Listen to “One Day More.”
Itaguyod ang Katotohanan.
It is time to be COUNTED!
Join us at the Friday Inter-Faith Prayer Rally
Ayala cor. Paseo de Roxas — 4:00 to 8:00 PM
Where former President Cory Aquino and Jun Lozada will join us as we make the call for Truth and Accountability.
Black and White Movement, together with Hyatt 10/La Salle 60, MBC, MAP, Manindigan,
and other professional and church groups will assemble at the
AIM (Paseo de Roxas) Parking lot at 3:00 PM.
Please join us.
Sa Totoo Tayo. Now Na!
Today there will be people from all walks of life and different generations and varying political and non-political persuasions, coming together to make a stand.
It’s unfortunate that the focus on Makati will obscure the efforts being made elsewhere in the country. Whether a rally in Cebu City, or elsewhere, the only divide I see is between urban and rural Filipinos: though the majority, for some time now, of Filipinos are urban dwellers. I strongly believe the sentiments among urban Filipinos are converging while rural opinion won’t be far behind.
Returning to today’s rally, the authorities are pulling out all the stops: PNP renews warning about communists, terrorists at rally. They’re spooked.Yesterday, something remarkable happened at PUP, see: PUP bomb threat fails to stop Lozada. And something else happened, see: Dirty Tricks in Uniffors.
But two bloggers say it best.
Market Manila declares he will be there:
Because we live in a democracy by choice. Because not speaking up when you know something is wrong makes you an accomplice to the wrong. Because I think everyone must be held accountable for their actions, particularly where their actions impact the welfare of millions. Because of the increasingly brazen disregard for the laws and even basic ethics that should apply to educated individuals. Because in many ways, I am embarrassed to be in the same gene pool as those who are perpetrating and then possibly getting away with such outrageous actions. Because of dozens of other reasons I will keep to myself as I know you get the point.
A reply he gives to a commenter is zeroes in on the issues even more:
mapster, I agree that we have to do everything we can everyday. I pay my taxes and a LOT of them. I have never ever slipped a policeman lunch money. I have voted with a conscience and watched at the polls. I have volunteered services for politicians or candidates which I thought rose above the rest, and I have never accepted any gifts, compensation or positions for the effort. So yes, I think we have to do our daily bit. But I also used to believe that we had a high corruption rate because we were poor… and that somehow the petty corruption of the streets and licenses, etc. were a function of poverty. But that is simply not true. The folks who are implicated in multi-billion scandals are well to do, and as someone above says, how much money do they need to live a decent and comfortable life? And the Hello garci scandal was offensive precisely because it suggests that the elections themselves are rigged, hence the votes of the people are ignored. At the very least, we have to indicate a great deal of displeasure and let everyone know they can’t get away with these kinds of behaviors.
As for being in the company of crooks and wannabees as some intimate above, I think in all democracies people from all walks of life will band together for similar causes, though they all may not look, sound, or be the same. While some of the folks who will be there at the rally this afternoon are opportunists and perhaps not folks I would normally look up to, many others could or should be every day folks who simply want to say, TAMA NA! And while I am not the biggest of Cory fans, I think she IS someone to look up to and her presence is only one of the minor reasons I would show up this afternoon.
I agree with other sentiments about changing the system et al. But I would agree more that we need to change the people on a massive scale with folks that really want to do the BEST for their country, a noble and difficult scenario, I concur.
As for others, you are definitely entitled to your opinion and free to choose what you will, can or want to do. With Marcos it took 20 years to reach the “boiling point.” In subsequent administrations the flare ups occurred with less time required. But at some point, when we all are personally so incensed or affected directly, you too will feel the need to do something.
If you re-read the post above, I would like to point out that I only said that I WOULD BE GOING. Not that I thought all of you should as well, that is obviously your choice.
Touched By An Angel says,
Though not a popular choice by our Catholic Bishops, I believe, GMA has to go. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has to go.
I truly believe that The President and her people have engaged in so much lying that they can no longer recognize the truth even if it stared them in the face. (PDI) As to the next step to take, I will take one step, one day at a time. I do not have the answers yet but in time, I will discern it. Our Filipinos will discern it. I will be there at the The Interfaith rally…
Among young people, there will be those, like on a red day who will be there, as will Tristan’s Mental Assylum ristan’s Mental Assylum and Jamel Ignes who is attending a rally for the first time! (for the religious, see melo touch). Other young people share their views, and efforts at discernment: a slice of wine.. and a shot of cake.. points out the dividing line and respects those who have decided to speak up against the President. There are others who are still uncertain, yet watchful, like Prudence and Mandess, and such as student Timmyland or who remain ambivalent, who will not go but who will be keeping those gathered in their thoughts, see OFW jihAn.zillA. Sh, and Yeweifang’s blog .
Among more senior bloggers, Red’s Herring puts everything in perspective:
If the events that have led to People Power I (EDSA Revolution of 1986 or EDSA I) are any guide, revolutionary uprisings go through certain levels (of consciousness): First, the underlying belief by a sizeable segment of society that the rulers and certain institutional arrangements have lost legitimacy; second, certain intense participants or change agents have gotten around their sense of powerlessness and come to realize they have the power or capacity to effect the needed changes; third, the disaffected members of society have more or less formed a consensus as to the nature and or scope of the changes they desire to occur in lieu of the illegitimated rulers or arrangements, whether be it about a total systemic overhaul, a “regime change,” an extra-constitutional overthrowing of a corrupt or immoral government, etc.
My sense is that People Power III has already reached the first and second levels of consciousness described above. However, before the Great Beast “could take care of itself” today it has yet to hurdle the third level of consciousness.
For one, I have noted even the reformists in the military and the progressives in the civil society are still tentative about the scope and the nature of the changes to be sought (note should also be taken for instance that the mere suggestion during the Manila Peninsula “uprising” that a military junta was being contemplated has not sit well with potential supporters), while other veteran people power practitioners are apprehensive the next exercise “could again end up repeating a vicious cycle of simply ‘moving on’ in circle, and not leaping onward or to a higher ground” or a “new qualitative state.”…
…Now, the question once again: Why is People Power III taking its time?
My own take is: There is yet no general consensus among potential people power participants and activists, as has been in EDSA I or EDSA II, as to what change to aspire for and institute.
Arguably, proposals for reforms or transformations, at odds with each other for the most part, still abound. To cite a few: some who believe the two EDSAs were both a failure aim this time to act against a failed system and plan to overhaul it either according to some rigid ideologies or based merely on the “best practices” of ongoing successful experiments; other groups are just angry and frustrated because of “relative deprivation” (middle class weighed upon with a looming downgrade to the next class complain how come only their counterparts in other regions are having all the fun); still others are focused only on struggling for control of the state apparatuses and effecting “regime change” while keeping both the political and economic structure intact; and specifically, accused coup leader and now detained senator Sonny Trillanes is eager to transform the nation “without reinventing the wheel” or whereas Bishop Francisco Claver can only entertain the belief that “our problem comes down to this: how to correct the aberration that is the present administration without destroying the stabilizing structure that is our democratic system of government.”
…As a result, reactionary moves from old and once reliable alliances, the CBCP in particular, are silently taking place in the form of tokenism (a plea to President Arroyo to take lead in the fight against corruption) and diversion (a call for a new brand of People Power through “communal action”).
Mon Casiple on the part of the political pundits, observes,
The nature and circumstances of this political crisis is such that it can only have one resolution: the end of the Arroyo regime within the context of the existing electoral democracy. From there, it may result in the affirmation of this electoral democracy and thus the integrity of the 2010 elections. Or, more remote, it may lead to the ending of the electoral democracy itself. At any rate, these are the days of reckoning.
The people’s consciousness and readiness to action are developing by leaps and bounds. The usual tactics by the GMA administration are not working anymore and proved to be ironically pushing faster the momentum for change. From the JDV triumphal ouster to its present travails, the Arroyo administration has rapidly traversed a half-circle towards a downward spiral.
What’s Casiple referring to? I can only guess, but think of this. Did you notice the article, 52 governors troop to Palace to show support for Arroyo ? A friend encountered one of these governors on a plane bound for Manila, and the governor prattled on about how he was going to Manila on business -only for my friend to see the governor on TV lurking near the edge of the gathered governors. Said my friend: you see, they’ve begun to get embarrassed over their support for the President (the governor knew my friend’s an oppositionist; but a mere month ago, the governor would needle my friend and crow about the President every chance he got). And the news leaves an even bigger question hanging: what of the other 29 governors?
Recall that one of the officials proclaimed a convenor of the Loyalist rally in Manila on Feb. 25 pointedly told the media, “oh, I’m in Manila doing shopping.”
While Amando Doronila notices that:
Speaking to a joint meeting of the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines and PinoyME Foundation last Feb. 26, Aquino did not make a pitch for another People Power uprising, to the disappointment of many people. She merely called on President Arroyo to step down, saying it was the least disruptive way out of the “severe moral crisis” facing the country. She said, “She must give way to a credible government that could lead by example. Given our concern to protect the moral pillars of democracy, the extra-constitutional removal of the President is not an ideal we would want to aspire for.”
Aquino’s call for restraint was echoed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which in a pastoral statement on Feb. 26, called on the President to allow her officials to tell the truth about the slew of allegations of corruption related to several government transactions, but fell short of demanding her resignation. Instead, the bishops urged the President to be “part of the effort” to seek the truth.
The coyness of Aquino and the disappointing position of the bishops restraining people power highlighted the departure from the dynamics of 1986, when Aquino rode the crest of a forceful people power movement driven by the activist archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin, and the mass civilian participation in street protests in support of the military mutiny led by Marcos’ Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Constabulary chief, Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos.
Today’s configuration has lost the fervor for mass action of 1986. It tells us that today’s movement is not based on mass action to bring pressure on the key support institutions of government to defect, such as the military and the bureaucracy. Today’s movement has changed emphasis. It has shifted its cutting edge from confrontation in the streets to bringing moral pressure on government. The shift is not exerting a powerful pressure on government officials to step down. It emboldens them to stonewall.
Though as the Inquirer editorial today points out,
We realize that, in itself, the language of the recommendation (“Urge the President and all the branches of government to take the lead in combating corruption wherever it is found”) seems to be neutral. But in the present context, it actually disregards a fundamental reality. In the scandal over the National Broadband Network, the President and her men have been less than forthright in telling the truth. That, in fact, is one of the reasons we have a crisis in the first place.
Apropos of the bishops, read An Open Letter to the CBCP at Brown SEO.
(courtesy of pedestrianobserver)
Armed revolution anyone? (Thanks for the link Sir Manolo)
@grd
“through constitutional process….”
GMA resigning is still constitutional.
“cvj, can’t get my drift? pardon my sarcasm but my stand eversince is to remove the sitting president through constitutional process. make the system works and strengthen it.-grd”
This is what I dont understand, some people are trying really really sooooooooooo hard to make people power work. But there are existing and well defined processess and systems that I believe is easier to work on.
After joiningg two People Powers , I came to realized that people power just open more debates, arguments questions, confusions and even chaos. First and formeost there is a question on how many warms bodies really constitute a peopel power? Then who are the people and group of people behind it. And then what are the motivation of this people? Self interest or really sincerity to make the country move forward or Ego and Pride or Elitism or just simply flexing tmuscle for teh next election or Media mileage? There is really no clear and real way of determining them.
And then theere this concerns of manipulations and how do you protect peopel power from it. Peopel power is just sooooooo open to manipulations and other ill motives . Remember the talks that Mike Aroyo manupulated Peopel Power 2.
Id rather stick to Bencard’s advocay of Legality, Justice and Fairness. I believe is its a principled and reasonable compared to unstable and emotional approach like peopel power and resignation call. Id rather nor subject myself and the peopel to another round of never ending debates, arguments, confusion etc etc etc again and again and again
Armed revolution anyone? (Thanks for the link Sir Manolo)
Wow taas na nama ng mga EQ.
“rego
And then theere this concerns of manipulations and how do you protect peopel power from it. Peopel power is just sooooooo open to manipulations and other ill motives . Remember the talks that Mike Aroyo manupulated Peopel Power 2.”
I think its unfair to compare the mass actions now to what manipulation Big Mike did in 2001. This time the movement is driven by a higher and nobler cause. Social change and not merely leadership change.
Thats why 2001 is more like a naked power grab. This time around, if it will succeed in regime change, is truly a moral revolution.
Minsan, hinala ko maka-Gloria si Erap. 😛
Tingnan mo last rally, biglang siningit ang sarili niya as caretaker president, turned-off ang marami. hahaha
@ balatucan
sana nga…dalawang beses ko na narinig kasi iyan na moral revolution…..
Noong umasenso ang Pilipinas dahil kay Ramos, credit ni Ramos, pag kay Gloria, kahit sino na lang, aasenso din ang economy.
Sige manghuli ka ng unngoy para maging presidente mo. Ganyan lang naman kababa ang tingin mo sa sarili mo.
@rego
“Bencard’s advocay of Legality, Justice and Fairness”
Huh?? Eh tanggap nga ni Bencard na there is nothing wrong with calling and exerting pressure on an election official during the counting eh….
@ balatucan, is that the moral revolution being pushed by jdv?
@nash, you mean gloria resigning on her free will? nothing’s wrong with that, i think it’s legal. but realistically speaking, do you believe she will do that?… after 3 long years of this never ending “entertainment” as what tonio regard this whole brouhaha is all about?
I read that the PNP is saying 12~15 thousand, while the organizers are saying 75~80 thousand.
Anybody have a first-hand account/estimate?
As long as there is no alternative in sight, GMA will remain in power until 2010.
Assuming GMA quits, De Castro is the next in line, constitutionally, babalik na naman ba sa EDSA kasi ayaw nila or ayaw namin kay Noli?
Pakita mo alternative, then I will decide kung susuporta sa rally o hindi.
Armed revolution naman kaya?
@mandaragat
well, it will serve as an example that if you aspire to be top sayote of the land, you have be fit and competent for it….hopefully, we will get better leaders because they know they would not survive if they are incompetent or corrupt.
@grd
no, realistically, GMA will not resign. She thinks God is on her side and that delusion keeps people like Mugabe in power. Sadly
Flexing the muscle
There was a crush of people in Ayala, before I left in the afternoon, it was already 80,000 people and when I arrived they kept on coming and increasing. I would not be surprised if it already doubled by the time I arrived. It was funny; shortly before I left, helicopters and other aircraft were banned by the Air Transport Office from traversing the massive rally area, apparently this was to prevent any camera photos to have a real estimate of the numbers. Even up to now, this evil administration is clutching at straws trying to foment the Big Lie just like Hitler did during World War 2. Meanwhile the police are blocking incoming people from the province from the rallies, they were denying they were doing this however the police block was seen from the helicopter on the air. Another Big Lie. Our police are learning fast from the lies of the Big Liar in Malacanang. In, a way, I am not surprised.
Even up to now the crowd does not diminish for as some leave (some were assembled at the outskirts of the rally area since 1 PM) people keep on coming. It’s now beyond the 8:00 PM curfew but the crowd is maintaining its number.
Hi Manolo,
I would like to suggest a new paradigm in crowd estimates. I have noticed while the traditional method of counting people is using the old per square meter area estimate, this method does not count people leaving and arriving. For example if there are 250,000 people at a rally, even if the 250,000 goes home but 250,000 take their place, in totality there is in attendance in one time or another a total of 500,000 attendees. If the rotation of people is rapid, it is possible to have even three times the actual crowd, giving it a total of 750,000 people who attended in on time or another.
To Anti-corruption groups,
Good show, I know many of you are still out there as I can see you on TV. This is simply a first major step among many other major steps still to be taken to rid our nation of all these corrupt and abusive men and oligarchs in power. Continue to build, strengthen yourselves and list down people we want kicked out including so called trapo “allies”. The job does not end with Gloria being kicked out, in fact it is only the beginning. The evil and corruption is very deep, we have to continually degrade them even those who disguise themselves as wolves and balimbings in sheep clothing. Mabuhay kayo at Mabuhay tayong lahat.
Oh by the way … Don’t get cocky.
Cebuanos also staged a rally… Many sectors of society, across all regions joined the call for resignation.
OFWs too staged rallies abroad calling for the resignation of Gloria Arroyo
According current news media estimates, there was more or less 80,000 in the Makati rally.
This is not counting the crowd rotation total estimates. Not bad for a follow up rally 🙂
I agree with Mr. Buencamino on Mr. Maceda. Even when in the US on self exile, Mr. Maceda, probably not being able to help himself, also had a questionable reputation.
I suppose that it is really hard to go against one’s nature.
Silent Water, I think I know what you mean about being wary of joining rallies. I had the same sentiment until I realized that I was cheating myself from exercising my right to protest just because someone I distrust is also at the rally.
According to news reports, Gloria is not in Malacanang when the governors rushed to “support” her. She is suspected to have holed up in Camp Crame 🙂
It’s now 9:17 PM, far beyond the 8:00 PM deadline, the program ended but the people are still there 🙂
Kulang sa middle class ang rally. So few people. I was near the artista corner behind the stage. I went around before that. There’s not more than 2000 people there when I left. I went up and down ayala and paseo de roxas. Not many people. Well, at least I sweated it out for a couple hours.
@kabayan
baka merong free concert, di kaya?
observations at the rally, i was there.
the middle class and professionals need to exert more.
the left ( not necessarily the CPP-NPA) is still a political reality in the country.
there is really a sense of outrage, at least among the rallyists.
i think the outrage has not peak yet and there is still the absence of a feeling a snowballing movement.
but the protest movement has now gained a life of its own and only future developments whether it will lead to arroyo’s ouster.
arroyo is still favorite to weather the crisis but only if she played well and the protest movement played bad.
assuming that both played their cards well or bad, arroyo will be out in months, wanna bet?
BrianB, you must have attended a different rally. while kabayan is saying that the rally is more than 100k and people keep on coming, you’re saying that so few people were there.
No, I was there from 6:30 to almost 9. Just got back home, really. I live in Ortigas. Mga 2k lang talaga. Compare it to the crowd inside glorieta or any sizable mall. I’m not a mathematician, so maybe I got it wrong. Still, it’s an anemic crowd. The speakers are much louder than the crowd themselves, another reference point for the size. Not anywhere near 100k.
Haha, we were probably joining a different rally, there was a small pro-Gloria rally at Welcome Rotonda. Though I’m not certain if BrianB was referring to that.
Let the news camera speak for themselves 🙂
However in fairness, according to current news estimates it was at around 80,000. That does not count rotation estimates of course.
While there were people arriving, the early birds were leaving. When I and some people left, still others were arriving.
BrianB
We’ll see the news estimates tomorrow, and see who among us is more accurate okay? 😉
I agree with BrianB. I have just come back from the rally and it was a disappointing affair, especially after all the talk earlier in the week. I was there from about 5.15 to 6.45 and I wouldn’t put the number at more than 15,000 (and that’s generous). What struck me as odd was the fact that even as I made my way to the rally, I saw people leaving even though it had hardly started and the speeches had not yet begun. I am not talking about office workers here, but people who had obviously come to rally. That suggests that even those who showed up weren’t that committed. The fact that it wasn’t possible to attract a decent crowd after the revelations of the last few weeks is surprising and disheartening.
I’m not suggesting it’s a failure. I was just surprised at the 100k estimate. There were definitely some very sincere folks out there, especially the non-celebs.
Complain ko lang. There was someone giving away free bottled water (a cooler full of it), but he was positioned in the area occupied by the upper middle class (the artista crowd) while there were some very thirsty people down Ayala Avenue going towards Edsa. They were buying ice scramble and water in plastic bags.
torn,
Your estimates are the police estimates, the program started as early as 3 PM so it is not surprising that some are coming home, yet many are arriving. Air Transport Office has banned any helicopter from flying to give proper crowd estimates. The police too denied they were blocking protesters from the province, but they were caught in the camera of helicopters.
“Razon said the President happy throughout the briefing, especially after learning that the crowd in Makati reached its peak only at 15,000.”
They have to lie on every single thing happening in this country.Hopeless…
BrianB,
You have just seen the tip of the iceberg, but no matter, believe what you want to believe. We’ll see the crowd estimates tomorrow okay?
I remembered someone saying the Feb 15, 2008; 9,000 people mass rally at Ayala was “supot”, now it is far more numerous.
Doesn’t matter what others believe, what matters is the growing movement geared against corruption.
Watch it on TV, the rallyists being blocked by police and prevented from joining. Check out the news regarding the Air Transport Office ban on helicopter flying and covering the rally; a lame attempt to prevent the media from properly estimating the crowd.
Gloria holed up in Camp Crame, scared shit I should say. Meanwhile the ***-licking governors went to Malacanang but were at a loss where to find her. Now who has lost her “commitment” now?
SWS Survey, 76% percent of Filipinos have small or no trust in Gloria Arroyo.
In the US, Fil-Ams held demonstrations against Gloria Arroyo.
Sorry I think that was a Pulse Asia Survey.
The AFP and PNP gathered their tanks and soldiers at Aguinaldo and Crame, while Gloria cowers within.
Tomorrow, expecting Gloria’s spin doctors to make it look like a victory for her.
Benigno,
Not that I want to pre-empt Jon Mariano but I’ll guess that based on his quoted statement and your post; you seem to have a different interpretation from him of the term “somebody new”.
Why Gloria? Can’t take the consequences of your deeds and the deeds of those close to you?
out in months… shall we start the official countdown?
DAY 1
It depends on who gives the estimates. Don’t fool yourself.
Lozada failed to convince the people of his hero image.
Filipinos in US stage Anti-Arroyo rally in San Francisco and New York. More than 1,000 said to have participated.
Huge crowd of 10,000 protesters in Bacolod
500 protesters in Iloilo
200 protesters in Gen Santos City
Neri met with protest at Davao City
CAT,
Actually, Lozada was more popular than Erap or Cory. He got a better response from people – from what I see on TV.
The movement grows, to my fellow anti-corruption protesters, build, develop and grow…
grd, frombelow,
Don’t jinx the entire thing by betting on it.
Ninoy Aquino was part of the landed oligarchy. However he was one politician who refused to compromise with the dictator. He could have. But he did not. Jose W. Diokno was another. But he was way ahead of his time to be appreciated by the Filipino people.
Aquino was the equal of Marcos in ruthlessness and drive. In their battle of wills Ninoy never gave in. In the end there is no doubt the dictator or his people were so frigthened when he returned since Marcos was seriously ill.
That grinding commitment created the symbol of sacrifice that united enough people and eventually the dictator shot himself.
Politics and political action is more emotion than it is rationalty.
Hence those televised hearings are defining the reality for a lot of people.
Politics and religion are about rituals and symbolism. Trust and faith are abstracts.
Unfortunately the masses of poor people do not have time to think about the future and trust and faith will be translated on who can help one feed himself for the day.
The trapos are the social security safety net of the country. They work together with Church. The oligarchs make sure the system is kept in place. We are an ersatz state.
Reforms or reforming the system is a protracted process. Anyone thinking of another manner should think as the corrective process that shock treatment will entail will mean a pacification or re-education campaign that would and could go haywire.
In the country the moneyed and powerfull have debased the institutions to point that they do not work. Retribution and restitution are essential.
Recently the U.S. Senatorial select judiciary committee through their special counsel had subpeonaed the emails of a sitting V.P. in the person of Cheney. off course they are all now missing.
Check and balance. The imbalance in the social structure in the country cannot be sustained. A break up of the country would probably be in the offing. The country could operate like the E.U. The Europeans are all related anyway.
Visayas anti-corruption movement grows.
Most of the Stocks up today.
Come to think of it, this whole exercise parang election din as both sides battle to win support on their side. But unlike a straight out election where individuals vote, we have institutions casting their votes as well like the military, the cabinet, church, business etc. Nung Edsa 2, yung vote ng military and cabinet tipped the odds in favor of GMA.
Say, if this battle will not be a protracted one contrary to what pundits here would hold, then GMA will have a fresh mandate if the opposition fails to topple her government in the coming days.
So ayan, the battle lines have been drawn, the people and our institutions are in the process of choosing, so whatever the outcome, let’s accept it and yes, “move on” for lack of better phrase.