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Days before the Sona, thousands of farmers, workers, students and activists braved the heat and the rain as they marched from the provinces of Southern Tagalog to Commonwealth Avenue. The march, called Lakbayan, is their way of fighting the regime’s abuses and asserting their basic rights.
Thousands converged in other key cities across the country to denounce the Arroyo regime for the poverty, corruption, deception and repression in the Philippines.
In her ninth State of the Nation Address, President Arroyo painted a rosy picture of the Philippines – a world so much different from the one most Filipinos live in, her critics say.
Ordinary Filipinos – the perennially jobless, out-of-school teenagers, recently retrenched factory workers, vegetable vendors, proud homosexuals, among others – braved the heavy rain on the day of the Sona to let it be known that they have had enough of Gloria.
The regime would not veer away from the economic policies that Arroyo has implemented in the past. These are the very same policies that made the Filipino people vulnerable to the world economic crisis and to price manipulations and speculative attacks by corporations wanting to pass on the burden of the crisis to the people.
Anti-Sona Protests in Manila, Provinces
When Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers what is supposed to be her last State of the Nation Address this Monday, she will probably claim that she has accomplished what she said she had set out to do in 2001 and 2004. To her critics, however, the past nine years have been “the reign of Gollum.”
“My continued detention shows that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines is not serious in lifting the suspension of the Jasig. There is political pressure to keep me in jail. But they are no match against the mass movement who spared no effort in their support,” Principe said. 
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Earlier:
Principe Finally Freed from Camp Crame Jail
Military Blocks Release of Political Prisoner
Marie Hilao Enriquez, secretary-general of Karapatan, told Bulatlat that the military refused to release Elizabeth Principe’s clearance papers. “This is already a case of illegal detention since the court has already ordered her release,” Enriquez said. Principe was supposed to be freed Monday night.
“How can we claim to be under a democracy when a political prisoner continues to languish in jail even as all the trumped-up charges filed against her have already been dismissed?”
The University of the Philippines is regarded as an institution where academic freedom is at its best. Ironically, the case of one of its professors, Sarah Raymundo, seems to go against the grain of the university’s liberal tradition.
A troubled economy, widespread joblessness, human-rights violations, corruption, and political maneuverings are whipping public discontent against Arroyo, warns Ibon Foundation.
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