Seventeen (17) years after the assassination of the irrepressible labor leader and advocate Filemon “Ka Popoy” Lagman at the UP Campus on February 6, 2001, the same lack of labor benefits which he fought and died for continue to marginalize Filipino workers.

The following labor woes still haunt the labor sector:

1. Wages are below the constitutionally mandated living wage.

2. Unemployment and underemployment remain uncontained.

3. Mass poverty and self-rated poverty continue to be high.

4. The cascading adverse effects of the recent increase in excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bedevil workers like increases in the prices of gasoline, kerosene, LPG, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

5. Legislative attempts to outlaw contractualization and “endo” have built-in loopholes and may be counterproductive.

As we observe today the 17^th death anniversary of “Ka Popoy”, he remains restless and unfulfilled in his grave even as his assassins elude justice.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN