Trillion Peso March organizers back Cardinal David

MANILA, Philippines — Organizers of the Trillion Peso March yesterday defended Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David after groups criticized his remarks at Sunday’s anti-corruption protests in Metro Manila.

Separate protest actions were held at the EDSA people power monument and Rizal Park.

“When Cardinal David explained why the organizers chose EDSA over Luneta and why they were not carrying the call for a transition council, it was never an act of sowing division or elevating one protest over another,” EveryWoman convenors Guy Claudio and Jean Franco said.

“It was a simple, honest and intellectually humble statement of fact: the Trillion Peso March organizers have not reached a consensus on the call of the Luneta group,” they added.

Trillion Peso March organizers have stressed that the protests will not demand President Marcos’ resignation.

In contrast, Partido Lakas ng Masa chairman Sonny Melencio said his group has called for “resign all” and a transition council since 2000.

Melencio said David chose to find fault with the people’s calls for the resignation of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte instead of condemning the roots of the problem.

“Branding all who disagree with them as opportunists or lackeys of the President… is puritanical, exclusivist, arrogant and ultimately, self-defeating,” Claudio and Franco said.

“Political positions are not universal truths, and disagreement is not betrayal. Movements only weaken when dissent is punished and purity tests are imposed,” they added.