NOTE: The Federation of Agricultural Workers (or UMA), a Philippine member of the Coalition of Agricultural Workers International (CAWI) and its Steering Council, was maliciously tagged as a “terrorist group” by the Philippine National Security Council (NSC) due to its defense of agricultural workers’ rights to fair working conditions.
UMA’s social platforms, alongside other local organizations’ websites, have since been blocked by internet service providers (ISPs) in the Philippines from being accessed by the general public upon NSC’s orders.
CAWI supports UMA’s condemnation of this blatant act of oppression.
Read UMA’s full statement below:
—
UMA Press statement – June 22, 2022
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) decries yet another arrogant display of impunity by state security forces. In a June 6 letter addressed to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), notorious redtagger and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon has lumped UMA and other mass and people’s organizations together with underground revolutionary organizations in a list of alleged “communist terrorist groups” (CTGs).
Esperon demanded that the NTC direct Internet service providers (ISPs) to block the official webpages of UMA, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas), and Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women from public access. Also included in the list, among others, were alternative media outfits Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, as well as international leftist publications Monthly Review and Counter Punch.
“Since ramping up his fake war on drugs and counter-insurgency operations, President Duterte has already established de-facto martial law since 2017,” remarked UMA chairperson Antonio ‘Ka Tonying’ Flores. “Now, the outgoing commander-in-chief seems bent on ending his term by upgrading it to full-blown martial law, and handing on the baton of fascism to his successor, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., son of the late dictator.”
UMA is a legitimate federation of agricultural workers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It upholds the freedom of association by defending every agricultural worker’s right to unionize. On top of living wages and humane work conditions, UMA also advances the struggle for genuine agrarian reform, identifying land monopoly as the systemic problem that makes peasants landless and forces them into abusive work relations.
Esperon’s latest attack on UMA’s freedom of expression is consistent with previous efforts to censor the federation on social media. For over a year now, links to articles on UMA’s webpage have been blocked on Facebook and Instagram, limiting the circulation of articles and statements that tackle the interests and demands of the sector it represents. Its posts on Facebook have also routinely been taken down without basis.
Ka Tonying underscores that redtagging erodes not only the freedom of expression, but also the freedom of association. In a complaint submitted to the International Labor Organization exactly one year ago, UMA emphasized the danger redtagging posed to agricultural workers’ organizations on the ground. The police and military would bust unions and associations in the countryside by linking its leaders and members to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Even the Tinang 83—the leaders and supporters of MAKISAMA-Tinang illegally arrested last June 9—have been redtagged for their assertion of the right of agrarian reform beneficiaries to cultivate food crops on their land. The National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has repeatedly linked UMA to the CPP in justifying its accusation that the chaos of June 9 was instigated by leftists instead of the police.
“By redtagging and suppressing our unions and associations, state security forces leave agricultural workers defenseless against the abuse of landlords and corporations,” Ka Tonying lamented. “We urge the NTC and the country’s various ISPs not to play along with Esperon and the NTF-ELCAC’s ploy to trample on our Constitutionally guaranteed rights. Now more than ever, unions play a vital role in keeping democracy alive in the Philippines.”
###
For reference:
Gi Estrada – UMA Media Officer – +63 9179450552