Protesters mass up for Duterte Laguna visit

SAN PEDRO CITY – Members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Tagalog (BAYAN-ST) started massing up along the national highway in Sta. Rosa City in Laguna province in anticipation of President Duterte’s visit in the city Thursday.

Duterte was expected to administer the oath-taking of newly elected village captains in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon at the Sta. Rosa sports complex.

Allan Bragas, chairperson of Bayan-ST, said they wanted to “welcome” Duterte with a protest in order to register a number of issues.

Among these, he said, were to urge the government to “take seriously” the resumption of peace talks and the passage of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms, a version of the agrarian reform being pushed by militant groups.

“We believe Duterte is rallying the barangay captains to push his agenda for charter change and federalism,” Bragas added.

He said there were a  hundred of them and he expected more protesters to arrive throughout the day.