We condemn in the strongest terms the killing of Edward Panganiban, a labor leader in the Southern Tagalog region. He was trying to catch a ride to work when he was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men at 5:20 pm, in Barangay Caingin, Sta. Rosa, Laguna last June 3. He died on the spot, sustaining 12 gunshot wounds in his body.

Panganiban, 27, is the secretary of the independent Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Takata Philippines (Salamat-Independent). For five years now, he has been an employee of Japanese-owned Takata Philippines Corporation, which manufactures airbags and car seatbelts and is located at the Laguna Technology Park Incorporated.

While he leads an independent union, Panganiban maintained good relations with our Southern Tagalog regional formation Pamantik, or the Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan. As a genuine labor leader, he found common cause with labor formations that uphold militant and nationalist trade unionism. 

His death shows that the US-Arroyo regime is willing to assassinate not just KMU leaders, organizers and activists. It is willing to kill even independent labor leaders who have shown honesty and genuine leadership in fighting for workers’ rights. For the US-Arroyo regime, it appears that a good unionist should sooner or later be a dead one. 

His death once again calls the public’s attention to the very repressive atmosphere prevailing in special economic zones such as the Laguna Techno Park. These havens of cheap and contractual labor have established themselves as centers of union busting as well, with extrajudicial killings fast becoming a weapon of choice against unionists.

His death could only highlight the ruthlessness of the US-Arroyo regime and its military hitmen. They are still conducting extrajudicial killings even when they are slated to be replaced by a new regime soon. It was Mrs. Arroyo herself who green-lighted the killings of trade unionists when she labeled us as “factory terrorists.”

Panganiban’s death stresses the enormous challenges facing the incoming regime of presumptive president-elect Noynoy Aquino. Not only must he remain corruption-free, but he must also reverse Arroyo’s policies. In the field of human rights, he must put an immediate end to extrajudicial killings, abductions and other human rights violations.

Panganiban’s death puts another exclamation point to the call for justice, for Arroyo to be punished for her numerous grave crimes against the Filipino workers and people. Ordering and funding extrajudicial killings, abductions and other human rights violations is just one of her many grave crimes. She must be put to jail for all of these.

This case comes at a time when the International Labor Conference is at its 99th session, discussing trade-union rights. Meanwhile the Committee on Freedom of Association is slated to convene on June 3. We hope to raise the issue of Panganiban’s killing in these venues to gather international support for our fight against extrajudicial killings. 

The case is another proof of the US-Arroyo regime’s disregard for International Labor Organization Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize) and 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining) – for which the ILO sent a high-level mission to the country last year which was welcomed by the regime.