MANILA, Philippines - After months of protests and lobbying in the House of Representatives, the women's group Gabriela on Tuesday staged a "human chain" outside Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City where lawmakers are set to approve the General Appropriations Act of 2014, enacting the national budget.
The group also urged residents around and near Congress to join their human chain and show their unity against the pork barrel system.
The human chain was composed of about 200 participants who carried placards supporting the People's Initiative.
"Starting here on the gates of Congress, Gabriela will get the ball rolling with the People's Initiative across each and every barangay in the country where we have our chapters," the group's secretary general Joms Salvador said.
The protest was an initiative of the Citizens Against Corruption, a newly formed community alliance in various barangays in District 2 Quezon City, in the vicinity of the Congress.
"It is only but fitting that the protest action being held in conjunction with the third and final reading of the 2014 budget, was borne out of the people's initiative. It is a positive foreboding on the fate of the pork barrel system and the mounting call for People's Initiative," Salvador said.
She said that Gabriela believes and supports the People's Initiative launched by former Chief Justice Reynato Puno as an effort to give power to the voice of the people on the abolition of the pork barrel system.
"As a mass organization, Gabriela upholds the principle of democracy and such effort is a clear exercise of democracy," Salvador added.