Cause-oriented groups stage a rally at Fuente Osmeña Circle in Cebu City a few hours before President Bongbong Marcos delivered his 3rd State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, July 22. | 📹: Jaime Paglinawan, Bayan Central Visayas
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Around a hundred individuals staged a protest here, calling out President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over his failed promises hours before he is set to make his third State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Various cause-oriented groups from the Bagong Alyansa Makabayan in Central Visayas (Bayan-Central Visayas) gathered in several parts in the city to conduct pre-Sona rallies.
The group first gathered at Fuente Osmeña Circe around 9 a.m. on Monday, July 22 then marched the way down Osmeña Boulevard to Colon Street.
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“Surely, there is change under the Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte Administration, but not for the better,” said Jaime Paglinawan, chair of Bayan-Central Visayas.
Among the grievances they aired out against the Marcos administration included ‘sloppy work in providing workers living wages’ amid ‘skyrocketing of prices.’
In particular, they criticized the government for its failure to keep its promise of reducing the price of rice to P20 per kilogram.
“Instead of the promised 20 pesos per kilo of rice, the price of rice in the country has instead tripled,” added Paglinawan.
Additionally, they accused Marcos and his cabinet for allowing’ unchecked infrastructural projects’ in Cebu like mining, quarrying and reclamation to go rampant.
The groups also lambasted the present administration for having no genuine agrarian reform, the growing problem of providing basic social services, inaccessible education and the country’s poor public transportation.
“The state of freedom and expression in the country is (also) under great repression,” added Paglinawan, pointing out that dissenters continue to be red-tagged, and labelled as terrorist.
“The Filipino people continue to suffer under Marcos Jr. Administration as it continues to prioritize personal interests over the genuine needs and demands of the masses,” he said.