MANILA, Philippines — Militant group Bayan will be bringing an effigy of President Aquino riding on a Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) train to be burnt on Monday during the last State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the Chief Executive.
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said the artist groups and Bayan volunteers are now busy finishing the effigy which represents a problem many people can relate to and remains unresolved by the Aquino government - the MRT.
"The Aquino government is very much like the MRT. It promises to take you from point A to point B. It makes you wait. It charges you a lot for deteriorating services. It keeps breaking down, but still wants you to be grateful for arriving in one piece. It badly needs a replacement," Reyes said in a statement.
"The apt word is bulok (rotten). Ang gobyerno ay parang MRT, bulok at matagal nang dapat pinalitan," he added.
An effigy of a dilapidated MRT driven by the President will traverse Commonwealth Avenue on Monday.
The train would be on the edge of broken rails, reminiscent of the worst MRT accident in history, which happened under the watch of Aquino, Reyes said.
He said that artist group Ugat Lahi is leading the production of what they describe as the biggest SONA effigy of Aquino. It is also the sixth effigy and the fifth to be burned.
Aquino’s first effigy during his first SONA was not burned during the protest.
Reyes said this year, protests hounded the Aquino government over an increase in the fares of the different train lines in Metro Manila even as services continued to deteriorate.
Families of Kentex workers, workers union on strike because of contractualization, families of oveseas Filipino workers on death row, parents and students opposed to the K-12 program, farmers from Hacienda Luisita, families of political prisoners and other victims of human rights violations are expected to join the SONA protests.