MANILA, Philippines - Protest from the left, the right and the middle forces is snowballing against the Arroyo administration as a result of the disclosures made in connection with the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) project.

The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Wednesday said it would hold nationwide mass actions on Feb. 25, the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 Edsa “people power” revolt that toppled Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship.

The rallies, marches and other forms of protest actions being planned from Baguio to Davao will serve as a buildup for the interfaith rally scheduled on Feb. 29 at Rizal Park, according to Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr.

Reyes said the Feb. 25 protest actions would be highlighted by the commemoration of Edsa I, the allegations of government corruption, and calls for the resignation of President Macapagal-Arroyo.

The Feb. 29 interfaith rally planned by a coalition of religious and civil society groups will signal the start of a series of communal actions meant to “deepen the consciousness of the Filipino people regarding the irregular things happening in our country right now,” Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said over the Church-run Radio Veritas.

Iñiguez, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ public affairs committee, said the interfaith rally would “also serve as a call for people to act.”

Reyes said the theme of the interfaith rally would revolve around “reaffirming the need for collective action in the tradition of people power.”

Schedule

A CBCP-sponsored event, the Children’s Network Against Corruption and Deceit, will be held Thursday at the Caritas compound in Manila. It will be attended by children, child advocates and anti-corruption cases.

The labor party Partido ng Manggagawa will lead a rally of workers in Marikina City tomorrow dubbed “Martsa ng Manggagawa Laban sa Katiwalian (March of Workers Against Corruption).”

The fisherfolk alliance Pamalakaya said sea-based protest actions would be conducted on Feb. 24 in Navotas City and San Fernando City, La Union, and on Feb. 25 in the cities of Legazpi, Iloilo, General Santos and Sorsogon, and its neighboring towns.

Wednesday, Pamalakaya held a protest action on Manila Bay from Bacoor, Cavite, to the SM Mall of Asia to call for Ms Arroyo’s resignation and demand truthfulness in government projects.

The Health Alliance for Democracy, on the other hand, began a signature-gathering activity in Manila calling for Ms Arroyo’s resignation.

“A Concert for Truth, Accountability and Reform” is scheduled on Monday to encourage the Filipino youth to be aware of current events, particularly the scandal attending the scrapped NBN project.

The concert will be held at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

New women’s alliance

A new alliance of women was formed Wednesday and added its voice to the growing call for the President’s resignation.

Named BabaLa, or Babae Laban sa Katiwalian (Women Against Corruption), the alliance composed of 14 women’s groups and other individuals vowed to join street protests and other campaigns to remove Ms Arroyo from Malacañang.

“While most mothers teach their children the value of honesty, this one has taught her family and country the enjoyment of corruption and lies,” BabaLa said in a statement read by Dr. Rose Torres-Yu, dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Arts and Letters.

The group, composed of professionals, artists, activists, students and other women from other fields, said Ms Arroyo had “betrayed the great and resplendent tradition of heroism and integrity of women leaders and shamelessly disgraced the Filipino people.”

“As women who have consistently and proudly held the role of safeguarding the formation and upholding of positive values in society, we cannot helplessly stand back and allow Ms Arroyo’s morally bankrupt leadership to cast away our future as a nation. We cannot allow a presidency that has survived through cheating, lying, stealing and killing,” it said.

Among the convenors was former Sen. Leticia Ramos-Shahani, who said: “This is a very oppressive government. There’s so much double talk, lying and manipulation. We have to end this. We have to go back to the rule of law where there is honesty and transparency.”

Gabriela secretary general Emy de Jesus said the alliance would send at least 5,000 of its members to the Feb. 29 interfaith rally.

‘Change in men’

Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said the interfaith rally would emphasize “how violence is not the answer in changing anything.”

“We should be calm and try to gain enlightenment and discernment through prayers,” Ongtioco said. “Moral renewal should not involve an abrupt change of the persons involved, but should come from within the persons themselves. What we need is not a change of men but a change in men, a change in all of us.”

Iñiguez said the interfaith rally was conceived during a meeting on Tuesday between the bishops and various sectors of society.

“We had a sharing of our own perceptions regarding what is happening in our country,” he said, adding that recommendations on what should be done were made in the latter part of the meeting.

Coalition

According to Reyes, the coalition that planned the interfaith rally is composed of the CBCP, Makati Business Club, Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Bayan, Gabriela, Concerned Citizens Group, Black & White Movement, Jesus is Lord Movement, Bangon Pilipinas, Solidarity Philippines, Muslim Legal Assistance Foundation, La Salle Brothers, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Kubol Pag-Asa, and various youth groups and student councils in Metro Manila.

‘Different’ people power

Bayan welcomed Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo’s statement on Tuesday that civil society groups should lead people power and that Filipinos should not wait for another prelate like the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to trigger it.

“Now more than ever, we need to recall the lessons of people power and so we can come up with an improved version for our times. The new people power will not simply be led by any religious leader a la Cardinal Sin. We can’t rely on another Cardinal Sin because no one can play his role now. So what people must do is discern and act accordingly,” Reyes said in a phone interview.

He said that while Lagdameo, speaking in his capacity as Jaro archbishop and not as CBCP president, called for a “new brand” of people power, Bayan had already sensed the difference between Thursday’s protest actions and those held in the past.

Said Reyes: “Perhaps the difference in today’s people power is that its seeds are emerging from various sectors of society despite there being no Cardinal Sin to call for it. People power is springing forth from the grass roots, the schools, factories, communities, businesses, with various political formations coming together. It is spreading despite the limitations of the church hierarchy.”

Lessons learned

If a new people power will take place soon, it will not just seek to replace one regime with a worse one, Reyes said. “We have certainly learned lessons from Edsa I and II,” he said.

Reyes noted that the CBCP had yet to call for Ms Arroyo’s resignation but that this had not prevented many bishops and other religious leaders and formations to undertake various forms of protest actions. “If there will be a people power for our times, people also want to see real empowerment and reforms,” Reyes said.

He added: “We can’t just be contented with installing a replacement for Ms Arroyo who might be much worse. There is a new level of vigilance in this regard. People want to have a say in what happens after [her], and not just leave matters to the politicians.”

Reyes also said that while the protest movement was still a long way from achieving the “critical mass” of Edsa I, “the important thing is for the protests to spread.”

“There are many forms of protests and communal actions that we can do. Right now it is important for these protests to be popularized,” he said.

From : www.inquirer.net, 21 February 2008
With reports from Margaux C. Ortiz and Marlon Ramos

Two things are clear as we join the forthcoming rallies and protest actions: (1) “Now more than ever, we need to recall the lessons of people power and so we can come up with an improved version for our times. The new people power will not simply be led by any religious leader a la Cardinal Sin. We can’t rely on another Cardinal Sin because no one can play his role now. So what people must do is discern and act accordingly"; (2) “If there will be a people power for our times, people also want to see real empowerment and reforms...we can’t just be contented with installing a replacement for Ms Arroyo who might be much worse. There is a new level of vigilance in this regard. People want to have a say in what happens after [her], and not just leave matters to the politicians.”

And, timing is really critical -