Various sectors staged pickets and demonstrations anew on October 24 as part of the weekly Black Friday Protest against the corruption of the Marcos regime. Groups of workers, urban poor, farmers, and student youth from Metro Manila, Laguna, and Albay joined the protest.

The protesters wore black clothes to express indignation against corruption. The national protests held every Friday clearly calls for accountability, justice, and the imprisonment of all corrupt officials who continue to plunder public funds amid the economic crisis.

In Metro Manila, the United People Against Corruption (UPAC) and its allied organizations led the protests in five cities. Demonstrations were held in Manila, Quezon City, Pasig City, Taguig City, and Valenzuela City.

Four protest centers were in Quezon City. The University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman University Student Council and progressive youth organizations led the protest at Philcoa along Commonwealth Avenue.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Quezon City also organized a protest at the National Housing Authority on Elliptical Road. A picket was also held in Novaliches Bayan on the same day. The Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) held a picket at the Katipunan-Aurora Terminal.

The alliance Sulong Manileño, Korapsyon ay Labanan (Advance Manileño, Fight Corruption, or Sumiklab) also made noise at Baseco and Aroma in Manila. The women’s group Gabriela-National Capital Region led the protest in Pasig, while UPAC-Camanava led the picket at Tullahan River in Marulas, Valenzuela City.

In Taguig City, progressive groups’ flash protest caught unaware the guards of the compound housing the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) that day. They condemned the ICI and the Marcos regime for their failure to hold corrupt government officials accountable.

UPAC considered the protest successful because of the participation of various groups. “Workers, youth, women, families, and communities united to demand that corrupt officials be held accountable and punished!” UPAC declared.

In their programs in Metro Manila, UPAC and its allied organizations urged the people to join and participate in the upcoming People’s March Against Corruption on November 7. They will hold this in the national capital. “Together we will show the people’s power against corruption!” they said.

In Laguna, the labor unions of Wyeth Philippines and Yakult Philippine Incorporated launched their respective factory pickets as part of the Black Friday Protest. The two unions are members of the Drug, Foods and Allied Workers Federation of the Kilusang Mayo Uno.

The Wyeth Philippines Progressive Workers Union (WPPWU) workers are demanding an end to the ongoing wage suppression at Wyeth, as well as holding corrupt government officials accountable. “Our taxes are for the people, not for thieves!” the workers said.

In Albay, the groups Albay Movement Against Corruption (AMAC), Bunyog, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bicol, and Bayan-Bicol came together for a whole day of pickets and protests on October 24.

Part of the Bicolanos’ action was a motorcade in Legazpi City and Daraga City. They picketed the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bicol Regional Office to demand action from the agency. The protesters threw eggs at large tarpaulin photos of Bicolanos Sen. Chiz Escudero and former Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co, who have been implicated in corruption.

They also protested at Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co’s construction firm Sunwest Inc. office in Barangay Bogtong. The groups ended their protest with a program at Peñaranda Park in Legazpi City.

The Black Friday Protest is a weekly demonstration launched by groups under the Kilusang Bayan Kontra Kurakot (KBKK or People’s Movement Against Corruption), which led the 100,000-strong protest at Luneta Park, Manila on September 21 and the thousands-strong demonstration in Mendiola on October 21. KBKK will stage a larger rally against the Marcos regime’s corruption on November 30.