Davao City — Last Friday’s anti-pork protest action drew 2,000 people coming from sectors of the workers, urban poor, small-scale miners, students and “middle class”.
But an activist dressed as beauty queen “Megan Yan” – a spoof character of Miss World winner Megan Young – stole the show.
The protest, organized by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), started with a mid-day march led by red-shirted leaders marching along Magsaysay Park, Quirino Avenue, Bankerohan, Magallanes to CM Recto for a rally at Freedom Park in this southern city.
Later at 6 pm, the protesters held a torch parade towards Rizal Park in San Pedro Street and held a concert featuring protest songs and poetry from Davao artists.
What entertained the crowd most was the spiel from “Megan Yan,” a play on the phrase ‘Me Ganyan’ (Is that so?). She told the protesters that she arrived home after winning the “Mess World” title, only to be welcomed by a congressman who offered her a feast of “pork chop, belly, liempo, sinigang, chorizo, tocino and special pork ice cream”.
But ‘Megan’ complained that the congressman told her: “You should go on a diet, because you’re Miss World.” And the congressman took all the food for himself.
Speakers from various sectors raised their calls to abolish all pork barrel funds including the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) and the President’s discretionary funds and have them rechanneled to social services.
Award-winning writer and playwright Don Pagusara delivered a poem, while a small-scale miner from Pantukan, Compostela Valley, slammed President Aquino’s endorsement of large-scale mining that would not only displace small-scale miners, but also destroy the environment and livelihood in his province.
(Text and photos by davaotoday.com’s MEDEL V. HERNANI and ACE R. MORANDANTE) Reposted by 
