Last August 22-25, a series of protests was formed to call for transparency from our government. The main goal of these protests was to abolish the pork barrel which was provoked by the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program. The activity on Monday will be the first anniversary of the Million People March protests which is demanding for political transparency. They celebrated it together with National Heroes Day, which will also be celebrated this August 25 to commemorate the sacrifice of our heroes for our freedom, in Luneta park.
The people who joined the last year's Million People March are expected to participate on the event on Monday. The presence of Vince Lazatin of the Transparency and Accountability Network, Arnold Pedrigal and Bernardo, Peachy Bretana, militant groups, and former Chief Justice Renato Puno are something to look forward to. Vince Lazatin is one of the organizers of the event, and Arnold Pedrigal, together with Bernardo, created the Facebook page entitled "Abolish Pork Barrel" in the Power ng Pinoy Facebook page, to invite participants to the protest, then Peachy Bretana re-posted the page as a call to action with date and place to it. The support of our former Chief Justice Renato Puno is also expected on the said event, because he believes that the people's initiative is the most legal way to abolish corruption.
DIFFERENT REACTIONS GENERATED BY THE EVENT
It was the Les Miserables version of the Philippines. The Million People March of 2013 got a lot of different reactions. But we widely knew that the government remained mum towards the issue. One citizen violently reacted on an article inRappler and said:
“Enough is enough! Shame on those who steal our people's money..... Ooops, but wait, there is nothing you can really do about those without shame but jail them .... Ooops, but wait, they are able to run and hide with conniving traitor Filipinos......Ooops, but wait, even if they are caught and go to jail, our prison system is so ridiculous that convicted felons enjoy their own chefs and butlers, airconditioned rooms, and conduct business as usual with their secretaries and what-not, instead of being behind bars doing hard labor in a far far away place where they should rightfully be ....No wonder we are like this! WHY OH WHY DO WE LET THESE HAPPEN! WE complain, shout, and rally demanding accountability and prosecution, but after that, what? Yes we will march and protest on Aug 26, but let us also DO OUR PART IN BUILDING OUR NATION! Let us build a culture of caring, so those without shame will care, even just a tiny bit, and we will all fall in love with our people and the country that God gave us, just a little more.”
Even with these reactions, people still found a silver lining to the infamous event—that the Filipino people can be united, because they have one goal, one main goal: To give the Filipinos the treatment that they really deserve; that means, they want their money to be allocated to rightful negotiations, abolish corruption and to renew the system of governance that has tarnished the Philippines for so long.
BASIC FACTS ABOUT:
1st Million People March Anniversary
“On the first anniversary of the MILLION PEOPLE MARCH (MPM), on August 25 (Araw ng mga Bayani), 6am-1pm, let us gather at Luneta once more and continue our fight against ALL FORMS of PORK BARREL and CORRUPTION! Bring along family and friends to this FUN event of GENUINE PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT! Stand up, Sign up for our FUTURE! Stand Up, Sign UP Against ALL PORK! Pls invite and share!” - Official Facebook Event Page of the Million People March
WHAT is it about?
LAST YEAR:
- The Million People March is a rally held last year at Rizal Park wherein thousands of people from the Philippines gathered and expressed their clamor against the pork barrel system at which point, corrupt officials and the alleged mastermind, Janet Lim-Napoles managed to defraud an estimated P10-billion from it.
THIS YEAR:
- On Monday, August 25 (National Heroes Day), the 1st anniversary of the Million People March will be held at the same place to let people know about a new law that will hopefully put and end to the pork barrel system. The passage of that law requires the signature of 6 million registered voters and the anniversary on Monday includes a signature drive with the campaign slogan:“Stand Up, Sign Up” where it will serve as the highlight of the said event.
WHAT is the reason behind it?
LAST YEAR:
- The Filipinos want to fight corruption in the Philippines and this gathering enabled thousands of Filipinos to let their distrust and disgust made known to the corrupt elements of the government particularly the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
THIS YEAR:
- A new law entitled “The Pork Barrel Abolition Act”was proposed by The Abolish Pork Movement, it will prevent and ban the pork barrel system and discretionary funds through a People’s Initiative. But before this bill can be passed, 10% of the total registered voters must sign so that the bill can be passed on to the Commission on Elections for further analysis. An estimated 6 million signatures is needed and the signature drive on the 1st anniversary of the Million People March will greatly affect the progress of this law.
WHO are the people behind this event?
LAST YEAR:
- Concerned “netizens”, civil and civic organizations and the anti-pork groups.
THIS YEAR:
- This year the same participants as last year are expected to be behind the organization of this event. The law is proposed by the Abolish Pork Movement.
WHAT do they hope to accomplish?
LAST YEAR:
- Increase the awareness and participation of the Filipinos against the current situation of the misuse of our national funds throughout social media campaigns and the Million People March.
THIS YEAR:
- Further increase the level of awareness of the Filipinos and invoke their cooperation on the passage of “The Pork Barrel Abolition Act” through the signature drive which will be officially launched on August 23 at the People’s Congress in Cebu City.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
WHAT: 1st Anniversary of the Million People March
WHERE: Rizal Park
WHEN: Monday, August 25, 2014. 6AM - 1PM.
OFFICIAL HASHTAG: #SignUpVsPork
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: SignUpVsPork
Sources:
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