by Renato Reyes Jr., BAYAN president
On the 54th anniversary of Martial Law, Malacanang has again been turned into a garrison surrounded by concertina wires, container vans and thousands of police. Classes in Manila have been suspended and all roads leading to Malacanang have been sealed off. The image of a besieged regime relying heavily on police deployments and barricades is the very definition of the Martial Law mindset that persists under the Marcos Jr regime. Walang natutunan sa kasaysayan.
Malacanang has determined that the biggest problem is the protesters, not systemic corruption, not the worsening economic crisis. not the sell out of the country through initiatives like Pax Silica and definitely not the human rights violations perpetrated by state forces. There are nationwide protests today because a year after we took to the streets to protest grand plunder, accountability remains selective and incomplete. Protests are happening today because the rotten system remains and the people are crying out for change.
The regime wants today to be all about last year’s Battle of Mendiola where hundreds were arrested and injured. And what of it? Were not the protests last year the result of deep frustration and anger over government corruption and neglect of the poor? The Palace wants to delegitimize the protests as some form of mindless violence emanating from the streets. It wants to lecture people on the “right way to protest” without addressing the reasons for the protests.
The memory of last year’s events remain fresh for the victims of state repression. I was injured and bloodied in last year’s action, and was brought to the hospital to receive 4 stitches. Along with many others, I continue to face trumped up inciting to sedition charges still pending before the DoJ after 9 months.
The protesting people are not the problem, the US-backed Marcos Jr regime is. As we remember the atrocities of the president’s father and as we reflect on how things have not fundamentally changed, we are more than ever resolved that our collective struggle is the only solution to the crisis.
To the thousands more protesting today, fear not the police phalanx and barricades. These are the actions of an insecure and desperate regime. Refuse to be intimidated into silence. To protest and to remember are justified.
P.S.
Today’s protests are expected to be generally peaceful but determinedly militant. From Liwasang Bonifacio, the groups will march to Mendiola to end the day’s events. Malacanang’s overkill reaction is both unwarranted and quite frankly, stupid.#
