The 29th anniversary of the bloodless people power revolution became a day of indignation yesterday as multi-sectoral groups in the thousands marched on the very pavement where democracy was won – this time demanding the resignation of President Aquino, the son of democracy icon, the late President Corazon Aquino.
Angry protesters held President Aquino responsible for the death of 44 commandos of the Special Action Force in the day-long clash exactly a month ago yesterday and demanded that he step down for “betraying the nation.”
Leading the march was the youth group Anakbayan, which unfurled streamers on the People Power Monument saying “Game Over, Noynoy” and displayed images of blood-stained yellow ribbons, symbol of the 1986 uprising that raised his mother to power.
“Aquino clearly betrayed the nation. To please the United States, he directed the Mamasapano offensive which led to the death of at least 69 people. He allowed Filipinos to be used as cannon-fodder in the US war,” Anakbayan national chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said.
Crisostomo assailed the “desperate attempts to cover-up and whitewash Aquino’s criminal accountability in the Mamasapano offensive.”
“Aquino’s web of lies can no longer be untangled. His time is up. In the language that the president would better understand: it is game over, Noynoy. Time to step down,” he added.
Crisostomo called on youth groups to work for a “new people power” to force Aquino to resign.
“Aquino is delirious if he still believes People Power is about him and his family. People power is the Filipino people’s collective weapon against injustice, oppression and lies. We call on students to walkout and work to encircle the Palace and force Aquino to resign,” Crisostomo added.
He said a “transition council” could take over to pave the way for meaningful reforms and fair elections.
“We cannot allow more people to die under Aquino’s misrule. We cannot let impunity and injustices continue. Let us launch big protests, encircle Malacañang and wage people power,” Crisostomo dared.
He called on youth and students to stage a walkout and continue to express their displeasure by marching to Malacañang on February 27.
PREPARE DEFENSE
Even campus scribes urged Aquino to quit.
Thousands of campus journalists belonging to the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) called on Aquino to admit his liability in the botched Mamasapano operation.
The campus journalists massed at the EDSA Shrine and called for Aquino to quit and prepare for his defense defense when he is asked to explain his indispensable collaboration in the conduct of Operation Exodus, the SAF operation to arrest or kill Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and his Filipino understudy Basit Usman, who was wounded in the engagement.
CEGP national president Marc Lino Abila said it is also an irony that the day which brought Aquino’s mother to power is also the day 29 years later that the people expressed their wrath against her own son
“In retrospect, the spirit of EDSA centers on the mass movement, the people, and not Cory Aquino. Thus, the People Power anniversary is the right venue to manifest the people’s disgust over the deceptive, inefficient and vicious Aquino administration,” Abila said.
“The recent bloodbath at Mamasapano illustrates the incapacity of the current President to offer and win a just and lasting peace. It also manifests Aquino puppetry to US dictates,” Abila added.
CORRUPTION STILL PRESENT
Groups from Southern Tagalog region with the same resignation call also trooped to Manila to stage their own protest at the Mabuhay Rotunda.
But before proceeding to the Rotunda, Kapayapaan-Southern Tagalog group formed a human chain in Baclaran church early morning calling for Aquino’s accountability and the truth behind the deadly Mamasapano clash.
“Almost 30 years after EDSA 1, history is repeating itself where people are once again uprising for truth and accountability, this time over Noynoy Aquino’s gross incompetence and rabid subservience to his US masters. After selling-out our sovereignty with the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, sacrificing the lives of Filipinos, both police and civilians is not only a grave insult to the families of the victims but also a mockery of justice,” Rev. Gil Sediarin, Kapayapaan spokesman said.
Flor Chan, spokesperson of the Southern Tagalog Resign Movement for Aquino (ST Remove Aquino) said the Aquino administration is full of issues such as graft and corruption in the pork barrel and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) scam. This aside from escalating human rights abuses and the policies that push more Filipinos into poverty and suffering.
After two people power uprising, it is about time that we step-up again and fulfill the failed and long-overdue promises of EDSA ,” Chan emphasized.
OWN UP
But the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group did not support resignation calls for Aquino but challenged the beleaguered president to be man enough to accept and take command responsibility over the unfortunate Mamasapano massacre.
“The nation expects the president to stand by the PNP-SAF. The PNP-SAF deserves nothing less. The people expect him to lead from the front and receive our quiet gratitude in good times and be accountable when things go wrong. We urge Mr. Aquino to take responsibility because in a constitutional democracy, the buck stops with the President. And in our culture, he is the “Father of our Nation. It comes with the territory. The people want him to lead from the front and he must take the lead in providing justice to our fallen 44,” TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.
Tanjusay said that Aquino should exact accountability from the MILF who are also Filipinos and who are not above the country’s laws.
“We need the President to publicly require and demand the MILF leadership to surrender the MILF fighters who participated in the killings and surrender suspected terrorist Basit Abdul Usman to the fold of the law,’’ Tanjusay said.
TRAFFIC OUTRAGE
While the Palace declared a holiday for schools, it was a normal working day and motorists and commuters were fuming mad at the terrible traffic that clogged streets starting early morning after the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) closed the northbound stretch of EDSA from Shaw Blvd. to Santolan midnight Tuesday. Aside from this, perpendicular roads were also closed to traffic.
The closure caught drivers, motorists and commuters were surprise. Workers were seen walking to their destinations when traffic stalled for hours.
Three six-by-six trucks were deployed to ferry those stranded but were not much of help.
As of press time yesterday, EDSA was still a huge parking lot and traffic was not moving along P. Tuazon, Quezon Avenue, Araneta Avenue, Dimasalang, and Aurora Boulevard.
The public took to MMDA’s official page on Facebook over the agency’s traffic management plan.
Some said the government should have declared Wednesday a holiday because of the heavy traffic.
“Please help us understand why it’s not a holiday. All I can think of is the small group in the celebration while the rest of the Metro are unproductively stuck in traffic. If it’s a holiday, more can participate at the commemoration venue or watch it at home on TV,” said Kat Turingan.
Joseph Ramirez, commented, “Today is a school holiday but it is difficult for people working to commute going to work. Lifting the number coding today would have helped a lot of people in travelling to and from work.”
Others urged the MMDA to be more considerate of employees working the night shift and advise the public ahead of time. - by Chito A. Chavez (With reports from Jenny F. Manongdo, Samuel P. Medenilla and Anna Liza Villas Alavaren)/ Manila Bulletin
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