Tuesday, December 12, 2006





Another labor leader killed in S. Tagalog





Manila--A LABOR leader was shot dead on Monday while two others were wounded in an ambush near a Japanese firm’s office in Imus, Cavite.

The victim was Jose Servida, 36, a worker-leader of the EMI Yasaki factory in Imus. He was declared dead on arrival at the University Medical Center from a lone gunshot wound in the chest.

Wounded in the ambush were Joel Sale, a colleague of Servida, and an unidentified apprentice worker. Armand Albarillo, Bayan-Southern Tagalog secretary-general, said the ambush followed a local election for union officers at the EMI Yasaki factory.

However, Cavite police investigators belied Servida’s status as a labor leader and said that the most probable motives are personal or business-related. The two other victims were collateral damage.

On December 1 human-rights group Karapatan said 185 extrajudicial killings have been recorded in 2006.

Karapatan said 797 people have died since President Arroyo assumed office in January 2001. Police said the attack on Servida was the second attack on Cavite workers since April, when gunmen ambushed and seriously wounded labor leader Gerardo Cristobal on April 28.

Cavite investigators revealed that Servida’s wife had won the bidding to run the factory canteen a week ago and the victim, who had recently been separated from the company, was helping out in the business.

The attacks on Filipino leaders have prompted major retailers like Walmart, and leading fashion firms like Gap, American Eagle and Liz Clairborne to warn the Arroyo administration against its worsening human-rights record.

-- Jeannette I. Andrade