Iloilo groups rally for wage hike, justice

By Juliane Judilla

Hundreds of workers and members of various sectoral groups gathered Friday, May 1, at the Infante Flyover in front of the University of the Philippines Visayas in Iloilo City to mark the 124th International Labor Day.

Led by the United Labor Alliance and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Panay, the program honored workers and other sectors that sustain society.

Demonstrators said their calls and demands should be heard and their rights upheld by the government.

For Elmer Forro of BAYAN Panay, Labor Day is not just a celebration but also a reminder of the long history of workers’ struggles.

He traced the origins of the observance to the Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1886, when thousands of workers took to the streets to demand an eight-hour workday.

May 1 was later recognized internationally as a day to honor workers’ rights and labor movements.

“Gani subong nga adlaw sang mga mamumugon, liwat kita ginahangkat sang kasaysayan nga magtingob kag magbato,” Forro said.

“Thus, on this day of workers, history once again challenges us to unite and fight,” he added.

Among the groups’ main demands was a wage increase and the implementation of a national family living wage of PHP 1,200.

The groups said the demand has become more urgent amid rising fuel prices and the increasing cost of basic goods.

They attributed the fuel crisis to the United States’ conflict with Iran and the control of large oil cartels over crude prices.

The protesters also called for justice for 19 individuals killed during a military operation on April 19 in Toboso, Negros Occidental.

The fatalities included a student leader, two farmers’ sector organizers, two Filipino American activists, and a community journalist, according to the groups.

In a symbolic protest action, demonstrators threw crumpled red crepe paper, which they said represented blood shed by victims of state-sponsored killings and attacks, at images of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President Sara Duterte, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and the logos of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

The protesters described them as “terrorists, murderers, and plunderers.”

The groups later marched to the Iloilo Provincial Capitol for the closing program.

Similar Labor Day activities were also held in Roxas City, Capiz, and Aklan province, led by progressive groups.