People’s protests: Demand for justice, anti-chacha and for livelihood

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Consecutive protests were mounted by democratic organizations in Metro Manila and different parts of the country in the past two weeks.

Oppose the Marcos cha-cha. Various sectors protested in front of Congress on March 6 to express their opposition to the attempt to amend the 1987 Constitution. Marcos Jr’s lackeys railroaded the bill to create a Constitutional Convention to amend the constitution set on the last quarter of the year. Marcos wants to remove provisions on the limitations of foreign ownership and economic investments, as well as the limitation on term limits of national and local officials.

EDSA37. More than 2,000 gathered in front of the People Power Monument on February 25 to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the EDSA Uprising which ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr and his family. This was the first anniversary of the uprising after the Marcoses returned to power.

Justice to New Bataan 5. Youth groups commemorated on February 24 the first year anniversary of the 1001st IBde’s massacre of Chad Booc, Gelejurain Ngujo II, Elegyn Balonga, Tirso Añar and Robert Aragon in Andap, New Bataan town, Davao de Oro. They demanded that military units involved in the crime be made accountable.

Reopen CADP. In Batangas, sugarcane worker-members of the Batangas Labor Union at Central Azucarera Don Pedro Professional Technical Monthly Paid Workers Union Inc. staged a protest. They gathered in front of the Azucarera Don Pedro sugar mill in Nasugbu to denounce union harassment and call for the reopening of CADP.

Junk the Herrera Law! Labor groups trooped to the Commission on Human Rights office on March 2 to call for the repeal of the 34-year old Herrera Law. The said law has permitted the proliferation of contractualization and repression of workers’ rights to strike and form a union.

Women’s noise barrage and protest. Gabriela launched its series of noise barrages and protests on February 27 in front of the SM North in Quezon City and the Iloilo Provincial Capitol for the National Women’s Month.

On March 3, women youth groups protested at Mendiola to oppose the EDCA and MROTC.

On March 4, women led by the Lila Pilipina gathered at the Plaza Rajah Sulayman in Manila to oppose the US-Japan-Philippines Security Triad, along with calls for justice to Filipino comfort women during the Second World War.

Hold imperialists accountable for climate crisis. Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines mounted a protest in front of a hotel in Makati City on March 2 in lieu of a meeting of a United Nations committee to hold capitalist countries accountable who are leading emitters of greenhouse gases causing climate crisis. They demand reparations from these countries for damages and lost value due to catastrophes caused by climate change.

On March 3, activists trooped to the DENR to call for the repeal of the destructive Philippine Mining Act on its 28th year as part of the Global Climate Strike.

No to demolition. Residents of Maysapang, Taguig City picketed on February 22 to oppose the planned demolition in their community.

Junk the Fisheries Code of 1998. Fisherfolks stormed the office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Quezon City on February 24 to demand the repeal of the repressive Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 on its 25th anniversary. Apart from this, they demanded an end to dredging operations and reclamation projects in Manila Bay which are destructive to the environment and livelihoods of small fishermen.

End military occupation! Parents and teachers of the Mataragan National Agricultural School in Barangay Mataragan, Malibcong, Abra on February 21 kicked out soldiers who have encamped in the barrio’s school grounds. They actively campaigned against the soldiers’ threat to the security of their children.

People's protests: Demand for justice, anti-chacha and for livelihood