The National President of the Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO-TUCP), Mr. Victorino F. Balais, announced today that the PTGWO-TUCP will support the candidacy of eight senators and the Trade Union Congress Party List in the upcoming May 2013 elections. Mr. Balais is likewise the President of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, which is the biggest confederation of labor federations in the Philippines. The announcement was made in the presence of the officers of the 110 union members of PTGWO-TUCP.

    PTGWO-TUCP is one of the oldest and established labor federations in the country that comprises more than 100 labor unions, the members of which come from various industries including public service, textile garments and leather, banking and insurance, construction, mining, workers in informal economy, migrant workers, sports/gaming-casino, agriculture farm and meat, metal, foods and beverages, transport and trucking, school and academe, pharmaceutical and chemical, paper, maritime, among others.

   In a Resolution released on 24 April 2013, the PTGWO-TUCP endorsed the candidacy of the following Senatorial aspirants:

1. JUAN “JACK ” PONCE ENRILE, JR.               
2. EDGARDO “SONNY” M. ANGARA                   
3. CYNTHIA VILLAR                                               
4. MARIA LOURDES “NANCY” BINAY
5. ALAN PETER CAYETANO
6. JOSEPH VICTOR “JV” EJERCITO
7. RISA HONTIVEROS
8. LOREN LEGARDA   

   The PTGWO-TUCP stated in its resolution that there is a need for effective and dependable advocates of worker’s rights in the Philippine Congress to enact legislation that would serve the State’s policy to afford protection to labor, promote employment and human resources development and insure industrial peace based on social justice.

    According to the PTGWO-TUCP, the senatorial candidates they selected share the federation’s legislative agenda of promoting worker’s rights and protecting the welfare of those who have less in life. The PTGWO-TUCP declared that the senatorial aspirants they will support will endure that the plight of the working class is heard in the halls of Congress.