By Reihana Mohideen
MANILA — They marched, wave upon wave of workers, urban poor, students and others — 120,000 strong — to rally at Luneta Park on May Day. They came despite hot sun, a sea of red flags and banners (and umbrellas).
This wasn't only a commemoration of May Day. It was also a demonstration, primarily of workers, demanding the scrapping of income tax measures which are heavily weighted against the workers. The chairperson of the socialist workers' centre, the BMP (Filipino Workers Solidarity), Popoy Lagman, called for a campaign of strikes to be launched around this demand.
One of the central themes of the rally was the need for working-class unity to fight the policies of the Ramos government. The rally was sponsored by KPUP, an alliance of rank and file union shop committee presidents which aims to unite at the factory level workers belonging to several union federations. A prominent banner carried by one of the large factory contingents reflected this theme: "Political and ideological differences should not prevent the unity of the working class".
It is also aimed at strengthening rank and file control of union campaigns. A majority of the speakers were rank and file union activists.
Some of the factory contingents were several thousand strong. The Gelmart textile factory contingent that I marched with had around 5000 workers out of a work force of 6500.
The urban poor communities made up one of the biggest contingents. More than 30,000 people marched together behind a banner calling for "Negotiations not demolitions".
Tens of thousands of placards and banners raised the immediate issues of concern. Others had a more overtly anti-capitalist message, such as "Ramos — the Chairman of the Board of Capitalists" and "End the system of wage slavery".
One of the most colourful and vocal contingents was that of the street sweepers and cleaners — one of the most exploited 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ of the work force. They were proudly dressed in their red and yellow uniforms, and their lead banner read: "This poverty is too much. Destroy imperialism."
A separate mobilisation was organised by the pro-Maoist KMU (May First Movement). The estimates of their numbers ranged from 5000 to 20,000.