An update from the Rod of Correction

Luke Palacio

COLA stood against Penner today but the organization didn’t stand alone. Representatives from the recently formed Rod of Correction were on hand. R.O.C. has come under fire from Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who called it a lame and ill-fated attempt to recreate the civil unrest of 2005. So far the group has demonstrated representation from different organizations, but the numbers remain small. President of the B.N.T.U. and founding member of R.O.C. Luke Palacio told us today that appearances are deceiving, and R.O.C. will be a force to reckon with.

Luke Palacio, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“That’s the Prime Minister’s position that nothing is going on with ROC, but as far as we are concerned, this organization was born out of the fact that a number of our social partners, a number of our civil society organizations are experiencing the same thing that COLA is experiencing….the matter of the disrespect, the matter of the abuse that continues to happen and so we are saying that yes, we are beginning a movement. It is a movement that has no political partisan axe to grind. It has to do with national issues. As it relates to this particular case, we have to understand a very important thing. This has to do with our national patrimony. You will also recall that the Belize National Teachers Union in particular and the Trade Union congress of Belize were among the first organizations that had called for a thorough and proper investigation into this passport scandal and we insisted that justice must be done. So we are not out here because of what has happened to COLA today…we are out here because there are a number of national issues. And as it relates to the Rod of Correction we are moving but again, we have to move objectively so that when we achieve what we are supposed to be achieving, then we will be successful.”

R.O.C. is made up of representation from the N.T.U.C.B., P.S.U. and B.N.T.U. as well as other organizations including SATIIM and B.G.Y.E.A.