RALLIES MOUNTED IN BICOL’S 6 PROVINCES
Thousands of people took to the streets in all of Bicol’s six provinces against key policies of the Duterte administration hours before President Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday.
They also demanded an increase in the national minimum wage, land distribution for farmers and justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings in the government’s war on drugs.
The rallies were held at Plaza Rizal, Naga City, in Camarines Sur; Pinaglabanan Shrine, Legazpi City, in Albay; the Capitol in Sorsogon City; Freedom Park in Masbate City; Elevated Plaza in Daet, Camarines Norte, and Freedom Park in Virac, Catanduanes.
These were led by CondorPiston Bicol, Gabriela, Anakbayan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Bicol, Kilusang Mayo Uno and other militant groups
In cultural numbers, the protesting workers, farmers, fishermen, slum dwellers, drivers and youths assailed the administration’s jeepney modernizaton program, militarization, labor contractualization and Charter change.
Umbrella rally
In Baguio City, activists staged an umbrella rally at 11 a.m. on Monday, chanting “Walang ulan, walang ulan sa
bayang lumalaban (Rain can’t stop a nation that continues to fight)” at Igorot Park.
The protesters marched despite intermittent rains to drum up what they described as the “true state of the nation reeling from poverty” due to new taxes imposed by the Duterte administration.
They earlier gathered for a forum that tackled the country’s human rights situation under a police war on illegal drugs and the “continued militarization” of Cordillera communities.
In Legazpi, Ramon Rescovilla, secretary-general of transport group Condor-Piston Bicol, denounced the phaseout of jeepneys would displace poor drivers and operators in favor of big manufacturers of modernized jeepneys.
Gabriela members chanted “Duterte takot sa babae! (Duterte is afraid of women).”
“Amid the worsening economic crisis, intensified human rights violations, peace talks, violations of national sovereignty, foreign intervention and threats of dictatorship, the people are about to witness Rodrigo Duterte’s lies in his third Sona,” Bayan said in a statement.
“We have come together to oppose Charter change and dictatorship, the oppressive TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law, widespread human rights abuses and the attacks on our sovereignty,” Dan Balucio of Bayan said.
“Charter change cannot solve inflation, labor and agrarian unrest, and even the worsening climate of impunity.”