Militants remember Bonifacio with protests

Militants will remember Andres Bonifacio today with protest rallies.

However, instead of focusing on the martyrdom of the Philippine hero, members of Akbayan, Alliance of Progressive Labor and their allied groups will focus on issues on the upcoming 12th ASEAN Summit next month.

Similarly, Partido ng Manggagawa will continue the struggle of Bonifacio's unfinished revolution by launching its own "KKK" during said summit.

On the other hand, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan will send today a letter to the heads of states of the ASEAN member countries to air the group's concern and lobby for inclusion of their issues during the four-day international event.

At 9 a.m. today, some 600 militants under the banner of Akbayan will converge at the Plaza Independencia and will march toward Gaisano Metro-Colon where they will hold a protest rally.

Ernie Edralin, Akbayan-youth provincial chairman, said that their rally today is just a "warm up" of more protest actions that they would be doing for the ASEAN Summit.

Edralin's group would focus on two issues during the ASEAN: fair trade and not free trade and democracy for Burma or Myanmar.

Akbayan and its allied groups also express strong opposition to the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, which is a bilateral preferential trade treaty between the two countries that seeks to remove barriers to investments and trade of goods and services.

But instead of bringing benefits to the Philippines, the group said that the treaty might put the Philippines in the losing side because it will only legalize the plan of the Japanese government to make the Philippines the dumping ground for its toxic and hazardous wastes.

Edralin said that while the government enforces strict security for the ASEAN, his group would practice their freedom of assembly by conducting peaceful and orderly protest. "We can guarantee that our actions will be peaceful and we will not bring children to the rally," Edralin said.

Today, hundreds of workers under the Partido ng Manggagawa will launch their own version of the KKK, or the "Kapanginabuhian, Katungod ug Kagawasan: Batukan ang kontra mamumuno nga polisiya sa ASEAN" as their call to uplift their quality of lives and dignity. This will launch the group's offensive campaign against the "ASEAN's anti-workers policies and practices."

"Today's labor offensive is a pledge to continue the struggle of working class hero Andres Bonifacio's unfinished revolution," he said adding that the failure of the governments under the ASEAN to protect the interest of the workers coupled with anti-workers and anti-poor policies have been detrimental to the workers," said PM-Cebu chairman Greg Janginon. - Wenna A. Berondo