‘But the tirades were somehow restrained, apparently brought about by the fact that it was the President himself who exposed the anomalous flood control projects in several provinces.’
SOME 100 people were reportedly arrested in the chaotic protest rallies in Manila last Sunday, carried out by misguided elements not aligned with any of the multi-sectoral groups who took to the streets to strongly denounce the massive corruption in flood control projects.
An outraged Mayor Isko Moreno condemned the violent rioting that injured about 120 cops and said the rioters will be charged with civil and criminal charges and that he would make sure “na pagsisihihan nila ito.”
The rioters, who burned a container van used as a barricade at the foot of the Ayala Bridge, were intent on storming Malacanang, which would have forced the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and police units there to use their guns had the actual violent assault taken place
From veteran journalist Barbie Atienza’s FB post: “Yes, they may or may not be fighting for the same cause. But the means they chose were different and wrong. Some ideologues claim there will be no change unless there is bloodshed. That is why they regard the 1986 people power revolution as a “fake revolution.” So with other mass actions that followed. And they made a point, and just look at where we are now.
“Or they may be just plain and simple anarchists or adventurers who seek to overrun or abolish any establishment through violent coercive means. Just to create havoc, whatever, whoever they are, they still have no right to insist on what they want through violence, destruction, leading to damage and death. It just isn’t right.”
***
Calls for President Bongbong Marcos to step down were expected during last Sunday’s massive protest rallies against widespread corruption in the government at the Quirino Grandstand, EDSA Shrine and culminating at the People Power Monument. But the tirades were somehow restrained, apparently brought about by the fact that it was the President himself who exposed the anomalous flood control projects in several provinces.
The ongoing Senate probe against DPWH officials and congressmen, along with the President’s decision to create the Independent Commission on Infrastructure, also shielded the President from the intense barrage of protest speakers reserved otherwise for the plunderers in the DPWH and the House of Representatives.
Political analyst Paul Teehankee notes that it was ironic that as the people commemorated the declaration of martial law last September 21, it was also the day when widespread public uproar led to protest rallies caused by the President himself. Teehankee says this was the first time in the country’s history that a President has turned into a “whistleblower of some sort.”
There seems to be a strange parallelism between the President’s unbridled rage against the huge taxpayers’ money wasted on numerous unfinished, neglected, or “imagined” flood control projects, with the consequent death and destruction, and the thousands of deaths by police execution in the extra-judicial killings under then President Duterte. The President was apparently gripped with much compassion and deep concern for the flooding victims of the recent three super typhoons and for the families of the hapless victims of the past and brutal drug war during the past administration.
Most probably, it was a soft heart that bled at the mostly cold-blooded killings that drove thousands of grieving families to pits of despair and helplessness that, despite the political costs, had triggered the President’s decision to help the Interpol to arrest Duterte and bring him to the Hague for trial.
***
The husband of prominent lawyer Atty. Rowie Morales has passed away. For many years, she was the head of the Free-Legal Aid of the College of Law at UP Diliman. She was remarkably proficient and selflessly dedicated to mostly pro-bono cases of the oppressed, the indigents and the helpless. Atty. Rowie is now virtually blind in both eyes but continues to conduct face-to-face classes at the same college.
Her spouse, Alberto “Bert” Morales, 74, broke his spine in an accident at home, leading to serious complications and his passing. He was a respected official of the then Ministry of Human Settlements and Board Director of the Land Bank of the Philippines. He was also a close friend of former Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform Horacio “Boy” Morales under then-President Joseph Estrada.
Veteran journalist and former Director-General of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Joel Paredes recounted how Bert practically saved Boy’s life after he made sure that he was brought to a hospital in Makati right after the latter suffered a heart attack in Baguio City. Paredes and Morales are fraternity brothers of the Beta Sigma Fraternity at UP.
We extend our deepest sympathies to Atty. Rowie and her children, Clod, France and Aimie.
