‘Calvary’ protests condemn suffering of poor, contractualization
TAX BURDEN Militants carry crosses symbolizing the burden of the government’s tax reform that the poor are made to bear during Tuesday’s “Calvary of the Poor” on España Boulevard in Manila. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Urban poor residents and health workers staged separate rallies to mark Holy Week in Manila on Tuesday, protesting the deterioration of the human rights situation and their livelihood under President Rodrigo Duterte.
Hundreds of members and supporters of Alyansa ng mga Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) reenacted Christ’s journey to Calvary in a march on Mendiola near Malacañang to protest against the recently approved tax law, the destruction of their shanty communities and the President’s war on drugs.
Some of the protesters carried crosses to signify “immense suffering akin to that of Jesus” that they said they carried daily like the threats of demolition of their homes and the TRAIN law, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, that was passed in December last year.
Symbolic crosses
They also cited the burdens of contractualization, lack of housing, persecution of political dissidents and activists and the fallout from the controversial Dengvaxia issue.
“We consider these crosses not just of our poor but of our entire country,” said FDC secretary general Sammy Gamboa.
“These are crosses created not by any divine power but by oppressive policies that skew toward and favor only the rich,” Gamboa added.
He said the tax law had “unduly burdened the poor with runaway price hikes in goods and commodities.”
The protesters also criticized the antidrug campaign, which they said targeted only the poor and the vulnerable while big-time drug lords went scot-free.
Blinded by lust for power
Activist priest Robert Reyes said the characters responsible for the “extrajudicial killing” of Jesus Christ had real-life counterparts in the country today.
He compared the President to the Pharisees and scribes who were “blinded by their own lust for power” and called for the blood of Christ.
HEAVY BURDEN Urban poor protesters carry on their shoulders seven crosses, each representing the burden of their communities from current government policies, including the tax reform law, during a Holy Tuesday march on España Boulevard, Manila. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
“He is closer not to Pilate but to the chief priest of the scribes because he has put to death several innocent people under his war on drugs. He has used the deaths of the innocents, of the weak, to cover up his own sins and keep his hold on power,” he said.
Contractualization
At the Department of Health, members of unions under the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) held their “kalbaryo protest” to demand an end to contractualization in 72 public hospitals, salary increase for health workers and additional funds for government hospitals and health services.
AHW said that health workers continued to endure long hours of work due to worsening understaffing in hospitals, contractualization, inadequacy of hospital budgets, low wages and violations of union rights.
“Hospital services are deteriorating. Patients are overflowing … hospital workers are overworked and underpaid,” said John Paul Gubaton, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center union vice president.
“Hospital budgets for patients are depleted. Worse, hospital workers are being outsourced as a form of contractualization,” Gubaton added.
—REPORTS FROM KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING AND TINA G. SANTOS
