Ridiculous strike
Job Tabada
Cebu Daily News
When the military uses its might, it does so to take the challenge of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders who virtually declared war following the muddled Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which got discarded by the Filipinos.
A renegotiation has been ruled out by the Arroyo administration, which initially pinned hopes on the proposed accord, supposedly to buy peace in the troubled region. But it has only done so now after the people utterly rejected the MOA-AD, owing to its unconstitutional contents, which Gloria Arroyo’s appointed negotiators apparently knew but never lifted a finger to quash.
But in an Inquirer story yesterday, Arroyo was quoted as saying that her government expected that a final accord would be forged despite the ongoing skirmishes. (And before we know it, Arroyo will probably deal with another separatist group — Abu Sayyaf, Moro National Liberation Front, even Jemaah Islamiyah? — for another independent Mindanao area to cover Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Agusan and my home province Surigao, which are predominantly populated by Christians.)
If the Arroyo government is merely playing safe or joking, then it’s a costly option, and it can’t avoid responsibility for its idiocy’s outcome. The atrocities have escalated into a full-blown conflict, this time affecting several provinces in southern Mindanao, causing unnecessary loss of lives and properties and the displacement of thousands of residents. (My wife heaved a sigh of relief after learning her relatives were not among the casualties when Muslim rebels assaulted Lanao del Norte.)
Short of totally rejecting the MOA-AD, Gloria ordered the military to “defend every inch of the country’s territory” from the MILF’s rage. The compliance was instantaneous (pray it won’t escalate where the hot nest is) — not merely giving value to the diminutive chief’s order, but one that embraces a worthy act to save the country from what has been viewed as a result of an irrational move, which many well-meaning citizens misread as part of the hidden agenda to keep Gloria in power beyond 2010.
“The government can only talk peace if the MILF rebels lay down their arms first,” screeched another Arroyo aide at the height of the renewed hostilities in the south.
The people actually thought this was the condition when the government and the MILF talked peace in Malaysia. And, startlingly, it’s a 180-degree turnaround from the fact that Malacañang condoned some provisions in the castoff pact, which practically defines the Bangsamoro homeland as a new country bestowed with vast powers, among them, allowing the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to maintain its own armed forces and enjoy prerogatives like signing agreements with other countries. What if it’s a nuclear arms deal?
The people have said their piece: The whole shebang violates the Constitution.
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Federalism is exactly the game Malacañang wants to play to provide a fertile ground for Gloria to keep her stolen authority. But this would require a parliamentary form of government, in which, with the help of her legion of allies in Congress, she could easily become prime minister.
That’s an easy way. What’s even easier is for Gloria to simply hold on to her throne in a transition period, which could run for another six years. Would the nation see Garci’s president on the hot seat forever? (With her paid hacks dominating the House, why not?) And the leeches around her are saying in great comfort: We’re only responding to the clamor of the opposition.
A very self-assured Ferdinand Marcos surreptitiously told the nation that it was in the interest of the Filipino people that he declared Martial Law. Still he was repudiated at the height of the people’s anger.
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Months ago, the rank-and-file union of the SPC Power Corp. threatened Cebu with a strike because it wanted management to sit down for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Because management preferred a dialogue to a confrontation, it sat down not only with the rank-and-file union but also with the supervisors’ union.
I thought everything was fine, until it has been reported that the supervisors filed a notice to strike because they do not want to pay their P750 share for food expenses for every meeting with management. The rank-and-file employees will follow suit tomorrow.
For management, equal sharing of expenses for food and drinks means that they meet and talk on equal footing. They are equals. For the supervisors’ union, sharing expenses means unfair labor practice.
I have been supporting labor causes for so long, but it is the first time I’ve heard of a union threatening to hold a strike that will directly affect me (it will cause power outages), only because it thinks that sharing expenses for food served during CBA negotiations with management is unfair labor practice! With the high five-digit salaries these guys are getting, they surely can afford to pay P750.
Having considered the arguments of both management and union, I think the union has stepped far out of bounds. People who get fat salaries for being in charge of generating power for Cebu can’t reasonably go on strike over a ridiculous meal-tab disagreement.
