May 25, 2018
Today’s action was part of a global trade union response to President Duterte’s use of state terror, ending the rule of law, his crushing of judicial independence, his crude misogyny, and use of Martial Law against the democratic rights of workers, small farmers, and indigenous peoples, especially the Moro people in Mindanao.
In November 2017, President Duterte brazenly bragged on television that he was a fascist.
Twenty-eight workers leaders have been among the 140 civilians assassinated during Duterte’s first 21 months in office. Over 13,000 people are estimated to have been murdered by police in the ‘war on drugs’ without end, instead of being arrested and put on trial.
The case of Australian religious leader, Sister Patricia Fox, was highlighted because President Duterte had personally ordered her expulsion, to stop international visitors reporting on the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Philippines.
Similar protest actions have taken place in the Philippines, Argentina, South Korea, Brazil, and South Africa, coordinated by the Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR). Speakers emphasised the resistance by unions in the Philippines and committed to further international solidarity action.
Glenn Thompson, SIGTUR Co-Convenor, presented a protest letter addressed to President Duterte to an official from the Consulate. It listed the worst aspects of the President’s record, and called on him to change direction by fulfilling his promises to workers to lift the National Minimum Wage and to end rampant casualisation of the workforce, and to re-start substantive peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on basic economic, social and political reforms.
Other speakers were Rita Mallia, President NSW Construction Division CFMMEU; Mich-Elle Myers, National Campaign Coordinator, Maritime Division, CFMMEU, Kate Lee, Executive Officer, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA, and Edwin Subijano, Spokesperson for Migrante – Australia, and Co-convenor of the Movement Against Tyranny -Australia. ---
