Rage

Rotten Tomatoes for a Rotten Regime on Edsa Anniversary—BAYAN-Lanao

Iligan City—“People Power pa rin.”

This is the call of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in Lanao as the group officially opened its campaign for the ouster of what they tagged as “corrupt, criminal, onerous and puppet” Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today—the 22^nd anniversary of the Edsa People Power I.

“People power fatigue is never true,” said the Group’s Secretary General Anjo Bacarisas. ”The people will never be tired of struggling against a President who gives them the hardest days of their lives, and the collective action of toppling this hated regime is the only way out,” he further said.

Jun Lozada and Jose de Venecia III continue to expose the ruthless greed of the Arroyo family to get monstrous kickbacks from the ZTE-Broadband Deal, and the group said this is only the latest in a series of anomalies through which the corruption of the Arroyos has been exposed. This includes the fertilizer fund scam, Diosdado Macapagal Highway, North Rail and South Rail projects, and the bribery of local officials in the amount of P500,000 at the grounds of Malacañang. “Monopolizing contracts is not enough for Arroyo. She wants no one to disobey or investigate these anomalies. That’s why money from Malacañang flooded the halls of Congress in order to oust Jose de Venecia from his position as House Speaker, and replace him with an even more trusted lapdog of Arroyo—Prospero Nograles. Right after this was accomplished, Arroyo wants to stay in power through charter change,” Bacarisas underscored.

“The people hate this government who wants to blind and silence all of its critics,” said Bacarisas. He pointed out to the kidnapping of Jun Lozada by the police and military to prevent him from exposing the truth. He also mentioned that Lozada’s office was raided and the documents that would point to the criminality of the Arroyo family were confiscated. “Arroyo twisted the law in order to prevent members of the Cabinet from testifying before the Senate. More than 900 activists have been killed and involuntary disappeared by suspected military agents because of Oplan Bantay Laya,” the Bayan-Lanao Secretary General further added.

“The people’s poverty increases while Arroyo gets richer! Hunger is everywhere,” said Bacarisas . He elaborated that Arroyo’s boasting that the country’s Gross Domestic Product has risen 7.5% is an empty reality. He pointed out the growing numbers of people instead are living with empty stomachs and it is deception on the part of this regime to paint the picture of a progressive economy. “Rising prices of basic commodities, oil price hikes, lack of jobs, low wages, land grabbing—this is the real situation of the people,” Bacarisas believed.

Bayan-Lanao also lambasted Arroyo’s shameless puppetry to the United States. The group believes that Arroyo Regime has relied on the support and direction from the U.S. government in order to remain in power. “Since the threats to her power from military factions began, the U.S. has not abandoned Arroyo,” according to Bacarisas. Furthermore, he said, “the U.S. has continued to back Arroyo in the midst of its stench and isolation from the people. Arroyo is a trusted puppet of the U.S. This is why Arroyo was among the first to offer support to the so-called U.S. War on Terror. This is why Arroyo defends the legality of the Visiting Forces Agreement and Mutual Logistics Support Agreement. Using U.S. military aid, the Arroyo Regime and Armed Forces of the Philippines launched a series of all-out wars against the Moro people and military operations in the countryside and cities. Arroyo allowed the U.S. to interfere in the GRP-MILF peace talks, while the U.S. terrorist listing of the New People’s Army remains a thorny issue that is snagging the GRP-NDFP peace talks.”

After Arroyo’s ouster, what’s next?

Bayan-Lanao supported the move for the creation of the Transition Council which will be composed of the representatives of the most effective forces for Arroyo’s ouster. They said that the most urgent task of the Council is to repeal all anti-people laws enacted by the US-Arroyo regime, and craft solutions for the people’s immediate relief, such as the P125 across-the-board wage increase and the passage of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill. The group said that the Transition Council is the best option because “history showed that replacing a puppet President with another puppet one is proven inutile.

People of Mindanao is bleating for 'real change'. In the form of the present system, the issue of having a corrupt government goes on and on. We will never have 'real change' if we're only striving for a change in the presidency. Haven't we had enough of it? Presidential election wouldn't be the solution for the problems in the society. If we could only open our eyes and see in the bird's eyeview the happenings at present, then we'll realize that governing a country with just one person in power is the worst idea we've ever had. We had PP1 who made the dictator Marcos out of his dictatorship, PP2 who made the womanizer Erap Estrada out of his presidency. Maybe its the for the people to seize the political power and get it back from the most corrupt Arroyo government. Let our hearts be united for one cause. History taught us to stand on our feet and fight for our rights to live. As long as many Filipinos are dying due to starvation and poverty, as long as there are people who are oppressed by the oppressors, revolution seem endless.