SONA protesters affirm various plans for mass action
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Bayan, Anakpawis, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (NLC) are among the scores of organizations joining the protest rallies coinciding with the State of the Nation Address of President Duterte on Monday.
If activist group Bayan will use virtual effigy, farmers and land reform advocates will bring their own protest art physically at the rally site on Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City.
The protest art, titled “Peasant Lives Matter,” will be carried by members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Anakpawis in the SONA protest march to the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, said KMP chair Danilo Ramos.
Artists and young cultural workers from the Sama-samang Artista Para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA) designed and constructed the mural.
"Peasant Lives Matter directly references a 2019 set of protest placards done by the Black Lives Matter movement, bearing the eyes of police brutality victim Eric Garner,” Angelo Suarez, one of SAKA’s co-convenors, said.
KMP and Anakpawis are among the progressive groups that will participate in the united protest action called People’s SONA with the theme #SONAgkaisa.
Meanwhile, the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition on Sunday said the police have no authority to arrest people in a rally on the day of the SONA.
Nagkaisa chairperson Sonny Matula said expressing the people's sentiment for or against government in this time of crisis is a "recognized right."
"It is a constitutional right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances," he said in a statement.
"On SONA day, NAGKAISA with the broad SONAgkaisa will put this right into action at the University of Philippines and in other parts of the country," added Matula.
The demonstrators will also take up recent issues such as the passage of a new Anti-Terrorism Law, government’s failed response to COVID-19 crisis, and the shutdown of ABS-CBN television firm.
The Kilusang Mayo Uno, meantime, warned the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Duterte administration to stop using the COVID pandemic to suppress constitutionally enshrined freedoms, and start doing its job in addressing the pandemic with medical measures.
"For as long as the health protocols are observed, the people should be free to air their grievances. This is what the government is afraid of--us speaking the truth," said Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.
"The people can no longer be fooled. Our consciousness leads us to the conclusion that collective action is the people’s only way of securing our livelihood, health, rights and freedoms," he added.