DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 February) – A progressive labor group composed of workers from different corporations here threw its support to the candidacy of development worker Maria Victoria “Mags” Maglana, who is running for representative of Davao City’s first district, for being “the only candidate willing to advance the interests of the workers in Congress.”
During the covenant signing between Sentro Davao and Maglana on Wednesday at the Paterno’s Restaurant here, Nelson Sator, Sentro Davao vice chairperson and also president of the Davao Holcim Employees Workers Union, said that Maglana is the only congressional candidate who signed the covenant to advance the welfare of laborers in the city.
He said the group lauded Maglana for her work to prioritize the welfare of the ordinary laborers “who have been neglected by other politicians.”
Sator said the covenant signing between Sentro Davao and Maglana is a “milestone” in hopes of giving priority and attention to the concerns of the laborers.
He added that many of the concerns of workers here have not been addressed even by the local government unit.
Sator also commended Maglana for her courage in challenging the reign of the Duterte family in the local political scene.
Mags Maglana, a governance, peace and development worker, shows reporters a copy of her certificate of candidacy for first district representative, on Friday, 8 October 2021. The post is held by reelectionist Rep. Paolo Duterte. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
The Dutertes have ruled Davao City for more at least three decades. Before he was elected president in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte served as mayor from 1988 to 1998, representative of the first district from 1998 to 2001, mayor from 2001 to 2010, vice mayor to his daughter-mayor from 2010 to 2013, and mayor from 2013 to 2016 with son Paolo as vice mayor.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, now a candidate for vice president and the running mate of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., served as vice mayor from 2007 to 2010, mayor from 2010 until 2013, was elected mayor in 2016 when her father ran for President, and was reelected in 2019 with youngest brother Sebastian as the vice mayor. Paolo, the President’s eldest son, was councilor from 2008 to 2013, vice mayor from 2013 to 2018, and elected representative of the first district in 2019.
Aside from Paolo and Maglana, also running in the city’s first district are businessman Jamal Ranon Kanan and Jovanie Cadao Mantawel.
Joel Bañas, Sentro Davao chairperson, noted that this is the first time that their group signed a covenant with a political candidate.
“Why Mags? We are looking for certain qualities, stands and principles in a candidate. We’ve seen how Mags for a long time has been advocating for the same principles and advocacies that Sentro Davao has been fighting for. That’s why we have chosen her and it’s about time that we look for a representative in Congress that will bring the interest of the workers and constituents of District 1,” he said.
He said Maglana agreed to pursue the labor agenda in the covenant once she gets elected as representative of the first district of this city.
She vowed to work with the labor group and other sectors of the community, particularly the women who comprise more than half of the labor force.
Maglana said many of the labor groups’ agenda would require proper legislation.
Aside from legislation, Maglana said the other functions of a representative include public advocacy, constituent building and government oversight.
She said the representative should hold dialogues with various sectors to discuss pressing issues, including, among others, corruption, flooding and demolition.
The labor group’s agenda are centered on at least seven key points.
The first agenda is to deepen democracy by preventing any moves to amend the constitution for purposes of legitimatizing authoritarian rule and removing limits to terms of office and foreign ownership of natural resources and services and instead work for electoral reforms, including prohibition of political dynasties and turncoatism; providing state support for political parties; ensuring stricter regulations on campaign spending; strengthening of the party-list system; and, review and amend the Local Government Code to increase the allocations for local government units (LGUs).
The second agenda is the promotion of secure and quality jobs and “green” jobs by supporting the passage of the long-standing Security of Tenure Bill in the Congress, and other related proposed laws and policies that will ensure and strengthen job security for workers in both the private and public sectors; ending or curbing the rampant use and abuse of contractualization; prioritizing the generation of decent jobs that provides wages and benefits that satisfy the basic or minimum needs of the workers; rolling out a robust public employment program that will provide guaranteed jobs for those who are unemployed, guaranteed incomes for those who are unable to work and wage subsidies to preserve jobs when needed; and create “climate jobs” in response to the worsening global problems caused by climate change, or employment based on “just transition” from the current carbon- or fossil fuel-centered economy to renewable energy or low-carbon economy.
The group’s third agenda is “living wage” incomes for the working people by establishing or developing national and industry wage setting mechanisms that would give weight to the inputs or proposals from the workers and the trade unions, and which will rectify the great gap between the huge profits of the employers and the meager wages of their employees; progressive taxation or higher taxes for the rich and lower taxes for the poor; and, encouraging profit-sharing scheme especially in profitable companies.
The fourth agenda is pushing for social protection services, which include, among others, increasing funding for public services, including expanding the coverage of universal healthcare, free public housing, women-specific programs such as reproductive health, and public energy based on renewable resources; and developing measures towards effective and lasting solutions to flash floods, garbage, and other environmental programs affecting the health and livelihood of the communities of Davao City and other cities in the country.
The fifth agenda the Sentro Davao is pushing for is strengthening trade union, and political and human rights. The group wants an end to extrajudicial killings, especially for trade unionists, social activists and journalists, and to promote full trade union rights, including the right to strike and to collective bargaining.
The sixth agenda is refiling and pushing for enactment of the Freedom of Information law that was blocked or rejected in the past Congress.
The last agenda is filing and pushing for enactment of other bills and resolutions that would promote and protect the rights and welfare of other basic sectors of society, and would ensure national sovereignty and territorial integrity. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
