This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 22, July 10-16, 2005
Mass Walkouts, Strikes Set This Week
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
has stood firm on her decision to stay, but the organized youth are calling on
her to resign. The demand for her removal from office has grown to the point
where daily protests are set to be held to force the President to leave
Malacañang.
BY CARL MARC RAMOTA The country’s militant
labor center announced July 9 it will lead labor strikes and mass walkouts this
week to condemn President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s refusal to resign and press
for her removal from office. Elmer Labor, chair of the
Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU – May 1st Movement), said his group will lead “calibrated
workers strikes and mass walkouts” from factories and other work sites starting
Monday, July 11. "Since Arroyo doesn't want
to resign then the only way to remove her as President is through people power." The KMU issued the
announcement as transport groups led by Piston last week threatened likewise to
call for transport strike in Metro Manila and other regions. The groups will
call for oil price rollback and are expected to join the call for the
President’s resignation. Hundreds of public school
teachers in Metro Manila last July 8 walked out of their schools demanding
salary increases. Other teachers and university faculties led by the Alliance of
Concerned Teachers are set to follow suit with similar walkouts throughout the
country this week. Students,
too Meanwhile, thousands of
students from various state and private schools and youth in different
communities are set to hold daily protests this week to compel President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo to leave Malacañang. This was the consensus
reached by student leaders and representatives of several youth organizations
under Youth Demanding Arroyo's Removal (YOUTH DARE) in a meeting held last July
8 at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Manila. YOUTH DARE spokesperson
Raymond Palatino said student groups from various schools have already called
for Arroyo's immediate resignation. Palatino said the National
Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and the College Editors Guild of the
Philippines (CEGP), the biggest alliances of student councils and publications
in the country and main convenors of YOUTH DARE, have called on all its members
to join the call for Arroyo's resignation. NUSP has a membership of
more than 450 student councils while the CEGP has more than 750 member
publications. Daily
protests The Katipunan ng mga
Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (Kasama sa UP), an association of student councils
in the UP system, and Solidaridad (Solidarity) , a systemwide alliance of
student publications and writers' organization in UP, are now gearing up for
massive mobilizations of UP students in its six autonomous units. In a statement, UP Student
Regent Ken Leonard Ramos dispelled perceptions that the youth currently
experience "People Power fatigue." He said as long as there is no genuine social
change, students will never be tired of marching on the historical avenues of
EDSA. (EDSA in Quezon City is the site of people’s uprisings that toppled two
presidents, Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001.) Students from the
Polytechnic University of the Philipines' (PUP) main campus led by its Central
Student Council and PUP's official student publication, The Catalyst, are set to
hold a massive walkout on Monday to start off daily protests in PUP units. PUP students in its nine
campuses in Luzon are expected to join protest actions against Arroyo as the
Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Konseho ng PUP (ANAK-PUP), the Alyansa ng Kabataang
Mamamahayag sa PUP (AKM-PUP) and the Office of PUP Student Regent Diana Monde
Directo have also urged Arroyo to resign. Catholic
and Protestant schools join resignation calls Meanwhile, more student
groups in Catholic schools are joining calls for Arroyo's resignation despite
the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines' (CEAP) recent position
leaving the decision to the embattled president. Palatino said most student
bodies in CEAP schools have already called for Arroyo's resignation after she
publicly apologized for conversing with an official of the Commission on
Elections (COMELEC) during canvassing. He said Catholic school officials should
follow the example of their students. Administrators of De La Salle University (DLSU),
a CEAP member, have earlier called for Arroyo's resignation DLSU's student council has
already urged Arroyo to leave Malacañang. Three Ateneo student groups have also
joined the calls for Arroyo's resignation which include the Sanggunian ng mga
Mag-aaral ng Ateneo, Matanglawin, the official Filipino student publication and
the Assembly, an organization in the Political Science department. Their stand
was contrary to the Ateneo administration's neutral stand. While the University of
Santo Tomas (UST) administration is calling for the formation of a Truth
Commission, several UST-based groups like the Alliance of Concerned Thomasians
(ACT-NOW) and the Alliance of Law Students for Nationalism-UST chapter have
called on Arroyo to step down. The student councils of
Saint Paul's College–Manila and the Adamson University have also called for
Arroyo's removal. Meanwhile, a group of student organizations in San Beda
College said that its members have already lost their trust on the President and
that they are committed to campaign for Arroyo's resignation. "CEAP's stand does not
reflect the sentiments of thousands of students in Catholic schools in the
country. With or without the support of their school administrators, the
students are already resolute to call for Arroyo's resignation," Palatino said. He said that even students
from Protestant schools are calling for Arroyo’s resignation. The student
councils of Trinity College and Philippine Christial University (PCU) have made
this stand, as well as Trinity’s student publication The Observer. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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Youth alliances
to hold daily protests
Bulatlat
Labog added: "Workers and poor people suffered enough under Arroyo's leadership.
We cannot allow her to stay longer in Malacañang. We will set up barricades in
urban poor communities and lead labor and transport strikes to press her to step
down immediately."