Celebs, students, Makati residents join anti-‘pork’ rally in Luneta By AMITA LEGASPI,GMA NewsAugust 25, 2014 11:10am (Updated 11:53 a.m.) Former Beauty queen Ma. Isabel Lopez, her daughter Mara and rock band Kamikazee were among those who joined the protest rally in Luneta against the pork barrel system and term extension of elected officials. In an interview with GMA News Online, Mara said everybody should stand up and fight corruption. You dont need to be a beauty queen to be aware of what is happening in the country. Everybody should stand up, kahit mahirap, kahit mayaman, she said. I pay my taxes pero nakikita ko pa rin yung masasamang kalsada, situation of the poor, she added. She said she had been to the US and Japan, where there is also corruption, but the situation of the poor in the Philippines is different. You can see here that the poor dont get anything, said Lopez. Pinoy rock band Kamikazee, on the other hand, urged the public to act on the issues affecting the country, in particular the pork barrel scam and corruption. Kailangan nating makialam para sa susunod na henerasyon. Isipin natin kung ano ang kinabukasan ng mga anak kung hindi tayo makikialam ngayon, lead vocal singer Jay Contreras told the crowd composed mainly of the youth. The band performed their hits Halik and Narda, among others. Contreras vowed to compose more songs that depict society and help in making people aware of the issues. Wala man kaming tulog ngayon pero naririto kami para pasiyahin kayo. Ang talent namin ang bigay namin sa inyo ngayon, handa kaming tumugtog para sa inyo, he added, Also in the rally were residents of Makati against the alleged overpriced building built during the time of former mayor now Vice President Jejomar Binay. Raymond Kaliwat, spokesperson of United Makati Against Corruption, said they joined the protest rally in unison with the peoples outrage against abuses of politicians. Kami ay naririto bilang mga residente ng Makati na apektado ng korupsyon. Nais namin na lumabas ang katotohanan, he said. The crowd at Luneta began to swell around 9:30 a.m. when students from different colleges and universities arrived to participate in the rally. The students, who are members of Youth Act Now, merged at Plaza Salamanca along Kalaw Street to Luneta, where dozens of sign-up tables have been arranged for the People’s Initiative to Abolish Pork Barrel. Today, as we respond to the call of the times, we can say that we are all heroes. We are a nation of heroes: resilient and staunch in the face of adversity, ready to fight against the evil that is the pork barrel system even if it means going against the current and confronting the formidable status quo,” YOUTH ACT NOW Spokesperson Victor Villanueva said. Launched in Cebu this weekend, the People’s Initiative Movement seeks to gather close to 6 million signatures to pass a bill that seeks to “abolish the presidential and congressional pork barrel, mandate line item budgeting, prohibit and criminalize appropriation and use of lump sum discretionary funds, and penalize violators with six years and one day to ten years imprisonment and disqualification from holding public office.” Villanueva said any ordinary citizen, youth, or student can be a hero by deciding to act at a time of great upheaval. Today, we are not only commemorating our fallen heroes – we are all heroes in our own right, in our own little way,” he added. A little past 12 noon, the protesters will march from Luneta to Mendiola, in a move that symbolizes the “people’s discontent and outrage” with the Aquino administration’s outright refusal to dismantle the pork barrel system and more the Palace’s move to extend power through charter change. “The fight against pork barrel, against Aquino’s ‘yellow dictatorship,’ against the systemic corruption beleaguering our nation, does not stop at today’s protest. For in the coming days, we will face the great challenge of collecting six million signatures to pass the People’s Initiative Bill. It may be an arduous task, but we will succeed,” Villanueva said. As of 10 am, Supt. Romeo Macapaz, ground commander, estimated the crowd to be 3,000. — RSJ, GMA News gmanetwork/news/story/376258/news/nation/celebs-students-makati-residents-join-anti-pork-rally-in-luneta
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 04:24:50 +0000
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