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.com
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 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.com)
