Protests
Paperland workers protest CBA nego delay. Workers of Quezon City company Paperland Inc staged a picket in front of their factory on May 16-17 to express dismay over the continued delay of their negotiation for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the management. The negotiations were supposedly held in December 2022 to discuss wage increase, union rights, health and safety, and others.
Increase wages in Southern Tagalog now. Various labor organizations held another picket in front of Calabarzon’s regional wage board office in Laguna on May 10 to demand a ₱750 minimum wage in the region. This was response to the still unaddressed petition submitted on March 27 by the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) and the Workers Initiative for Wage Increase Alliance Southern Tagalog (WIN4WIN) for wage increase.
Students condemn “ROTC Games”. Students held a barricade inside the University of the Philippines-Cebu on May 5 to block the planned orientation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the cadets of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). The orientation is related to the planned ROTC games in the entire Visayas. As a result of the barricade, the Commission on Higher Education and the AFP were forced to transfer the activity to Cebu Technological University in Cebu City.
Drivers’ protest in Iloilo and Bacolod. More than 100 drivers from Iloilo City and Bacolod City staged a picket in front of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Region VI in Iloilo City to halt the cancellation of jeepney drivers’ individual franchise. The LTFRB Region VI’s policies push for the consolidation of franchise and prohibition of operation of jeepneys by individuals. Drivers also held a picket at the Bacolod Government Center on May 8 to demand an answer from the city’s mayor on the same concern.
Junk G7. Activists from the ILPS-Philippines, Bayan and other progressive organizations staged a picket in Quezon City to call for the junking of the G7 on May 20. The protest was part of the International Day of Action Against the G7 which was held in time for the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan.