Bayan slams earthquake drill on September 21

The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) criticized the Duterte government for scheduling a nationwide earthquake drill on September 21, the 45th anniversary of Martial Law.

Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes called the Duterte government “insensitive to the plight of martial law victims.”

“Unlike the Duterte regime, the people have not forgotten,” Reyes said in a statement.

Progressive groups such as Bayan are set to hold massive demonstrations on September 21 to protest the Duterte administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs as well as alleged extra-judicial killings and human rights violations; and purported accommodation of the wishes of former President Ferdinand Marcos’ family, among others.

Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972.

“So, apart from conducting a nationwide earthquake drill on September 21, what will Malacañang do to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Martial Law?”  Reyes asked. “Or has the occasion simply lost its relevance for the Duterte government; after allowing a hero’s burial for Marcos, declaring a special holiday in Ilocos and embarking on a settlement with the Marcos family?”

Reyes assured that their demonstrations on Thursday would be “peaceful and organized” amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncement that the government will not hesitate to use force should rallies become unruly.

Reyes then lamented that this year’s martial law anniversary ironically comes at a time when an actual martial law was declared in Mindanao and “at a time when government is threatening critics with nationwide Martial Law.” /kga