Stop ‘rape’ of workers’, people’s rights

The regional militant labor center in Southern Tagalog,  Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno, vehemently denounces the rape of a factory worker by a senior police officer in Canlubang, Calamba, Laguna last Jan. 25 (“Cop held for rape of factory worker,” Regions, 1/26/17).

According to the news report, a police inspector, a certain Aaron Cabillan from the Regional Public Safety Batallion and its regional intelligence division, was caught taking advantage of a female factory worker going home from work in Calamba City, Laguna, near the Calabarzon police headquarters.

While the behavior was certainly expected from officers of a corrupt institution, we demand that Cabillan be prosecuted and permanently removed from public office.

This incident yet again shows how the people’s right to public safety is being routinely disregarded and how public trust is as customarily betrayed. Yet, it is of no surprise that yet again, police authority has been used as an instrument of violence and terror against the people.

We recall the numerous harsh dispersals of workers,  protest after protest, in serial police attacks on workers’ and the people’s rights. Police truncheons, shields and brawn have hurt us in protest actions and picket lines, and their activities have whipped up a wave of fear and terror.

Adding to that are the numerous killings and rubouts done purportedly under the cover of the war on drugs, under the police’s antipoor Oplan Tokhang and the military’s antipeople Oplan Bayanihan which have played a critical role in wreaking havoc on communities.

There is no surprise to the fact that since the establishment of its precursor, the Philippine Constabulary, in 1901, and further back to the days of Guardia Civil, Filipinos have been pitted against each other by foreign imperialists. There is no question as to why these incidents happen, but only from a deeper historical context.

It is in this light that we see the rape in Calamba as just another indication that the “rape” of workers’ and people’s rights in the country continues. This must be stopped.

ALLAN BAGAS, secretary-general, Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno (Pamantik-KMU)