• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Progressive groups led by Bayan Negros held a protest rally at the Fountain of Justice in conjunction with the third State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The groups declared that under the Marcos Jr. administration, issues of privatization, land conversion, and measly wages have not been addressed as the economic crisis continues to worsen.
Farmers and farm workers also decried the lack of genuine agrarian reform and slave-like wages, as most haciendas still implement the pakyaw system, with workers earning as low as P30 pesos a day.
For the urban poor sector, they slammed Marcos Jr.’s P4, or Pabahay Program, locally adopted by Bacolod City Mayor Albee Benitez through the Yuhum Housing Program, which they say does not address the root causes of poverty and homelessness in the city, decrying the proposed P2,500 per month per unit rate.
Local fisherfolks’ livelihood are also threatened with the more than 1,000-hectare reclamation project, a common trend of Marcos Jr. administration’s opening up our local industries to foreign investors.
Bayan Negros is also in solidarity with the more than 100 political prisoners who are fasting in protest of the worsening human rights situation in Negros under Marcos, with cases of hamletting, bombing and extrajudicial killings of peasants. In urban centers, progressive leaders have also reported that police are deployed, through the Regional Peace and Security Council, for intelligence gathering and delivering threats.
Bayan Negros deputy spokesperson Berlita Ante said they also slam the extravagant spending of Marcos Jr. for this year’s SONA, which they assert is merely a platform to spew lies guised as attractive promises.
Bayan Negros believes the rift between Marcos and Duterte is underpinned by their warring allegiances of the United States and China. The group calls on the people to be critical of the next months, as the contradictions between them are expected to worsen, she added.*
JEEPNEY DRIVERS
Members of the Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers (BACOD) also staged a “State of Unconsolidated Transport Address” at the Fountain of Justice in Bacolod City yesterday to show the real status of traditional jeepneys who did not submit to the mandatory consolidation scheme.
BACOD president Rudy Catedral yesterday said they held their protest in time for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the President because want to show Bacolodnons the real scenario or situation of the jeepney drivers and operators affected by the PUV Modernization Program (PUVMP) of the government.
He said about 50 percent of traditional public utility jeepneys or more than 1,000 units in Bacolod are not consolidated.
Catedral said they have also submitted their position paper to Senator Raffy Tulfo, as well as other senators and congressmen regarding their current situation and the impact that the PUVMP will have on their livelihood.
They are also calling on the local public officials, especially the mayor of Bacolod City, to find a solution to the crisis they are facing, he said.
Thousands of drivers and operators affected by the PUVMP also joined the nationwide protest yesterday during the scheduled SONA of the President.*
