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Rising food, fuel prices drive May Day rallies

* Around 40,000 protest in Indonesia, demand lower food prices, higher wages
* Protesters in Philippines demand govt control rising price of rice g More than 1,000 women protest in Peru

JAKARTA/MANILA/LIMA: Thousands of people took to the streets today to mark May Day, with rising food prices and an expected cut in fuel subsidies weighing heavily on workers’ minds.

In Indonesia, thousands participated in Labour Day rallies on Thursday. “We are expecting more than 40,000 people demonstrating today,” said Hariyadi, a policeman, as thousands of workers gathered at the central Imam Bonjol traffic circle. Carrying banners reading ‘Lower Food Prices Now’ and ‘More Pay for Workers and Farmers’, many of the demonstrators said they were alarmed at soaring inflation and the prospect of sharply higher fuel bills. “We want the price of kerosene to come down. Food is getting expensive,” said garment factory worker Yuningsih.

Philippines: In Philippines, thousands of workers took to the streets of the capital on Thursday to demand higher wages and state controls on the rising price of rice, the staple food in the impoverished nation. Police deployed thousands of officers to prevent violence as rallies began in several parts of Manila, which were intended to converge later in the day outside the heavily secured Malacanang presidential palace.

Peru: Meanwhile, more than 1,000 women protested outside Peru’s Congress on Wednesday, banging empty pots and pans to demand the government do more to counter rising food prices, which have squeezed the poor from Kazakhstan to Haiti.

The women, many toting small children on the hip or by the hand, run food kitchens for the poor, where Peruvians can buy breakfast or lunch for less than a dollar. Inflation for basic foods sank President Alan Garcia’s approval rating to 26 percent this month, the lowest level since he took office in 2006. agencies

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