Protests in Davao City to start at high noon Monday

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Militant groups here will start marching on the city streets at 12 noon and will hold a rally at the Rizal Park in the afternoon in time for President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address.

Thousands are expected to join Monday’s protest action, according to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

Sheena Duazo, Bayan’s regional secretary-general, said militant groups would also hold protest actions in the cities of General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga and the Caraga Region, to express their dismay over the President’s three years in office.

Duazo said Bayan would answer the President’s SONA with their own “SONA ng Bayan,” giving the President failing marks in addressing the suffering of the poor.

Dodong Basilio, the secretary-general of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), said the workers would continue to press its 14-year demand for a P125 across-the-board legislated wage increase, which has largely been ignored by at least three administrations.

He said that Administrative Order No. 18-A series of 2011 issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ensured the continued “contractualization” of labor, preventing workers from unionizing.

“After three years under PNOY (President Aquino), there is no relief to the conditions of workers. We are dismayed,” said Basilio.

In General Santos City, the Bayan-led protest action will kick off at 9 a.m., with protesters traveling on a “caravan” to Koronadal City in South Cotabato where they will hold an anti-mining rally in front of the provincial capitol.

There will also be a similar protest action in Digos City in Davao del Sur.

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