MANILA, Philippines – Labor groups and professors from the Philosophy Department of the Ateneo de Manila University urged Caloocan police to release some 10 union organizers they arrested in a labor strike on Wednesday, February 5.

Workers of the company Cosmic Enterprises have been on strike for around a month until Wednesday morning, when private security personnel dispersed their rally. The police then intervened and sided with the private guards.

Rafael La Viña, one of the union organizers who were arrested, went live and showed their group shouting for the police to stay away, but the law enforcers still proceeded to gather the organizers and arrest them.

“The guards and strikebreakers initiated the attack while the workers and organizers in the picket locked arms and braced for the subsequent altercation…. This violent attack on the picketline left several injuries on the side of the workers and organizers. They are being detained on the fabricated charges of assault towards the strikebreakers,” La Viña said in a Facebook status update just before he was detained.

The labor organizers are affiliated with the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino. According to their spokesperson for the incident, Ia Marañon, the strike was complete with permits but the police apparently ignored their reminders that the demonstration was under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Arrest condemned

Labor group Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment (SUPER) came to the defense of the labor organizers, urging the police in a separate statement for their release.

“They were illegally arrested after being harassed and dispersed by the Caloocan PNP (Philippine National Police) under the leadership of Major Aaron Melgar,” SUPER said.

Former Ateneo School of Government Dean Antonio La Viña, Rafael’s father, said in a Facebook status as of 10:57 pm Wednesday that there was still no fiscal available to hold inquest proceedings for the labor organizers’ release.

“There is of course no basis for this arrest as the workers and union organizers were just asserting their constitutional rights,” La Viña said in the Facebook post.

The younger La Viña is a Philosopy graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University. In a statement, the faculty members of the university’s Philosophy Department called for the “immediate release” of the labor organizers.

“We strongly denounce the dispersal of this lawful strike and the spurious detainment of Mr La Viña and his fellow unionists, and we fully affirm the right of all workers and unionists to protect their interests and to seek more just and humane conditions of work,” the professors and instructors said.

Rappler sought the comment of Caloocan police chief Colonel Noel Flores, but he has yet to reply as of this posting. – Rappler.com