Association is reporting that rice prices in the Philippines have increased 50% in the past two months.  Workers and their families in the Philippines are now going hungry trying to stretch their meals by making their rice into lugaw (or a rice soup) – a tragic irony given that the Philippines was once a rice-producing country, but is now one of the world’s top rice importers due to implementation of trade liberalization policies. 

But despite their dire situation, we can take hope and inspiration from the workers in the Philippines and other Third World countries.  For they continue to educate, organize and mobilize other workers, their families and their whole nation.  They continue to resist and struggle against imperialism.  For example, on May 1, the workers in the Philippines stood strong and renewed the call for a 125 peso across-the-board wage hike.  They also participated in the national movement to call for the ouster of the corrupt, fake, militarist President Arroyo.  They took to the streets and will continue to organize militant trade unions despite the fact that the Philippines is now the second most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists after Colombia. 

Under the Arroyo regime, 55 trade unionists have been summarily killed and executed, while another 16 have disappeared.  They are a part of the 889 victims of political killings under the Arroyo regime, who is hell-bent on destroying all political opposition and particularly the long-standing guerilla movement led by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.  The Arroyo regime wants to destroy all opposition through its counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch).  On this day, we pay particular tribute to the martyrs of the Philippine trade union movement like the 14 farmworkers killed in 2004 at Hacienda Luisita; like Diosdado Fortuna (Ka Fort), President of the trade union at Nestle Philippines, killed on the picketline in 2005; like Gerry Cristobal killed on March 10 of this year by two hooded men on motorcycle – surely assassins sent by the Philippine government.  The legacy of their resistance continues to inspire us today to continue the work for human rights, for social justice and for a better future.

Despite these dark aims of the Arroyo regime, there is stronger resistance from the Filipino people themselves  It is our duty as Canadians and Filipino-Canadians to build genuine solidarity with the workers of the Philippines, by – first of all, organizing ourselves and understanding the root causes of our own exploitation and oppression as the highest form of solidarity against imperialism.  But also by understanding the root causes of the problems of the Filipino workers and the Filipino people; by understanding why so many Filipinos continue to be forced to migrate to Canada, a junior imperialist country which benefits from the Filipino community’s exploitation and marginalization.  But most of all by understanding that the Filipino worker – wherever they may be – continues to resist and stand up against tyranny and against oppression, they continue to stand for genuine human dignity and for the dignity of the working-class and a bright future for all workers of the world!  Let us unite in ever firmer resolve and unity to support the struggles of the workers of the Philippines, of other workers of Third World countries, and of all workers around the world!

Mabuhay ang mga manggagawang Pilipino!
Mabuhay ang mga manggagawa sa buong mundo!
Ibagsak ang imperialismo at mabuhay ang solidarity internasyonal!

Long live the Filipino worker!
Long live the workers of the world!
Down with imperialism and long live international solidarity!

.

--