DAVAO CITY,Philippines – 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.
Paul John Dizon, chairman of Namasufa-Naflu-Kmu, told Davao Today in an interview that the military mounted 11 checkpoints from Compostela town to Davao City in Barangay Lasang.
But he decried the attempt of TF Davao to prohibit the entry of six buses in the city even if they have presented complete documents for their official business in Davao.
Around 4:00 pm, members of Task Force Davao did not allow the group to enter the city prompting them to barricade the Davao-Tagum national highway.
Dizon viewed TF Davao’s act as pure harassment despite their compliance to the usual routinary inspection conducted by the government troops.
“They just said its an order from their higher ups. No clear reason why they need to prevent us from entering the city” Dizon told Davao Today.
Onboard in six buses were Namasufa union workers who are scheduled to attend a conference dialogue on Monday afternoon at Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) XI after they launched a strike last October 1 as a result of Sumifru’s refusal to enter in a new collective bargaining agreement with the workers’ union.(davaotoday.com)
