Seminarians, Aetas among Sona protest marchers

During President Aquino’s last State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, a motley group of protesters that included seminarians and tribal folk gathered to denounce Aquino’s alleged failure to act on people’s needs in his five years as leader of the country.
They expressed dissatisfaction with the President’s performance, claiming he failed to alleviate the woes of people in different sectors.
In the middle of the rally dominated by left-leaning groups, two seminarians held and waved a white flag bearing the logo of Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response, an ecumenical organization.
Kit Daos, 25, said he joined at least 10 others from the Redemptorist Seminary because he shared the cause of ordinary workers and that he wanted contractualization abolished.
“Lahat ng nagpunta dito may dinadalang suliranin na nakita nila sa buhay nila at iyon ang hinanaing nila sa Pangulo. Sana bigyan ang mga manggagawa ng pagkakataon na magtrabaho ng matagal at bigyan ng mas maayos na sahod,” Daos, who worked in a restaurant before he entered the seminary, told INQUIRER.net.
But aside from showing support for the laborers, Daos said students of the Redemptorist Seminary took part in the protest to show that they were one with the people, particularly the oppressed.

Several indigenous Aetas performed a “war dance” during the rally.
Kakay Tolentino, spokesperson of Katribu party list, said they had come all the way from Pampanga to join other indigenous people from the Cordillera.

“Gusto naming ipakita sa mga mamayang Pilipino na ang katutubong mamamayan ay hindi iba ang sitwasyon ng maraming Pilipino dahil kaming mga katutubo, matagal nang pinagsasamantalahan ng Aquino government,” she said in an interview.

Tolentino also blamed the Aquino government as responsible for 61 extrajudicial executions across the country in the last five years, adding that several of these cases paved the way for projects in tribal areas funded by capitalist countries.

Militants said an estimated 20,000 protesters marched along Commonwealth Avenue, but police barred them from proceeding to the Batasan where the President delivered his Sona.