WASTE BIN. Mass leaders of Kilusang Mayo Uno throw the effigy of US President George Bush and President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo into the trash bin, saying that Arroyo’s adherence to US interests and globalisation only results to the hard life and exploited conditions of Filipino workers. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
“They were asking if Trillanes’ support groups were with us,” Blas said.
Blas also said that the police were also wary of members of the New People’s Army joining the workers’ group. “That is something that we will not allow,” he said.
In Tagum, those who inspected them wore military fatigues but introduced themselves as members of the PNP. The inspectors didn’t even wear nameplates.
“When we asked them their names, they got angry. They told us that it was none of our business,” Blas said.
A heated argument between the inspecting officers and the mass leaders usually took place during these inspections, where workers were asked for travel permits, rally permits, among others.
“We always hear the police or the military saying they intended to delay our trip. Even if the inspection was over, they still held us up, saying they were still awaiting orders from a higher unit,” Blas said.
Sometimes only a few policemen man the checkpoint.
“If you have twenty buses that carry more than 1,000 people, the inspection would last two to three hours,” he said.
In 2004, a military pointed a gun at them after an argument. There was only one soldier conducting the inspection while several soldiers were just hanging around. The inspection was very slow and the workers were already very hungry.
In 2005, the workers almost didn’t make it to the activity after they were stopped by a checkpoint in Lasang. They found themselves facing an amphibian patrol. It was already three in the afternoon when the workers arrived at the activity.
Blas said that oftentimes, their Davao-based mass leaders would seek intervention from the city mayor’s office just to let them pass.
“We still join the May 1 rallies no matter what happens because we want to tell the government, especially President Arroyo, that we need just wages to help our families survive,” Blas said. (Grace S. Uddin/davaotoday.com)
