Youth Groups March for Arroyo's Removal
Warn to storm Congress if
impeachment is blocked
Youth
groups believe the Macapagal-Arroyo government guilty of stealing the
youth and nation’s bright future. They held protest marches and warned
they will not hesitate to storm Congress should pro-administration
lawmakers succeed in crushing the impeachment
By Carl Marc Ramota
Bulatlat
|
With the theme "Ipaglaban ang Kinabukasan ng Kabataan at Bayan (Fight
for the Youth and Nation's Future)," more than 1,000 students and
youths from different communities, progressive groups, and political
forces led by the Youth Demanding Arroyo's Removal (Youth Dare)
converged in the University belt in Manila last Aug. 16 for the
nationwide Youth March to reiterate the call for President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo's immediate removal.
Youth protesters burn big replica of
presidential seal during an anti-Arroyo rally |
Youth March
participants turned the Morayta Avenue into a street court, declaring
Arroyo guilty of crimes against the youth and the Filipino people in a
Youth Tribunal. Youth leaders hit the full-size seal of the office of the
President with a large gavel as a symbolic gesture of the youth's guilty
verdict against Arroyo as impeachment deliberations in Congress resume
last week.
”Arroyo is not only guilty of stealing the people's votes and the nation's
coffers. Her education and economic policies have robbed the Filipino
youth of our bright future,” Youth Dare spokesman Raymond Palatino said.
”The education sector experienced the worst crisis under Arroyo. The youth
have all the reason to call for her removal. She is the biggest obstacle
to the youth and nation's bright future,” he pointed out.
Palatino said not
even Malacañang's plot to foil the impeachment complaint in the House of
Representatives can dampen the public's clamor for Arroyo's resignation
and quell mounting street protests. He also warned that moves to crush the
impeachment will only hasten Arroyo's downfall.
"Arroyo is already a
lame duck. The current political crisis has rendered her so incapacitated,
any move on her part will surely backfire and sink her deeper in the
political quicksand," he said.
He added that all indicators now point to Arroyo's imminent collapse.
Palatino said the looming oil crisis is a result of the government's
failure to diffuse a political-economic timebomb long waiting to explode.
He also warned that government plan to implement the expanded value added
tax (E-VAT) law will further fuel outrage against the president.
"Arroyo and her allies are making one wrong move after another. The
mishmash of jueteng (illegal numbers game) and vote rigging scandals and
worsening economic condition will soon ignite the mother of all political
bombs that will blow her out of Malacañang," Palatino said.
After the main program in Morayta, Youth March participants headed to
Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City (north of Manila) in a torch parade to
signify the youth's continued vigilance on the ongoing impeachment
deliberations.
"We hope our lawmakers will still be enlightened and find it in their
conscience to uphold the truth and the people's will," Palatino also said.
Palatino however
warned that youth and students will not hesitate to storm Congress should
pro-administration lawmakers succeed in crushing the impeachment.
Some 500 students from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de
Manila also held the Youth March on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City. The
Katipunan contingent later joined the torch parade to Welcome Rotonda.
Youth Dare chapters and allied organizations also held similar actions in
some key cities in the country.
"Impeachment
Monitor" launched
Meanwhile, Youth Dare recently launched its “Impeachment Monitor” or
iMonitor (iM) to ensure that the impeachment complaint will push through.
Palatino said iMonitor booths or centers will be set up in schools and
communities to promote awareness among the youth and the on the
impeachment process and complaint filed against the president.
"We want to bring the process of impeachment closer to the people – in
schools, communities and other areas of people's concentration. In this
way, we could foster the youth and the public's vigilance and
participation in the impeachment process," Palatino explained.
He added that the group will start its iMonitor campaign in schools this
week by placing huge "watch lists" bearing the names and faces of
lawmakers and their stance on the impeachment. The list includes an honor
roll for pro-impeachment legislators, a "horror roll" or "hall of shame"
for anti-impeachment Congressmen and Malacañang lapdogs and a space for
undecided lawmakers.
"We want the students and the public to know who the real representatives
of the people are and those who want to conceal the truth. We will
prioritize the districts of anti-impeachment and undecided lawmakers so
that their constituents will know what their Congressmen are doing," the
Youth Date spokesperson said.
Aside from regular lobbying in Congress, Palatino said the iMonitor
campaign would maximize all forms of communication to reach out to more
young Filipinos to convince them to support the initiative and win over
lawmakers as well.
"Aside from text messaging, we will flood the internet using e-mails,
blogs, forums and network sites with impeachment bulletins and petition
letter for lawmakers to persuade them to back the complaint," he said.
Earlier, leaders of Youth Dare together with the National Union of
Students of the Philipines (NUSP) and the College Editors Guild of the
Philippines (CEGP) gave white roses and ribbons to members of the House
committee on justice to show the youth's hope for the impeachment process.
They also tied white ribbons at the offices of pro-impeachment lawmakers
to express their support.
Last Wednesday, young artists from the Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na
Kalayaan (Karatula or Young Artists for Genuine Freedom) with NUSP and
Youth Dare serenaded lawmakers with anti-Arroyo jingles at the lobby of
the House session hall.
"We have no problem going to Congress everyday if it would mean getting
more signatures for the impeachment complaint. Our lawmakers should expect
more youth and students knocking on their doors in the coming days," he
said. Bulatlat
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