Marcos urges peaceful protest for ‘Trillion Peso March’ on November 30
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for a peaceful protest ahead of the sequel to the Trillion Peso March, scheduled for November 30.
Speaking to the media in Busan, South Korea, Marcos acknowledged the public’s frustration, saying the reasons for the “outrage,” primarily over large-scale corruption recently uncovered in government flood-control projects, are understandable.
However, he noted that the main concern is the potential for violence by outside parties.
“The only concern I have when we have demonstrations for whatever reason is that there are agitators who will go and try to cause trouble,” Marcos said during a media interview in Busan, according to the Presidential Communications Office on Sunday, November 2.
“What demonstrator goes to a demonstration with Molotov cocktails that are not intending to cause trouble or to hurt people? Those are the people that we are worried about. And those are the people that we are watching out for,” he added.
He also urged the public to refrain from violence, noting that such actions only lead to injuries among demonstrators and law enforcement personnel.
“Tanggalin na ninyo sa isip ninyo ‘yan. Manggugulo kayo. Wala namang mangyayari. May masasaktan lang. Nasasaktan pa ‘yung mga kasama ninyo kung minsan. ‘Yung mga pulis, wala namang kinalaman ‘yung pulis,” he said.
(Get that idea out of your heads now. You will only cause trouble. Nothing good will come of it. People will only get hurt. Sometimes, even your own companions get hurt. The police officers have nothing to do with this.)
The Trillion Peso March movement has staged anti-corruption protests every Friday since October 10, leading up to a nationwide rally on November 30 to protest alleged anomalous infrastructure projects.
In a DZBB interview, Police Major Hazel Asilo, chief of the National Capital Region public information office, said police are prepared for the November 30 protest to prevent a repeat of the riot that occurred on September 21.
On September 21, anti-corruption rallies at the EDSA Shrine and Luneta Park were marred by riots at Ayala Bridge and Recto Avenue, leaving two people dead and 216 arrested.
Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico III, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said more than 40 individuals will face charges in connection with the riots.
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