MEDIA ADVISORY: December 3 ‘Martsa ng Maralita para sa Hustisyang Panlipunan’

MEDIA ADVISORY
December 3 ‘Martsa ng Maralita para sa Hustisyang Panlipunan’
National Day of Protest of the Urban Poor

TOMORROW, December 3, the urban poor alliance Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) will lead a national day of protest of the urban poor, entitled ‘Martsa ng Maralita para sa Hustisyang Panlipunan’. Three thousand protesters, composed of Kadamay members and other groups headlined by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Anakpawis Partylist, are set to march from Welcome Rotonda to Mendiola in Manila, along with simultaneous protests in Panay, Bacolod City, and Davao City.

Kadamay makes ‘social justice’ (hustisyang panlipunan) the central call for the protest, under which falls the call for justice for the victims of the grisly Ampatuan, Maguindanao massacre, an end to warlordism and political violence, and accountability of the people that harbor and feed off this system, including President Arroyo – especially as she prepares to perpetuate herself in power by running for Congress in Pampanga. Just as well, social justice includes the just economic demands of the poor – jobs, livelihood, secure and decent housing, expanded social services – heightened by the need of those still reeling from the effects of the recent typhoons, ‘Ondoy’ and Pepeng’.

The protest is a condemnation of the ‘utter disregard for human life’ (kawalang-pakundangan) shown by the Arroyo regime, the same attitude behind the heartless killings in Maguindanao and the ‘criminal neglect’ (kriminal na kapayabaan) of the poor over the years, and especially in time of crisis.

Additionally, the group poses such challenge to the incoming ‘presidentiables’, setting the agenda of social justice as key to the urban poor’s support in next year’s elections.

On the multi-sectoral front, the December 3 protest itself is part of a ‘snowballing’ series of mass mobilizations leading to the International Day for Human Rights multi-sectoral rally on December 10, which takes on greater significance in light of the Maguindanao Massacre.

Kadamay’s calls in the December 3 protest:
Trabaho, Kabuhayan at Hustisyang Panlipunan, Ipaglaban!
Hustisya Para sa mga Biktima ng Maguindanao Massacre!
Kundenahin ang Kriminal na Kapayabaan at Kawalang-Pakundangan ng Rehimeng Arroyo! Pangulong Arroyo at mga Alipores at Alyado, Panagutin!
Isulong ang Tunay na Reporma sa Lupa at Pambansang Industriyalisasyon!

____________________________________________________________
December 3: Martsa ng Maralita para sa Hustisyang Panlipunan

6:00 AM: Anunsyo sa Welcome Rotonda
Kadamay members will lay out mock coffins at Welcome Rotonda, as a nod to the mass burial of the journalists slain in the massacre scheduled later tomorrow, to direct accountability at the Arroyo regime and announce the ‘Martsa ng Maralita’ later in the day.

MARTSA NG MARALITA
2:00 PM Assembly at Welcome Rotonda
As a central visual, Kadamay will bring dummies, in the manner of those who were killed by hanging, to symbolize victims of the massacre, of ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’, and of unemployment, hunger, homelessness, and government neglect, signifying the Arroyo government’s accountability for all these deaths, literal and figuratuve.

3:30 PM March to Mendiola
For a few minutes upon reaching Mendiola, the 3,000-strong rally will fall silent to commemorate the 64 who lost their lives in the grisly massacre, the 773 who died from ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’, the 1,093 victims of extrajudicial killings, as well as all those who died from hunger and poverty, and nearing death out of unemployment, homelessness and neglect – in condemnation of this ‘regime of massacres’.

For all inquiries, please contact Jon Vincent Marin, Kadamay Public Information and Media Liaison Officer, thru 427.4315 (Kadamay National Office) or 0910.975.7660.