Two days before the commemoration of the 32nd Edsa People Power Revolt anniverary, militant groups stage a rally and program, Friday, in Colon Street along downtown Cebu City. CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
32 YEARS AFTER EDSA
BROKEN promises, hundreds of killings, corruption, and a tax reform package believed to be “anti-poor”. If indeed anything has changed, it is that today’s Duterte administration is almost as bad, if not worse, than the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, said a group of Cebu militants yesterday.
In a protest held two days before the 32nd anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolt, close to a hundred members of different militant organizations marched in Osmeña Boulevard, Friday, on their way to Colon Street for a rally.
The demonstrators stopped at the junction of Juan Luna and Colon Street near Gaisano Metro for a program which lasted more than two hours.
Members of the Waterfront Police Station led by Senior Insp. Jovito Labra were dispatched to help man traffic in the area to ensure the smooth flow of vehicles and commuters while the protest action was being held.
The protesters burned an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, garbed in military uniform, along with an image of a train which symbolized Duterte’s controversial Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law.
Jaime Paglinawan, chairperson of Bayan Partylist in Central Visayas, complained that all of Duterte’s campaign promises have not been fulfilled and felt by the people.
He also pointed to the number of drug-related killings in the country which, he said, exceeded the number of killings committed during the Marcos regime.
After the rally held in the morning, a group of young activists also marched along P. del Rosario Street in Cebu City yesterday afternoon as part of the nationwide protests to commemorate the People Power anniversary.
Noe Santillan, a professor at the University of the Philippines Cebu said that even after 32 years from Edsa, the Philippines still does not enjoy real freedom.
Cebu militant organizations support the church-organized Walk for Life, Saturday dawn, and will also join the prayers for peace in the country.