Activists from ten countries in East and Southeast Asia met in Bangkok to discuss the state of play in trade liberalisation, and to develop a common agenda to oppose it. In particular, we highlighted the urgency of blocking agriculture negotiations in the WTO, the vibrant struggles against privatisation across the region, and the centrality of opposing the occupation of Iraq for our global movement against imperialist globalisation.

AGRICULTURE and FISHERIES

The export oriented model of agriculture and fisheries has failed to improve farmers¹ and fishers¹ livelihoods; it has created more hunger and impoverished and destroyed rural and fisherfolks communities.

We will continue to campaign to get WTO out of Agriculture and fisheries.

We demand the right to the countries to protect their agriculture and fisheries and the livelihoods of small scale farmers and fisherfolks.

We demand an immediate end to dumping and the dismantling of the system of domestic and export supports in the North that lead to dumping.

We oppose any free trade agreement on fisheries whether mulitlateral or bilateral.

We promote peoples¹ food sovereignty as the alternative to neoliberal policies on agriculture and fisheries.

G20

We recognise the emergence of the G20 as a force challenging the EU and the US within the WTO. We note that the G20 exposes the unequal power relations, which further deligitimises the WTO.

We reject the G20¹s narrow position on agriculture which is promoting agribusiness and destroying small farmers and sustainable agriculture.

We believe that if it sticks to its narrow agenda on agriculture liberalisation, the G20 will miss a historic opportunity to articulate alternative policies for developing countries.

Recognising that the internal political dynamics of the WTO emanate from a neoliberal ideology, global civil society will continue to push for pro-people policies and the derailment of the WTO.

PRIVATISATION

We support the Thai workers and civil society struggle against privatisation. It gives us a strong inspiration for our mobilisation against privatisation in the region.

Privatisation is carried out in the name of efficiency and transparency. However, the common experience in our countries has shown that it leads to massive job losses, corruption, lack of transparency, rent seeking, price hikes and does not improve access to services and efficiency.

We are defending people¹s democratic control of and access to public services like health, education, water, powerŠ Access to public services is a fundamental right and it is the responsibility of the State to guarantee this. Services should be provided according to needs and not the ability to pay.

WTO and GATS are posing a major threat because they would accelerate the privatisation process and establish rules and dispute settlement mechanisms that would make privatisation irreversible.

We reject privatisation of natural resources such as land, water, forest, seeds, fishing grounds because it deprives people of their livelihood, patrimony, and threatens ecological survival.

BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

We oppose bilateral agreements because they are one of the tools used to push the neoliberal agenda. Most of the time, they go further than the WTO agreements and they deepen the liberalisation process.

We call for the derailment of all FTA¹s, whenever and wherever they happen in the region.

We commit to set up a network to exchange information and strategies and to launch a regional campaign on FTA¹s.

ANTI WAR MOVEMENT

War is an extension of neoliberal globalisation, therefore we will strengthen the links between the anti-neoliberal globalisation and the anti-war movements.

We demand an end to the occupation of Iraq, and that our governments withdraw the troops from Iraq.

We condemn war profiteering

We hold the US and its allies fully responsible for reparations for 12 years of sanctions, the destruction caused by the war and occupation of Iraq.

We support the Iraqi people¹s right to defend their sovereign state, and to self-determination, and we will work to strengthen our links with democratic forces in Iraq.

We call for the withdrawal of US troops from Asia.

COMMON ACTIONS

Mobilisation against the World Economic Forum, 12-15 June

We endorse the call of the Korean social movements to mobilise against the World Economic Forum in Seoul, June 2004. (pasted below)

Asia peoples and social movements assembly, 14-15 June

We also support the call for an Asia peoples¹ and social movements assembly at that time and we will mobilise our networks and movements to be in Seoul from June 12-15.

Hong Kong – WTO ministerial conference, 2005

We will mobilise in Hong Kong to further deligitimise and derail the WTO.

We will use this opportunity to expose the impact of liberalisation, privatisation and the WTO agreements on the Chinese working class. We express our solidarity with their struggles and support their right to organise.

We welcome the initiative of the Hong Kong committee to take the lead in planning and organising the actions and mobilisations. We will work with them in the coming months to realise this plan and we will meet again in Seoul during the Asia peoples¹ and social movements assembly.

*for more information, please contact Mary Lou Malig at marylou@focusweb.org

Endorsed by:

(as of April 27, 2004)

Alliance for Progressive Labor (APL), Philippines

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)

Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), Hong Kong

Asian Labour Network on IFI¹s

ATTAC, Japan

Center for Labour Information Service and Training (CLIST), Thailand Democratic Socialist Association, Indonesia Fair Trade Alliance, Philippines Focus on the Global South FSPI/ Via Campesina, Indonesia Global Network Globalization Monitor, Hong Kong Globalize from Below, Korea Hasatil, Timor Leste Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) Institut Ungu, Indonesia Institute of Global Justice, Indonesia International Gender Trade Network ­ Asia Kilusang Mangingisda (KM), Philippines Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Korean Peoples Action Against WTO and FTA (KoPA) KPBH ATMA, Indonesia La¹o Hamutuk, Timor Leste Northern Peasants Federation, Thailand Philippine Peasant Institute (PPI) Port Authority Labour Union, Thailand Public Services International (PSI) Rural Reconstruction Alumni and Friends Association (RRAFA), Thailand SAGE, Japan SEARICE, Philippines Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (SEACON) Southeast Asian Fisheries Network for Justice Thai Action on Globalization Thai Local Whiskey Network/ Via Campesina Thailand Voices from the Grassroots Coalition, Japan

The Armed Forces of the Philippines spend millions and millions of pesos for its intelligence gathering, but seeing the AFP propaganda machine at work, one cannot help but wonder: just how intelligent the military’s intelligence units are and how well spent such millions had been!

A stark illustration is what our members in Iloilo had just reported to us: that since 27 April 2004 the 3rd Civil Auxiliary Unit of the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army had been showing a film at the Shoemart shopping complex to convince people to vote for the ANAD in the party-list elections, while denouncing front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines, wherein the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and the Labor Education and Research Network ( LEARN ) were included.

Had the said unit of the Philippine Army really done their job, they would have easily verified the fact that the APL and LEARN had never been, nor will it ever be, a front of the CPP-NPA-NDF, or any political party whatsoever, illegal or otherwise. Since the Army intelligence has failed (or does not want to) do its job, allow us then to enlighten the AFP and the general public as well.

The APL is an independent labor center formed, sustained and run by workers belonging to legitimate trade unions and workers’ organizations since 1996. The APL is duly recognized by, and represented by its leaders in, tripartite bodies such as the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC), TESDA, industry training boards, regional wage boards, local industrial peace councils, and even the National Anti-Poverty Commission sectoral councils. APL affiliates are members, and its leaders are even officers of Global Union Federations.

What we can confirm to be true, is that the APL has been relentlessly fighting for what is best for all workers and for the country. It is also true that it has also been campaigning in the party-list elections for its political party, the AKBAYAN. It should be noted that the CPP-NPA had been attacking AKBAYAN’s for its stand against the CPP-NPA’s undemocratic collection of permit to campaign fees.

We reiterate our denial of, and deplore, the AFP’s unfounded claim, outright lie and fabricated story that it is spreading, against the APL and the LEARN , an NGO to which it is also affiliated. It is not only unconstitutional, but unethical, for an arm of the government entrusted with protecting and defending the democratic rights of citizens, majority of whom are workers and their families, to show and continue showing such untruthful propaganda.

We, therefore, demand that the 3rd CAU of the 3rd IB of the PA be ordered to cease its partisan activities, especially its campaigning for or against any partylist group, and to stop vilifying the APL and LEARN in particular and any other legitimate organization for that matter without any factual basis!

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), is a national center of trade union federations, national unions, and other organizations combining more than 50,000 workers, both in the formal and informal sectors in various industries and regions in the country, formed in 1994 and formally founded in 1996 to protect and advance the interests and welfare, especially of Filipino workers.

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Related letter sent yesterday to Gen. Corpuz

May 5, 2004

BRIG. GEN. VICTOR N. CORPUZ
Commanding General, Civil Relations Service
Armed Forces of the Philippines
Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City

Dear Gen. Victor Corpuz:

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), is a national center of trade union federations, national unions, and other organizations combining more than 50,000 workers, both in the formal and informal sectors in various industries and regions in the country, formed in 1994 and formally founded in 1996 to protect and advance the interests and welfare, especially of Filipino workers.

Our members in Iloilo City had just reported to us that the 3rd Civil Auxiliary Unit of the 3rd IB of the Philippine Army had been showing a film at the Shoemart shopping complex there since 27 April 2004 to convince people to vote for the ANAD in the party-list elections, while denouncing front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines, wherein the APL and LEARN were included.

We would like to inform you, and hereby declare that the APL had never been and will never be a front of the CPP-NPA-NDF, or any political party whatsoever, illegal or otherwise. The APL is an independent labor center formed, sustained and run by workers belonging to legitimate trade unions and workers’ organizations. APL is in fact duly recognized by, and represented by its leaders in tripartite bodies such as the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC), TESDA, industry training boards, regional wage boards, local industrial peace councils, and even the National Anti-Poverty Commission sectoral councils. Its affiliates are members and even officers of Global Union Federations.

What we can confirm to be true, is that the APL has been relentlessly fighting for what is best for all workers and for the country. It is also true that it has also been campaigning in the party-list elections for its political party, the AKBAYAN, against which the CPP-NPA had been attacking for AKBAYAN’s stand against the CPP-NPA’s undemocratic collection of permit to campaign fees.

We deplore the AFP’s unfounded claim, outright lie and fabricated story that is being spread, against the APL and LEARN, an NGO to which it is also affiliated. It is not only unconstitutional, but unethical, for an arm of the government entrusted with protecting and defending the democratic rights of citizens, majority of whom are workers and their families.

We, therefore, ask that the 3rd CAU of the 3rd ID of the PA be ordered to stop such black propaganda, against APL and LEARN in particular, and to cease its partisan activities, especially its campaigning for the ANAD for the partylist elections.

We look forward to your favorable action on these concerns.

Respectfully yours,

DANIEL L. EDRALIN
Chairperson

Clarification on the issue of endorsement
As the expression of unity of the broad labor movement we wish to make clear three points:

First, contrary to news reports that have appeared in print, the Broad Alliance for Wage Increase has not endorsed any candidate for president and vice-president. From the very start we have issued a challenge to the administration and its rivals to respond positively to the demand of the workers for a P65 hike in wages. None have made any categorical commitment of support for the workers struggle for wage recovery and wage increase.

In order to advance the fight for the P65 wage recovery and wage increase, some 500 leaders of BAWI held a rally at Mendiola and we submitted a petition to Malacanang weeks before May 1. We have likewise opened ourselves to discussions with all presidentiables with the aim of seeking broad support for the campaign for wage recovery and wage increase.

Thus representatives of BAWI held a dialogue with the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino on the eve of May 1. We reiterate that what transpired was a dialogue and no endorsement of the opposition slate was ever solicited nor granted. Members of the media in attendance can testify to this fact as representatives of BAWI explicitly stated this clarification.

Second, even as we agree to the proposal of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her Labor Day speech that the regional wage boards be abolished, we however feel that such a move is not enough. What is needed is a complete overhaul of the country’s labor relations to allow workers to fully enjoy their basic right to organize, to strike, and to collectively bargain not only in the enterprise level but also in the industry, territorial and even national levels. This should be the stepping-stone towards the reorganization of the labor movement along the lines of one industry-one union and the establishment of full-blown industry unions of workers that will bargain with industry associations of capitalists.

Third, without any illusions that the coming elections would ever express the true will of the people and lead to much needed fundamental changes in society, we nonetheless join the clamor for clean and honest elections. In a bloody and fraudulent election, it will always be the people who will be the pawns and the victims. We summon the Filipino working class to exercise labor power by expressing the labor vote in this elections.

The Broad Alliance for Wage Increase or BAWI is composed of six national labor centers and its affiliates, joined by 14 federations and independent national unions. BAWI represents more than half of organized labor in the country.

In a press conference with the Broad Alliance for Wage Increase (BAWI), the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) castigated GMA and her rivals for paying lip service to workers’ demand for wage increase.

“To avoid confrontation with the employers, GMA conveniently passed the burden to the impotent Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) while at the same time called for its abolition,” Daniel L. Edralin, APL chairperson said.

“While we welcome GMA’s support for our demand to abolish the Wage Boards, we are aware that it amounts to nothing but lip service,” Edralin said. As early as three years ago, GMA expressed her opinion on this matter but never did anything to have it realized.

The abolition of the RTWPBs is long overdue. After all, it is an institution that has miserably failed to deliver its mandate. Instead of ensuring that “workers enjoy the fruits of their labor,” the RTWPBs have only succeeded in deepening worker’s exploitation as it cemented government’s cheap labor policy.

We are exasperated with politicians! GMA squandered three years of her stint in Malacañang without doing anything substantial to better the lot of the working class. Equally exasperating are her rivals who not only failed to support worker’s demand for wage increase but also failed reveal their plans for full employment.