“TAMA NA, sobra na, pork abolish na!”
This is what people were chanting during the Katipunan Kontra Korupsyon (KKK) rally, an event held last September 11 that united the three Katipunan-based schools: The University of the Philippines Diliman (UP), Miriam College and the Ateneo de Manila University.
The gathering of the tripartite was meant to call for accountability from the government given the recent scam concerning the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
The scam involves the alleged 10 billion pesos illegally taken from the PDAF, a lump-sum fund granted to legislators that enables them to pursue developmental projects.
The KKK was held as a complement to another rally held on the same day along the EDSA, the “Edsa Tayo” rally.
Joint statement
In a joint statement delivered by Miriam College Vice President Rose Bautista during the rally proper, the three universities proclaimed that they stand in unity with a “keen desire” to end the culture of graft, corruption and patronage in the Philippine political system.
The statement expressed the “condemnation of the misuse of the public funds by unscrupulous government officials and their conniving associates.”
The statement was signed by UP-D President Alfredo Pascual, Miriam College President Rosario Lapus and Ateneo de Manila University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ.
The three university presidents urged national leaders from the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government to re-examine their use of discretion with regard to their use of public funds.
The statement also contained a call to probe into the “deeper roots” of the pork barrel scam and to address the culture of corruption.
Meanwhile, the student government presidents from UP-D, Miriam College and the Ateneo also delivered their own unity statement during the rally.
They called for greater accountability and transparency in the government and advocated proper budget allocation for basic social services.
“Tipunan sa Katipunan”
After gathering all the participants for a prayer at the Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall lobby, the Ateneo contingent marched to Gate 1 of Miriam College.
They were led by Sanggunian Assistant for Special Projects Rob Copuyoc and Sanggunian Vice President Ryan Yu.
According to Copuyoc, around 170 Ateneo students in total joined the KKK.
Performances by the International Studies Society of Miriam College and the UP Repertory Company were also held at the rally.
Juana Change, an icon from the Million People March held last August 26, also made an appearance to address the crowd.
Meeting expectations
Despite the delay in promoting the event to the Ateneo community, Sanggunian President Dan Remo was pelased with the school’s participation.
“I’m very happy for the attendance [of the Ateneans who were able to go],” said Remo in an interview after the event.
“Considering that the Sanggunian and the students only mobilized 2-3 days ago, we couldn’t have expected better attendance [from the Ateneo community],” Remo added.
He also said that the event is only the beginning of the fight for “social changes” in the Philippines.
“With more time and more organization, we can have bigger [and] better events,” Remo said.
