Urban poor groups in different corners of the archipelago set a coordinated week-long protests and activities Wednesday ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines.
The Filipino urban poor, estimated at more than 30 million and roughly a third of the country's population, are among most eager sectors to welcome the Supreme Pontiff.
According to Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), a national alliance of urban poor in the Philippines, the said protests are directed against the Aquino administration with the intention of letting the Pope know of the criminal negligence and brutality of the Philippine government against the Filipino poor.
At least 60 urban poor members of Kadamay-Batangas staged a protest as early as 9am yesterday at the head office of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council in Makati. They traveled miles to air their grievance against the demolition of their homes implemented by the authorities and on situation of urban poor in government's relocation sites in Batangas. The group later headed to Liwasang Bonifacio where they will stay until the big mass of Pope Francis in Luneta on January 18.
Meanwhile, other urban poor groups in Cavite held church visits yesterday according to Evi Luza, chair of the provincial chapter of Kadamay.
Meanwhile, hundreds of relocatees from Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal held a candle lighting activity to welcome Pope Francis. According to Montalban Relocatees Alliance, the relocatees urged Pope Francis to extend their demand on the Aquino administration to act on the extreme unemployment and lack of basic social services in government's off-city relocation sites. They also ask the Pope to repreimand President Aquino for conniving with low-cost housing firms at the expense of the welfare of thousands of urban poor families.
In the Visayas, several urban poor groups attended a gathering of Yolanda survivors in Iloilo City yesterday morning. Led by Kadamay-Panay, the groups later staged a protest action outside the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development slamming the criminal negligence of the Aquino administration on disaster victims, as well as the corruption of disaster funds.
In Metro Manila, different urban poor organizations in Quezon City and Caloocan City staged synchronized noise barrage yesterday afternoon inside their community as they called on their fellow urban poor to attend a mobilization on January 16, coinciding with Pope Francis' dialogue with President Aquino in Malacanang.
Week-long activities
Since Monday, other urban poor groups in the nationa's capital have staged their own activities to welcome the Supreme Pontiff.
On Monday, residents of Sitio San Roque in North Triangle area of Quezon Citry, who are popular for their barricades against demolition of their homes, held a Prusisyong Bayan as they paraded their Patron Saint San Roque inside the community. San Roque is the patron saint of the homeless and the wrongly-accused—a character which the Filipino urban poor can easily associate with, especially those who are demolition victims and those who stubbornly resist the demolition of their homes.
The procession, according to the residents, is a means of enjoining Pope Francis to their fight against the Quezon City Central Business District, a Public-Private Partnership development project between the government and the Ayalas. Upon the completion of the QCCBD, at least 20,000 urban poor families in East and North Triangle of QC are to be evicted from their communities.
On Tuesday, a group of Payatas scavengers prepared a feast of pagpag (food recycled from restaurant leftovers) to celebrate the Papal Visit. They requested the Pope to to push the Aquino administration to ending the pork barrel system and other schemes that perpetrate corruption within its bureaucracy, as well as the privatization of public lands which is behind the demolition of our homes, and the privatization of social services in the country.
According to Kadamay, the urban poor are among those who are hit the hardest by the effects of neoliberal policies that are imposed upon the Philippine economy. The Filipino laborers are among the lowest payed in Asia and are suffering from chronic unemployment despite the pronounced economic growth under the Aquino administration. At least 13 million Filipinos are believed to be unemployed according to Kadamay.
What the urban poor expect from Pope Francis?
In his dialogue with the President BS Aquino in Malacanang on Friday, the groups wish that Pope Francis will reprimand the president for not leading the country according to his 'daang matuwid' (straight path) which was his campaign platform when he ran for the presidency in 2010.
Kadamay expects the Pope, in behalf of the urban poor, to pressure the Aquino administration to implement a national minimum wage system for all Filipino laborers, significant wage increase, and end to labor contractualization and to the chronic unemployment in the country through genuine programs of land reform and national industrialization.
Six million faithfuls to flock Luneta mass
On Sunday, at least 6 million Cathiolic faithfuls are expected to attend a mass to be led by Pope Francis in Luneta. According to Kadamay, majority of the attendees will come from different urban poor communities in Metro Manila, and other provinces.
“The urban poor have been searching for an icon of hope to alleviate them from their direst situation, and they are finding it in the person of Pope Francis. The Catholics are too lucky to have a progressive leader who is aware and even vocal about the ill-effects of capitalism to the world's poor population,” said Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national chairperson.
“But the Filipino urban poor are expecting more from the Pope, something that will translate his criticisms to concrete actions that will directly affect the poor even with the slightest change possible,” she added.
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