Activists from the APL and the CIU picketed the South Korean embassy in Makati yesterday morning to denounce the anti-union policies of Pres. Kim Dae-jung. The picket was part of a global campaign to focus the world’sattention to the plight of South Korean unionists as hundreds of millions watch the final leg of the month-long World Cup.

A scuffle with the building’s security guards and some members of the Makati police ensued as the protesters tried to block the entrance of the Pacific Star building where the office of the South Korean ambassador is located.

During the protest action, APL and CIU representatives handed over to an embassy staff their letters of protest addressed to Pres. Kim Dae-Jung. They scored Kim for his blind obedience to neoliberalism and for using brutalities against organized labor, methods used by his fascist predecessors.

Meanwhile, similar actions were held in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, New Delhi, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur.

The international day of action, dubbed as “Our Team Won’t Be at the World Cup” campaign, was fully supported by various Global Unions such as the International Union of Food and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF), the Public Services International (PSI) and by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

APL Letter to Pres. Kim Dae-Jung

27 June 2002

HIS EXCELLENCY
KIM DAE-JUNG
President of the Republic of Korea

Thru: H.E. SON SANG-HA
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Embassy of South Korea
10/F The Pacific Star Bldg.
Makati Ave., Makati City
Philippines

Dear Mr. President:

The undersigned represents all the officers and members of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), a labor center of trade unions and other organizations of working people in the private and informal sectors in the Philippines.

We wish to convey our disgust for your government’s persistent actions against your country’s labor movement. This is not only ironic but even more painful because you have been installed in 1998 by the Korean people, including the trade unionists that your administration is now battering, with full of hopes that you will usher in an era of vibrant democracy after Korea suffered from decades of military and civilian dictatorships.

Since your apparent political turnaround, and in blind defense of neoliberal economic and corporate rule, a growing number of South Korean workers have joined or are now at the brink of joining the unemployed and underemployed ranks. As if this is not enough and reminiscent of South Korea’s dark past, draconian laws and brutalities are increasingly being unleashed on your country’s organized labor.

Recent data reveal that almost 1,800 trade unionists are facing different forms of “legal actions,” including those “invited for questioning” by the police and candidates for possible arrest and imprisonment – all due to their trade union involvement but slapped with flimsy charges or trumped up cases. As if turning the table, employers in 32 companies that experienced various industrial actions have filed “damage claims” versus the unions or their leaders amounting to a staggering 125.43 billion won, which resulted to the freezing of the bank accounts of the said unions and putting under court control the bank accounts, assets and wages of individual unionists. For upholding labor and trade union rights and welfare, at least 2,560 workers have been meted out with a wide range of punishment, including suspensions and outright dismissals. Among these are the sacking of six leaders of the newly established Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), which your government has arbitrarily banned, and 26 leaders of the Korean Teachers Union (KTU).

And obviously an attempt to put on a façade of “peace and order” in the current World Cup, which South Korea is co-hosting with Japan, your government has imposed “preemptive measures” designed to further “silence” the Korean trade unions, especially during the duration of this month-long sports event being watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. This has aptly been described as the rise of the Korean football team “is more than matched by the increase in the number of imprisoned trade unionists.” Thus, the 32 jailed trade unionists listed when the international labor movement launched “Our Team Won’t be at the World Cup” campaign have grown to 46 as of June 24, several days left before the WC finals.

In fact, many South Korean workers have failed to fully enjoy the fanfare and excitement of the World Cup. They are either being held in prisons or hunted at present by Korean authorities for their trade union activities. Included here is Dan Byung-ho, the jailed president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who was sentenced to two-year imprisonment just before the start of the games. To think that he is even a member of the Korean World Cup Organizing Committee, but the latter – instead of calling for Dan’s release – has even “requested” KCTU to refrain from staging “industrial actions” before and during the World Cup. KCTU, in turn, reiterated its call for an end to Korea’s anti-worker and anti-union policies, including freedom for Dan and all incarcerated unionists; as well as for FIFA (football’s international governing body) to prove its avowed pledge to stop child labor in the football business and to ensure trade union rights in the entire process of football production.

APL and other civil society groups here in the Philippines are therefore joining today’s International Day of Action for the Release of Imprisoned Korean Trade Unionists, which was declared by the Korean workers along with the Global Unions. APL further calls the South Korean government to immediately stop trade union repression and to fully respect labor and trade union rights, which are actually both human rights and not only legitimate but universally recognized.

Sincerely,

DANIEL EDRALIN
APL Chairperson

cc: KCTU
IUF (International Union of Food and Allied Workers’ Associations)
IMF (International Metalworkers Federation)
PSI (Public Services International)
ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions)
FKTU (Federation of Korean Trade Unions)

June 19 – The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) picketed today the MWSS to denounce the regulatory body for conspiring with the water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water in jacking up water rates through a mysterious scheme called rate re-basing.

While the previously approved rate adjustment that more than doubled the current water prices to P15 (a whooping 135% increase compared to September 2001 level) is still being contested, the APL reminded the public that the conspirators are currently scheming to once again double the water rates to P30 by January 2003! And had it not been for the exposé of Akbayan a few weeks ago, they would have done so in complete secrecy, the labor center added.

To top it all, the MWSS, through Amendment Number 1 of the concession agreement, has allowed the water concessionaires to fleece the consumers while at the same time removing penalties for their compliance in their service obligations: Nagdagdag na nga ng presyo nagbawas pa ng serbisyo! (They have increased their prices while reducing the level of their service obligation!)

The APL blamed the government for this dismal state of affairs in the water service by explaining that when private means are used to deliver public services, the profit motive would always take precedence at the expense of the public’s welfare. The privatization of MWSS is definitely a failure.

While it was the previous governments that privatized public water services, it is the current government that perpetrates the problem by failing to put in place a strong regulatory mechanism that can enforce service obligations of the water concessionaires!

The APL asserts that water is a right and as such should not be subjected to the whims and caprices of profiteers. It believes that the water concessionaires should deliver their service obligations under the original concession agreement. If they cannot deliver, they should not be allowed price hikes, much less, allowed to stay in the business of running a public utility. The APL calls on the MWSS to publicly disclose all information regarding the water concessionaires’ petition for rate re-basing.

The APL is a national labor center that espouses social movement unionism. It embraces various forms of workers’ organizations operating in the formal and informal sector.

BANTAY TUBIG
Citizens’ Network for Adequate, Potable and Affordable Water

When private means are used to deliver public services, several things happen. The private sector is given occasion to dip its fingers into public coffers. The profit motive is entrusted with the pursuit of the public good. And the pressure builds up for governments to setup mechanisms to enforce the promises of the private sector.

The promise is that through privatization, public service sectors are able to tap financial markets in innovative ways. Services that might otherwise fail to get financing from government get financing from bankers and investors. The private sector’s technical prowess is also harnessed and services are delivered efficiently and quickly. As for the rights of citizens to minimum services, privatization advocates would claim that private providers are bound to deliver, or else they lose their business, their reputation, not to mention their performance bonds.

From the experience of private involvement in the water and sanitation in Metro Manila, several things are clear:

First, at least one of the private concessionaires (Maynilad) has been unable to tap the financial markets as planned, and consequently, it has failed to deliver on its service obligations. The company’s own excuse is that it had the misfortune of inheriting 90% of the dollar-denominated debts of MWSS and when the peso fell in 1997, the money they needed to service those debts immediately doubled, leaving them with little resources for investments and operations. While this is partly true, the concession contract did provide for the recovery of these losses throughout the life of the contract. However, Maynilad demanded immediate recovery of these losses, resulting in a 135% increase in their water rates starting in October 2001. In contrast, the other concessionaire (Manila Water) raised money on the strength of the financial position of the Ayala group of corporations, shielding their consumers from an abrupt rise in water tarrifs. There is also ample evidence that would demonstrate gross technical inefficiency on the part of Maynilad in the high rate of Non Revenue Water (NRW) and high operating costs.

Maynilad is now asking government for three things: a) a postponement of its service obligations (less connections, less than 24-hours water availability, low water pressures, etc.) b) a rate increase that will raise the cost of water to P30 pesos per cubic meter by January 2003 (more than 500% of its original bid) and c) a government guarantee on its $350 million loan from the Asian Development Bank and commercial banks. If these things are granted, nothing of the original gains from privatization would have been preserved.

Second, both concessionaires have succeeded in changing the contract. Through Amendment Number 1 effected last October 2001, both companies succeeded in changing the parameters of their original bids in terms of the allowable pace and amounts of rate increases and service and expansion targets. Manila Water has succeeded in doubling its allowable profit by an upward adjustment in its ADR. Maynilad has been allowed to collect its debt payments at an accelerated pace even if it has failed to reach its target number of connections. The improvement in the contract of Maynilad benefits Manila Water, and vice versa.

Third, the regulatory agency that is tasked with enforcing the concession contracts has been unable to stand its ground. Key regulators became advocates for the concessionaires. The government entity that is party to the contract—the MWSS—on the other hand, has been unable to police the concessionaires’ compliance with the original contract and thus failed to safeguard the gains from privatization in the form of efficiency, low prices and the aim of near-universal service coverage.

Fourth, there are no effective mechanisms for the exercise of consumer power in this crucial public utility. Although consumers have the greatest incentive for defending the gains of privatization, there is no mechanism for empowering and harnessing consumer voice under privatization. There is no consumer representation in the MWSS Board. There is no formal mechanism for making information accessible to the public and the media. Public hearings conducted by the MWSS Regulatory office do not give weight to consumer input and grievances.

A better arrangement is possible!

BANTAY TUBIG, a citizens’ network for adequate, potable and affordable water, calls for the following:

1. A review of Amendment Number 1 that will reinstate incentives and penalties in relation to water companies’ compliance to service obligations. In other words, we want Maynilad and Manila Water to stick to the contract: if they cannot deliver, they should not be allowed price hikes, much less, allowed to stay in the business of running a public utility.

2. A stop to the rate rebasing exercise that will raise water rates to 25-30 pesos per cubic meter. Previous rate hikes by Maynilad remain contested, a public hearing in Congress is in progress and the rate-rebasing process remains a mystery. We want a public accounting of the basis of these rate proposals.

3. The establishment of an independent regulatory body that will enforce service obligations and contractual commitments on both private and public providers of water service. The current Regulatory Office is a creation of the contract between government and the concessionaires, hence its imperviousness to public demands. We propose a quasi-judicial body in the mold of the Energy Regulatory Commission that will evaluate petitions for price increases and monitor service-obligation. This body must perform these functions not only for Metro Manila but for the entire country.

4. The creation of institutional mechanisms for consumer representation. One proposal is for consumers to own the two water companies, given that we pay for items apart from our actual consumption. At the minimum, there should be consumer representatives in the MWSS Board. Another approach would be for Metro Manila mayors to appoint representatives to the MWSS Board and to establish formal forums where instructions are taken directly from public consultations in Metro Manila towns and cities. In the short term, clear procedures for public hearings must be established, and clear and enforceable terms of reference between community representatives and the private providers must be put in place.

5. That the national government through its pertinent line agencies, local governments, together with private concessionaires, specify an agenda for water provision based on the principle that water is a basic human right, and that all citizens must have access to adequate, potable and affordable water.

BANTAY TUBIG is composed of the following organizations:

Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party * Alliance of Progressive Labor * Focus on the Global South* Freedom from Debt Coalition * Institute for Popular Democracy

In observance of the Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration on 17 June 2002, Greenpeace Japan (www.greenpeace.or.jp), in coordination with the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA, www.no-burn.org), launched a petition targeting Japan’s 12 biggest incinerator makers. The APL and 89 regional and national NGOs from 16 countries in Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Israel, Kyrgzstan, Lebanon) signed up to this petition.

Click here to see list of signatories to this petition

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We, citizens of Asia, condemn the dumping of polluting waste disposal technology by Japanese incinerator companies, which only exacerbates the health, environmental and economic problems facing our nations.

We disapprove moves by Japanese companies to expand their incineration market abroad, particularly in Asia, in the midst of growing opposition against dioxin pollution in Japan. We find it totally unacceptable that Japan is exporting a technology that is unpopular and unwanted by local communities because of its negative impacts to public health and the environmental.

We oppose waste incineration because it releases into the environment persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as cancer-causing dioxins. The Stockholm Convention on POPs, of which the Government of Japan is among the 133 signatories, has pinpointed municipal, hazardous and medical waste incinerators as primary sources of by-product POPs and calls for the substitution of alternatives for any processes, which produce dioxins and other toxic pollutants.

Moreover, we reject incineration because it destroys materials and deprives future generations of resources, saddles our countries with unbearable debts and undercuts programs and services for the poor, undermines recycling and other sensible solutions to waste problems, and concentrates economic gains in the hands of big businesses.

To the Government of Japan: We ask you to discontinue prescribing biased waste management solutions to our governments and stop funding incineration projects in the region.

To the People of Japan: We affirm our unity with you in your inspiring actions to reclaim your health and rescue the environment by closing down sources of dioxin.

We sign this petition on the occasion of the first ever Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration on 17 June 2002

When our forefathers, under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan, raised the cry of revolution in 1896, they had a clear notion of what they were fighting for: Kalayaan. To them, Kalayaan meant not only throwing off three centuries of ruthless Spanish colonialism, it also meant liberating the masses from the cruelty of poverty, inequality, and ignorance.

The same ideals animated the working class when they established the Union Obrera Democratica (UOD) in 1902. Inspired by the Katipunan revolt and acquiring the new ideals of trade unionism and the struggle for class interests, the UOD spearheaded the first general strike in 1902 and the first May Day mobilization in 1903 – which called for ending the US colonial rule.

As we mark the 104th anniversary of our independence, we find the celebrations wanting in substance. Once again we are confronted by the expanding presence of US military forces. Having the Abu Sayaff as a convenient excuse, Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo allowed the return of US military forces and has effectively rolled back the gains of more than a century of nationalist struggles.

But more than this, nearly half of our population is living in absolute poverty. This alone proves that we have yet to truly attain our Kalayaan. After all, a hungry person is not a free person.

While the abject poverty of our people injures our notion of Kalayaan, and it is the continued presence of American troops that insults our Kalayaan.

As one writer correctly puts it, the poverty of our people is a product of two realities: first, the reality of economic underdevelopment, and second, the reality of inequality. Yet how did we come to this? We need to look back to our past to find the answer.

On June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, and final victory was imminent, when, alas, came an armada of American battleships in Manila Bay that supposedly pounded into smithereens the Spaniards’ last bastion in Intramuros. In hindsight, it was really a mock battle between the US and Spain for even before that naval tragicomedy, the Spanish government already sold the Philippines to the US for $20 million, through the infamous Treaty of Paris. Indeed, the so-called Battle of Manila Bay signaled the formal entry of the Filipinos’ new colonial master. Eventually the Americans made us believe that if not for them, the Filipinos would have remained oppressed and colonized. The US championed itself as the true protector of freedom and democracy, and to remain under its wings, we would surely achieve economic prosperity and enjoy the benefits of American “civilization.”

Now we know that this was a myth. In fact it was our “special relationship” with the United States that prevented us from exploring the full range of options available to nations that were just rising from their colonial past.

The ruling elite’s reliance on American patronage worked like a curse upon our nation’s economic, political and cultural life. It was quite late when we realized that being a client state of America had made us into a weak nation.

While vigorously pursing the implementation of a neocolonial economy and patronage politics, a succession of US and Philippine governments did not relent in destroying the working people’s democratic instrument to counterbalance the ruling elites – the country’s trade union movement.

And now that a new world economy had opened up, we seem incapable of defending ourselves from its ravages. Why? Because we are still being lorded by a ruling class that continues to be fattened by our “special relationship” with the US, and therefore has conveniently ignored the lessons of history.

Today the delicate social balance that the elite defended fiercely from the time of independence is falling apart. Any attempt to solve it in an enduring way will have to involve an overhaul of our basic political and economic institutions.

It is in this context that the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) commits itself to continue the struggle for Kalayaan. Through social movement unionism, it vows to fight against the presence of American troops in the country and to vigorously resist any moves toward the reinsertion of foreign military bases. It vows to continue educating, organizing and mobilizing the working people to liberate: themselves from oppression, poverty, inequality, ignorance and powerlessness; and our country from the clutches of foreign intrusions and subjugation. In short, until we fully realize our Kalayaan!

The APL is a national labor center espousing social movement unionism and as such embraces various forms workers’ organizations around the country operating both in the formal and informal sector.