‘Marcos resign’ rally set for Saturday

CEBU, Philippines — An indignation rally calling for the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set on Saturday at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City.

The event is organized by Maisug-Cebu led by Pamela Baricuatro.

“We are inviting all Cebuanos to join us in solidarity and let us unite to show our indignation with what’s going on in our country under the present administration,” said Baricuatro, lead convenor of Hakbang nang Maisug-Cebu.

Baricuatro said they are expecting at least 2,000 participants in the rally.

A simultaneous rally is also scheduled in Manila and Davao. The Davao rally is expected to be led by former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Davao Mayor Baste Duterte is expected to join the rally in Cebu. The organizers are also expecting other personalities to come.

Organizers asked those who will come to wear black shirt to symbolize “mourning”. The rally is bubbed as “Never Again To Marcos Dictatorship” (Luksang Bayan 9.21).

“Let us flood the country with black to show the world that our people are in mourning - mourning the rape of democracy, the death of good government, the death of our sons and daughters at the hands of drug-crazed criminals in the streets and in the approaching war,” read the group’s statement.

Those who cannot come to join the rally are also encouraged to wear black to show their support. September 21, 2024 will be the 50th year anniversary of the declaration of martial law by then dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“It was a reign of terror, anguish, pain, suffering and death from which the scars remain in many homes and families to this day. It was a dark moment in our nation's history when our people suffered, not at the hands of foreign invaders, but the betrayal by one of our own,” says Hakbang ng Maisug; Maisug Pilipinas; Transparency, Accountability, Peace and Security; Kilusang Pagbabago Lead Organization Incorporated; and Protect the Constitution in their joint statement.

The group also said that this year’s observance of the martial law declaration forces the Filipinos to pause and reflect on the dangers and destruction that the dictatorship imposed on the nation.

“It is not only because his son and namesake, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is slowly but unmistakably dragging back the nation to dictatorship. It is that his administration has taken the country to its lowest depths in times of peace,” it said.

The group said that while the ordinary Filipino is suffering from inflation, poverty and crime, the president and his minions, particularly the oligarchs and his political allies, wallow in extravagance and luxury perhaps unrivaled than at any other time in the country’s history.

“While more and more Filipinos are giving up not only rights and privileges in exchange for government-sponsored ayudas and dole-outs, those who are in the good graces of the Marcoses and their minions increasingly abuse their power by harassing and persecuting political opponents particularly the Duterte family and those who served under them at the slightest provocation,” the group added. – FPL (CEBU NEWS)