Protesters criticize governments’ response to Covid-19

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DESPITE the inclement weather, protesters gathered at the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Quezon City hours before President Rodrigo Duterte’s last State of the Nation (Sona) address on Monday, July 26. 2021.

In a statement, the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) said it joined the protest to convey to the public the concrete and true state of health workers as pioneers in the fight against 2019 coronavirus disease. (Covid-19).

The growing number of Covid-19 cases in the country reflects the competence and ineffectiveness of the Duterte government, said AHW National President Robert Mendoza.

Thus, we give it a score of F Fail. It has been over a year of pandemic and yet it does not have a clear and concrete global plan on how to end this crisis. His response to Covid-19 is only a failure, he added.

As of July 25, a total of 1,548,755 people in the Philippines have contracted Covid-19, including 27,224 deaths. There remained 54,262 active cases.

Mendoza said salaries for health workers remain low. He also alleged that their benefits are withheld. He did not give details.

Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno criticized the Duterte administration for failing to end contracting as promised by the president during the 2016 campaign period. He added that workers’ wages were severely depressed.

They called for legislation to end contracting, the provision of economic aid in times of pandemic, and the institutionalization of a national minimum wage to end wage disparities.

Endo really. Sisante na. The worker has no hope that the situation will improve. Our lives have even worsened in various ways, said KMU Secretary General Jérôme Adonis.

It is a pity that we are not being helped when our livelihoods are disrupted due to the lockdown, but it is even worse that our colleagues are intimidated, arrested and killed which only express the legitimate grievances of our workers, a he added.

He was referring to the murder of their members identified as Manny Asuncion, Carlito Badion and Dandy Miguel. They were among nine activists who were killed after allegedly resisting arrest when police simultaneously issued search warrants in the Calabarzon region on March 7, 2021.

The KMU said that in the last five years of the Duterte administration, 56 workers have been killed while 30 others have been locked in jail and slapped with false accusations.

Human rights watchdog Karapatan said there have been 414 victims of extrajudicial killings since Duterte came to power, excluding those killed in the war against Israel. drug administration, which according to government data is around 7,000.

He also reported that 469,025 people were forcibly evacuated from their homes due to militarization, as well as 713 political prisoners under the current regime.

Police forces, fire engines and ambulances were positioned along Commonwealth Avenue as protesters from UP, those outside the Human Rights Commission office and the National Housing Authority at Quezon City Circle were to lead a march of unity towards the chapel of Saint-Pierre. for the culmination of their protest action.

PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar, who inspected police deployed in the area, reminded cops to exercise maximum tolerance.

He praised the protesters for following health protocols such as wearing face masks and face shields and maintaining physical distance. (SunStar Philippines)

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