CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 21 September) — City residents and people from other areas joined the nationwide Trillion Peso March against corruption on Sunday that drew participation from the religious and other sectors.
Two anti-corruption protests were held – a morning rally led by the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro where the participants marched from Gaston Park in front of St. Augustine Cathedral to Vicente de Lara Park, and another one in the afternoon at Plaza Divisoria organized by the Promotion of Church People’s Response and progressive groups.
At the morning rally, Nestor Banuag of the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections said,“Ang hustisiya, dili ideya lamang, kung dili katungdanan sa tanan (Justice is not just an idea, but everyone’s duty).”
Kyle Chester Cotacte of Youth Against Kurakot cited how faulty government projects endanger children who risk their lives crossing rivers with damaged bridges just to get to school.
“Have you seen how they get soaked because of the government’s faulty projects?” he asked in the vernacular.
Ellorin, president of Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and the Environment, urged authorities to pursue cases involving anomalous flood control projects. “There must be no hesitation in imposing punishment.”
He said that aside from holding officials accountable, Filipinos must stay involved in the process of governance through bottom-up budgeting and improved systems in the Citizens’ Participatory Audit.
Police estimated that around 500 people joined the morning rally. But Ellorin said in a post on Facebook that there were around 1,500 participants. He said the afternoon rally drew a smaller crowd.
The protests, held on the 53rd anniversary of Martial Law imposed by President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1972, were triggered by the discovery of several anomalous flood control projects across the country.
Another rally was scheduled on Saturday afternoon by supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte to demand his return from The Hague, Netherlands where he is detained to face charges of crime against humanity before the International Criminal Court. (Henniequel Shayne Acobo/MindaNews, with a report from H. Marcos C. Mordeno)
