VARIOUS labor groups on Tuesday assailed some 30 lawmakers who are known to be going to Las Vegas, Nevada to watch the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout on May 2, instead of attending to the plight of millions of Filipino workers.
The Partido ng Manggagawa claimed that the lawmakers can save millions of pesos by staying home and praying for OFWs who are in desperate situations.
“They should be formulating policy reforms to address the country’s chronic unemployment problem,” PM chairman Renato Magtubo said.
“It would be very insensitive for lawmakers to jump to Las Vegas to watch the very expensive fight of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather while the nation consoles with Mary Jane [Veloso] and the working class cry for justice on Labor Day,” he said.
“I am sure our rich lawmakers can afford a P2,500 pay per view privilege to watch the fight of the century live in full wide-screen view of their luxurious home theaters, or in the hotels or restaurants of their choice. The amount they can save from forfeiting Las Vegas can be donated to the family of Mary Jane or to the victims of earthquake in Nepal,” Magtubo said.
The labor group leader said the lawmakers should instead consider attending the Labor Day rallies nationwide where they can hear the workers cry for justice for the unaddressed problems of unemployment, low wages, contractualization and high prices of goods and services despite the record growth performance of the Philippine economy.
“Congress, in the first place, could have saved Mary Jane and the rest of our OFWs from the cruel hands of foreign employers, trafficking syndicates and the violence of wars in conflict areas had it enacted policies that effectively addressed the problem of chronic unemployment,” said Magtubo.
A big Labor Day protest is being organized by the Nagkaisa labor coalition nationwide after it decided to terminate its “fruitless” dialogues with the President. For Nagkaisa, PNoy failed the Filipino workers during the past five years of his rule.