The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) expresses grave alarm over the deaths of 31 workers in one month, which include five (5) in a mining tunnel tragedy in Nueva Vizcaya, two (2) in an explosion at an ammunition manufacturing facility in Marikina, and others caused by trucks falling into ravines and crashing into each other, accidents in construction sites, and violence in the workplace.

We extend our deepest condolences to the families, co-workers and communities grieving the death of the workers. These incidents, far from isolated, reflect long-standing and systemic failures to ensure Filipino workers’ right to a safe workplace, to humane conditions of work, and to just and favourable conditions of work. They are consequences of unsafe workplaces, enabled by poor regulations, weak enforcement and inadequate accountability.

On June 23, in Sitio Capitol, Runruno, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya, five workers—four small-scale miners and one rescuer—died following the increase in toxic gasses and depletion of oxygen inside a 700-meter-deep mining tunnel. The victims were identified as Daniel Segundo (47), Florencio Indopia (63), Lapihon Ayudan (56), and rescuer John Philip Guinihid. Later, Johnny Ayudan (38), a second rescuer and the younger brother of Lapihon, succumbed to injuries on July 4 after collapsing during retrieval operations.

The miners’ deaths further expose how corporate mining disregards the lives of workers on top of destroying the environment and aggravating the current climate emergency. In the country, corporate mining’s violations of workplace safety standards have been longstanding and have gone hand-in-hand with violations of environment protection standards. Mining corporations disregard not only the lives of their workers but the lives of future generations.

Two weeks later, on July 7, an explosion at the Armscor Global Defense Inc. (AGDI) plant in Marikina City killed two workers aged 34 and 44. One sustained chest injuries from shrapnel; the other lost both hands in the explosion before dying from injuries. A third worker suffered an eye injury and has since been discharged from the hospital. AGDI, a supplier of firearms and ammunition to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), stated that the incident was caused by a bullet primer and that it is cooperating with police in the investigation.

If AGDI truly adheres to established safety standards, both procedural and technical, the narrative that the workers may have mishandled the sensitive mixture should no longer be entertained. Instead, the workers’ deaths should raise serious questions how the company ensured workers’ safety and how it provided adequate protections.

These two tragedies underscore critical failures in government regulation and employer accountability. They also highlight the gross undervaluing of workers’ lives and labor, especially in hazardous industries where risks are high but safeguards are minimal.

We call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla to immediately conduct thorough, independent, and transparent investigations into these incidents. We further urge the government to strengthen its enforcement of occupational safety and health standards and hold employers accountable for preventable deaths.

Workers’ lives are not disposable; no one should die just to make a living. These deaths must not be reduced to statistics or brushed off as isolated events—they demand action, justice, and meaningful change.