Defend Workers Southern Tagalog (ST) denounced the violent dispersal and water cannon attack on protesting workers of PackageWorld Inc, owned by comprador bourgeois Lucio Tan, at the Laguna Technopark Special Economic Zone (LTSEZ) in Cabuyao, Laguna on March 23. PackageWorld Inc Workers Union-Independent (PWIWU-IND) led the workers’ action against the company’s deadlock and wage suppression in the negotiations for their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) .

PackageWorld Inc produces packaging materials for beverages and other products. It is part of Asia Brewery Incorporated. The company and Tan colluded with LTSEZ guards and personnel in dispersing the workers’ protest. The water cannon injured two workers in the eyes.

Workers have launched a series of protests since February to assert their right to wage increases and other CBA benefits. The union is pushing for a ₱50 yearly wage hike for the next three years, but the company is offering only a paltry ₱23.

On March 26, representatives of PackageWorld Inc and PWIWU-IND met under the mediation of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board in Calamba City. Workers and the union have held daily pickets since the dispersal.

Violence by Lucio Tan and the economic zones

According to Defend Workers-ST, the attack on the union adds to Tan’s long record of cruelty toward workers. A Tanduay strike was also violently dispersed in 2015, injuring 50 workers and strike supporters.

“This exposes where Lucio Tan (the third richest Filipino as of 2026) derives his wealth: from wage suppression and repression of workers,” the group said.

The Alliance of Workers in the Province of Laguna–Kilusang Mayo Uno (Almapila-KMU) and the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) also condemned the dispersal of the PackageWorld Inc union protest. The CTUHR specifically denounced special economic zones like LTSEZ for their longstanding impunity when companies there violate workers’ and human rights.

Economic zones are enclaves of cheap and docile Filipino labor. Wages and benefits in these zones are kept low, unionizing and strikes are heavily restricted, and repression of labor rights is rampant. To attract foreign companies to operate within these zones, the government grants them numerous incentives, including exemption from taxes.