Protest to mark Human Rights Day in Cebu City

Noel Tabasa of the Anti-Bongbong Coalition. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

A protest action will mark the celebration of Human Rights Day on December 10 in Cebu City and will highlight extrajudicial killings in the country.

“We will denounce the extrajudicial killings in the country,” said Noel Tabasa of the Anti-Bongbong Coalition (ABC).

This activity, he said, could still be considered as an anti-Marcos protest.

“We just highlight here the extrajudicial killings because the endorsement of dictator Ferdinand Marcos to a hero’s burial is tantamount to endorsing all the bad things he had done before,” Tabasa added.

ABC together with other organizational members of Cebu Citizens Assembly had launched a series of protests against Marcos’ burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Among these protest actions was the burning and “burying” of a Marcos effigy at the Inayawan landfill last month.

An anti-Marcos street art was also launched last week, while a major protest was held at Plaza Independencia last Wednesday where seven Cebuano heroes and eight martial law survivors worthy of emulation were honored.

Aside from planned protest on December 10, they also want to honor the martyrs, heroes and survivors through plaques to be given to the families of the honored heroes, martyrs and survivors of Martial Law.

“This time, it will be a formal honor to the families since last Wednesday was more on the introduction and groundbreaking,” Tabasa said.

The groundbreaking ceremony was done where a monument enshrined with names of martial law heroes, survivors and martyrs would be erected.

Considered as martial law heroes in Cebu were Nenita “Inday Nita” Cortes Daluz, Fr. Rosalio “Rudy” Romano, lawyer Vicente Balbuena, Professor Evelyn Neri, Ribomapil “Dodong” Holganza Sr., Fr. Luis “Louie” Hechanova and lawyer Valentino Legaspi.

Meanwhile, the Cebuano martial law survivors worthy of emulation are Auxilium Toling-Olayer, Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez, retired Cebu Regional Trial Court Judge Meinrado Paredes, Professor Zenaida Uy, former senator Sergio Osmeña III, Fr. Emi Maningo, Ruben Diaz and lawyer Democrito Barcenas.

Disrupt

Meanwhile, in her Facebook account, Rowena Burden of the Cebu for Duterte Group said they had no intention to disrupt the anti-Marcos rally at Plaza Independencia last Wednesday.

“We silently made our way to the kiosk at the back of the anti-Marcos rally… As substantiated by pictures, somebody from the anti-Marcos group accosted us. Yes, he shouted at us and was gesturing wildly. I told my companions to turn back,” she said.

As law-abiding citizens, Burden said their group secured a permit to use a part of Plaza Independencia for their rally.

“It was not a pro-Marcos rally as those who would like to be relevant have alleged. I and other anti-Marcos supporters would not have been there in our group if it was,” she said.

“Nobody who was called on to talk declared support for Marcos himself or said that he is a hero,” she added.

Burden also clarified yesterday’s CDN report quoting her, saying, “We may not like it but a hero’s burial for Marcos is legal.”

She said that what she meant was that it is legal to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani as approved by the Supreme Court, but to give the late dictator a hero’s burial was out of context.

Tabasa, however, said Burden’s group may have a permit to use Plaza Independencia but not to stage a rally.

“Based on what we know, their permit was granted by the Parks and Playground Commission. Our group, on the other hand, got a Mayor’s Permit. Yes, they have the permit to use the grounds but they have no permit to hold a rally,” he said.

Tabasa said Burden’s group really intended to disrupt the rally of anti-Marcos groups.

“When they entered the plaza, they honked the horns of their vehicles. Isn’t that rude? They interrupted us. From the very beginning, they were rude,” he said.

A night before the rally, Tabasa said they already set up tents and loud speakers at Plaza Independencia, while Burden’s group only utilized the speakers from a vehicle.

“We had a peaceful rally but they came to interrupt us. What did they come up with that kind of rally? I believe they did so because they knew that the popularity of Duterte is slowly eroding,” he said.