News Release August 13, 2014 Anti-pork groups to go back to Luneta on August 25 to “stand up and sign up” The fight against the pork barrel system is not yet over says different groups and individuals who were part of last year’s Million People March against pork. The anniversary of the huge anti-pork rally which coincided with National Heroes Day, will fall on August 25 this year and another action has been announced. According to the #abolishpork movement, one of the initiators of this year’s action, a protest program will be held along Roxas Boulevard near Luneta while a sign up drive in support of the People’s Initiative to abolish the pork barrel system will also be undertaken simultaneously. Various anti-pork groups, supported by at least 73 Catholic bishops, have embarked on a campaign to gather signatures nationwide to pass a law that would ban lump-sum discretionary spending or pork. “A year ago, we set out on a crusade against corruption in the pork barrel system. It has been a year and we were able to raise public consciousness about congressional and presidential pork, patronage politics and the national budget. We won against the PDAF and the DAP before the Supreme Court. However, the Aquino government has found ways to maintain the corrupt pork barrel system,” said musician and #abolishpork spokesman Monet Silvestre. He was one of those who first aired the call for the Million People March protest last year. “We now see Aquino’s moves that aim to institutionalize the Disbursement Acceleration Program as well as recent moves to maintain congressional pork through informal arrangements between departments and lawmakers. The system is truly rotten. Aquino continues to protect this system. The battle has not been won. We need to go out again, to stand up and sign up against pork,” Silvestre added. #Abolishpork will be joining groups such as the Scrap Pork Network, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, the Concerned Citizens Movement, Babae Laban sa Katiwalian, Youth ACT Now, Whistleblowers Association, BAYAN, Artista Kontra Korapsyon, and various sectoral groups, unions and associations for the August 25 protest and sign up. The event was formally announced last August 12, in a press conference in Quezon City that included Monet Silvestre of Abolish Pork Movement, Peachy Bretana of Scrap Pork Network, actor Bernardo Bernado, VACC chair Martin Dino, artist Mae Paner aka Juana Change, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Jr, whistleblowers Atty. Melchor Magdamo and Col. George Rabusa, Fr. Robert Reyes, UST law student council president Victor Villanueva, public school teacher France Castro, nurse Robert Mendoza, labor leader Bong Labog of KMU, SC petitioners Atty. Jose Malvar Villegas and Greco Belgica, and ACT partylist representative Tonchi Tinio. As a build up, youth and students are expected to lead a noise barrage on August 15 called “DAPat Mag-ingay!”. Students will be holding actions in front of their schools along Taft Avenue, Mehan Garden, Morayta and Katipunan starting 4pm. Meanwhile on August 23, the anti-pork groups will be converging in Cebu to attend the People’s Congress which will approve the draft bill that will be the subject of the People’s Initiative. “Instead of discussing a second term for Aquino, or the political tie-ups and alliances among the politicians, we should be discussing issues such as the hidden congressional pork exposed by Rep. Tinio. We should be discussing how to make Aquino accountable for DAP and how to thwart his plan to make the illegal DAP schemes part of the 2015 budget,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr. “The call for a second term for Aquino is meant to distract the public from the issue of accountability in the DAP and the continuing existence of the pork barrel system. The public will not be fooled. We call on the people to undertake nationwide actions on August 25, to demand Aquinos accountability and to push for the abolition of all forms of pork,” he added. ##
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:38:36 +0000
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