Mary Jane Veloso’s plight among issues tackled by Labor Day protesters
Among the issues being raised in this year's Labor Day is the plight of Mary Jane Veloso, who was granted temporary reprieve from execution, a TV report said Friday.
In a live report on Unang Balita, GMA News' Oscar Oida said the militant groups are protesting in line with the situation faced by overseas Filipino workers like Veloso, who was spared from execution by the Indonesian government early Wednesday.
Veloso was arrested in 2010, after authorities found 2.6 kilograms of heroin sewn into her suitcase at the Yogyakarta Airport. She has maintained that she did not know there were drugs in her luggage.
In a separate report on Saksi, Sanlakas secretary-general Aaron Pedrosa said, "Itong pinakahuling dagok sa paggawa ay 'yung nakikita nating sitwasyon ng ating mga OFWs na buhay ang kapalit ng kanilang paninilbihan sa ibang bansa."
Ronnie Luna, national vice president of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, added: "Ang kawalan ng oportunidad, ng matiwasay na buhay, ng regular na trabaho sa ating bayan, 'yon ang nagtutulak sa kanila sa gawaing hindi nararapat ayon sa lipunan."
Aside from the struggles of OFWs, the protesters said they continue their fight for raising the minimum wage to P16,000, the Unang Balita report said.
Some of the protesters spent the night at Mendiola in Manila, where they laid on cartons and shared rice porridge and water, which they said was to illustrate the plight of the ordinary laborer, it added.
Other groups gathered at other points in Manila, including in front of the University of Santo Tomas, Quirino, Blumentritt, Avenida, Pureza, and Moriones.
They were to meet at Liwasang Bonifacio at 2 p.m. for a program, then are expected to head back to Mendiola at 6 p.m. for another program, where they will burn an effigy of President Benigno Aquino III.
Aquino is spending Labor Day attending to a number of events in Cebu. Malacañang said it was not to avoid protests in Manila, but out of his desire to commune with Filipinos in other regions and provinces. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News
In a live report on Unang Balita, GMA News' Oscar Oida said the militant groups are protesting in line with the situation faced by overseas Filipino workers like Veloso, who was spared from execution by the Indonesian government early Wednesday.
Veloso was arrested in 2010, after authorities found 2.6 kilograms of heroin sewn into her suitcase at the Yogyakarta Airport. She has maintained that she did not know there were drugs in her luggage.
In a separate report on Saksi, Sanlakas secretary-general Aaron Pedrosa said, "Itong pinakahuling dagok sa paggawa ay 'yung nakikita nating sitwasyon ng ating mga OFWs na buhay ang kapalit ng kanilang paninilbihan sa ibang bansa."
Ronnie Luna, national vice president of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, added: "Ang kawalan ng oportunidad, ng matiwasay na buhay, ng regular na trabaho sa ating bayan, 'yon ang nagtutulak sa kanila sa gawaing hindi nararapat ayon sa lipunan."
Aside from the struggles of OFWs, the protesters said they continue their fight for raising the minimum wage to P16,000, the Unang Balita report said.
Some of the protesters spent the night at Mendiola in Manila, where they laid on cartons and shared rice porridge and water, which they said was to illustrate the plight of the ordinary laborer, it added.
Other groups gathered at other points in Manila, including in front of the University of Santo Tomas, Quirino, Blumentritt, Avenida, Pureza, and Moriones.
They were to meet at Liwasang Bonifacio at 2 p.m. for a program, then are expected to head back to Mendiola at 6 p.m. for another program, where they will burn an effigy of President Benigno Aquino III.
Aquino is spending Labor Day attending to a number of events in Cebu. Malacañang said it was not to avoid protests in Manila, but out of his desire to commune with Filipinos in other regions and provinces. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News
Comments