8,000 expected in Cebu indignation rally

PRESIDENT Aquino’s turnaround won’t stop plans for Monday’s march against the pork barrel fund in Cebu City.

Wear white and be ready to have “group discussions” about alternatives on spending the pork barrel, said organizers in the Movement for a Liveable Cebu yesterday.

They changed the venue to Plaza Independencia to accommodate more people because projections of 3,000 participants in historic Fuente Osmeña ballooned to 5,000 to 10,000.

Lawyer Democrito Barcenas of the Liberal Party said he would suggest calling the activity a “people’s victory march” and no longer a march protest.

“I believe that what changed the decision of the leadership was the pressure of the people,” Barcenas said.

The rally will start with a march from Fuente Osmeña at 7 a.m.

Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma scheduled a concelebrated Mass at 8 a.m. at the Cebu Metropolitan Church. It was dubbed a “call to discernment on political corruption”.

An online campaign for support for Monday’s march in Cebu City drew commitments of 5,000 to 10,000 people on Facebook, which was “overwhelming” said MLC organizers in a press briefing yesterday.

Because of the crowd estimate, traffic enforcers decided to reverse the flow of the march to start at Fuente Osmeña and end up in the more spacious Plaza Independencia.

At the MLC briefing, cardiologist Rowena Burden said she and some friends saw the Facebook invitation to join the “Million People March to Luneta” and thought of having one in Cebu as well and got in touch with the two-year-old Movement for a Liveable Cebu, which grew out of a campaign to stop Cebu flyovers.

No politicians will be allowed to go on stage to give speeches.

“Since there are no speeches, we encourage group discussions. We have to offer alternatives. This is a way of crowd sourcing to hear people,” Burden said.

“It’s going to be a big group discussion in Plaza Independencia.”

“We know that it takes an act of Congress to abolish the pork barrel,” said the doctor after President Aquino’s announcement.

“We have to remind that there is a clamor of the majority to stop this. This march is a first step. We want the funds from the pork barrel to be channeled to the proper agency.”

ORDERLY MARCH

MLC lead convenor Marc Canton met with City Mayor Michael Rama and traffic representatives yesterday to prepare for an orderly event.

Traffic enforcers on motorbikes will be fielded at intersections.

“For now, we still don’t see the need for any road closures. We will only decide to close some roads if necessary,” Citom head Rafael Yap said.

Participants will use the inner lane of Osmeña Boulevard when they walk to Plaza Independencia. Vehicles will use the outer lane.

Vehicles can still cross intersections during gaps in the march.

Vehicles can park in the Compania Maritima, at Plaza Sugbu grounds and other pay-parking areas.

No parking is allowed in parts of M.J. Cuenco Avenue and Legaspi Extension near the plaza and at the vicinity of Malacañang sa Sugbo.

Mayor Rama waived the user fee for MLC’s use of Plaza Independencia.

Some critics of the pork barrel expressed ambivalence over Aquino’s announcement, saying it could simply be a move to appease the public ahead of Monday’s protests.

“What’s there left to stage a protest march for? Let’s convert that into a people’s victory march,” Barcenas of the Liberal Party said.

Barcenas added that he admired the president for listening to sentiments of the people. The human rights lawyer heads the Noy-Mar Volunteers in Cebu and was active in their campaign in 2010 election.

A separate 8 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral will be a “call to discernment on political corruption.”

Based on the press statement of Msgr. Romualdo Kintanar, convenor of the Archdiocesan Discernment Group, the Archdiocese of Cebu joins the call of Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle for a thorough investigation of the pork barrel scam and punish the culprits.

“This discernment mass is an opportunity for everyone to get spiritually strengthened and nourished to bring Christ’s wisdom and love especially to the financial aspect of political governance,” Kintanar said.

He invited people to bring along friends, neighbors and their community.