In the largest protest gathering in the Philippines since President Aquino took office in 2010, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos came together to oppose government corruption for the “Million People March” on Monday. Held at Luneta Park in Manila, the demonstration was sparked by recent exposés on how some ten billion pesos [~$223,606,345] worth of “Priority Development Assistance Funds” (PDAF), more popularly known as “pork barrel,” were improperly used for pet projects of congressmen and senators. The funds have often been used by the president to pressure legislators to submit to his agenda. These intimidation tactics were in fact used against Congress last December to pass the anti-life Reproductive Health (RH) Bill (now RH Law) which threatens to further erode our traditionally Catholic and pro-life culture. President Aquino threatened to withhold 280 million pesos [$6.8 million] from legislators last year if they opposed the RH Bill. At the time, Rep. Antonio Tinio, a co-author of the RH Bill in the House, told media about the threat to withhold funding: The counter-offer was made because the Palace and the House leadership are alarmed by the powerful pressure of the Catholic bishops on the lawmakers to prevent the passage of the RH Bill. If my colleagues in the [Liberal Party] and other members of the majority coalition would continue to defy the President’s clear position [on the RH Bill], they would find themselves without projects to show their constituents and their voters. The pork barrel has traditionally been a source of corruption, and still is as we saw in the RH Bill debate. “If there’s no corrupt there is no poor,” Aquino said when running for office. But as president, to pass the RH Bill and now to implement the RH Law (which has been delayed by the Supreme Court) his position is that Filipinos are poor because of overpopulation. The RH Law is aimed not only at destroying our values, but at decimating our population. The Philippines is poor not because we are many, but primarily because of rampant corruption in the country. Surprisingly though, many RH Law supporters were among the huge mass of people on Monday; as well as previously avid Aquino supporters who feel he broke his anti-corruption campaign promises. For some time, President Aquino defended the pork barrel spending, but after public outrage and noise of the Million People March erupted in the press and social media, the president late last week announced the suspension of the release of the pork barrel. However, this did not deter the gathering in Luneta Park to demand the total abolition of the pork barrel, including some one trillion pesos in discretionary funds under the Office of the President. The peaceful protest was attended by people of all colors and creeds, including priests and nuns; students; businessmen; the rich and the poor; as well as celebrities. Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle also came and spoke at the event. Similar protests were held in other key cities of the Philippines. Overseas, Filipinos also overwhelmingly showed their support through social media, as well as in protest gatherings at Philippine embassies abroad. Hopefully, the hugely successful march gave a strong signal to President Aquino, congressmen and senators that the Filipino people are serious in demanding accountability from our government leaders. Perhaps this wave of scrutiny directed at corrupt government policies will make people look more closely at the way the RH Bill was passed, and will strengthen our efforts to overturn the legislation. May Jesus with our Blessed Mother have mercy on the Philippines and the world.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 14:36:09 +0000