[Muanet] URGENT: Labor party leader killed in the Philippines

[Chris Latham]

Dear Members
 
Below is an article about the assassination, on Tuesday, of labour activists in the Philippines. The past few months in the Philippines has seen an escalation of the already high level of employer and state repression targeting the labour and other popular movements. Last week in Perth there was a prayer vigil against the violence held internationally. I’ll keep members up to date with future events around the Philippines.

 

Chris

 
Subject: Labor party leader killed in Philippines
From: "Juan Manggagawa" <labor.party.philippines at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:43:18 +0800

To: labor.party.philippines at gmail.com

November 21, 2006
Rep. Renato Magtubo
Chairperson, Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party)
Member, House of Representatives (Member of Parliament)

A cowardly act by enemies of labor

Four unidentified gunmen shot and killed last Tuesday morning a leader
of the Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party), Andrew Iñoza, also union
president at the Alaska Milk Factory, in San Pedro, Laguna, (a province
just south of the capital Metro Manila).

The ambush slaying of Inosa is a dastardly and cowardly act by
personalities or groups whose principles and interests are anti-worker.
We can think of no motive behind his killing than to silence a defender
of labor and terrorize the workers.

As a local union president and Labor Party leader, Inosa was in the
forefront of struggles, campaigns and initiatives for the welfare and
interests not just of workers of the Alaska but also of labor in general.

While it would be unwise to rule out other angles, we believe his
assassination cannot be unconnected with the escalating wave of
political killings all over the country and the heavy hand of state
repression against the labor movement.

The iron fist of repression is bearing down heavy on the working class
movement. In September military men held an anti-communist teach-in for
the union leaders of Manila Bay Spinning Mills in Marikina (part of
Metro Manila). Before that, they held the same seminar for the union of
Armscor also in Marikina. The vicious agenda of this harassment is
clear—to strike fear in the hearts of workers and terrorize them against
political involvement. With a terrorized and docile labor, it will be
easier to cheapen the price of labor power.

We hold the administration of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ultimately
accountable for Inosa's death for even granting that it is not the
mastermind behind the death squads running amok, its inaction on the
political killings is goading the enemies of labor to act with impunity.
###

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=34028
<http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=34028>



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.murdoch.edu.au/pipermail/muanet/attachments/20061123/0787224a/attachment.html