Illegally charged worker dies in jail amid ILO mission

Leo Paro hoped that his and his 19 co-workers/jailmates’ case will be brought to the attention of the International Labor Organization (ILO) representatives who are having a pioneering investigation in the country. Sadly, Paro died in jail a day after ILO representatives took note of their case.

Paro passed away last Sept. 25, a day after the ILO team heard testimonies on cases of trade union repression in the country, including their complaint on illegal detention.

He was among the “Karnation 20,” workers in Karnation Industries and Export and Pansy Accessories who were jailed since May 10, 2007 for trumped up charges of serious illegal detention, grave coercion, malicious mischief, alarms and scandal, and resistance and disobedience to a person in authority.

Paro was the second to die, after Melvic Lupe, 29, died in December 2008 when his tubercolosis was aggravated by poor conditions in their prison at Karangalan police station, Cainta, Rizal.

Karnation and Pansy, home décor exporting companies, are in the same compound at Marick Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal, and are believed to be under one owner only.

Legitimate fight
The workers were paid only half of the Region 4 minimum wage then of P320. Their holiday pay, 13th month pay, and night differential were also denied by the company. And workers can be dismissed without legitimate reasons.

On May 2, the workers went on strike. They never blocked the company gates. They even allowed employers, residents, and vehicles to freely come and leave the compound.

Illegitimate charges
But the management complained in court that they padlocked the compound gates causing some people to be confined for 8 days. The management even presented photos of unidentified workers supposedly striking and padlocking the gate, but those did not even resemble the real workers in the company.

Immediately the day after, May 10, the workers were arrested and brought to Hilltop police station in Cainta without any preliminary investigation.

To avoid settling the labor-related issues that caused the workers to strike and to pin them in jail, Pansy Accessories even claimed that it was a different company from Karnation Industries. The charges against them therefore have no employer-employee relationship basis, and the courts can proceed to convict them immediately. It was open knowledge, however, that Pansy and karnation are just under the same owner, and they have the same company rules, salaries, and address, among others.

The Rizal courts upheld decisions favoring accusations of the management. After four months of detention, the Karnation 20 were transferred to Karangalan Police Station where they are detained up to present.

Prison hell
They are held in a 16 square meter room prison cell. The detainees cannot all lie down at the same time, causing them sleeping difficulties every night.

Food is also very scarce and were often eaten by the guards. Their transportation costs from prison to court were even charged to the detainees.

Hopes on the ILO
“We hope that the ILO will issue a different verdict on Paro’s and the Karnation 20’s case, and on the spate of trade union repression in the country,” said KMU chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog.

The 3-man ILO team is visiting the country for the first time for a 9-day High-Level Fact-Finding Mission on labor rights violations, which will end on Sept. 30. ###