AN ALLIANCE of major labor groups in the Philippines will call for wage increase, decent work, and rights to freely unionize as they take to the streets of the capital Manila on May 1.   

In a statement, the All Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) said it will gather more than 10,000 workers and march from a major thoroughfare to a key demonstration center near the presidential palace in Manila on Labor Day, an annual holiday in the country.  

It said protest actions have also been planned in other parts of the country.  

“Workers will march on May 1 to press for Malacañang’s position on our demands for an inclusive roadmap to achieve decent work, an immediate action to the popular clamor for immediate wage increase and an end to impunity, among other matters,” the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said.  

Currently, there are petitions for wage increase in almost all regions, ranging from P150 to P750. 

Among them is a March 22 petition seeking to raise the current P570 daily minimum wage for nonagricultural workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) to P1,100. 

“Wages should climb together with productivity because it is only right and just that workers, who create the wealth of our nation, get their fair share of our economic growth,” the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said. 

“Workers cannot wait anymore, and workers definitely deserve better.” 

The Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition said it is necessary for workers to defend their rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining, which the group said are democratic practices that are being violated in the country.  

A report submitted by the APTU to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) high-level tripartite mission to the Philippines in January indicated that at least 68 trade union killings and hundreds of violations of the right to freedom of association had been violated in the country.  

The report cited the killing of labor union leader Emmanuel Asuncion, who was shot to death during police raids in 2021; cases of labor activists being tagged as communists; and trumped-up charges filed against labor activists.   

The report said the Philippine government has consistently failed to comply with ILO conventions on freedom of association and the right to organize.

Meanwhile, the APTU said ending labor contractualization remains “high” in their priority list. 

“The current administration should pass the security of tenure bills in both the public and private sectors, and ratify ILO Convention 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work,” Annie Geron of Women Workers United said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza 

THE PHILIPPINES’ first infection of the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 was an asymptomatic case and has since recovered, the Health department said on Wednesday.  

“The detected XBB.1.16 case in Iloilo Province was asymptomatic and has already recovered,” the Department of Health (DoH) said in a statement.  

The agency reported the country’s first XBB.116 case in its biosurveillance report on Tuesday.  

Also called Arcturus, the subvariant comes from XBB, a recombinant of two BA.2 descendent lineages. 

XBB.1.16 has the ability to evade immunity and is found to be more transmissible, the DoH said.   

“Based on the latest risk assessment by the World Health Organization (WHO) last April 17, 2023, no changes in severity have been reported in countries where XBB.1.16. are reported to be circulating,” it said.  

“There may have been slight increases in bed occupancy in India and Indonesia, but levels are still much lower compared to the effects of the previous variants,” it added.   

“Overall, risk assessment is said to be low.”  

As of April 17, there have been 3,648 sequences of Omicron XBB.1.16 reported from 33 countries, the WHO said on April 17.   

About 63% or 2,314 of the infections came from India. The other countries with at least 50 cases at the time included the United States, (10.9% or 396), Singapore (6.9% or 250), Australia (3.9% or 143), Canada (2.6% or 94), Brunei (2.4% or 89), Japan (2% or 73) and the United Kingdom (2.1% or 75).   

“Globally, there has been a weekly rise in the prevalence of XBB.1.16,” the WHO said, noting that from March 27 to April 2, the global prevalence of XBB.1.16 was 4.15%, an increase from 4 weeks earlier, when the global prevalence was 0.52%.  

Meanwhile, Alethea de Guzman of the DoH’s epidemiology bureau said COVID-19 infections in the country have been increasing recently.  

“COVID-19 cases in the country increased by 18% this week but our hospitalization rate remains low,” she told OneNews Channel.  

The Health official said the increase happens gradually. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza