This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 30, September 4-10, 2005
Arroyo to Face ‘Storm of Protests,’ Militants Say Days
after the killing of the impeachment complaint against President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo at the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice,
newly-launched anti-Arroyo alliances warn she will be facing a “storm of
protests” beginning this month. BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO At the launch of the Gloria
Step Down Movement (GSM) Sept. 3, a loose network of various regional and
sector-based formations pushing for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,
one of its convenors said she must expect to face a “storm of protests”
beginning this month. Among the protest actions
being planned, according to labor groups gathered at the launch of BAKLASIN SI
ARROYO (Remove Arroyo) two days earlier, are a nationwide transport strike
second week of this month and a Lakbayan ng Mamamayan (people’s long
march) from Laguna to Metro Manila in October. Joining the GSM’s launch as
member-alliances were Artists for Democracy and the Immediate Ouster of Gloria
(ADIOS Gloria), Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria), Youth
Demanding Arroyo’s Removal (Youth Dare), Rx Emergency: Gloria Resign, RAGE (Rise
All Government Employees) 2 Resign, OUTRAGE (Overseas Filipinos, Their Families
and Advocates Unite to Oust the Arroyo Regime), and the newly-formed BAKLASIN SI
ARROYO or Bayang Nagkakaisa para Patalsikin si Arroyo (People United to
Dismantle the Arroyo Regime). It also counts among its
member-alliances various region-based anti-Arroyo formations. Whether or not the
pro-impeachment solons manage to gather the 79 signatures needed for the
articles of impeachment to be transmitted directly to the Senate, the GSM will
intensify different forms of actions to “bear pressure on the President and
thwart its attempts to prolong its stay in power,” said GSM convenor Dr.
Reynaldo Lesaca, who read the group’s declaration during its launch at the
Quezon City Sports Club.
Impeachment complaints Arroyo has been facing
three impeachment complaints at the House of Representatives. Her alleged
impeachable offenses range from bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of
public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution. Earlier last week, the
House Committee on Justice killed all three impeachment complaints – including
an amended version of the complaint filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano. The amended
impeachment complaint, which included among Arroyo’s alleged offenses the human
rights violations or crimes against humanity committed by state forces under her
watch, falling under culpable violation of the Constitution, is being pushed by
people’s organizations and the House opposition bloc. Arroyo has been facing
calls for her resignation, impeachment or ouster following renewed allegations
that she cheated her way to victory in the 2004 election, as well as what
cause-oriented groups describe as her government’s imposition of “anti-national
and anti-people” policies. “The present wave of people
power was delayed as we focused our energies on the impeachment process,” said
Bayan Muna (People First) Rep. Satur Ocampo. “But with the impeachment complaint
effectively killed in the House Committee on Justice and pro-impeachment solons
now simply exerting last-ditch efforts, the main fight is now to be waged in the
streets.” He accused the pro-Arroyo,
majority congressmen of violating the constitutional requirement of public
accountability by railroading the impeachment and thus preventing the truth
about the president’s culpability on the alleged crimes from being known. In this regard, Lesaca said
“If members of the House of Representatives cease to be representatives of the
people and begin to be mere representatives of Malacañang, the people have no
one to rely on but themselves.” Lesaca, who is also Bayan
Muna chair, likewise announced that the GSM is preparing for big mobilizations
on Sept. 7 and 21. The GSM supports the call
for the formation of a Transition Council to replace the Arroyo regime. The
transition council, according to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New
Patriotic Alliance) chair Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, will last from six months
to one year and will set in place a number of reforms such as immediate economic
relief including the cancellation of onerous debts, wage increase, moratorium on
increases in the prices of petroleum products and other prime commodities; and
political reforms like the reopening of peace negotiations with the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF), as well as investigations of widespread human rights violations. In a related development,
former President Corazon Aquino and Susan Roces, widow of actor Fernando Poe,
Jr. – widely believed to have won in the 2004 election – led various anti-Arroyo
forces in an inter-faith prayer Sept. 2 at the La Salle Greenhills School in San
Juan City. On Sept. 1, several labor
and urban poor groups gathered at the Tandang Sora Hall of the College of Social
Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman,
Quezon City to form BAKLASIN SI ARROYO (Remove Arroyo). The alliance is composed
of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement), Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga
Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston or United Nationwide Association of
Drivers and Operators), Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay or Alliance of
Urban Poor Associations), National Coalition of Concerned Volunteers (NCCV), FPJ
for President Movement, Union of the Masses for Justice and Democracy (UMDJ),
National Association of Trade Unions (NATU), National Labor Unions (NLU),
National Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers and Other Industries (NUHRWOI),
and other labor organizations. During the launch of
BAKLASIN SI ARROYO, KMU chairman Elmer Labog condemned the killing of the
impeachment complaint. “Dismissing the impeachment complaint is a desperate act
on Arroyo’s part to save her shaky presidency,” he said.
Collective actions He said the killing of the
impeachment complaint only showed that the people “cannot just rely on legal
processes to resolve the current economic and political crisis,” and that
collective actions are needed. Meanwhile, UMDJ
secretary-general Ver Eustaquio said the killing of the impeachment complaint
does not mean the death of popular protests. “They may have killed the
impeachment, but they cannot kill the people’s anger,” he said. Labor expressed a similar
view. “This will further incite the people to take to the streets and pursue the
protests to oust Arroyo,” he said. Recent opinion surveys have
showed majority of the respondents wanting Arroyo to leave Malacañang. Later that day, a number of
BAKLASIN SI ARROYO members joined an indignation rally by various groups under
the banner of Bayan against the killing of the impeachment complaint at the
House Committee on Justice. The indignation rally would in a few hours also turn
into a protest against the 15-0 ruling of the Supreme Court declaring the
expanded value-added tax law (E-VAT) as constitutional. The VAT being a tax on
goods and services, it is widely feared that the E-VAT would adversely affect
the prices of prime commodities, among them petroleum products which recently
hit all-time high prices in the world market. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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