NASULAT namin dito sa Balita nitong Linggo, Nobyembre 17 ang pinost ni Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto sa kanyang Facebook page na pakiusap niya sa Regent Foods Corporation owner/management na iurong ang demanda sa trabahador ng nasabing kumpanya.

Ayon kay Mayor Vico, “Several days ago, I told the owners/management of Regent Foods Corporation that if they did not drop the charges against the “Regent 23” by the end of this week, I would speak out in public. From the start, I have made it clear to both sides: as the Local Government, we cannot interfere with the labor issues at hand, as this is under the jurisdiction of the Dept of Labor & Employment. HOWEVER, when my constituents are being deprived of liberty as they fight for their rights as workers, I cannot sit around and do nothing.”

At saka inisa-isa ng alkalde ang factual na nangyari base rin sa pahayag sa kanya ng Regent 23 at pag-uusap nila ng kinatawan ng nasabing kumpanya.

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Sa huling bahagi ng panawagan ay, “To the management of Regent Foods Corporation: These people are not criminals; they do not have the goal of hurting you. They are fighting for what they believe to be just. You can continue with the labor dispute without sending the poor and powerless to jail! I condemn the misuse of your privileged position to suppress the rights of your protesting workers. If you want to have a healthy relationship with our city, I highly suggest you rethink your position.”

Kahapon ay nagpadala sa amin ng official statement ang Regent Foods Corporation para ipaliwanag ang kanilang panig at para malaman din ng publiko kung ano ang totoong nangyari sa pagitan ng mga raliyista at security personnel nila. Narito ang kanilang pahayag:

“This is in response to the Facebook post of Mayor Vico last Saturday. Regent Foods Corp. (RFC) respects the sentiments of our good Mayor, inasmuch as it also respects the rights of its workers to hold a peaceful strike.

“However, it must be remembered that these rights presuppose that the strike was first peaceful and that it was carried out within the bounds of the law. Unfortunately, contrary to how Mayor Vico depicts the situation, the strike involved here was never legitimate and never peaceful, and up until it was dispersed, it was exercised in violation of RFC’s own rights, as well as the rights of other people.

“For the record, RFC has been in business since 1988 and has continuously provided jobs to hundreds of workers. Pasig has been home to RFC for the last 30 years now. Throughout its existence, RFC has always been able to dialogue properly with its workforce on every concern—labor or otherwise.

“Unfortunately, for the information of the general public, a minority group at RFC was able to conduct a strike recently, although the same was done outside the confines of the law. It had no legitimacy from the beginning since there is an existing sole and exclusive bargaining agent within the company.

“On top of this, the strikers also committed criminal activities during the conduct of their unlawful strike. RFC was immediately accused of initiating a lockout when the truth of the matter is that it was the minority union—UMRFC-KMU—who locked RFC and its employees out of the company, gravely affecting the lives of more than 400 innocent employees.

“To address this situation early on, RFC had sought the help of several government offices, including that of Mayor Vico’s.

“In his post, Mayor Vico deliberately failed to disclose to the public that, before any of this had happened, RFC actually wrote his office to ask his assistance in amicably pacifying the situation.

“This request merely fell on deaf ears, which is precisely what constrained RFC to resort to private security assistance for the sole purpose of reopening the gates of the company and resuming its usual business operations.

“Unfortunately, the strikers did not only resist these security enforcers, they also blatantly attacked the latter using sharp weapons and other tools. As a result, several of these security agents were injured; one of them is, in fact, still in critical condition.

Because their activities and unlawful attack upon private citizens were caught first-hand by Pasig police forces, these strikers were arrested and were properly investigated through inquest proceedings. The Office of the City Prosecutor of Pasig City eventually found probable cause to indict these arrested strikers in court for their crimes.

“Despite all of this, Mayor Vico still portrays RFC as an evil corporation ready to “put poor and powerless people to jail”.

“Mayor Vico deliberately overlooks that RFC is not the complainant who pressed these criminal charges, RFC did not order their arrest, and RFC did not even participate in the preliminary investigation of these individuals.

“Worse still, Mayor Vico has cast RFC as anti-labor. But, the truth is, RFC only meant to protect the rights of its non-striking employees who were prevented by the strikers from working and providing for their own families.

“When RFC said that it trusts the judicial process, it did not only speak on its own behalf but, more so, in behalf of those non-strikers who were also affected during the illegal strike and in behalf of those individuals who were hurt by the illegal strikers.

“RFC respected Mayor Vico’s former decision not to help out in resolving this matter in the past three weeks. RFC, however, had been left with no other choice but to watch affected non-strikers fear and worry for what the future holds for them. RFC vowed to ease their worries by assuring them that during the strike, they would be properly compensated—again, to the detriment of RFC whose business was completely stifled by the illegal strike.

“Through a prior phone call and during the personal meeting between Mayor Vico and RFC representatives, the good mayor lectured RFC to be more humanitarian.

“Mayor Vico, however, refused to listen to RFC’s side and consciously turned a blind eye to the plight of the majority of RFC’s employees. He also failed to see the company’s humanitarian effort in providing its affected employees financial assistance during such a dark time in the company’s history.

“For 24 days, RFC stood by and did nothing to the strikers, even when they barricaded its ingress and egress, and even when the banner of KMU was visibly displayed in RFC’s private property, which are clear violations of RFC’s rights. Not to mention, a clear violation of the rights of the lawful union existing in RFC, recognized therein as the employees’ sole and exclusive bargaining agent.

“RFC believes there is nothing wrong in trusting the justice system. Otherwise, RFC would practically be encouraging civil disobedience, lawlessness, and illegal use of force. RFC still maintains its position and will not be cowered by the mayor’s threats. RFC trusts the justice system, not because it can afford to, but because it has to.

“RFC can only hope that Mayor Vico will also offer it the same courtesy, as is required by the basic of rules of fairness. As recent events would however reveal, the mayor’s mind is already made up on an unjust quid pro quo. This, RFC cannot allow.

“Moving forward, RFC may simply accept its fate that the Pasig City Administration will unjustly make life hard for it and its 400- strong workforce, and contemplate simply bringing its business elsewhere—a truly painful outcome for a corporation that has considered Pasig City its home for a total of three decades now.”

Hopefully mabasa ni Mayor Vico ang pahayag na ito ng Regent Food Corporation at muli silang magkaharap at pag-usapang mabuti ang problema