6-M signature drive highlights anti-pork protest on Aug. 25
MANILA, Philippines — A sign-up drive for the People’s Initiative against the pork barrel system will highlight the first anniversary of the Million People March at Rizal Park in Manila on Monday.
“This time, there will be a protest program and a sign up drive happening at the same time… The People’s Initiative, a sign up campaign to introduce a new law banning the pork barrel system, will be a new component of the the Luneta action,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said in a statement.
The People’s Initiative targets to collect about 5.4 million up to six million signatures nationwide.
On August 23, the anti-pork groups will be converging in Cebu City to attend the People’s Congress which will approve the draft bill. The signature campaign will be formally launched there.
Under the initiative and referendum law, the signatures of at least 10 percent of registered voters nationwide, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least 3 percent of the registered voters, are needed for the initiative to succeed.
Once the Commission on Elections certifies that enough signatures have been gathered, it will have to schedule a referendum not later than 90 days. If the initiative gets the approval of the majority of the voters, it will become a law.
#abolishpork, Scrap Pork Network, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, Concerned Citizens Movement, Youth ACT Now!, Babae Laban sa Katiwalian, Church People’s Alliance Against Pork Barrel, Nationalist Movement, Bayan, and groups from other sectors will lead the mass action in Luneta on Monday.
Other participating groups are the Integrated Bar of the Philippines who will be gathering in front of the Supreme Court, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches.
Expected to attend the rally are progressive, religious, and personalities including beauty queens Maria Isabel Lopez, Joyce Burton Titular, musician Monet Silvestre, and actor Bernardo Bernardo.
“The August 25 event marks a major advance in our fight against pork and for accountability in the PDAF and DAP scams. We have a main protest program and we have a sign up drive reaching out to all cities, municipalities and congressional districts here in Manila. Our people are demanding an end to a corrupt pork system, and accountability of our national leaders, especially the President,” Silvestre said.
For Bayan, the protest will serve as an occasion to denounce Charter change and the extension of President Benigno Aquino III’s term and his attacks against the judiciary on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (Dap).
“The issue of Charter change and term extension is linked to the pork barrel issue. Aquino wants to escape accountability. He wants to pressure the SC to change its decision on DAP. He wants to control Congress through the perpetuation of the pork barrel system. Ironic that the lessons of the Marcos dictatorship seem all but lost on Aquino,” said Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. in the same statement.
“We call on the people nationwide to mobilize on August 25 and beyond. Bring your pens and placards and let the voice of the “bosses” be heard,” Reyes added.
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