Afternoon rain drenches rallyists on day of protest

Despite the rains, anti-government protesters remain unperturbed at the Luneta mass action. Jhoanna Ballaran/INQUIRER.net

A sudden heavy downpour on Thursday afternoon drenched the participants of the mass actions in Manila.

But the strong rain did not prevent the thousands of protesters to stay on and continue denouncing the government during the day of protest at the Luneta Park.

READ: Thousands of people, mostly in black, gather at Rizal Park for ‘End Tyranny’ rally

The protesters also condemned the increasing number of human-rights violations in the country.

Despite the inclement weather, anti-government protesters in Luneta did not budge and instead just took out their umbrellas as they sang “Tatsulok,” a song originally performed by the activist folk-rock group Buklod whose members were Noel Cabangon, Rom Dongeto, and Rene Boncocan.

The song Tatsulok was later revived by Bamboo.

French Maaño, an 18-year-old third year biology student at the University of the Philippines-Manila, chose to stay at the program because such event happens rarely.

“Minsan lang po maipaglalaban yung mga taong hindi kayang lumaban para sa kanilang sarili (It’s not every day you get the chance to fight for the rights of people who are too helpless to fight for themselves),” he said.

The Luneta crowd was estimated to be at 8,000 as of 5:30 p.m., according to the Manila Police District. /jpv