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Militants
to Press Rally at Edsa Shrine
The
militant detachment of People Power 2 will definitely hold a commemorative
protest rally at the Edsa Shrine and other parts of the country on Jan. 20.
Expected to be absent are members of Kompil II, Code-NGO and other
“reformists” who, the militants said, have been coopted by the Arroyo
administration since the fall of President Joseph Estrada two years ago
By
Gerry Albert Corpuz
Bulatlat.com
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-New Patriotic Alliance) will assert the
people's right to hold their protest rally at Edsa Shrine on Monday, the second
anniversary of the historic People Power 2 uprising.
This is the militant alliance's political battlecry as thousands of Bayan
members and supporters will troop to the historic shrine on Monday, Jan. 20 for
the second anniversary of Edsa 2 uprising. The uprising led to the ouster of
President Joseph Estrada and his replacement by then Vice President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.
Groups expected to mobilize thousands of warm bodies for the Bayan-led rally
include the militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU-May First Movement),
party list Bayan Muna (People First), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP-Peasant
Movement of the Philippines), the fisherfolk group Pamalakaya, Kadamay (urban
poor), state employees under Courage, migrant activists from Migrante-International,
Gabriela (women) and the youth group Anakbayan.
Bayan secretary general Teddy Casiño said Bayan and its affiliate organizations
will mobilize not less than 5,000 people and they expect thousands more from
other anti-GMA groups to join the Bayan-led rally. Other protest rallies will be
held in other cities throughout the country.
Bayan said the immediate reversal of Ms Macapagal's anti-people policies will be
the main highlight of the nationally-coordinated protests to be participated by
Bayan's regional and provincial chapters across the country.
"Our group will come out with " a very strong statement that nobody
including President Arroyo would fail to understand,” Casiño said. “We may
not say it in a speech but the message would be loud and clear on Jan. 20 at the
very avenue where millions revolted against corrupt and anti-people
governance."
Extended invitation
Rally organizers said many personalities and groups dubbed as Edsa 2 forces are
invited to assemble at 9:30 a.m. at the foot of MRT-Cubao station, across
Farmers Plaza, before marching to Edsa Shrine an hour later.
"We urge everyone who stood up at Edsa and marched to Mendiola in Jan. 2001
to again come out and be counted among those who remain steadfast in the fight
for genuine social transformation and good governance," they said.
Bayan invited groups and personalities identified with the Estrada Resign
Movement (now called Plunder Watch), Council on Philippine Affairs (COPA),
Couples for Christ (CfC), Jesus Is Lord Church (JIL), Citizens National Network
Against Corruption and Poverty (CNNAPC) and others who have not been coopted by
the Macapagal-Arroyo government.
Protesters who will join the Jan. 20 rally will wear black shirts and would
carry huge placards containing the Four People's Policies and various immediate
challenges on the Arroyo administration.
Palace silent on Edsa 2
As of this writing, Malacañang has not issued any statement regarding its plan
on the commemoration of People Power 2. " Forgive and forget is the current
sentiment of President Arroyo and her cohorts in the 12:30 Movement," said
KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos.
"Forgive those who wronged this country and forget their national crimes
against the Filipino people to ease the political tension and cut further losses
from the split within the country's ruling elite," the KMP leader said.
In an interview with Bulatlat.com, Ramos said his group is not surprised why the
Palace leadership has not announced any commemorative activity with regards Edsa
2. " Ms Macapagal and her opportunist allies in Kompil 2 and Code-NGO opted
to remain silent to avoid any political showdown with other forces in Edsa
2," he said.
"Why Kompil 2 and Code-NGO should celebrate Edsa 2 in the first place? They
betrayed People Power 2, so it is just right and proper to include them in the
general and wholesale condemnation of President Arroyo and her ruling mafia in
Malacañang," he stressed.
Casiño said President Arroyo's renunciation of her 2004 presidential bid was an
admission of her failure to solve the deep social problems that led to Edsa 2.
The Bayan leader said Ms Macapagal's " stunning performance' on Rizal Day
last year was not an act of sacrifice.
"More than this, it was an act of survival for a president with a
directionless government and a progressively plummeting popularity rating,"
the Bayan leader said.
Sea of mounting protest
Bayan regional and provincial chapters are also set to hold their respective
protests on the same day. The group said hardships and frustrations that
emanated from Ms Macapagal's 24-months of governance and leadership will be
expressed in mass demonstrations in the cities of Baguio, Angeles, Batangas,
Naga, Legazpi, Tacloban, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cebu, Tagbilaran, Cagayan
de Oro City, General Santos, Davao and other towns like Vigan, Ilocos Sur and
Kalibo, Aklan.
Earlier militant groups Pamalakaya, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP-Peasant
Movement in the Philippines) and youth advocates from National Network of
Agrarian Reform Advocates (Nnara-Youth) expressed optimism that other organizers
of Edsa 2 rites (aside from Bayan) will not invite Ms Macapagal to their
respective commemorations of the historic People Power 2.
" Perhaps she will attend the bogus Edsa 2 celebrations to be organized by
Kompil 2 and Code-NGO. That's her company but definitely she will be banned from
attending true-blue Edsa 2 rites that will commemorate the people's victory and
condemn Ms Macapagal's grand betrayal of Edsa 2," the groups said.
Post-Edsa 2 rally
Meanwhile, the KMP and Kilusang Enero 22 (January 22 Movement), an organization
of surviving victims and relatives of victims of the infamous Mendiola Massacre
on Jan. 22,1987 will hold a vigil rally at the Department of National Defense in
Camp Aguinaldo on Jan. 21.
The following day, over one thousand peasants will march to Mendiola to
commemorate the brutal massacre of 13 peasant martyrs in Mendiola and to assail
the present administration's neglect of the peasant call for justice and its
ongoing campaign of terror, land grabbing and puppetry at the expense of
peasants right and legitimate claim for land and justice.
KMP said on the 15th anniversary of Mendiola Massacre, it is going to advance
anew the Filipino peasantry's call for GMA to step down or get ousted before
2003. Bulatlat.com
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