📷Bagong Alyansang Makabayan | FB
On Jan. 31, 2024, thousands of Filipino citizens will converge at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila to protest the Marcos Jr. administration’s failure to mitigate poverty and hunger, stamp out corruption and its refusal to abide by the law on public accountability when confronted with its profligacy, the coddling of corrupt officials who treat public money as their private piggy bank.
Under the theme “Kilos bayan laban sa kahirapan, korapsyon, at kawalang pananagutan” or 4K, the protest will be spearheaded by the by Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw at Abusado Network Alliance (TAMA NA), Movement Against Tyranny (MAT), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Babae Laban sa Katiwalian (BALAK), and Bunyog. Contingents from the following organizations will also join the protest: National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP); Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP); United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP); Rise Up; Filipino Nurses United (FNU); Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP); Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment; Kabataan Partylist, and; Katribu Youth.
The De la Salle University (DLSU) will also support the protest along with the the Philippine Nursing Students Association (PNSA), Sienna JPIC, Philippine Medical Student Association (PMSA) National, Urban Poor Associates (UPA), ACT Private Schools, Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage), Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), Ecuvoice, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), UWINA-Sarah, Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties (CLCL), Kasimbayan, Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) and the Sandigan ng mga Empleyadong Nagkakaisa sa Adhikain ng Demokratikong Organisasyon (Senado.)
At their forum on Jan. 21, 2025 at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City, the leaders of the participating organizations noted that recent surveys showed that the level of self-rated poverty has zoomed to a high of 76% in Mindanao and 58% on an annual average last year, belying the claim of the Marcos Jr. government that the poverty level has gone down to 15%, with the regime claiming that rate will go down to 9% in 2029. If the self-rated hunger rate has exceeded 50%, then it proves that wage levels are a mile removed from the actual decent wage workers must receive. They also questioned the skewed priorities of the 4,057-page 2025 General Appropriations Act (ACT) that purportedly cut P194 billion but maintained huge allotments for public works projects in an election year.
Among the speakers were BALAK convenor Prof. Maria Lourdes Turalde Jarabe, Culex Soliman of Bunyog, TAMA NA convenor Prof. David San Juan, Bayan chairman Teddy Casiño, Atty. Jojo Lacanilao of CLCL, Vladimir Quetua, chairperson of Alliance of Concerned Teachers/ACT Philippines, Lorie Pasco of Rise Up, Sr. Mary John Mananzan of MAT, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel. They all called on the leaders of the House of Representatives to expedite the transmittal of the impeachment cases against Vice President Sara Duterte as a way to uphold the constitutional mandate on public accountability and criticized the 2025 GAA for reeking with grease for the benefit of lawmakers running for reelection in May 2025.
In their Jan. 14, 2025 statement, the protesters said “Poverty is worsening due to skyrocketing prices of food and other commodities, low wages and lack of jobs. The prices of rice and meat never decreased while the prices of tomatoes, pepper, and vegetables increased. Moreover, water and electricity rates are going up. The poverty situation has been worsened by the lack of health, housing and educational services. The lives of workers, farmers, and the urban poor continue to be miserable. Even the middle class, professionals and small businessmen are howling. Many are leaving the country because of the crisis the government is not trying to resolve. While the environment is being ruined for the gain of a few, Filipinos are being pauperized by calamities and members of corrupt political dynasties sleep on beds of cash.”
“Instead of alleviating the misery of the teeming millions, the Marcos Jr. government raised the contributions of SSS members by 15%. The LRT fare was also increased while income taxes and VAT remained high. The country is hobbled by its P16-trillion debt and its repayment has automatic allocations from the yearly budget. While the annual budget grows, inadequate government services continue to be reduced as grafters chop up allocations,” it added. “The 2025 budget raised the pork barrel (P347 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways alone), with P26 billion in AKAP funds for vote-buying. Philhealth lost P74.4 billion from revenues that bis should get annually by operation of law while P77 billion was slashed from priority social programs, the DepEd computerization program was stripped of P12 billion, and P2 billion in benefits for government employees was scrapped, along with P52-billion in benefits for the poor and senior citizens. The unprogrammed funds, confidential at intelligence funds (CIFs), and other dubious items also soared.”
The budgetary scam comes as Malacanang refused to honor the impeachment complaints filed by citizens who saw the clear wasteful spending by Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio, who shamelessly refused to testify and be grilled for her financial shenanigans as the mastermind of the bogus reward payments, the purchases or leases of 13 satellite offices and three extension offices, the fictitious subsidies for youth leadership summits, the production of a plagiarized picture book and the botched implementation of the DepEd computerization program, the payoffs to DepEd officials and the designation of her bodyguards as CIF special disbursing officers (SDOs.) The protesters said “The POGO protector, drug lord and protector of extra-judicial killings (EJKs) and former president Rodrigo Duterte continues to wreak havoc. The EJKs, red-tagging and other human rights violations that worsened under Duterte continue under the Marcos Jr. regime.” (DIEGO MORRA)
