Workers warn Aquino against ‘sins of omission’ in SONA

“Tell the truth. Tell the whole truth. And tell us what you plan to do about it.”

This is labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno’s reaction to Malacañang’s statements that President Noynoy Aquino’s state of the nation speech will be “educational” and will tell the truth about the state of the government.

“We hope President Aquino tells the whole truth and not just one part of it. We hope he tells the truth about the plight of the Filipino people, especially the poor, the farmers and workers. We hope he doesn’t commit sins of omission on these issues,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.

“And we certainly hope he declares in his first SONA what he plans to do to address our plight and calls. We want to hear pro-poor plans of action in his SONA,” he added.

KMU has been calling for a legislated P125 across the board wage hike since the term of former President Joseph Estrada to regain the real value of wages. After two presidents ignored the call, KMU says workers badly need the increase now.

“Support for a substantial and legislated wage increase – that is at the least what workers want to hear from President Aquino in his first SONA. After more than nine years of stagnant wages amid skyrocketing prices and profits, we want nothing less,” said Labog.

KMU noted that Aquino left out the issue of wage hike in his inaugural address. “Workers are giving the President another chance in his SONA to address the state of wages. It’s also his chance to prove that he’s not beholden to the anti-wage hike CEOs surrounding him.”

New taxes? Worried by Malacañang statements

The labor leader said workers and poor people are “getting worried” with officials in the Aquino cabinet saying the president will disclose the sorry state of government coffers, believing that this may be a prelude to increases in the people’s tax burden.

“We are worried by these statements. Is this a prelude to asking the Filipino workers and people’s ‘help’ in the form of increasing taxes? We have seen this in the past, under the Arroyo regime, where the government made a spectacle out of the government’s lack of funds only to legitimize higher taxes,” Labog added.