Labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno, together with the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Anakpawis Partylist announced today that they will be holding a nationwide protest on August 31 to condemn the overpricing in local petroleum products and the Aquino government’s collusion with the Big 3 oil cartel.
They said the protest, dubbed “Araw ng Paglaban sa Sabwatan ng Kartel sa Langis at Pamahalaan,” is a “big-time kickoff” for “big-time protests” in the coming weeks. It will feature marches, assemblies and noise barrages in various parts of Metro Manila and the country.
“We are calling on the Filipino workers and people to translate their discontent into dissent, their anger into action against the overpricing of petroleum products and the Aquino government’s connivance with the Big 3 on August 31,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.
“Because we know that the Aquino government will not by itself give the Filipino workers and people an immediate relief from the soaring prices of petroleum products, we are calling on everyone to join the protests and press for a P9.00 per liter rollback immediately,” he added.
Just the start
KMU said the August 31 protests will just be the kick-off of a bigger protest in the weeks ahead.
“Our August 31 protest is just a kick-off which we hope will jumpstart an even bigger protest in the coming days, one which will draw in the participation of more workers, poor people and transport workers,” Labog said.
“Given the intensifying speculation in oil prices worldwide, the oil monopoly’s rapacity for profits, and the Aquino regime’s collusion with the oil cartel, we know that our fight for an immediate relief on the issue of oil will be a protracted one,” he added.
“We are also calling for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law, which has allowed oil companies to manipulate prices to serve their greed for profits. We simply cannot trust profit-greedy corporations to control the pricing of a commodity as important as oil,” he said. Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU Chairperson
