THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers condemned the “weaponization” of the SSS Law to persecute unionists.

It was referring to the arrest of University of the Philippines professor Dr. Melania L. Flores for her alleged failure to remit Social Security System contributions for her househelp.

“The SSS, acting on its own without any complaint from a private person, singling out Dr. Flores for a case which has no basis is clearly an act of using the law to harass, intimidate and violate the rights of our union leaders,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

“It is highly malicious for the SSS to go after Dr. Flores when she had clearly informed the agency years ago that her househelp is no longer under her employ, all while thousands of workers file complaints against their big business employers who fail to remit SSS contributions but these were not acted upon or apprehended,” Basilio added.

“Pati ba naman batas sa SSS remittance ay ginagamit para supilin ang mga unyonista? Pati ba ang SSS ay nagpapagamit sa pandarahas ng estado laban sa ating mga guro na nagsusulong lamang ng ating mga karapatan?” he asked.

“We have more than enough reasons to believe that the trumped-up charge against Dr. Flores is politically-motivated, as with the many fabricated charges filed against leaders of ACT and other unions in the country. This has been the trend since the “whole-of-nation approach” was instituted through Executive Order 70 and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict was created in 2018,” Basilio added.