In President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown and in time with the celebration of International Women’s Day on Friday, women rights advocates unite for a call to end the ‘macho fascist government’ of Duterte.

Banana workers under the labor group called Namasufa will have to wait for next year to settle its labor dispute after the Sumifru management failed to show up in a meeting called by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Manila scheduled on Thursday.

Progressive groups here staged a mocked bloody commemoration of the International Human Rights Day to signify the huge number of human rights violation in the Davao region.

The labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) condemned the latest incident of attempted murder against NAMASUFA workers of Sumifru in Compostela Valley, as unidentified individuals opened fire at the union president’s house on November 30 and tried to burn it.

The recent killing of a banana plantation worker in Compostela Valley province carried out by an unknown assailant could be viewed as a direct assault to workers’ trade union rights, a human rights group said.

Progressive partylist groups under the Makabayan bloc advised Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio legitimate issues being raised by various sectors instead of resorting to red-tagging.

Close to 600 banana plantation workers and peasants from Compostela Valley province were flagged down by Task Force Davao here Monday afternoon in an attempt to bar the entry of workers in the city.

Plantation workers of a Japanese-owned fruit company Sumitomo Fruit Corp. (Sumifru) are now on strike since Monday, October 1, paralyzing seven out of 11 packing plants of the company’s district 6 in Compostela Valley province.

A progressive labor group here blamed President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncement tagging their group as a communist front for the intensified attacks against workers and their unions in Compostella Valley province.

A union leader in Compostela Valley who survived an attempted slay try by men wearing ski masks and riding in tandem last September 4 lambasted the attack as part of the harassment against union members, who are being tagged as members of the communist group, because they have been fighting for workers’ rights.