Press Statement | May 1, 2026
As the country marks Labor Day with renewed calls for fair wages and meaningful economic relief, repression continues to intensify on the ground.
This year’s May 1 commemoration unfolds under the shadow of the Toboso 19 massacre in Negros Occidental — a stark reminder that counterinsurgency policies are deepening rather than resolving the root causes of conflict: landlessness, poverty, and systemic inequality, particularly in long-standing flashpoints like Negros.
Against this backdrop, the situation of political prisoners becomes impossible to ignore. Now nearing 700, they include workers and union organizers whose plight underscores a broader injustice — the criminalization of dissent and the suppression of legitimate demands for a fair wage increase, job security, and dignity.
Political prisoners are not separate from the workers’ struggle — they are its clearest expression. Their prolonged detention on trumped-up charges highlights the shrinking space for workers to collectively assert their rights without fear of reprisal.
KAPATID stands in solidarity with workers across the country in demanding:
– Living wages and genuine economic relief
– Protection of labor rights and union freedoms
– An end to red-tagging, harassment, and political persecution
– Immediate release of all political prisoners
– Justice for the Toboso 19
The fight for workers’ rights cannot be separated from the struggle to end political repression and secure the freedom of all political prisoners.
#LaborDay2026
#FreePoliticalPrisoners
#WorkersRights
#EndRepression
#DefendHumanRights
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Reference: KAPATID Media Desk
Mobile 0905 896 1708
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KAPATID, which means brother/sister in Filipino, is a support organization of families and friends of political prisoners in the Philippines that works for their release and the protection of their rights and welfare.
National Office:
2/F Erythrina Bldg., 1 Maaralin cor. Matatag Sts.
Barangay Central, Quezon City 1100, Philippines
Phone: +63 2 8990 6595
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: kapatid.politicalprisoners
Messenger: m.me/kapatid.politicalprisoners
X (Twitter): @kapatidPP