Respect SC decision? Look who’s talking

The militant regional trade union Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno (Pamantik-KMU) condemns the Arroyo camp’s call for respect for the Supreme Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the watch-list order (WLO) of the Department of Justice, which in effect allowed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her entourage to leave the country.

The Arroyos have no moral ascendancy to make such a call. The Filipino workers and people know such call as a self-serving alibi to escape prosecution from her crimes of plunder and political repression. Of course, the Supreme Court cannot be impartial in its ruling; after all, most of its justices are GMA appointees.

The government, during Arroyo’s presidency, allowed the violation of favorable decisions while turning the table against the interest of the workers and the people.

The Arroyo administration tolerated multinational Nestlé Philippines to shrug off a 1989 Supreme Court decision, affirmed in a 2008 ruling, stating that the retirement benefit is a legitimate collective bargaining issue between the union and management. The Arroyo administration even deputized state forces to harass and disperse the Nestlé workers who went on strike on Jan. 14, 2002 to demand the implementation of the decision.

Also, the Arroyo administration did not implement the high court’s 2007 decision in Nissan Motor Philippines labor case, which mainly favored workers’ demands.

The Court further debased itself with its ruling on the Arroyo case, given its previous anti-worker and anti-people decisions in the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (Fasap), VAT on toll, and the Hacienda Luisita land issue cases.

The Aquino administration, for its part, showed itself wanting when it failed to press charges against GMA in court. It publicly showed its hypocrisy in the sensationalized Ninoy Aquino International Airport incident.

The workers in Southern Tagalog will continuously call for justice and hold Arroyo accountable for her crimes. The workers condemn the Aquino administration for its insincerity to stand for the interests of the Filipino workers and people.

—NOEL ALEMANIA,

chair, Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa

sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno

(Pamantik-KMU)