By Franck Dick Rosete
MANILA — A group advocating for the empowerment of workers pressed the national government to launch a thorough investigation into the continuing surveillance and harassment against labor organizers in Southern Mindanao.
The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) issued the call following the recent “interrogation” of Eduardo Capuyan, a retired labor organizer of Kilusang Mayo Uno – Southern Mindanao Region (KMU-SMR), on February 10 and demanded that authorities hold those responsible to account.
It reiterated that the government should act, as Capuyan’s case is not the first time that labor and transport organizers in the region have been summarily questioned, highlighting the danger it poses to community organizing.
“They infringe on Capuyan’s fundamental right to life, liberty, and security of person and ultimately infringe on the right to freedom of association of workers and the poor, whom Capuyan and KMU-SMR seek to empower,” CTUHR said in a statement.
The 1987 Constitution and the Labor Code guarantee workers’ rights to organize unions and similar associations.
Read: Groups decry surveillance of KMU office in Southern Mindanao
KMU-SMR, which also called for a probe, released an alert on February 11 after two men who allegedly claimed to be military agents visited Capuyan’s house in Davao City and asked for the whereabouts of certain individuals.
After the questioning, the supposed agents left a note containing their contact information.
Capuyan’s case is similar to what happened last year to KMU-SMR organizer Marvin Dacanay and Larry Argilles, organizer of Transmission, the Davao chapter of Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston).
Military men also asked Dacanay’s kin about his whereabouts, accusing him of bearing arms in the countryside and ordering his father to tell him to stop his organizing on behalf of KMU.
In Argilles’ case, soldiers in civilian attire reportedly went to his community and asked the purok leader details about him and his family. They also allegedly accused his wife of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Surigao.
Also in 2025, KMU and Transmission organizer Jeffrey Uypala was apprehended by individuals who claimed to be personnel of the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG). They also allegedly pressured him to cooperate with the police and offered financial aid as an incentive.
William Lariosa, who is still missing since his disappearance in Bukidnon province in 2024, is also affiliated with KMU Southern Mindanao.
KMU-SMR denounced what it called intimidation against organizers, asserting that this is part of the systematic campaign of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) under the government’s National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD) to suppress critics and dissenters for so-called “peace and development.”
“This is a manifestation of the Marcos Jr. regime’s disregard of workers’ freedom of association and other rights,” KMU-SMR said.
Read: Youth activists in Cagayan de Oro slam series of surveillance
The interrogation of Capuyan, CTUHR said, is proof that the military is accusing the retired labor organizer of being connected to revolutionary groups Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army.
CTUHR criticized the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for maintaining NTF-ELCAC, which it said is primarily responsible for harassing labor activists and human rights workers.
The workers’ empowerment group earlier observed that KMU-SMR has been experiencing the most harassment among the labor center’s chapters.
“We cannot help but think that the foremost local warlords — the Dutertes — are also responsible for this series of harassment.” (JDS)
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