ON 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIAL LAW
LOS ANGELES – A month after their solidarity protest for the “Million People March,” a handful of Filipino activists again held a rally on Friday in front of the Philippine Consulate General to voice out their outrage against the ongoing ‘pork barrel’ scam in the Philippines.
Led by community leader Arturo Garcia, the protesters chanted “Money for the people, not for the crooks” while waving their placards to motorists driving by them along Wilshire Boulevard.
Groups represented in the protest include Bayan USA, Anakbayan USA, Answer Coalition LA, and the Filipino Migrant Center.
The group also commemorated Martial Law victims in a short but meaningful prayer vigil.
Leading the lighting of the candles during their gathering, Garcia also called down politicians implicated in the ‘pork barrel’ scam for supposedly perpetrating corrupt practices in public office.
“The same people, who brought martial law to the Philippines are the same [corrupt] people … who are still plundering the Philippines,” Garcia said.
He named Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Gringo Honasan and Ferdinand Marco Jr. as politicians who are “still plundering the Philippines” after all these years.
“So tonight we light our candles to protest Martial Law and to honor the revolutionaries who fought Martial Law. We will fight for a new Philippines!,” Garcia added.
In spite of the low turnout among the protesters, Garcia said that he was “happy” that participants still showed up to join in their mass action. He added that protests was also held by Filipino groups in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
Garcia acknowledged the progress that the government has made in the past few weeks regarding the ‘pork barrel’ scam.
On September 16, the Philippine Department of Justice filed plunder charges against alleged ‘pork barrel’ scam mastermind Janet Lim – Napoles, Senate minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., and two former representatives.
Garcia said that they are following the developments in the Philippines and demanded President Aquino to “finish the job” in 100 days, starting on August 26 — the of the “Million People March.”
“I hope they will resolve this,” Garcia said.
Garcia also said that sources indicated that the Aquino administration is preparing to file charges against Senators Marcos, Honasan, and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Other groups show solidarity
Mike Prysner of Answer Coalition LA, said that their group stood in solidarity with the Filipinos because “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
“So we’re standing here today with our Filipino brothers and sisters who had this great crime done to them,” Prysner said.
Prysner, a former US Army corporal and an Iraq war veteran, was also seen in another Filipino rights protest in 2012, when WWII Filvets ended their lobbying for House Resolution 210 or “The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2011.”
Prysner said that the issue of corruption being faced by Filipinos in the Philippines “very much relates” to the issues faced by Americans here in the US.
“That’s the situation we’re living with here in the United States. It’s a situation we know very well, and we want to stand with people undergoing the same type of treatment,” Prysner said.
Anakbayan USA Secretary General Eric Tandoc said that their group is trying to raise awareness among Filipino youth here about the corruption in the Philippines.
“This ‘pork barrel’ scandal is indicative of the system that needs to be changed in the Philippines,” Tandoc said.
“And we’re calling for the whole ‘pork barrel’ system to be abolished so that those funds can be re-channelled to social services, education, health, housing, and protection of our OFWs,” Tandoc added.
Joanna Concepcion of the Filipino Migrant Center however said that her organization, and affiliated organizations Anakbayan USA and Bayan USA, are “skeptical” over the developments in the ‘pork barrel’ scandal, particularly Napoles’ surrender.
Concepcion pointed out that the fugitive mastermind was apparently accorded with a preferential treatment when she surrendered to President Aquino in Malacañang.
“We don’t take it seriously na nag-surrender siya. We don’t feel na her surrendering herself is the end of it,” Concepcion said.
“As we know, Napoles is only one part of the problem. Ang problema dito is the actual system of corruption sa Pilipinas, and we call it Bureaucrat Capitalism.
“Yun talaga ang kailangan na mapalitan. Dahil kung nandiyan pa rin yan, kahit iba-ibahin mo pa yung mga mukha, ganun pa rin yung sistema,” Concepcion added.
Concepcion singled out President Aquino as the key politician to watch out for and be critical about in this ongoing debacle. She said that in spite of the upheaval over the PDAF funds, Aquino is still adamant about keeping his ‘pork barrel’ funds.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek September 25-27, 2013 Sec A pg.1)
