Protest Set April 12 Vs Corruption, Economic Crisis

Various anti-Arroyo groups will come together in protest once again, but this time, the focus will be the economy.

Groups aligned with the United Opposition (UNO), the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Edsa 3 Coalition, Laban ng Masa, the Be not Afraid Movement and other Opposition forces will converge at Plaza Miranda in Manila at 4:00 pm for the latest anti-Arroyo protest action. Various groups are expected to hold their assembly points around Manila at 3pm before converging at Plaza Miranda by 4pm. The rally is expected to last until 7:30pm.

The theme of the rally will revolve around “poverty and corruption” under the Arroyo administration. Organizers expect at least 5,000 participants.This would be the first anti-Arroyo rally that would highlight economic issues side by side with corruption in government since the outbreak of the ZTE scandal. Many of the participants are expected to come from workers, urban poor and farmers’ groups.

The rally comes in the wake of rising rice and oil prices, an international food crisis, and an increase in the prices of other commodities including flour. The Arroyo regime has been blamed for many of the economic policies that are now causing distress among poor consumers.

Critics of the regime have belittled the actions taken by the Arroyo administration saying that these do not provide long term food security and protection for consumers against high prices. Opposition groups have also demanded the scrapping of the 12% Value Added Tax on oil products saying that this would provide immediate relief for consumers. The administration has opposed such moves.

Corruption has also been tagged as one of the problems that continue to aggravate the poor state of Philippine agriculture. The Arroyo administration has been accused of anomalies worth hundreds of millions of pesos in fertilizer and irrigation funds.

Rally organizers are set to dialogue with Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim regarding the conduct of the protest action on Thursday 3:00 pm..

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