By JONELLE MARIN
Bulatlat.com
What appears to be President Benigno Aquino III’s efforts, or lack thereof, in ending poverty in the Philippines have been looming as the people’s primary burden making them poorer. “Look at the results of the recent Social Weather Station survey,” said Leo XL Fuentes, spokesperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Southern Tagalog (BAYAN-ST) in their press release.
“ The people are carrying the heavy cross in the socio-economic crisis that is being aggravated by the policies of the Aquino administration. There has not been any change during the eight months of the new administration,” said Fuentes.
The group trailed four stations before holding a program at the Mendiola bridge at around 4 p.m. Each station depicted the issues pertaining to Aquino’s policies and how those affect the people negatively.
The Southern Tagalog Cultural Network (STCN) portrayed the ‘Station of the Cross’ in the context of the current state of impoverished Filipino families under Aquino’s term.
The Station of the Cross is a practice in the Christian faith where every Holy Week, people pray before images depicting Jesus Christ’s walk to Calvary. The walk with a life-sized wooden cross on his back and the crucifixion itself is said to symbolize Jesus Christ’s sufferings for humankind.
People also fast and abstain from eating meat to remember the sufferings of Christ. In STCN’s depiction, the people have been fasting for so long due to a nonexistent genuine land reform for the farmers and the demolitions of urban poor communities to pave the way for big foreign and local businesses.
A ‘crown of thorns’ which was handed over to the people symbolized the different hikes in prices of basic commodities and education. And a latigo or whip symbolized the continuing political persecution in the country, which resulted in one extra-judicial killing (ejk) per week.
The most recent victim was BAYAN-Batangas President Kenneth Reyes, who was gunned down on April 11 by unidentified men in front of his house in Brgy. Maguihan, Lemery, Batangas.
Also included in the list of Aquino’s policies that, Bayan said, are a “burden to the people,” is the Public-Private Partnership (PPP)program, which the progressive groups called as “Patung-patong na Pahirap (multiple burden). 
