PRO-7: Labor Day rally in Cebu City ‘generally peaceful’

Members of progressive groups held a rally in downtown Cebu City to voice out their concerns on the need for wage increase during the Labor Day celebration on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. | CDN Digital photo / Pia Piquero

CEBU CITY, Philippines – No untoward incidents were reported in Cebu City on Wednesday while cause-oriented groups held a Labor Day rally here.

Even the early morning fun run that the Cebu City government organized from Fuente Osmeña Circle to Plaza Independencia was also very orderly and well secured. Uniformed policemen were deployed at the venue to ensure peace and order.

This was according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).

READ: Cebu groups call for wage increase on Labor Day

Just like in Cebu City, Labor Day celebrations in others parts of Central Visayas were also very peaceful and orderly, Pelare said.

“We did not see the need to deploy our Civil Disturbance Management and naa naman pud tay mga proactive nga mga police intervention sama sa pagdeploy og mga uniformed personnel sa mga dalan nga ilang agian,” he added.

READ: Labor Day 2024: Cebu engineer honors construction workers

‘Sana all 150’

In Cebu City, members of cause-oriented groups convened in the downtown area at around 7:30 a.m. to stage a rally on Wednesday, May 1.  They later on marched to the Fuente Osmeña Circle in the uptown area while they chanted, “Dugang sweldo i-balaod, sana all 150!”

Their chant refers to a proposal to implement a P150 across-the-board increase for all private sector workers in the country.

READ: Labor Day 2024: Loving the job that you have

Rally participants, that included members of the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), Partido Manggagawa (PM), and Sugbuanong Mamumuo na Nagkahiusa Alang sa Living Wage (SANAALL), dispersed four hours later or at around 11 a.m.

Children seen at Labor Day rally

Meanwhile, Pelare said that a number of minors were seen joining the Labor Day rally here on Wednesday.

READ: Labor Day special: Laborers going beyond their roles

With this, he again urged parents to be responsible and not put their children at risk due to unnecessary exposure to extreme heat.

“Let us bear in mind nga init kaayo karong panahona unya dili siguro na kaya physically sa atong mga minors nga naa sa dalan,” said Pelare.

In order to discourage the bringing of children in rallies, Pelare said, they are now in coordination with the Cebu City Police Office for a sharing of the outcome of their Labor Day monitoring and recommendations.

“This could also be considered as probably a violation of welfare sa mga bata kay giuban-uban sila aning political exercise which they cannot comprehend. Wa pa na nila na masabti at this point in time,” he added.