Social media fuels massive PH anti-graft rally

MANILA - Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the Philippine capital on Monday to voice outrage at corrupt politicians, in a modern-day "People Power" rally fuelled by social media.

The march, emulated on a smaller-scale in other cities around the country, was the largest anti-graft demonstration since President Benigno Aquino was elected in 2010 on a platform to fight corruption.

The protesters ranged from members of the clergy and students to businessmen, middle-class families, lawyers and other professionals, in a sign of the breadth of anger over graft in the impoverished nation.

But while few called for the ouster of Aquino, whose personal ratings remain high, there was widespread fury with politicians.

Retired university professor Teodoro Jurado, 80, said "We are all angry at all the stealing of the politicians. We are telling them that time is up."

Calls for protest began circulating on Facebook and Twitter about two weeks ago after a series of newspaper articles, many in the popular Philippine Daily Inquirer, about a mammoth scam involving legislators' Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

The PDAF is money allocated for lawmakers to be used in their pet development projects. Critics charge that they fund "pork barrel" projects which have traditionally been a source of corruption.

At the center of the controversy is a businesswoman the newspapers reported to have allegedly connived with legislators to syphon off some 10 billion pesos ($230 million) from the fund.

She has since gone into hiding after being charged with the illegal detention of a whistleblower.

Middle-aged physician Paz del Rosario, one of the protesters, said she attended "to be part of a historic event".

"Hopefully this will be the start of a bigger thing. All walks of life are here. This is from social media, the Internet, tweets and texts. There is no leader here," she said.

The influential Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Tagle, called on the crowd to be "honourable" and to work together for the less fortunate.

"Let us look upon the oppressed and the poor as our true brothers. Let us listen to the heartbeat of our nation and the voice of God," he said.

Church leaders have previously played crucial roles in calling up support for protests in the largely-Catholic Philippines such as the 1986 revolt that toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the 2001 uprising that overthrew the graft-tainted president Joseph Estrada.

In the 1986 revolt, radio stations had helped summon the populace while in the 2001 uprising, it was cellphone SMS or 'text' messages that brought many protesters out.

The resulting massive rallies eventually forced out Marcos and Estrada respectively.

Officials' misuse of funds has been long embedded and practically accepted in the Philippine political system.

Aquino had previously expanded the PDAF under his 2014 budget so that each senator will receive 200 million pesos ($4.5 million) while each member of the House of Representatives gets 70 million pesos for their "pork barrel."

But in the face of growing anger last week, the president announced that he was suspending the releases of money and vowed to reform the system.

At a speech marking the country's national heroes' day, Aquino said the government would catch those who stole state funds.

"We will do everything in our power to find those who conspired to take advantage of the PDAF's good intentions, and to hold them accountable," he said.

Organizers said that the rally drew as many as 400,000 people. Police were more conservative.

"It was most probably 60,000 to 70,000 during the rally. At most, I would say about 100,000," said national police spokesman Reuben Sindac.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Uncertainty about Corona guilt strong but majority trust Senate to be fair - survey

MANILA, Philippines -- Just below half of all Filipinos -- 47 percent -- think Chief Justice Renato Corona is guilty of the charges against him but almost as many -- 43 percent -- have yet to make up their minds about him, the results of a recent Pulse Asia released on Tuesday showed.

However, only five percent of respondents to the survey conducted form February 26 to March 9 think the Chief Justice is innocent and, of this percentage, only one percent believes he is “definitely innocent.”

Most of those who think Corona is innocent are in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon and Mindanao and belong to Classes D and E, the survey showed.

Of those who think Corona guilty, only 15 percent are certain about his guilty while 33 percent see him as “probably guilty.

The survey also showed a high level of interest among Filipinos in Corona’s impeachment trial, with eight out of 10 saying they follow the proceedings.

But no matter how they feel about Corona, the majority of the respondents -- 69 percent -- said they expect the Senate to be fair and impartial in judging the case against the Chief Justice.

This sentiment prevailed across geographic areas and socio-economic groups.

Public opinion was also split on the question of whether the House of Representatives railroaded Corona’s impeachment, with 32 percent saying it did and 38 percent believing otherwise.

But in Metro Manila, almost 50% of the respondents believe the House fast-tracked the process.
The survey was conducted among 1,200 adult respondents and has a +/-3% error margin.

The prevailing issues at the time of the survey were Corona’s impeachment trial, the arraignment for electoral fraud of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the magnitude-6.9 earthquake that struck the Visayas, and the 26th anniversary of the 1986 People Power uprising.

source: interaksyon.com

PNoy: 26 years after People Power, revolution still on

MANILA, Philippines - Twenty-six years after regaining democracy, Filipinos still struggle against hunger, poverty and injustice, President Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino said Saturday.

Aquino said that while Filipinos were able to wrest back their freedom following a bloodless revolution against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the fight for basic rights and better lives remains.

"Ang rebolusyon sa EDSA ang nagsilbing lunsaran...hanggang sa kasalukuyan ay hindi pa tapos ang rebolusyong ito (The revolution in EDSA was the launching ground...but till now, the revolution has not ended),"Aquino said in his speech at the People Power Monument along EDSA.

While the fight against corruption, hunger, poverty and injustice goes on, Aquino said, significant victories have been won. The President enumerated the country's economic achievements under his administration, and highlighted the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program launched by the government to aid poor families.

Aquino said 2.3 million families received cash from the government in 2011, a figure that exceeded their target beneficiaries by 45,000 families.

Under the CCT program, chosen beneficiaries receive P500 monthly subsidy for food plus an additional P300 for every child that goes to school. Aquino expects to extend the reach of the CCT program to 3 million families before the year ends.

Meanwhile, Aquino said the country's economy has experienced significant gains. He reported that the Philippine Stock exchange has recorded 16 "all-time highs" under his government.

"Hindi naman siguro pagyayabang ang tawag dito, resulta po ang tawag dito (This isn't bragging but clear results)," he said.

Aquino also said that the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) attracted over P2-trillion in "record-breaking" investments from 1995 till February 2012. He added that 22 percent of PEZA's gains came when he was elected in 2010.

Aquino also relayed the independent report by the Japan External Trade Organization, which placed the country at the top of the most suitable country for investments in the manufacturing and sevices sectors.

Based from the survey, the country topped the list for having the cheapest rates in labor, rentals and land prices, while maintaining competency among its labor pool.

Aquino said that based from these achievements, a lot has changed 26 years after EDSA.

"Ang tawag dito dedikasyon, ang tawag dito malasakit, and tawag dito matuwid na daan," he said.

Aquino left shortly after delivering his speech and went with a convoy to the Luneta Park for a separate ceremony commemorating the People Power revolution. The President unveiled there the monument of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who was at the forefront of mobilizng people to gather at EDSA in 1986.

source: interaksyon.com