Part of the Lenten protests are coordinated community actions in different cities in Metro Manila, such as in Parola Compound, in Binondo, City of Manila; Tenement and Tanyag in Tagug City; Barangay Escopa in Quezon City and Southville 3 and Alabang Market in Muntinlupa City.
Meanwhile, a big centralized protest was staged in Plaza Miranda where hundreds of protesters coming from groups such as Kadamay, Pamalakaya, Ugnayan ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas and Anakpawis Partylist held a Senakulo-themed cultural protest.
With the theme "Wakasan ang Kalbaryo ng Masang Anakpawis! Noynoy, Magresign Ka Na!", protesters tackled the issues that confront the Filipino poor through street plays and a procession to the foot Chino Roces near the Malacanang Palace. Leading the procession are protesters carrying big crosses, with President Aquino portrayed as Pontius Pilate assisted by several centurions.
Carlito Badion, Kadamay national secretary-general, said the poor can no longer bare the subservience of the Aquino administration to the dictates of foreign economic policies that have literally condemned the poor to death. “We can no longer bare another year of subservience to foreign control, and another year of misery. Thus, we call on him to resign immediately from his office,” he added.
Public-Private Partnership
Kadamay also cited that programs primarily endorsed by the Aquino administration such as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) have bee proven to be detrimental to the welfare and lives of the poor.
“Hundreds if not thousands of poor Filipinos have been denied access to cheap, if not free, medical services as the Aquino regime implements the privatization of public hospitals nationwide under its PPP program,” added Badion.
Meanwhile, Kadamay also claimed that the plight of tens of thousands of urban poor families has stiffly declined after a massive relocation effort was launched by Aquino government since 2010 to give way to development projects that evict residents from their communities.
Since he assumed his post in 2011 until September 2014, Aquino through the National Housing Authority has invested in building 49,640 housing units for evicted residents. 93.3% of these units, or 46,322, are found in far-flung areas outside Metro Manila which the poor has condemned as ‘hell’ for its distance to sources of employment opportunities and lack of basic social services.
According to Kadamay-Metro Manila, at least 70,00 families or 350,000 urban poor were evicted from their homes as part of the implementation of different PPP projects in the national capital region.
“From the violence during demolition of homes to the hellish situation in the off-city relocation sites, Aquino has unraveled himself as a quintessentially anti-poor president, and with full bias against the poor has only foreign interests and the interests of the ruling local elites,” said Badion.
Aquino's carnal sins to the poor
But above all these anti-poor programs, Kadamay claimed that Aquino’s most carnal sin to the poor is keeping the wages of the workers in the most depressed level that is possible while he failed in years to resolve the widespread unemployment in the country amid rising cost of basic services and commodities.
“Aquino as the Pontius Pilate for the urban poor has subjected us to deeper poverty. He is proudly talking about the the economic development which his administration allegedly achieved but he has done nothing to improve the lives of poor Filipinos. He is very good in absolving himself of his sins against the poor,” added the leader.
As the the Aquino regime is in the mid of the worst political crisis ever, Kadamay, in the coming days right after holy week, their group is planning to stage coordinated and sustained community protests nationwide to call calling for the resignation if not ouster of President Aquino. The group is supporting a people’s transitional council who will replace Aquino once he abandoned his post. Among the priority agenda of the said council is the immediate termination of existing anti-poor programs of the Aquino administration.
Big anti-Aquino protests have been staged recently in the nation's capital in the aftermath of a botched police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, that aims to assassinate a high-profile rebel that tops the United States’ terrorists’ list in the South East Asian region. ###
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