The thriving labor movement in the Philippines has countless leaders in unions and organizations who speak out about injustices among their fellow workers, despite the risks that come with it.
The Philippines has been on the International Trade Union Confederation’s list of 10 worst countries for workers for eight consecutive years, and the reasons are mostly related to challenges in freely associating. Harassment, violence, and red-tagging of unionists are well documented.
Still, some leaders choose to continue the fight for the improvement of the conditions of their sector of at least 50 million workers as of August.
The next midterm election is a chance for sector leaders to bring their plight to the national stage. Here’s a list of some notable labor leaders who are eyeing one of the 12 coveted Senate seats in 2025.
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) chairperson Leody de Guzman has tried his hand in the last three national elections. In 2016, he ran as first nominee of the Sanlakas party-list group, but failed to win a seat. In 2019, he ran for senator as part of the Otso Diretso slate, and lost again.
De Guzman only shot higher. In 2022, with little resources compared with the machinery of his big-name rivals, the labor leader mounted a presidential campaign grounded on a progressive and worker-centric platform.
Among his policy proposals were increasing the minimum wage to P750, pursuing a just transition to a low carbon economy, creating a billionaires’ wealth tax, and prosecuting past and present erring public officials through the local justice system and the International Criminal Court.
He garnered over 92,000 votes, and finished 8th in the presidential race.
But the work did not stop when he lost the presidential election, as he continued to be present in workers’ mobilizations, especially when it came to the most pressing issues of wage and continued contractualization across the country.
The socialist labor leader has also been vocal about his progressive stances for various social issues, such as favoring divorce and the decriminalization of abortion.
Luke Espiritu, the BMP president who filed his certificate of candidacy with De Guzman on October 4, is no stranger to labor mobilizations and sectoral engagements. He was under De Guzman’s senatorial slate in 2022, when he placed 34th in the race with 3.43 million votes.
Espirity was a regular resource person during the months-long discussions of a legislated wage hike in Congress, where he fervently fought for how a significant wage increase is needed for a genuine improvement in the quality of life of workers.
Espiritu has also served as a Board of Trustees member of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, and as legal counsel in its campaign against electricity privatization.
Climate justice is another one of Espiritu’s advocacies, saying in a September 2023 X post: “Workers aren’t only about wages, security of tenure, unionism, and CBA; most importantly they struggle against capitalists who have destroyed the environment and caused climate change. They demand a rapid, just, and equitable transition to a carbon free world unhindered by profit.”
In his third attempt at a Senate seat, lawyer Sonny Matula hopes to bring his decades in the trade union movement to the national policy making stage.
Born to a working-class family in Maguindanao, Matula obtained several scholarships to fund his studies up until he became a lawyer in 1998. For the next decades, he won thousands of cases in favor of workers and unions.
He also served as commissioner for the labor sector of the Social Security System during the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and was once executive director of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission.
He is currently the president of the Federation of Free Workers, and chairperson of the NAGKAISA Labor Coalition.
Kilusang Mayo Uno secretary-general Jerome Adonis is eyeing a Senate seat as part of the 11-member slate of the progressive Makabayan bloc.
The organization is no stranger to red-tagging and harassment of state forces. In a recently released Human Rights Watch report, Adonis said that it was “clear” that the Philippine government was using red-tagging to prevent workers from organizing and unionizing.
Aside from standing by trade unions in their fight for job security, living wages, and dignified work, Adonis has also been active in shedding light on the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“Jerome Adonis has a strong record of supporting OFWs and everyday Filipinos. On the streets and in factories, he serves as an advocate for the millions of workers who are forced to work dirty, dangerous, and demeaning jobs both at home and abroad,” Migrante International said in a statement. – Rappler.com
