Makabayan Coalition representatives met with Sen. Francis Pangilinan on July 30 to discuss important national issues. They discussed issues in agriculture, high food prices, fisheries reform, free education, and the progress of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
According to Makabayan, their coalition aims to work closely with the senator on national issues. Those present at the meeting were Makabayan senatorial candidates former Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, former ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, fisherfolk leader Ronnel Arambulo, along with a representative of the Kabataan Party-list, and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan president Renato Reyes Jr.
Pangilinan was appointed as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform. Among his first actions upon the opening of the Senate were calls for an investigation into high market food prices, a review of the Rice Tariffication Law, and support for small fishers in their struggle for exclusive fishing rights in the 15-kilometer municipal waters.
Arambulo acknowledged Pangilinan’s resolution regarding the rights of fishers in municipal waters. “The resolution states that the earlier Supreme Court ruling should be reversed in favor of small fishers to ensure that the 15-km municipal waters are exclusive to small fishers,” the fisherfolk leader shared.
Meanwhile, ACT Teachers and Kabataan representatives in the House continue to advocate for bills that benefit the interests of ordinary citizens. ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio has been named one of the House deputy minority leaders, and Kabataan Rep. Atty. Renee Co as assistant minority leader.
On July 30, the two Makabayan bloc members refiled a bill for a ₱1,200 national minimum wage for workers in both the public and private sectors nationwide. Representatives from Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK), Kilusang Mayo Uno, and BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) joined them in filing the bill. This proposed amount is based on the country’s average living wage.
Makabayan and labor leaders were dismayed that Ferdinand Marcos Jr did not mention any wage increase for workers in his fourth state of the nation address on July 28. They know that pushing for a wage increase law will be difficult, especially since businesspeople, landlords, and bureaucrat capitalists dominate the Senate and Congress.
During the 19th Congress, the proposed ₱100-₱200 wage increase, which had passed both the House of Representatives and Senate, was killed at the bicameral level. Makabayan believes that the proposal was ultimately defeated after the Marcos regime opposed it.
