Senior Supt. Marciano Batiancela (right), Cebu City police chief talks to members of the militant group Bayan-Central Visayas who held a rally in front of one of the APEC meeting venues. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
While the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu laid out a red carpet welcome for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) delegates last Saturday, militant groups greeted their visit with a protest rally in front of one of the hotel venues.
The militant Bayan-Central Visayas chapter wore white shirts printed with “Junk APEC” and carried protest streamers as they marched toward Radisson Blu in the Cebu North Reclamation Area.
“We remain a Third World country that provides raw materials and cheap labor to other countries,” Bayan-Central Visayas coordinator Jaime Paglinawan said.
He said the country should focus on industrialization and providing subsidies to Filipino farmers rather than patronizing imported products.
Paglinawan said APEC serves as an instrument for First World economies like the US, Japan and China to continually dump their surplus products in the Philippines and other Third World countries.
Bayan also reiterated their opposition to the K-12 program, saying it will only produce more Filipinos “who will work as domestic helpers or waiters in other countries.”
The 45-minute rally ended when riot police arrived and asked if the group had a permit.
Paglinawan said they will meet with other militant groups to plan their series of protests against APEC meetings in Cebu for the next two weeks.