MANILA, Philippines – A number of netizens have been throwing their condiments into trash cans and posting it on social media with the hashtag #BoycottNutriasia.
The move is a symbolic response to the violent dispersal that took place outside NutriAsia's plant in Marilao, Bulacan, on Monday, July 30.
While the hashtag is not new, it was revived online after the photo of an injured elderly woman, her face bloodied, went viral on social media on Monday. She was one of the protesters who joined the picket organized by the Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng NutriAsia Incorporated. (LOOK: Why NutriAsia workers are on strike)
Militant group Anakbayan said at least 19 were arrested after the dispersal – 8 NutriAsia workers, 6 supporters, and 5 journalists. Two of those arrested are UP students, according to the Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND UP).
Police claimed they recovered guns and drugs from all of the 19 individuals.
"As teachers and workers at the University of the Philippines, we stand firmly with our students, Jon Bonifacio and Psalty Caluza, as they supported the just demands of the NutriAsia workers," CONTEND UP said in a statement.
Bayan Muna representative Carlos Zarate condemned the violent dispersal. "Walang habas at pakundangan ang marahas na pagdisperse sa mga mangagagawa ng NutriAsia at ng kanilang mga taga-suporta na nagresulta sa maraming sugatan kasama na ang isang lola at marami din ang nawawala," he said in a statement.
(The violent dispersal of the NutriAsia workers and their supporters was unprovoked and careless, resultubf in many wounded, including one grandmother. Many have gone missing.)
Netizens echoed Zarate's sentiment, criticizing authorities for the inhumane dispersal or workers seeking fair labor treatment. Earlier in July, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ordered NutriAsia to regularize 80 workers.
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The violent dispersal also pushed a number of non-governmental organizations and groups to boycott Nutriasia products, in solidarity with its workers.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The bloody dispersal of the NutriAsia workers is the state of the nation: police brutality is used to protect the interest of those in power.<br><br>When we ignore state violence against those who assert their rights, we enable them to do the same to us. 5/9<a href="https://t.co/QzbyWYWJBs">https://t.co/QzbyWYWJBs</a></p>— Metro Manila Pride (@mmprideorg) <a href="https://twitter.com/mmprideorg/status/1024124130143031297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Below are some tweets by netizens on the social media call to #BoycottNutriasia:
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<a class="twitter-timeline" data-partner="tweetdeck" href="https://twitter.com/MovePH/timelines/1024121923993653248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoycottNutriasia - Curated tweets by MovePH</a> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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In a statement on Monday, NutriAsia claimed the violence erupted when the picketers "fired a shot in the air and started to hurl rocks at police and guards tasked to maintain peace and order in the area."
The company lamented the supposed violation of the labor group of the writ of preliminary injuction released by the regional trial court in Bulacan, ordering the workers' union and the company to "desist and restrain from obstructing the ingress and egress from the company plant."
"It is even more disturbing that the strikers had used young children and elderlies as frontliners and human shields as they pushed their way to barricade the plant entryways. These children and elderlies clearly have nothing to do with the labor issue at hand," Nutriasia added in its statement. – Rappler.com