Labor groups to hold rally today

CEBU, Philippines — Several labor groups in Cebu will hold a rally today as the country celebrates its 117th Labor Day.

The rally dubbed "People's Unity for Workers Agenda" will be joined by members of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Partido Manggagawa (PM), Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, SENTRO and several others.

They will converge on Colon Street, Cebu City at 8:30 a.m.

Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson, said they will challenge all the candidates to make a stand on the demands of workers for regular jobs and living wages.

TUCP President Raymond Mendoza, for his part, said the gathering will also honor the workers for their dedication and sacrifice.

"TUCP, the labor federation, will honor and offer thanksgiving for workers who make ultimate sacrifices every day to work to raise their families, help the company grow and help improve the country's economy," he said.

Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 director, said police will exercise maximum tolerance to avoid physical confrontation with the rallyists.

“The guidance is maximum tolerance at most. Ang limit lang ana kay ayaw mo pangguba og mga gamit, ayaw mo pangharang ug no destructions. Pasagdan lang mo diha to express your whatever,” he said.

The Department of Labor and Employment-7 Regional Director Salome Siaton, in a statement, said all Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils and Industry Tripartite Councils have been tapped to ensure the success of today’s celebration.

This year’s theme is “Pagpupugay sa Manggagawang Pilipino.”

“The celebration on May 1 will be a private-led activity. And we are very much happy for the positive response and engagement of ITC-Construction as host. Our thanks also go out to the rest of the ITCs and TIPCs and other social partners for heeding our call every time we needed their presence in the scheduled meetings,” said Siaton.

A caravan and solidary run at 5 a.m. will kick off the celebration, followed by Zumba sa Mayo at 6 a.m. at SM City Cebu and Arroz Caldo Para sa Mga Manggagawa.

Aside from these activities, DOLE will also hold three simultaneous job fairs. These are local job fair at Cebu Provincial Capitol; local and overseas job fair at Mandaue City Sports Complex; and local and overseas job fair at the Main Atrium, Robinson’s Place in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

Crowd Dispersal

Meanwhile, the PRO-7 conducted yesterday a Civil Disturbance Management competition, which aims to enhance the capability of police in handling crowd dispersal in worst case scenarios.

Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) ranked first, followed by the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO).

“It shows that our CDM teams are prepared. And we are happy that most of them have proper equipment,” Sinas said.

Sinas urged rallyists to observe proper conduct of rally.

“We won’t mind what rallyists will do provided that they will not be chaotic, not violent and will not destruct the normal traffic flow. Ayaw lang gyud mo pag-agitate og panggubot, disorderly, and chaos because that is a different story,” he said. — KBQ (FREEMAN)