Rising hunger incidence proves Arroyo wrong

The recent survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS), stating hunger incidence in Metro Manila rising from 17.7% in November 2006 to 20.7 % in February 2007 “pulled the rug out from under Arroyo’s praises of supposed economic gains.”

This was the reaction of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Labor Center to the recent survey released by the SWS on the growing number of Filipinos going hungry for the first quarter of 2007.

According to the survey, the hunger incidence for the whole country is 19%, the highest recorded since 2004, wherein the number of Filipinos going hungry became double digit.

“When the family living wage is pegged at Php 744/day and the minimum wage is merely Php 350/day, we can only expect more and more workers and their families going hungry. What more for those who cannot find work?” stated Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, National Chairperson of the KMU.

Labog also raised fears about the future of the new graduates for 2007 and the problem of ballooning number of unemployed among the youth.

Transfer try for Rep. Satur Ocampo a big blooper

The labor leader described the planned transfer of Rep. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna Partylist by the Philippine National Police (PNP) from the Manila Police District (MP) headquarters to Leyte as a “big boo-boo”.

“Despite the court order, the PNP pushed with their plan to bring Ka Satur to Leyte but it blew right in their face. Arroyo and the Cabinet Oversight Committee for Internal Security (COCIS) are overplaying their hand thinking that by harassing the progressive partylist, they would be able to prevent them from garnering votes. But the recent survey of SWS and Pulse Asia showed otherwise, with Bayan Muna and Anakpawis as the top 2 vote-getter for the partylist,” ended Labog.