Workers’ group joins Edsa protest vs corruption, misuse of taxes

Labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) joined an anti-corruption mass and protest action at the Edsa Shrine on Sept. 11, 2025, calling for accountability in the use of public funds.

The group’s rallying cry, “Buwis namin, Huwag Nakawin!” underscores workers’ frustration over taxes being misused instead of funding quality public services.

PM said much of government revenue comes from workers’ income taxes and consumer-paid value-added tax (VAT), yet corruption diverts these funds to politicians, contractors, and syndicates in the bureaucracy.

“Buwis namin, Huwag Nakawin!” PM emphasized in its statement.

The group warned that corruption not only enriches the few but also costs lives and livelihoods through ghost projects, substandard infrastructure, and collapsed public works.

PM linked today’s corruption to historical abuses, citing the Marcos dictatorship’s billions in ill-gotten wealth as “an era whose shadow still haunts us today, on his birthday.”

It argued that unchecked fraud sustains political dynasties, entrenches elites in Congress and local governments, and perpetuates inequality.

“The working people deserve justice,” PM said, stressing the need for a “total cleansing of corruption in public service and infrastructure projects, as well as in politics.”

The group demanded reforms to dismantle dynasties, break patronage politics, and strengthen accountability mechanisms.

PM added that active resistance from workers, youth, and the wider public is needed, warning that silence would only allow continued plunder.

“The wealth of the nation comes from the sweat of workers,” the group declared.

“We will not allow our labor, our taxes, and our lives to be sacrificed on the altar of corruption,” it added.