Marjuice Destinado

Over a thousand labor union members and activists marched through Cebu City on Thursday, May 1, demanding higher wages and greater government accountability, while criticizing the newly released P20-per-kilo rice program as a short-term fix against poverty.

Photo Courtesy of Daiven Monforte/Explained PH.

Coinciding with Labor Day, the Department of Agriculture launched the P20-per-kilo rice program in Cebu province, marking it as one of the first areas to implement the administration's high-profile campaign promise.

Protesters, including Kilusang Mayo Uno Vice Chairperson Jaime Paglinawan, slammed the government's rice program as a “band-aid solution,” claiming it will only last for five months.

Labor leaders emphasized that while the rice subsidy fulfills a campaign promise, it falls far short of the comprehensive reforms needed to address the worsening conditions faced by Cebuano workers and their families.

Instead, they called for long-term measures such as a legislated P200 across-the-board wage hike, raising the minimum wage to P1,200 per day, abolishing contractualization, regularizing workers, and expanding access to essential public services like healthcare, education, and housing.

The rally, which began around 9 a.m. with groups converging from Colon Street and B. Rodriguez Street to Osmeña Boulevard, also included calls for immediate assistance to workers affected by layoffs, price controls on basic goods, and the protection of union rights.

In an interview with Explained PH, Abraham Montecalvo Jr., president of Riders-Centro — a Foodpanda riders' union in Cebu, called on the government to listen to the struggles of riders, citing their shrinking earnings and the need for their concerns to be heard.

“Nag-anam og kamahal ang palitonon, nag-anam og kamahal ang gasolina, nag-anam [og] kamahal ang mga maintenance pero ang among sweldo nagka-anam og hinayhinay nila’g patay,” Montecalvo stated.

(The cost of goods is steadily rising, the price of gasoline is steadily increasing, and maintenance costs are steadily going up, but our salaries are slowly but surely dying off.)

Among the labor groups present were SENTRO ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo–Kilusang Mayo Uno (AMA Sugbo–KMU), ALSA Kontraktwal Cebu, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), and Partido Manggagawa (PM).