Free our Unionists!
There are currently 25 activists of the country’s labor movement – unionists, labor leaders, labor organizers – who are in prison.
Almost all of them share the same story: certain alleged witnesses file trumped-up charges against them. On that basis, courts release warrants for their arrest or for a search of their residences. Upon serving those warrants, the police and the military claim that they found guns, ammunitions and explosives in their possession. The activists are then imprisoned for illegal possession of said weapons, as well as the original trumped-up charges filed against them.
Many of the trumped-up charges against activists are related to military offensives carried out by the armed rebel group New People’s Army (NPA). The alleged witnesses are usually forced by, or in cahoots with, the police and the military. They claim that they saw labor activists carry out the military attacks. In the government’s efforts to defeat the NPA, it has been repressing labor and other organizations which it accuses of being supporters of the rebel group. It is filing cases against individuals who are not at all related to the crime that it wants them to be imprisoned for.
Most of the political prisoners from the labor movement were imprisoned under the highly-repressive presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. The current government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, however, has not taken any decisive action to effect their immediate release from prison and to stop the arrest and imprisonment of labor activists based on trumped-up charges.
Date of Arrest | Name | Organization |
February 22, 2018 | Marklen Maojo Maga | Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) |
June 2, 2018 | Alexander “Bob” Reyes | Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) |
August 11, 2018 | Rowena & Oliver Rosales | Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) |
October 15, 2018 | Adelberto Silva Ireneo Atadero Julio Lusania | Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) |
March 20, 2019 | Renante Gamara | Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) |
April 9, 2019 | John Griefen Arlegui, Reynaldo Remias Jr. | Sining Kadamay |
September 17, 2019 | Antonietta Dizon | Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) |
September 18, 2019 | Bienvenido Ducay | National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) |
June 9, 2020 | Gaspar Davao | National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) |
December 10, 2020 | Romina Astudillo Mary Ryan Cruz Jayme Gregorio | KMU-NCR |
December 10, 2020 | Joel Demate | Solidarity of Labor for Rights and Welfare (SOLAR) |
March 4, 2021 | Arnedo Lagunias | Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN, Alliance of Enclave Workers) |
March 7, 2021 | Esteban Mendoza | Organized Labor Association in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA-KMU) |
June 2, 2021 | Ma. Teresa Dioquino Marlon Angelo Torres Benny Hilamon Nolan Ramos | KMU, PAMANTIK-KMU |
October 7, 2024 | Jose Puansing | Paghili-usa sang mga Obrero sa Brgy. Jonobjonob (United Workers of Jonobjonob Village) |
October 29, 2024 | Marites David | OLALIA-KMU |
October 29, 2024 | Gavino Panganiban | PAMANTIK-KMU |