The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) condemned the latest intrusion of six armed policemen inside the TUCP Labor Center compound along Elliptical Road corner Maharlika St., in Diliman, Quezon City last Tuesday.
“This is a clear act of harassment intended to send a chilling message to the trade union movement and specifically to cow TUCP in its advocacy and union organizing work in both the private and public sectors,” said TUCP President Raymond Mendoza.
“Without permission or even a courtesy request, the policemen, using the CIDG blue-and-white sedan vehicle with plate number SKM 714 from QC-76, entered the TUCP compound and arrogantly roamed inside our private premises, took photos of the daily attendance list, and interrogated our staff without a search warrant,” Mendoza said in a statement.
“We remind all – especially the PNP and the CIDG – to adhere and strictly observe the rule of law. The TUCP will not countenance or tolerate any legal short-cuts, especially by our supposed law
enforcers. Further, this is the fifth time that an unwarranted police intrusion has occurred within our Quezon City premises, and it has also occurred in offices and buildings of our affiliates in Mindanao,” he said.
Mendoza said “we feel that the pattern to scare off legitimate labor groups is patently clear. What they are doing to TUCP is deeply alarming in this time of profiling and ideological-tagging of labor groups.”
“The police entered without the courtesy of a request or approaching any responsible officer of the union in the Compound to explain their purpose and in contravention of an existing protocol on rules of engagement between the PNP and trade unions,” he added.
The TUCP is the largest trade union center in the country, and an affiliate of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Congress (ITUC), which has been at the forefront of defending workers’ rights and welfare globally.
Mendoza said the police intrusion into the TUCP compound is a direct assault on the Constitutional rights of workers and is a violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 which the Philippine government has ratified and is obligated to observe.