#PeoplesSONA WILL HIGHLIGHT IMPACT OF POVERTY AND HIGH PRICES ON ORDINARY FILIPINOS; BAYAN TO DEFY UNJUST POLICE RESTRICTIONS
The People’s Sona on July 22 will highlight the impact of worsening poverty and cost of living crisis on ordinary Filipinos, and the failure of the Marcos Jr government to address these problems.
Our people endured more hardships over the past two years under the Marcos Jr presidency. Prices have gone up as reflected in the soaring cost of basic goods and utility services. More households today are living under state of precarity. Yet the response of Marcos Jr to these problems is a measly wage hike in the capital region and the unveiling of a new slogan and logo of Bagong Pilipinas.
Marcos Jr is indifferent to the concerns of ordinary Filipinos as he spent more time in junket foreign trips and promoting the expansion of US military intervention in the country.
His solution to the pressing problems facing the country is to entice foreigners to exploit Filipino workers and to plunder our resources through Maharlika Investment Fund and the planned Charter Change. He has allowed foreign military forces to stage their war games and provocative exercises inside our territory.
These are the inconvenient truths that authorities want to suppress on July 22 by deploying thousands of police to block and intimidate the People’s Sona. The intolerant and illogical stance of the police with regard to the Sona protest reflects the repressive policies of the Marcos Jr government which continues to red tag critics, detain and indict activists on trumped up cases, and terrorize communities resisting militarization.
Despite these threats, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and allied groups are ready to mobilize at least 10,000 people across the country on July 22. Bayan assails the reported plan of the police to prevent People’s Sona participants from marching beyond Tandang Sora avenue along Commonwealth. The police are being unreasonable by imposing numerous restrictions on the people’s right to freedom of assembly and expression. This is part of their underhanded tactics to discourage the people from expressing their discontent against the government. Local authorities should uphold the people’s civil liberties instead of enabling the police to violently stifle dissent.
Bayan enjoins the people to defy the unlawful and unjust restrictions of the police and the Marcos Jr government by supporting the #PeoplesSONA.
#SONA2024
