Modern-day slavery

IN his last year’s State of the Nation Address (Sona 2018), President Rodrigo Duterte came out with an excuse claiming that only lawmakers can end contractualization “once and for all.” It was followed by a certification issued by Malacanang marking the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill as a priority measure.

While some labor groups were hopeful that even the watered down version will at least assuage the labour sector from their tribulations, it did not take Duterte that long to veto the SOT bill right after his 2019 Sona. Three years on after his electoral campaign promise to abolish contractualization in just a single week, President Duterte still never runs out of excuses. As a matter of fact, Duterte has all the right to crown himself as the king of lies and master tactician of deceit and scams.

Like mad dogs, the veto was celebrated by big businesses and Duterte’s favour before the eyes of the greedy ruling elite grew even more. If there’s one thing that we find obvious in Duterte’s reasoning behind the veto, that is no other than his strong desire to push for the absolute legalization of contractualization.

Now serving as the chief proponent for Endo, Duterte said that job contracting should be allowed provided that the labour contractor is “well capitalized” and benefits are afforded to employees. So there you go! We’ve heard it right! Duterte is now speaking on behalf of 3rd party contractors and this will forever keep principal employers from extending full rights and benefits to their struggling employees.

Migrante International finds it moronic for anyone in government with sound mind to believe that Filipino workers will magically prosper in the absence of job security and living wages. Undoubtedly, the Duterte regime’s blueprint for development is only aimed at advancing the wealth of the top financial elite at the expense of Filipino workers. No wonder the Philippines consistently makes it to the world’s top 10 worst countries for workers (Ituc Global Rights Index).

Never in infinitude will contractualization bring forth tangible progress for ordinary Filipino workers. It is one of the major factors why thousands of Filipinos leave the country everyday in the hope that overseas employment will offer decent lives for their families. Yet in reality, only the opposite is true for many OFWs who have fallen prey to modern-day slavery.

Migrante International is one with all Filipino workers who are longing to break free from the chains of oppression and exploitation. – Joanna Concepcion, chairperson, Migrante International; Arman Hernando, chairperson, Migrante Philippines

Right to Education

CHILD Rights Network (CRN), the largest alliance of organizations and agencies pushing for children’s rights legislation in the Philippines, expresses grave concern about the suspension of operations of 55 schools located in far-flung communities in Mindanao catering to children belonging to Lumad communities. These children are among those who have the least access to schools and in dire need of culturally appropriate institutions that offer free basic education. To close down these schools is to essentially take away the right to education of these Lumad children.

We appeal to the Department of Education (Deped) and all concerned agencies to pursue due process by holding dialogues with the school administrators. Instead of undermining these institutions, the government should assist the Lumad schools in aligning their operations to government regulations, and allow these schools not only to continue operating but also to strongly support that the integration of value promotion for cultural identity and traditions enshrined in their curriculums be continued and even further strengthened.

The suspension order has already disrupted the education of 1,142 learners from indigenous groups. Depriving them of their education contradicts Article XIV Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that the “State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.”

The Deped suspension order also disregards several safeguards put in place by national and international laws. Closing these schools runs counter with Article 26 Section 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 28 Section 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), both of which primarily state that everyone has the right to education and that party states should exert effort to achieve this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity.

Moreso, the Deped suspension order also disregards pertinent provisions of the recently enacted Republic Act 11188 or the Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Law (CSAC Law), which declares schools and children as “zones of peace.” The law clearly states that children in situations of armed conflict should be “immediately provided and have safe access to essential, adequate and culturally appropriate” education, among others. RA 11188 also prohibits attacks on schools particularly.

Further, Chapter III Section 8(c) of RA 11188 compels the State to “provide educational assistance, whether formal or alternative learning system, that is child and culturally sensitive.”

Even if Deped is saying that public schools are operating in areas in question, the Government shall be reneging on this specific provision if it continues to push for the closure of Lumad schools, as the said institutions offer basic education in a manner that is culturally sensitive and appropriate to the customs of the indigenous groups they are catering to.

We call for an immediate and in-depth probe into the closure of Lumad schools and prompt reversal of the suspension order so as to ensure that the schooling of the affected Lumad children will not be compromised any further. – Richard Dy, Child Rights Network, crnphilippines@gmail.com