Manila’s summer brings punishing heat – even in the early morning. Thankfully, there were trees for shade in front of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) building in Quezon City.
Leodegario “Ka Leody” de Guzman, chairman of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BLM) now running for a Senate seat, stood before a crowd of fewer than a hundred.
Megaphone in hand, he slammed the Marcos administration’s neglect of the poor, citing the sharp cut in the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program – from P1 million to P200,000.
Among his crowd were desperate faces: Tondo residents who had lost their homes to successive fires, and Rizal residents claiming business groups had stolen their land.
They listened as De Guzman condemned President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and past presidents for repeatedly promising affordable housing but failing to deliver.
“Binudol-budol tayo ng gobyerno. Binudol tayo ni Cory, ni Marcos Sr., ni Ramos, ni Aquino, ni Gloria, ni Duterte, hanggang ngayon binubudol-budol ang mga mahihirap (We were scammed by the government. We were scammed by Cory Aquino, by Ferdinand Marcos Sr., by Fidel Ramos, by Noynoy Aquino, by Gloria Arroyo, by Rodrigo Duterte — until now, the poor are still being scammed),” he said during the mobilization on April 29.
In this year’s midterm elections, De Guzman is among several labor rights advocates running for the Senate, urging voters to replace entrenched leaders with candidates like him who are pushing for real reform.
Rich politicians, mostly from political dynasties, have long failed to represent workers’ interests, he said.
“Dahil sa mahabang panahon na pagpwesto ng mga mayayaman o sikat na mga politiko, wala naman na-resolve sa problema ng mga manggagawa (Because of the long reign of the wealthy and famous politicians, none of the workers’ problems have been resolved),” he told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in an interview after the April 29 mobilization.
This is De Guzman’s fourth attempt at a national position, including a 2022 presidential run where he received less than 100,000 votes compared to Marcos’ over 31 million votes. Still, he stood out for representing marginalized sectors.
In 2025, De Guzman is advocating for a law that will implement the constitutional ban on political dynasties. He also vows to pass legislation strengthening labor rights, mandating fair wages, ending contractualization, and taxing the rich.
“I-tax ang mga mayayaman, hindi ang mamamayan (Let’s tax the wealthy, not the people,)” he said.
TOP PHOTO. Labor rights activists call for a national living wage during a Labor Day event on May 1 in Calamba City, Laguna. Photo by Sean Angelo Guevarra for PCIJ
Poor survey performance
The labor leaders continue to perform poorly in pre-election surveys. De Guzman, who has the highest support among them, registers only 2.1 percentage points at the March 2025 Pulse Asia survey— equivalent to a little more than one million votes. That’s a far cry from former Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, the 12th placer, who is polling at 30 percentage points.
De Guzman is running under the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), which has been delisted from the party list elections because of its failure to win seats in two consecutive elections.
The other PLM candidate is lawyer Renecio “Luke” Espritu Jr., who is also making his second Senate run after a failed first attempt in 2022. He follows De Guzman in the Pulse Asia survey, recording support from 1.9% of the voters.
He is known for leading collective actions and labor strikes for the contractual workers in companies such as APT Manufacturing, Fishta Seafood, and Herco Trading. These actions have led to full regularization of the contractuals because of Espiritu’s involvement in collective initiatives.
He has handled public interest cases, including plunder charges against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, cases involving former First Lady Imelda Marcos and her family’s ill-gotten wealth, and secured a writ of kalikasan to halt the privatization of water resources in Indang, Cavite.
The labor leaders are performing poorly in pre-election surveys. De Guzman and Espiritu already have the highest numbers, at 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively, equivalent to less than 2 million votes each.
Labor Win alliance from 2019
The labor rights advocates bring decades of grassroots advocacy, but they struggle to match the money other candidates have spent on the campaign.
For most of his legal career, Jose “Sonny” Matula, also a senatorial candidate, has provided pro bono legal support to unions and laborers across the country – from farmers in Lanao del Norte to industrial workers in Iligan City.
He also served as labor commissioner at the Social Security System from 2006 to 2010.
This isn’t his first campaign. Matula ran in 2019 under the Labor Win Alliance, alongside De Guzman and fellow senatorial candidate Ernesto Arellano.
In 2019, all three were part of the slate of former vice president and presidential candidate Leni Robredo and her running mate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan in 2022.
Arellano, a former secretary-general of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), is running under the Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi party. His platform includes agrarian reform and universal healthcare expansion.
Makabayan fields 11 Senate bets
Under the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (MKBYN) party are two more labor leaders running for Senate: Ronaldo “Jerome” Adonis and Jocelyn Andamo.
Adonis, KMU’s secretary general, became his family’s breadwinner at 16. Forced to drop out of high school, he worked in a carton factory, then as a bus conductor — a job that fueled his activism.
He joined the PASVIL/Pascual Liner Inc. Workers Union and eventually became a full-time KMU organizer. For over a decade, he organized transport workers and dock laborers.
His top campaign promise is to raise the minimum wage to P1,200 a day and eliminate provincial wage disparities that leave workers outside Metro Manila behind.
Jocelyn “Nars Alyn’’ Andamo belongs to the same party. She is the secretary general of Filipino Nurses United.
Despite opportunities to work abroad and earn more as a nurse, Adamo stayed in the Philippines to fight for healthcare workers’ rights and push for improved health services.
Her proposals include allocating 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) to public hospitals, raising nurses’ monthly salary to P55,000, and ending contractualization in the health sector.
Adonis and Andamo are two labor leaders in the 11-member senatorial slate of Makabayan, a progressive coalition in the House of Representatives.
The senatorial slate also includes Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chairman Danilo Ramos.
Alongside these senatorial bids are party list groups with labor platforms seeking seats in the House of Representatives. Out of 155 party list groups, over a dozen aim to represent the Filipino workers.
Party-list groups, too
Among them is the Trade Union Congress (TUCP), the country’s biggest labor federation in the Philippines.
TUCP has previously secured representation in the House and was instrumental in passing laws like the 4Ps Act, the Magna Carta of the Poor, and the Department of Migrant Workers Act.
Its current agenda includes wage hikes, tax reforms, a ban on labor contractualization, and improved pensions. TUCP also pushes for reforms in healthcare, public transport, and human rights protection.
Another group, Kamanggagawa Partylist – formerly known as Ateniba – has shifted its focus from environmental justice to labor rights. Founded in 2024, the group advocates for a national daily living wage of P1,000 and the abolition of provincial wage settings.
Labor Day campaign
Despite broad support in surveys for reforms in jobs and wages, this is not reflected in voter preferences. Labor leaders remain on the margins.
They are also frequent targets of red-tagging. “Hindi kami magtatago (We will not hide,)” said De Guzman. “At ipagmamalaki pa namin na kami ay aktibista…. Kami ay kaliwa dahil gusto namin ng pagbabago.” (We will take pride that we are activists. We are left because we want change).
De Guzman believes many voters still support political dynasties because of economic pressures.
“Takot sila na hindi na sila mabigyan ng ayuda, hindi na sila makalapit kapag manganganak na yung asawa nila. May pressure ba (“They’re afraid they won’t receive aid anymore, that they won’t have anyone to turn to when their wife is about to give birth. There’s definitely pressure),” he said.
On Labor Day, May 1, labor candidates hoped to rally support from voters.
“Gamitin natin ang Mayo Uno para itakwil ang political dynasty (Let’s use May 1 to reject political dynasties),” De Guzman said.
“Tama na. Sobra na. Itigil na yun at ‘yung pambubudol nila na sa tao (Enough. This has gone too far. Stop it—and stop their scamming of the people),” he said.
He vowed to keep exposing the country’s elite-dominated political and economic system.
“Patuloy namin ibubulgar ‘yung klase ng pulitika at ekonomiya sa Pilipinas — na naglilingkod sa iilan at nagpapahirap sa mamamayan (We will continue to expose the kind of politics and economy in the Philippines — one that serves the few and burdens the people),” he said. — PCIJ.org