Call to reinstate 800 San Miguel Corp workers. Workers of San Miguel Integrated Logistics Services Inc. of San Miguel Corporation staged a protest on July 4 to demand the immediate reinstatement of about 800 employees who were arbitrarily removed from work. Management placed the workers on “floating status” with no pay or benefits after the company supposedly lost the bidding for its warehouse, transport, and bundling operations.

PLDT supervisors secure CBA. The Gabay ng Unyon sa Telekomunikasyon ng mga Superbisor (Beacon of the Telecommunications Supervisors’ Union) successfully closed its negotiations with PLDT Inc. management for a new collective bargaining agreement after a series of protest actions across the country. The union won a significant wage increase and additional benefits despite management’s “brazen deliberate delay” in the negotiations.

Fight for housing at UP Diliman. Residents, peasants, and other sectors under the leadership of SAMANA Diliman barricaded the area on July 8 to block the entry of university personnel threatening demolition. They demanded scrapping the UP Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Park and the housing business project. Meanwhile, the group’s dialogue with UP officials on July 14 went nowhere. The university and the state are complicit with Megawide Corporation in the anti-poor project.

Justice for Talaingod 13. Progressive groups, teachers, and human rights defenders went to the Department of Justice on July 15 to call for the reversal of the unjust ruling against the “Talaingod 13.” At the same time, the day was declared a “Global Day of Action to Defend Talaingod 13,” with the participation of various organizations in the country and abroad.

Scrap the exploration permit of NLMRC. More than 80 indigenous people from Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, led by Inter-tribal Response towards Ecological Development, protested at the offices of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City on July 14. They called for the scrapping of the exploration permit of North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation.

Anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Father Romano and Ybañez. Various progressive groups gathered on July 11 on Katipunan Street in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City, to mark the 41st anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Fr. Rudy Romano and Levi Ybañez. Father Romano was a Redemptorist priest and a well-known leader of the urban poor, while Ybañez was a peasant and student activist.

Alliance against attacks on youth activists in Mindanao. Youth groups, student organizations, and human rights defenders formed the Hands Off Mindanao Youth Activists Network alliance in Davao City on July 9 to fight intensifying political persecution, Red-tagging, and harassment against the sector. The alliance was formed after the Cateel Municipal Police Station posted a “wanted poster” of youth leaders on Facebook in May.

Marikina group against militarization. The Marikeños for Peace and Good Governance alliance was formed on July 15 in opposition to the ongoing militarization in Marikina City, especially in urban poor communities. The 12th Civil Military Operations Battalion is currently operating and carrying out repeated “community outreach” in Agora Compound, alongside Red-tagging, surveillance, and coercion on residents to set up a new organization.