Activists vow to keep on fighting for end to pork barrel system

Filipinos gather at the Catholic EDSA shrine to oppose “pork barrel” allocations given to legislators, which the protesters condemned as a major source of graft, at a public square in Manila on September 11, 2013. About a thousand people staged a street protest in the Philippines on September 11 in the second Internet-fuelled demonstration in three weeks against alleged large-scale corruption by members of parliament. AFP / Jay DIRECTO

MANILA, Philippines — Although the crowd at the Edsa Shrine on Wednesday was rather thin compared to the previous protest march that drew tens of thousands, organizers of the prayer vigil against pork barrel said their spirit remained undaunted.

Under a fair weather, the number of protesters who attended the prayer vigil backed by the Catholic Church, was estimated at 1,200.

Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo Jr., the head of the National Capital Regional Police Office, even said in jest that the number of police personnel deployed in the area was half of the total number of people at the Shrine.

“We had prepared for the worst,” Garbo Jr. said.

The peace at the rally dubbed as “Edsa Tayo” was slightly disturbed in the afternoon when a brief scuffle between the militant groups and the policemen ensued.

He said one policeman suffered contusion on the arm after one of the protesters trying to get through the barricade, kicked him and carried placards and banners, which have been previously prohibited by the police as requested by the management of the Edsa Shrine.

But later on the police allowed the protesters to join the throngs of people yielding to chants of the protesters at the shrine “Papasukin! (Let them in!)”

Most of those who came are affiliated with church organizations. But there were people who came alone, leaving their work to join in the growing cry to abolish the pork barrel and punish those responsible in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Antonio Marquez, a 72-year-old executive from Makati City, took a leave of absence from work and came alone at the prayer vigil.

“Politicians are using the pork barrel to perpetuate themselves in power. Remove it and the political dynasties in our country will be gone,” he said.

Some protesters came in groups like the non-government workers.

Teresa Dalumpines, project director of nongovernment organization for the urban poor Pag-aalay ng Puso Foundation said the pork barrel scam has tainted the image of the NGO community.

“We have never asked the government a single cent to be able to bring service to the poor. But the news about Janet Napoles gave NGO a bad name,” Dalumpines said.

She said her group decided for once to make public their stand for the abolition of the pork barrel.

G. Jeff Lamigo, communications manager of World Vision International and convenor of the Christian Convergence for Good Governance, said the people have been betrayed for a long time and it is time to stand for what is right and just.

Junep Ocampo, one of the organizers of the vigil, said that while the number of those who came was far smaller than the Million People March last August 6, the event was still “not what we expected.”

“We were only seven in the beginning,” he said.