The Philippine Online Chronicles

According to the PNP, 6,000 protesters attended the rally decrying the House of Representatives Resolution for a Constituent Assembly in Makati yesterday. The Philippine Daily Inquirer said there were 10,000 people. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) insists the number is closer to 13,000. City mayor Jejomar Binay went so far as to say 20,000.

Although the rally at the intersection of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in Makati did not quite attract the 25,000-strong crowd organizers were expecting, it was still the largest mobilization in months of protestation against charter change, and the passing of House Resolution 1109.

It also brought together a wide variety of groups usually found on opposing sides of the ideological field – activists and businessmen, pro and anti-Erap factions, members of different religious factions and politicians – among them Richard Gordon, Benigno Aquino III and former Senate president Franklin Drilon. Also attending were 2010 presidential hopefuls such as Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda, although they were asked to refrain from giving speeches during the program.

“Rainbow forces unite”

Online magazine Bulatlat covered the day's proceedings live via Twitter and ustream.tv. The rally area was said to be lined by police in trucks with firetrucks on standby. Yellow confetti rained down from the surrounding buildings.

Protesters began assembling around lunch time, among them environmental activists, indigenous culture groups, members of religious orders, and people in yellow in the tradition of EDSA 1. Contingents from organizations such as Laban ng Masa, Magdalo and the Concerned Citizens Movement and the United Opposition led by Mayor Binay, arrived in time for the 5:00 program.

An interfaith service was held, presided over by Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Imam Hassan Fucunan. Among those who gave speeches after were Bayan head Renato Reyes, Jr., NBN-ZTE whistleblower Joey de Venecia, Grace Poe, daughter of ex-presidential candidate Fernando Poe, and Jose de Venecia speaking on behalf of the anti-con-ass House representatives.

A statement was also given by former president Corazon Aquino as read by her grandson Kiko Aquino Dy. She said, “There is nothing that causes me greater pain than to see our people betrayed again and again by those they elected...This is not the society I want the next generation to inherit.”

Pointed shows of disdain towards the 107 legislators who supported of HR 1109 included an “Ilaglag Mo” game where people throw a ball at a board featuring their faces and a “Wall of Shame” covered in their pictures.

Also part of the program was a skit by comedians Juana Change, as a congresswoman, and Paq Yu, as a presidential aspirant. A short play was also put on portraying President Arroyo as the pet dog of Uncle Sam.

Not yet over

Despite being faced with a rally of this proportion, staunch supporters of charter change remained unimpressed. Speaker Prospero Nograles pointed out that the proposal for a Con-Ass had not yet been fully formalized yet. “Why should there be these massive protest rallies against Charter change when the issue has not even been resolved in the House. There is nothing about term extensions, but they want to rally...So why are they staging rallies when there isn’t even any proposal as yet? There is no factual basis for the protest. The proposal has not even been fleshed out,” he said.

Bayan leader Reyes has called the June 10 rally the “opening salvo” of a series of protests leading up to President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address in July.

“There will be no let up in protests. The SONA would be a major political battleground insofar as pushing the Con-ass is concerned. We hope to mobilize what could be the biggest SONA protest in Arroyo’s eight years in office,” Reyes said.

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