Gone are the days when militant groups converge on the streets to air their grievances and hold mass demonstrations as the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) compelled Labor Day protesters to go online.
On Friday, May 1, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) held an online rally that was aired over their Facebook page to criticize the Duterte government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the group said that Labor Day protests “[pushed] through despite the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Workers are separated by social distancing, but still stand together in solidarity as they urgently call for mass testing and treatment, and adequate relief and support for workers, quarantined communities, and others affected by the lockdowns,” the group said.
The KMU also hit the government for allegedly focusing on military actions rather than strengthening medical solutions to defeat the new coronavirus.
“As the Duterte administration threatens to deploy the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] against protesting workers, workers reiterate their demand for medical solutions instead of military actions,” it said.
Relatedly, two alleged group leaders of the Buklurang Mangagagawa ng Pilipinas (BMP) were arrested by the authorities for holding a street protest in Rizal province.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) identified the suspects as Rastica Clarito and Reynaldo Dulay, who were caught by the police amid a rally inside the vicinity of Eastwood Subdivision, San Isidro in Rodriguez town around 9:30 a.m.
Another group of BMP rallyists reportedly staged a protest in Tondo, Manila.
“The PNP upholds with highest respect the freedom of expression and right to peaceably assemble. However, personal safety and best interest of public health and welfare must prevail. Respect for human life is supreme,” said Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson.
The police official emphasized that the strict ECQ enforcement “is the State’s fulfillment of its duty to protect the life of its people.”
Duterte has ordered the PNP and the AFP to work together and ensure the strict implementation of the enhanced and general community quarantine (ECQ, GCQ) until May 15 to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Any attempt by groups or organizations to prevent the fulfillment of the State’s duty to fulfill its human rights obligation is deemed a human rights atrocity by these groups and shall be addressed by government with appropriate penalties provided by law,” Banac said.
He cited a provision in Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which states that “the right to hold opinions without interference may be subjected to certain restrictions for the protection of national security or of public health.”
“The said restrictions may be placed on the exercise of the right of peaceful assembly in the interests of national security or of public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others,” Banac said, quoting the ICCPR. (Martin A. Sadongdong)
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