Coalition plans second anti-graft rally on Nov. 30

LEADERS of a broad anti-corruption coalition on Monday said their campaign is not meant to destabilize or unseat the Marcos administration, as they announced plans for a second nationwide protest on Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day.

“This fight is not only about money,” Jose Colin M. Bagaforo, bishop of the diocese of Kidapawan, told a news briefing in Filipino. “It is for the people, for all of us, for our country. This is not a fight to destroy, but to improve — to reclaim what was taken.”

Representatives from the Church Leaders’ Council for National Transformation, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Caritas Philippines, clergy members, lay leaders and various civic groups said the movement’s goal is to “restore accountability” and not to trigger political unrest, amid what they described as misleading claims about their intentions.

The coalition, which first gathered on Sept. 21, said corruption has drained more than P1 trillion from public coffers, weakening economic momentum and eroding trust in the government.

In a statement, the organizers said corruption has long blocked national progress and kept many citizens in poverty. Long before the present administration, it was already a running joke that many Philippine lawmakers were contractors, they said.

The organizers expect at least 120,000 participants for the Nov. 30 event, matching their own estimate from the first rally, compared with the Philippine National Police’s 80,000 count.

“We are preparing for a crowd that could fill EDSA, not just White Plains Avenue,” spokesperson Francis “Kiko” A. Dee said.

The main program will take place along White Plains Avenue near the Edsa People Power Monument in Quezon City from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., preceded by processions starting as early as 6 a.m. Simultaneous demonstrations are planned nationwide, with 29 confirmed locations across Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Akbayan Party-list said the Nov. 30 march is not only a stand against corruption but also a demand for Congress to act on the long-delayed Anti-Political Dynasty bill.

“We are tired of being trapped in the clan wars of giant families; in the end, it is still the citizens who lose,” it said in a separate statement. “We need to transform the system and pass the Anti-Dynasty law now, so that public office does not become a family business.” — Erika Mae P. Sinaking