KMU warns military vs harassing labor leader

MANILA, Philippines - Militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) warned the military against harming or "arresting" a Mindanao labor leader soldiers recently linked to the New People's Army. The KMU said the military's claim of links to the NPA's Compostela Valley unit has exposed Omar Bantayan to further danger. "Major (Medel) Aguilar's malicious and dangerous statement has further exposed our leaders to unwarranted danger and persecution by forces of the state who are rabid anti-communists and anti-progressives. It is now very clear that Oplan Bantay Laya II, which is targeting the leaders and members of legal progressive organization, is in full swing all over the country. If anything bad happens to Bantayan and Ramada, we will hold Major Agu;iar and the AFP accountable," KMU secretary general Wilson Baldonaza said in an article on the KMU website. www.kilusangmayouno.org Aguilar is assigned to the military's the 5th Civil Relations Group. He said Bantayan and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao secretary general Jeppie Ramada have been in the company of the NPA in Compostela Valley. Baldonaza said the KMU will not take Aguilar's statement lightly amid intensified attacks and repression against leaders of various progressive mass organizations in the country. Also, he reiterated the KMU is alarmed with the unabated extra-judicial killings and undeniable rising incidents of illegal arrests and arbitrary detention. KMU said the motive of the Arroyo regime now is to decimate the struggle for labor rights and demolish the militant labor movement in the country. He said government's legal offensive cases portray and subsequently accuse legal activists to be members of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. But instead of simply filing rebellion cases against them, they are instead charged with common crimes such as murder and arson, he said. He cited the case of KMU head lawyer Remigio Saladero Jr. and Laguna labor organizer Arnaldo Seminiano, who were arrested recently on trumped-up multiple murder charges and are presently detained in Calapan, Mindoro. - GMANews.TV