This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 32, September 18-24, 2005
‘Fire And
Power’ for Arroyo’s Removal
Calling
themselves the “September 6 Movement,” a new broad alliance of academicians,
small sugar planters, lawyers, scientists, engineers, artists and other
professionals was launched Sept. 16 in this city to represent Negros in the
nationwide movement calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
By Karl G. Ombion
BACOLOD CITY –
Calling themselves the “September 6 Movement,” a new broad alliance of
academicians, small sugar planters, lawyers, scientists, engineers, artists and
other professionals was launched Sept. 16 in this city to represent Negros in
the nationwide movement calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Among the
convenors of the September 6 Movement, who vowed “to add fire and power to the
broad people’s movement for Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation,” are Profs .George
Aguilar of the University of St. La Salle and Carlos Legaspi of the University
of Negros Occidental; the Alliance of Concerned Teachers – Bacolod; the Social
Science Educators Circle; small sugar planters such as Nadie Arceo of UNIFARMS;
representatives of the Small Bakers Association of Bacolod; the Black Artists of
Asia, Scientists and Engineers Association of Bacolod; lawyer Archie Baribar,
who is also former councilor of Bacolod; as well as health professionals, youth
groups, and small businessmen.
The launching
guest speaker, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, lauded the movement saying, “It’s a
good sign for the GMA resign movement because Mrs. Arroyo’s propagandists keep
on harping that the middle class forces are with her. Here it is clear that Mrs.
Arroyo is losing one of the most influential and noisy segments in our society.”
Death of constitutional democracy
Another speaker,
Prof. Ely Patriarca, said that they got the name of their movement from “the
fateful Sept. 6, 2005, the day Mrs. Arroyo stripped and discarded away all her
pretensions to democratic principles, even her own elitist democratic beliefs.
It is the day Mrs. Arroyo and her henchmen shut the doors of the constitutional
and democratic processes to resolving the political and economic grievances of
our people. She imposed in its place the rule of tyranny and terror.”
Patriarca also
stressed that “the killing of the constitutional process was done Sept. 6, and
its burial on Sept. 7.” The group’s battle cry is thus to “fight for the truth
and the removal of Mrs. Arroyo because she is the biggest and most serious
stumbling block to the realization of truth and justice.”
People Power
Dionisio de la
Cruz, a cultural artist and a founder of the movement, said “Now is the time to
develop comprehensively a true people power throughout the archipelago, rather
than succumb to fear and submission, nor be drawn into the inutile and bankrupt
‘rule of law’ of the rulers.”
“People power is
our antidote to the rubber-stamp congress and courts of the corrupt, fake,
inutile and ruthless Arroyo administration,” de la Cruz said.
“We will align
with the masses of our people, and with them, rely on our own strength, and wage
collective and democratic struggles till Mrs. Arroyo is removed from power, and
the substantive and meaningful political, economic and social reforms are
realized,” he added.
The truth
Prof. George
Aguilar, on the other hand, said that their group is no longer interested in the
search for truth because, according to them, everybody knows the truth. He said,
“Our people want meaningful and lasting peace based on social justice. Our
people’s demand is a change in the entire ruling system, not just a mere change
in the presidency and leadership, nor in the form of government.”
“The truth,”
Aguilar added, “is concealed by the immoral, illegitimate and fake president
Mrs. Arroyo for having cheated and stolen the 2004 elections. The truth is also
suppressed by Mrs Arroyo’s rule of tyranny, deception and coercion. The truth is
further altered by Mrs. Arroyo’s lying to the people about the wholesale
implementation of IMF-WB and WTO economic prescriptions which have caused untold
miseries to our people, wrecked havoc on our environment, undermined our
national sovereignty, and galvanized bureaucratic corruption.“
Urgent reforms needed
Nadie Arceo,
president of the UNIFARMS, said that small sugar planters have joined the
movement because “the only way to effect meaningful reforms in a big
planter-miller-trader- dominated sugar industry is to align with different
groups pushing for political and economic reforms in the national and local
levels”.
Arceo also said
that “the anarchic and monopolistic situation in the sugar industry where only
the big ones benefit, and often at the expense of the small sugar planters, is
what is happening under the Arroyo administration.”
“The cry among the
small sugar producers and even among sugar workers, is also for reforms in the
national government. But it should simultaneously start with the removal of bad
leadership in the sugar industry and the institution of some reforms,” he added.
Transition Council
Casiño meanwhile
told the group that the formation of a transition council is so far the best
alternative of the people to Mrs. Arroyo because “it is a true and broad
representation of a wide array of political forces fighting for Mrs. Arroyo’s
removal, and its political platform carries the sentiments and demands of the
people for political, economic and social reforms.”
The idea of a
transition council, the Bayan Muna congressman said, came from the lessons the
people learned from Edsa 1 and Edsa 2, where after toppling discredited
presidents “We did nothing much, and let the forces of reaction grab and share
among themselves the power structures and continue the political and economic
programs that have been exploiting and oppressing our people.”
“We must define
our own alternative and work for it,” Casiño added.
In its declaration
of unity, the September 6 Movement supported the formation of a transition
council and vowed “to work for the orderly, democratic and peaceful transition
of power from Mrs. Arroyo to her successor, with or without constitutional
succession, with a transition caretaker body to exist for six months to one
year, whose tasks shall be to carry out meaningful electoral, economic and
political reforms.”
The group has
lined up a series of protest actions, mostly in creative cultural protest forms,
to draw the broad and active participation of various middle class
professionals. Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Negros’
September 6 Movement supports Transition Council
Bulatlat