A Tribute to Ka Val - Distinghished Filipino Labor Leader

A Tribute to Ka Val – Distinguised Filipino Labor Leader


Last Thursday night, I was able to attend a necrological service for the late Avelino Valerio or more popularly known as “Ka Val,” Vice President of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) at one local church in Quezon City.

I really don’t know the man save his son, Dr. Rene Valerio, who is like a big brother to me aside from standing as one of our wedding sponsors way back in 2006.

I felt awe and reverence seeing all the flowers and tokens of condolences surrounding the whole room where the casket of Ka Val lies. Condolence from so and so public officials, government agencies, private corporations and esteemed social figures, these I read. There were also the presence of government officials, doctors, lawyers, businessmen and some prominent people whose faces I occasionally see in television or morning newspapers. On the side, volunteers wearing TUCP printed shirts were helping family members serve guests and visitors. A great man died, I said to myself.

While the service went on, my thoughts wandered what did he accomplish in his lifetime to earn this high respect, affection and adoration? What is the secret to his success? If he was great as a labor leader, how about as a family man?

The minister quoted from Chapter 7 of the Book of Ecclesiastes, viz:

“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth... Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better.”

Inside of me, my heart shouted “amen” to the minister’s message. His reading of the scriptures fitted the description of the man in last night’s occasion.

Ka Val has distinguished himself in many facets of his life. As a labor leader. A worker. A friend. A husband. A father. And as a grandfather. His stars however illuminate more in him being a labor leader and as a father. And this light all the more shined now on his time of death than when he was living.

Ka Val served as member of the board of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, in concurrent capacity as TUCP vice president. He practically rose from the ranks in labor unionism. His service in the TUCP dates back as early 1960s. I can imagine how many collective bargaining agreements he negotiated, public policies he advocated, and inspirational talks he delivered to raise the conciousness of the Filipino working class. I was not even born when he began his wide influence in the Philippine labor sector.

Ka Val has eight children and all of them were successful in their careers and family lives. All have become functional members of society, so to speak. I don’t know the other siblings, but knowing Dr. Valerio, who is now chief plastic surgeon of St. Lukes Medical Center, there is no doubt Ka Val achieved no ordinary father has done.

As legal counsel of one labor federation, I know the difficulty besetting the regular workers in raising a family, much more of labor leaders. Despite the lofty title of union presidents or federation officials, they don’t actually stand anyway more privilege or above the regular workers. They still have to render service to their employers. They still get paid minimum wages. They still have to feed their family and send their children to school with their meagre income. Worse, they have to render more sacrifices for the cause of the union.

Dr. Valerio even told me a funny common incident at their home when food supposedly set on the table for the family would be consumed by federation or local union members as they met for a burning issue at the shopfloor. His siblings would cry foul to this incident back then, but now they would just laugh out and understand.

How did he manage to send all his children to college? I asked myself. Lo, I discovered his secret seated beside me-- a loving wife. She is Luz del Castillo Valerio. The woman who have to make ends meet while her husband is out on the streets rallying or working night out lobbying for better terms and conditions for his co-union members. She would see to it each child goes to school. She would be the second opinion to his radical actions and decisions. She is the supportive wife the labor leader gets home disgusted that the CBA-negotiation gets stalled or the policy for wage increase and non-wage benefits gets turned down by the Secretary of Labor or the tripartite wage board. She is, for the family, relatives and friends, the wind beneath Ka Val’s wings. But she is simply “nanay”, as I heard they call her .

My four centavo goes for Ka Val and all his kinds who rose from the social stratification, alienation and the prejudice built-in in our culture. Since the establishment of this country, the people who hold land and capital have nurtured the “psyche of servitude” in the Filipino mind. No wonder many a Filipino do not dream bigger than becoming an employee all their life. Somehow, the Spanish “master-servant rule” enslaved us beyond what we can imagine.

See, even in our so-called modern age, I would often get to handle cases where big companies and even small businesses deprive workers of their security of tenure and thwart the efforts of labor unions to organize. Unfortunately, there are instances that certain public officials act in cohort to downplay the lowly working men in seeking protection of his job and the appurtenant benefits thereto.

When will our businessmen and government people recognize that labor is not a mere input of production? Why is it too difficult to accept that unions are partners of management for business productivity? How come Human Development Index cannot be localized at the shopfloor?

The growing importance of labor is already felt widespread abroad. The states of Israel and the United Kingdom have “Labor Parties” as major political parties. There is a United Nations agency established to promote labor conventions, treating them as basic part of universal human rights.

In the Philippines, we have labor sector representatives in key line government agencies, tripartite wage boards and even in the legislature. History would account that they are the shakers and movers of the infant democracy that this country tried to develop since the birth of the republic. They constitute the base of “people power” in two social revolutions in the last two decades.

For me, Ka Val stands in the line of Secretary Blas Ople, Felixberto Olalia, and many countless names that I would call “dignitaries in the labor sector”. Most of them are gone now. Only their memories and their achievements remain. They, as we say, did not die in vain.

This coming May 2010 elections, I foresee that national and local candidates will be competing to get the support of workers and labor unions for their precious votes. For the workers side, I hope you do more than cast vote but continue participating in democratic processes, limited and faulty they are, for this is your integral role in our modern democracy. For the candidates, I hope you remain true to your promises and recognize your social contracts to the working men who will throw their support to your electoral success. By so doing, together, we remember the life of Ka Val, and all his kinds, and continue on their legacy to a better Philippines.

Ka Val was finally laid to rest on 09 January 2010. Farewell, sir.