AS PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28, various activists marched along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City to air their gripes over what they said was the government’s failure to bring much-needed reforms.
Dubbed as the “People’s SONA,” the protest was attended by thousands of people from different sectors of the society, including ordinary-wage earners, unemployed youths, underpaid government employees, farmers and peasants.
DAP and PDAF asserted
Throughout the rally, the crowd demonstrators were chanting for the ouster of President Aquino and several other government officials linked to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) issue. They were particularly criticizing the president’s insistence of the legality of the DAP.
In an interview with The GUIDON, former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo said that Aquino’s move to oppose the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) against the constitutionality of the DAP was highly “unpresidential.”
He explained that the motion for reconsideration filed by the administration to the SC seemed to “[assert] that the Supreme Court’s ruling is both correct and wrong because only three schemes of the DAP were declared unconstitutional.”
In his SONA, Aquino highlighted what he calls as the benefits of the DAP, particularly those concerning the scholars of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
The amount allocated for the Tesda’s Training for Work Scholarship Program has enabled 66% of beneficiaries to find employment immediately after graduation. He argued that the program would benefit the Filipino people in the soonest possible time.
However, Ocampo pointed out that the president should still respect the decision of the SC. He urged Aquino to be humble and to apologize for his “hasty and tactless move of defending the DAP.”
Meanwhile, protesters seemed to back Ocampo’s view on the issue as they raised placards depicting the president as the “Pork Barrel King.”
In addition, an effigy of Aquino tagged as a “holDAPer” was also present during the event. The giant sculpture was later burned while protesters cheered and ran around it with their flags.
Fighting for press freedom
Aside from the PDAF and the DAP, other issues were also raised by militant groups and civil-society organizations.
According to Hannah Pelayo,editor-in-chief of the Earist Technozette, the official student publication of the Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (Eearist), they attended the rally “to fight for the freedom of the press especially for the youths.”
Pelayo narrated how she and the other student leaders of Earist were put in the university’s blacklist. When the school administration started to collect developmental fees for a new building, they immediately opposed it.
“Students complained that there was no progress on the construction of the building,” she said.
Pelayo and the other student leaders protested about it by starting a massive walkout in class. “Our actions prompted the school admin to put us in a blacklist to prevent us from enrolling in the next school year,” she said in Filipino.
When the Commission on Higher Education intervened to lift the blacklist, the administration then cut the funding for the student publication.
“For 10 months now, our publication has no fund. The administration have been repressing and depriving us of our right to express ourselves,” she explained.
She urged the Aquino administration to step up its actions regarding the violations against press freedom and the abuses committed by school officials.
Right to adequate housing
Another concern of the protesters was the housing and relocation programs of the government.
According to Estrelieta Bagasbas, vice chairman of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), they joined the rally to fight the violence and demolition jobs being done to informal settlers in San Roque, Quezon City.
The NHA offered each household, including Bagasbas’, P6,000 and other subsidies, but most of them refused the offer.
“The offer reached P32,000 in 2012 but we still refused,” Bagasbas said. “I have been living in San Roque for 29 years now. The place was very peaceful until the demolition started and ruined many people’s lives.”
While the local government claims that the demolition was done for the road-widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the residents of San Roque all thought that it was part of a plan to build a central business district in Quezon City.
The said plan will be under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program together with local corporations.
In his SONA, President Aquino hailed the PPP as a tool for the country’s economic development.
But the residents said that they would thwart any attempt by the government.
“Kailangan ipagtanggol at magkaisa tayo sa mga protesta upang hindi mawala ang ating mga tirahan (We have to protect and be united in every protest if we do not want to lose our homes),” Bagabas said.
Rally of the Filipino people
The social issues that were raised during the rally and the people’s loud chants seemed to indicate their strong desire for reform, accountability and social justice.
Despite the gloomy weather, the concrete railings, barbed wiresand hundreds of security forces positioned to prevent them from rallying towards Batasang Pambansa, the protestors were determined to voice out their concerns.
“Ito’y rally natin. Ito’y rally ng mga Pilipino at walang makakapigil sa atin na ilabas ang ating mga hinaing sa gobyerno (This is our rally. This is the rally of the Filipino people and no one can stop us from voicing out our grievances),” said Teri Malicot, head of the Cultural Committee of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines.
Towards the end of his speech, Aquino said, “Ito ang resulta ng reporma, at ito ang ipinaglalaban natin, at patuloy pang ipinaglalaban: Hindi ang pananatili ng nakasanayan, kundi ang pagbabago ng sistema para makinabang ang lahat (These are the results of reform. This is what we have fought for, and this is what we will continue fighting for: Not the prevalence of the old ways, but a new system that will benefit all).”
But still,a few kilometers away from where the president had been speaking,it seemed that many have yet to feel the benefit of this new system.
