People’s SONA staged successfully

MEDIA RELEASE

July 28, 2009

Davao City – With around 30,000 people coming from various parts of Southern Mindanao, the nationwide protest against Gloria Arroyo’s SONA yesterday (July 27) headed by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and People’s March was indeed historic and a first in Davao City.

“There is more that could be learned and realized with the people’s overwhelming response to our call for a unity against Gloria Arroyo and her morally bankrupt regime. What was significant and undeniable with the turnout of the mobilization yesterday is the fact that the people are now conscious of their situation and are ready to oppose the exploitations inflicted against them by the Arroyo administration,”
Bayan-SMR spokesperson John Birondo said.

“What could have been a missed opportunity for those who failed to experience a truthful event yesterday will surely make them want to know more of the people’s genuine and most popular opinion than the bragging and self-defense mechanisms of Gloria Arroyo against her critics during her SONA,” Birondo added.

“There is nothing more realistic than what the people think about Gloria Arroyo’s performance in her nine years of sham, corrupt, and fascist presidency. Economic and social injustices are evident with majority of the Filipino people living below poverty line and with very little opportunities to earn for a living,” Birondo lamented.

“What were bragged mostly by Gloria Arroyo in her SONA were temporary and very insignificant resolutions she has done like the P500 economic subsidy for every poor Filipino family. An amount that is way insufficient for a day’s need of a family with a minimum of four members,” Birondo stressed.

“Infrastructure is not a gauge of genuine development. A simple, non-complicated, and very layman manifestation of poverty are the families living in urban communities whom the Arroyo government labels and treats as squatters,” Birondo said.

“It is neither difficult to understand the kind of jobs being provided by the Arroyo administration. Mostly on contractual basis, nothing is stable and sustaining. Jobs created through Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) like call centers are also vulnerable to retrenchments with the global financial crisis still looming and is expected to worsen in the coming months,” Birondo added.

“If we only try to analyze deeply our country’s situation, and with bias to what is only true, our everyday struggles and encounters with other people will make us more critical, honest, and factual,” Birondo said.

“It is a challenge for all of us to be sincere in our efforts to know the truths and make use of these truths to influence genuine societal changes. The people are just there, waiting for us to ask them about their real opinions and aspirations,” Birondo added.