By Priam Nepomuceno/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) dismissed claims that it is “anti-labor” for allegedly committing human rights violations against workers.
“Your AFP is always supportive of every effort especially by our labor sector for them to assemble and (seek) redress and express their grievances,” military spokesperson, Marine Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo told reporters Tuesday.
This is in response to the matrix released by the Kilusang Mayo Uno, which claimed that the government, particularly the military and police, are anti-labor.
“Nakakatuwa sila kung gaano sila kagaling manggaya at mag-modify. May isang pahayagan na naglabas ng matrix ng mga boxes at silhouette ng mga tao (I am amused on how good they are in imitating and modifying. There is a newspaper which published a matrix using boxes and silhouettes of people.) They came up with their own nakalagay naman dito mga pictures ng mga sundalo, dating sundalo na ngayon ay Cabinet members at iba-iba pang kalihim ng ating mga kagawaran (using pictures of soldiers, former soldiers who are now Cabinet members and various department secretaries) This is very easy to do,” Arevalo said.
The AFP spokesperson said the government does not have anti-labor policies.
“Kung meron silang agenda na nagsasabing ito ang grupong anti-labor, malinaw naman siyempre ang koneksyon buhat sa ating President (Rodrigo Duterte) papunta sa members ng AFP, sa CS (Chief-of-Staff), iba-ibang miyembro ng kanyang gabinete (If they have an agenda stating that this group is anti-labor, it is very clear that the connection starts from the President down to the members of the AFP, the CS, and other members of his Cabinet.) These are very easy to establish in terms of that matrix, just really for them to come up with such matrices. But the point being, ang ating pamahalaan, alam naman natin na hindi tayo naging kailanman naging (our government, we all know that we never became) anti-labor,” he added.
For the latest updates about this story, visit the Philippine News Agency website
