This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 20, June 26-July 2, 2005
The Oldest and the Youngest in the Day of Protest Various forces and sectors,
even strange bedfellows, came together this week for a unified cause – to force
what they said was a bogus president to step down from power. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA In a crowd of more than 10,000 gathered in
front of the Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City on June 24, Juanito Reyes took a
breather under the pink and blue steel overpass along Quezon Avenue. At 86, the
old man was one of the warm bodies who trooped to the streets that day for a
unity march of various sectors and opposition forces demanding that President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) step down from Malacañang. The country’s chief executive has been in
hot water the past weeks on allegations of fraud when tapes of her alleged
wiretapped conversations with Commission on Election (Comelec) Commissioner
Virgilio Garcillano surfaced June 6. The conversation allegedly occurred during
the canvassing of votes in June last year with the president’s voice captured
telling the election official to ensure her a one-million-vote lead over closest
rival, Fernando Poe Jr., an actor-turned-politician, now deceased. Ouster veterans “Matanda na ako, hindi na ako dapat
naglalakad ng ganito” (I’m too old, I should not be marching like this)
Manong (old man) Juanito said. “Pero kaya ko pa naman” (But I can still
manage), he added as the march was about to start. Manong Juanito was at the Sto. Domingo
Church 12 noon and took a quick lunch in his grandson’s house in a nearby
street. He went back to the crowd before Fr. Joe Dizon, initiator of the
election watchdog Patriots, would lead an ecumenical mass atop of a 10-by-10
flat truck that served as the protest action’s mobile stage. Dizon, an
activist-priest, started his involvement in the mass movement during martial
law. Wearing an old kurduroy hat, brown pants,
rubber slippers and a white shirt printed with an almost faded face of Poe,
Manong Juanito said this is his third time to join a campaign to oust a
Philippine president. The first was in 1986 when a people’s uprising overthrew
the Marcos dictatorship and the second was in 2001 when the people ousted Joseph
Estrada from Malacañang on allegations of corruption and involvement in the
illegal numbers game, jueteng. A native of San Carlos, Pangasinan, he said
he was a distant relative of Poe who hailed from the same town. Asked why
Macapagal-Arroyo should heed the people’s call for her to step down, he said the
president has done nothing to alleviate the poverty of the masses. “Lalo pa
tayong naghihirap ngayon” (We’re getting more miserable these days), he
said. As the emcee signaled the start of the march
to Liwasang Bonifacio (LB) in Manila – about 3 kms away - the now famous “Hello,
Garci” mobile phone ring tones started to play over the giant sound systems.
There were around nine versions of the tones played throughout the march, the
most notable of which was that with a Michael Jackson song entitled “Smooth
Criminal” as background music. “Hanay lang tayo mga kasama, sampu-sampu!”
(Let’s line up, comrades, 10 in a row). As the rally marshals instructed the
crowd to close their ranks, Mang Juanito tried to find his companions and slowly
melted into the crowd that has swelled to more than 20,000. Among the veterans in the crowd were
Margarita Seta, 83, and Juanita Sason, 76, both from a Bayan Muna (People First,
a party-list group) community in Camarin, Novaliches. Shielding themselves from
the heat of the sun with an umbrella, the two old women tried to run to keep
pace with the march. Aling Nely, 49, a neighbor and Bayan Muna member, played
nanny to the two. “Kelangan alalayan, baka sila madapa” (I should lend
them a hand lest they fall on their knees), she said, to which Aling (old woman)
Juanita replied, “Di bale, sanay naman. Nandun din kami nuon sa Edsa”
(Never mind, we’re used to this. We were in Edsa) - referring to Epifanio delos
Santos Avenue where the people gathered for the people’s uprising in 1986 and
2001. While the crowd were amused by the two, a
more serious and a bit younger Francisco Ybañez, 69, carried a placard posted on
a bamboo stick that had the words “Oust Gloria Now!” “Basta hindi karapatdapat sa pwesto,
dapat tanggalin” (Anybody not qualified for a position should be ousted),
Mang Francisco said. “Tumanda na ako sa pakikipaglaban at handa akong makipag-rally
hangga’t hindi napapatalsik si Gloria” (I’ve gotten old fighting and I’m all
set to join a rally until Gloria is removed). Mang Francisco lives in an urban poor
community in Balara, Quezon City. He said he has been fighting to own the land
where their house stands since the time of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
He has retired and now lives with financial support from his son who is an
overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia. His son was actually set to come
home that day but Mang Francisco begged off from fetching him from the airport.
Their reunion would have to wait after the protest action, he said. Next generation It was also the first rally joined by
18-year old Girlie, a college student from Quezon City, who had not anticipated
the long march from the Church to Welcome Rotunda, the boundary between Quezon
City and Manila. “Tumataas lahat ng bilihin pero ang
sweldo ng parents namin hindi kaya ang baon namin hindi rin (tumataas)”
(Prices of basic commodities are shooting up but my parents’ pay is not
increasing and so we get the same allowance), she said shyly. She wipes her face that has become oily by
then, but she doesn’t regret, she said, and promised to join the next protest
action to oust the president. A 16-year old student wearing a black Che
Guevarra shirt, the latest fashion craze of the youth, and a green skirt which
looked like her uniform, also joined the rally with some of her friends. She
said she has been joining mobilizations since she was 11 but issues may not have
been clear for the young lass from a group known as Kasama. “Weekend naman
kasi bukas kaya okay lang” (Tomorrow is Saturday so it’s just okay to join the
rally), she said when asked why she was present. Another young man catches the crowd’s
attention with his all-black outfit and the red print on his shirt that read:
“Punks Not Dead.” He wore stainless chains on his wrist, earrings which
resembled a safety pin, and his hair looked like that of a character from an
anime cartoon. He is Jaro, 20, a second year Computer
Science student at the University of the East and a member of the youth group
AnakBayan (nation’s youth). When the alleged wiretapped conversations between
Macapagal-Arroyo and Garcillano surfaced, members of another youth group, the
League of Filipino Students (LFS) went around universities in Quezon City and
Manila to conduct room-to-room discussions on fraud as a tool of corrupt
bureaucrats while popularizing the “Hello, Garci” tapes and ring tones to their
fellow students. Earlier this week, some of their members
attended the congressional inquiry on the alleged wiretapped conversation and
distributed compact disc copies of the alleged conversation to the members of
the House. The marathon congressional hearings started
June 21 and went on for three days. The first day was spent by the members of
the House debating on “ground rules” which young opposition congresswoman
Darlene Custodio said in an interview with Bulatlat, had been agreed upon
before the hearings could even start. “It is obvious that our colleagues who are
pro-GMA are just trying to delay the hearings,” said the congressman. During
the hearings, allies of the President would question the ground rules while the
interpellations were ongoing. Custodio admitted to getting irked by Press
Secretary Ignacio Bunye who took the witness stand June 21 and 22. “Parang
scripted lahat ng sagot nya” (All his replies sounded like a script) she
said referring to Bunye’s repeated answers during the interpellations.
The hearings have been set following a
privilege speech by another young congressman, Minority Floor leader Francisco
“Chiz” Escudero from Bicol. Allies “We are joining the cry of the nation,” said
Digna Bonin, 49, an election volunteer for Poe who was wearing a white shirt
printed with the famous Sanrio character Hello Kitty talking on the phone. The
dialogue box had the words “Hello, Garci”. The print at the back of the shirt
was a man who resembles Garcillano with the words “Hello, Ma’am.” A businesswoman who is into food and medical
equipment, Digna has been with the National Coordinating of Volunteers (NCCV)
during the May 2004 campaign. Their group, led by character actor Rez Cortez,
supported Poe in the presidential race. “GMA is not a legitimate president so she
should just step down. She is not supposed to be there in the first place,” she
said. Digna also proposes that a transitional
council where the different sectors of society would be represented should take
over the administration. The council should then prepare for an election to
determine who would next lead the country, she added. Local officials from Metro Manila who are
identified with opposition also attended the march that was met by a 500-strong
dispersal team of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Region III at the Welcome
Rotunda. A back up team of around 200 PNP men wearing camouflaged uniform and
armed with high-powered rifles stood in front of the University of Sto. Tomas
(UST) along España Avenue. “Pati nga ako ayaw padaanin,” said
Manila Councilor Francisco Moreno who joined the rally together with their
vice-mayor Danny Lacuña. He chided Manila Mayor Lito Atienza for not allowing
the protest action to reach Manila. “Tuta kasi ni GMA yun e” (Atienza is
a puppet of GMA), he said. Moreno said he joined the rally because he
believes that Macapagal-Arroyo cheated during the last elections. “They spent
around P200 million to buy votes in Manila alone but that big amount did not
defer Poe from winning in our area,” he said. Poe won in Manila by an
82,000-margin over her, the councilor said. Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who arrived at
the rally site with his security men at around 4 p.m. said, “Nagpapatunay ito
na nagigising na ang humihingi ng katotohanan” (Those looking for the truth
have stood up) referring to the big crowd that held the rally that day. This
also proves, he said, that the opposition has now united to confront one common
enemy – the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Although he was not privy to any military
defections, Binay said he is certain that there are “many political defections”
referring to a swelling number of local government officials like mayors and
governors who have quietly joined the ranks of the opposition. The opposition’s unity was shown in a press
conference of the United Opposition (UNO) at the Club Filipino in Mandaluyong
City June 23 where leaders of various groups faced the media for the first time
for a unified call for the truth to prevail and to eventually oust the
president. Present were May 2004 presidential bet Sen.
Panfilo “Ping” Lacson who, earlier that day launched his “Be Not Afraid
Movement” which will put up centers that would distribute CD copies of the
alleged GMA-Garcillano wiretapped conversation and former vice presidential
candidate Loren Legarda who said she would continue her electoral protest
against Vice President Noli de Castro. The former senator added that the alleged
wiretapped conversation caught on tape by some Intelligence Service of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) agents was a vindication of her protest.
Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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