Leaders of militant groups raise angry emojis at Duterte’s SONA. Photo courtesy of KPD-Bataan
BALANGA CITY — Groups under the Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya in Bataan gave angry emojis or emoticons to the administration of President Duterte as their act of protest Monday on the last State of the Nation Address of the chief executive.
The groups were composed of leaders of Pangisda, Youth for Nationalism and Democracy, Alyansa ng Manggagawa ng Bataan/Bataan Labor Alliance (AMBA-BALA), Coal-Free Bataan Movement, Young Bataenos Environmental Advocacy Networ,k and Limay Concerned Citizens, Inc. (LICCI).
The leaders said the emojis showed their extreme anger and indignation over the Duterte government’s alleged five years of failure, injustice , corruption, adherence to regulations on the economy favoring interest of big businesses, especially of China, and militarization in dealing with the pandemic.
“Kapos na kapos ang ayuda sa mga mahihirap at napakabagal ng pag-usad ng pagbabakuna sa Covid-19,” said Edlyn Rosales of Pangisda.
The leaders claimed there are still significant number of workers under contractualization, that there is still lack of employment opportunities worsened by the pandemic and that many workers have still not returned to work at the Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles.
They also complained of the alleged snail-paced program on land reform and feared of more eviction of informal settlers because of road widening and expansion of the Bataan freeport.
“Sino ba talaga ang higit na nakikinabang sa mga proyektong ito? Bakit tila hindi kami isinasali sa mga dapat na umunlad at lagi na lang kaming itinuturing na squatter,” sighed Cheryl Magracia of LICCI.
Alvin Pura also of LICCI questioned the expansion of coal plants in Bataan despite the declaration of a moratorium by the Department of Energy.
“Lalong naging problema ang polusyon dahil sa dumami pa ang mga planta na wala namang pakialam sa aming mga residente sa paligid,” Pura said.
They also complained of the Manila Bay reclamation projects that they said greatly affected fishermen.
They sought justice for the murder of Gloria Capitan, leader of Coal–Free Bataan Movement and a stop to alleged human rights violations.
“Matapos ang limang taon wala pa ring katarungan, sampu ng mga libo-libong taong pinatay sa ngalan ng diumano ay giyera sa droga at giyera laban sa terorismo,” the leaders said.
