System change what’s needed, say militants

They’re eager to see the back of President Aquino with less than a year to go before the next presidential election, but the leftist opposition has yet to decide whom they want to be the country’s next leader.

Interviewed during the Sona rally on Monday, former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño said the Makabayan bloc was not endorsing any of the more obvious presidential aspirants just yet.

But what they did have was advice for the would-be presidential candidates.

“Do not believe what Aquino is saying about continuing the straight path. Change the governance and the system. There was no straight path under Aquino,” said Casiño in Filipino.

According to Casiño, the past five years of President Aquino were “a failed leadership.”

Promises unfulfilled

“The promises of a straight path, inclusive growth were not fulfilled. It was all posturing. The only ones that benefited were the oligarchy and foreign investors, but the life of ordinary Filipinos remains the same. The struggle continues for real change,” he said.

Casiño said there was no marked change between Aquino’s administration and those of his predecessors.

“Aquino just continued the policies of the past administration, like the [conditional cash transfer program] and the [public private partnerships]. He even scaled it up,” he said.

As for Aquino’s anticorruption platform, Casiño noted that, like other administrations, it was “selective” and “subject to political manipulation and the agenda of whoever is in power.”

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) leftist coalition criticized the Aquino administration for failing to deliver “meaningful achievements to the people.”

Where salvation lies

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said the Aquino administration would be remembered for the pork barrel corruption, the “failed response” to Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” (international name: Haiyan) the Mamasapano massacre, the plight of convicted overseas worker Mary Jane Veloso, the Kentex fire and the dilapidated MRT.

“Our salvation lies not with the politicians but with a vigilant and organized citizenry fighting for genuine change,” Reyes said.

Meanwhile, Bayan Metro Manila chair Raymond Palatino said what their group was calling for was not the replacement of the President, but the replacement of the system.

“What is the solution to our problems. Should it be the continuation of the ‘straight path?’ The hacendero to be replaced by another hacendero? The thief and puppet to be replaced by a new thief and puppet?” he asked.

Palatino said the “alternative” was “a national democracy with a socialist perspective.”