Protest vs corruption set in Davao; pro-Duterte groups to hold separate rally

A rally by militant groups in Davao City. MindaNews file photo by H. MARCOS C. MORDENO

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 September) – Progressive groups in Davao City will hold a rally on Sunday afternoon at Orcullo Park on Roxas Avenue in response to calls for a nationwide protest against corruption.

Rauf Sissay, secretary of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region, said the protest action called “Dabawenyos’ Protest Against Corruption and Accountability” will be led by the Citizens Rage Against Corruption, an alliance of organizations, communities, and individuals.

He said Bayan Muna and other organizations under Bayan-SMR will support the rally on Sunday, which marks the 53rd anniversary of the martial law declaration by President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Proclamation No. 319 issued by former President Rodrigo Duterte declares September 21 as a “National Day of Protest,” in solidarity with the “people’s call against all excesses and shortcomings of the government, and with the people’s desire to uphold the highest standards of integrity, efficiency, and accountability in government.”

It states that the Martial Law era “has imprinted itself in the collective memory of the people as a time attended by the commission of gross human rights violations, arbitrary state interventions, rampant corruption, and disregard of fundamental civil liberties.”

Other progressive groups, activists, students, and churches will also stage anti-corruption rallies on the same day in other parts of the country to protest the massive corruption in government, particularly the controversial flood control projects implicating lawmakers, officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways, and contractors.

Sissay clarified that they have no part in the “Pray for the Philippines” activity organized by the supporters of the former President at the nearby Rizal Park, also taking place on the same day.

“Lahi nga grupo ang mag-rally sa Rizal Park. Dili mi apil ana (It’s a different group that will hold a rally at Rizal Park. We are not part of it),” he said.

For the staging of the “Pray for the Philippines,” the local council passed an ordinance Tuesday, enforcing temporary road closures in some parts of the city’s central business district, as supporters of the Duterte family are expected to converge for the prayer rally from 1:00 p.m. on Sunday until 1:00 a.m. on Monday.

Closures will be implemented from the corner of C.M. Recto to San Pedro Street, the corner of Bolton to Rizal Street, and the corner of Rizal Street to Ponciano Street, where the rally will take place.

The “Pray for the Philippines” is a public gathering “envisioned to celebrate unity, gratitude, and the collective pursuit of social justice, and to pray for divine intervention for a peaceful and prosperous Philippines,” according to the ordinance.

Prayers will be offered for the return of Duterte to Davao City after six months of detention in The Hague, Netherlands to face charges of crime against humanity before the International Criminal Court. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)