Labor groups Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and Partido ng
Manggagawa (PM) with Free Burma Coalition-Philippines (FBC-Phils) held a
rally today infront of the Burma Embassy* in Makati City and further
denounced the recent crackdown against peaceful demonstrators in
military-ruled Burma. Protest against the crackdown in Burma also
happened in Cebu City led by APL workers.

To signify disgust against the crackdown and at the same time pay
respect to the Monks’ struggle, five protesters shaved their heads
infront of the embassy.

Protesters also unveiled enlarged photo of Gen. Tan Shwe, the Burmese
dictator who, according to the group, ordered the crackdown in Burma.

The protests inside Burma continued today but yesterday’s rally of about
300,000 people were marred by violent dispersals.

Labor groups said that military junta did not exercise restraint and has
crossed the line by beating and arresting the peacefully marching
Buddhist monks and other people. Last night, the junta jailed a popular
artist and imposed an evening curfew. Together with this is a ban on any public gathering of more than 5 people.

APL Secretary General Joshua Mata said, “ Filipino labor groups would
like to register our anger and disappointment against the ruling regime in Burma. There is no way the junta can justify their brutal actions.
The use of brute force to quell the peaceful protest in Burma is
uncalled for. Now the UN and the ASEAN must take decisive actions
against the regime before it’s too late.”

Mata added,

“The crackdown in Burma is a big slap to the international
community that has been struggling long and hard with the democratic movement for Burma just to help in bringing back democracy and justice in Burma. In broad day-light, the junta massacred its own people. It’s hard to imagine how torture and other human rights violations happen at
night.”

Saying that ASEAN must roll up its sleeves for a serious work in Burma,
Mata continued, “N/ow is the proper time for the ASEAN to prove that its
vision of building a caring and sharing community is beyond usual
rhetoric.”

Meanwhile, Campaign coordinator of Partido ng Manggagawa Yuen Abana
explained, “It seems that diplomacy now failed in Burma. The generals
are not listening. The junta cares only for its continuous survival in
power.”

Abana said, “The crackdown in Burma is another monumental blunder for
the junta. If the junta is sincerely desirous of arriving at a national
reconciliation for the sake of Burma, it must seek a workable formula.
But what we see now is a government that is unwilling to cooperate and
unable to initiate tangible democratic changes.”

The Alliance of Progressive Labor today slammed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta ruling Burma, as the dictatorship started cracking down on protesters led by monks. Hundreds are reportedly arrested, many were hurt and at least 4 have been killed as the peaceful protests have been violently dispersed by the junta.

“The military junta is panicking,” said APL Secretary General Josua Mata. “The junta knows that their days are numbered. But the more desperate they become, the more dangerous the situation is for the Burmese protesters.”

“This underlines even more the need for the international community to step in and take more decisive actions to pressure the illegitimate military government into back off and step down.”

“Far too long, the global community has tolerated the abomination that is Burma’s military rule,” added Mata.

“This is the time for the international community to press the military junta to desist from cracking down on the protesters and instead take immediate steps to democractize Burma.” “The protests over the rising prices of commodities and the doubling of diesel and petroleum products stems from the lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the military government”,

explained Mata, “and the violent reaction from the state is a testament to its obvious lack of support from the Burmese people.”

“A political settlement in the Burma predicament should end in civilian rule for Burma,” Mata said. “The SPDC should step down now,” said Mata.

“Letting the SPDC get away with its crimes against the Burmese people emboldens dictators elsewhere to ride roughshod over their own citizens,” said Mata.  “As workers we stand in solidarity with the toiling masses of Burma who continue to suffer under the violations of their rights under an illegitimate government.”

“We challenge the Philippine government to step up its pressure on SPDC by calling for ASEAN sanctions against Burma” said Mata.

Defend the people of Burma, UN, ASEAN urged
OUR CHALLENGE TO THE JUNTA: DIALOGUE OR REGIME CHANGE!

Thousands of Buddhist monks, artists, and people in all walks of life are flooding the streets of Burma today. There is a nationwide general strike called by the All Burma Monk Alliance as they
peacefully trooped to about twenty-six (26) cities and towns across
the country. Knowing the way Burmese junta handles situation like
this—there is a massacre waiting to happen.

More than 200 people have already been arrested and detained, with
fear of being tortured and people from the media covering the events
are facing left and right harassments including confiscation of
cameras from the authorities.

This wave of protests inside Burma started August 23 in a quiet
march of about 40 demonstrators led by members of the opposition
National League for Democracy. This is to denounce the draconian
fuel price hike that is 500% arbitrary increase in diesel and
gasoline prices.

The spark of protests inside Burma turned big which is now similar
to a people power revolt. This reminds the international community
of the 1988 national uprising in Burma and the bloody memory of
violence where the junta killed the people’s aspirations for genuine
democracy and social justice.

Again, the people of Burma are now in the period of a very crucial
struggle. Very crucial because this recent struggle will change
their lives. They are fighting more than the oil price increase—they
are fighting for their lives and their basic right to live in a
democratic and peaceful society.

We, members of Free Burma Coalition-Philippines (FBC-Philippines)
and Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) are one with the
people of Burma in their quest for justice, peace and democracy. We
urge the international community to be vigilant in these trying
times in Burma.

We also like to echo support to the following demands of the people
who are currently protesting even under heavy rains inside Burma:
1) For the government of Burma to address the basic needs of the
people; 2.) Release of all political prisoners including Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and *3.) *For the genuine national reconciliation to
take place in Burma.

For the UN and the ASEAN, we believe that the time is ripe to
directly engage the Burmese military regime and convince the ruling
junta to initiate substantial and genuine reforms starting from
genuine tri-partite dialogue where all parties will be included.
This is the best time that ASEAN can prove that it is sincere in
building a truly caring and sharing ASEAN community. The UN on the
other hand, especially Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, should
personally work on bringing back the issue of Burma in the formal
agenda of the UN Security Council.

The junta already announced that it will take action against the
protesters. It is also alarming that people from the media are being
prevented from covering the recent events. World leaders should now
take immediate action to warn the Burmese regime from carrying out
this plan of violent crackdowns on the peaceful protesters.

The people of Burma are tired not just of their daily economic
struggles but more so, of the way the ruling military regime govern
their country. There is no rule of law in Burma. What prevails
instead is the law of the rulers who are unelected and unwanted by
the people.

We challenge the regime to sit down in a dialogue and listen to the
legitimate demands of the people of Burma. We strongly urge the
military regime not to employ brute force in dealing with protesters.

The international community can no longer afford to see another
massacre in Burma. The international community are watching and all
democracy-loving states and peace advocates are closely monitoring
the next move of the military regime. We urge the SPDC to choose
dialogue as a resolution to resolve the crisis in Burma. Failure to
do this will leave people of Burma and their supporters around the
world no other option but to call for a REGIME CHANGE.

Debt and trade activists staged a picket at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Manila office Wednesday and stressed that the “Aid for Trade” being pushed by World Trade Organization (WTO), international financial institutions (IFIs)  especially ADB, and the powerful G-8 nations is “nothing but a bribe” or a “dangling rotten carrot” in front of developing countries.

The protest coincided with the two-day regional review meeting sponsored by the WTO, ADB and the Philippine government, in Manila. Dubbed “Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focus Asia and the Pacific,” the meeting aims to discuss “how to empower less developed economies and small states to benefit from global trade.”

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda and WTO Director General Pascal Lamy kicked-off the conference on September 19.

Carrying placards that say “No to Aid for Unfair Trade,” various progressive organizations exposed that it is through the nexus of debt domination and exploitative trade that IFIs, rich governments and global corporations continue to condemn the poor countries to poverty and deprivation.

“ADB and WTO are acting like philanthropic institutions when they talk of ‘Aid for Trade.’ But this initiative is more about aiding unjust trade rather than helping poor countries build their capacity to develop. It’s a win-win solution for WTO chief Lamy and ADB President Kuroda. They get to promote their ambitious trade liberalization agenda and project themselves as pro-poor philanthropists!” stressed Joseph Purugganan of Stop the New Round! (SNR) Coalition.

“With the world already burdened by odious and illegitimate debt mechanisms, bribes are being used to break the deadlock of the stalled WTO negotiations in Hong Kong – called ‘Aid for Trade’ – with the United States, European Union, and Japan offering such a carrot. By dangling this rotten carrot in front of developing countries, the rich and powerful nations hope to slam open the closing doors to profits from their goods and services from the poor people of the world,” said Jubilee South – Asia-Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD).

Meanwhile, Josua Mata of the Alliance for Progressive Labor echoed that

the ‘Aid for Trade’ is nothing but a grand plan to bribe the Global South to accept the lopsided Doha development round.

We don’t need more ‘aid’ or loans, we need fairer trade. Instead of aid, we need the flexibility of using trade for development, not the one-size-fits-all formula peddled by WTO

, he said.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition stressed that the people are not deceived by this ‘Aid for Trade’ initiative.  “The reality is majority of the aid comes not in the form of grants, but loans—loans that would only put the people of the South deeper in debt and abject poverty,” said Francis Isaac of FDC, also a member of NGO Forum on the ADB.

“The loans sharks, masquerading as donor agencies, use aid and loans or debts as leverage to further the privatization,” said Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino.

ODA Watch explained that ‘Aid for Trade’ is a ‘tied aid.’ The privatization-enabling conditionalities are attached to aid-supported projects such as the construction of big dams and hydropower facilities which have displaced entire communities, dislocated livelihoods, devastated indigenous peoples and cultures, and irreversibly destroyed the environment.

Rice Watch and Action Network (R1), in a statement, recalled the ADB’s Grain Sector Development Program (GSDP) loan to the Philippine government in 2000, adding that it was tied on the condition that the government will privatize the National Food Authority (NFA) and will remove its intervention in palay trading and marketing and lift the Quantitative Restriction on rice importation.

Aid for trade intends to encourage the beneficiary countries to make trade a greater priority and to encourage aid donors to scale up trade related official development assistance.

“The government may have terminated the second and third tranches of the GDSP loan due to the farmers’ unrelenting protest. However, the loan payment is already included in the country’s debt servicing budget,” said Jessica Reyes-Cantos of R1.

Organizations that joined the protest include Stop the New Round! (SNR) Coalition – Philippines, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Rice Watch and Action Network (R-1),  Jubilee South – Asia-Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD),  Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP),  Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Kilusang Mangingisda (KM), NGO Forum on the ADB, and Trade and Advocacy Group (TAG).

Once again, hundreds of workers belonging to the rank and file, supervisory and security guards’ unions in the PNCC Skyway today picketed their company’s head office to continue their protests against the planned layoffs connected to the transfer of Skyway operations to Indonesian-owned Citra and to denounce the secret negotiations between PNCC and CITRA to amend the Supplemental Toll Operations Agreement (STOA) that governs the administration of Skyway. The 3 unions in Skyway have joined forces to fight their management.

“The secret negotiation between PNCC, CITRA and Skyway is inimical to the interests of the riding public and of the workers of Skyway,” said Jose Apollo Ado, president of PSC Employees Union (PSCEU). “This deal underlines the fact that it is the public which will bear the price for this transfer,” he added.

“A new STOA will not only lead to unnecessary retrenchments but would also allow CITRA to increase toll rates without the benefit of a public hearing,” Ado said.

“The amendment of the STOA should have undergone public consultations,” Arnel Gomez, president of the PSC Supervisors’ Union (PSCSU), explained. “But instead they are working quietly to crush dissent, as represented by the workers’ unions, and eventually impose private interests over unsuspecting motorists.”

“The PNCC, CITRA and Skyway Corp are riding roughshod over workers interests now with their refusal to answer for what happens to our ranks,” Rene Soriano, president of the Traffic Management and Security Department Workers’ Organization (PSTMSDWO).  “So imagine how arbitrary and arrogant the Skyway management will be if we let this pass.”

“This union-busting scheme, to retrench Skyway workers and hire new, most likely contractual workers under CITRA is one reason why privatization schemes have worked to the disadvantage of workers,” Ado argued.  “The overriding concern is appeasement of investors and not the welfare of workers,” he added.

“We will continue this fight and bring all means available forward to challenge the Skyway Corp and Citra’s abuse of labor rights,” said Ado.  Should it be necessary, all three unions, PSCEU, PSCSU and PSTMSDWO, have agreed to launch simultaneous strike actions.