Anti-pork barrel sentiment drives largest

protest under Aquino

This was the dominant call of tens of thousands of white-clad Filipinos who gathered in
Manila on Monday to stage a social media-driven protest against the alleged misuse of pork
barrel fundsthe largest mass action during President Benigno Aquino III's administration.

Occasional rainshowers did not stop 75,000 to 100,000 people from trooping to the muddy
grounds of the Luneta facing the Quirino Grandstand, a far cry from the ballyhooed one
million the organizers aimed for.

But it was still the most diverse and largest political gathering seen in years, and coincided
with similar events across the country and some cities overseas. Those who took to the streets
could be the tip of an iceberg of growing discontent with corrupt politicians.

Seen at the rally were various personalities and groups that have been at loggerheads on other
issues, showing how corruption in the pork barrel system has tapped into a common nerve
and bridged political divides.

The mass action also drew people from all walks of lifefrom ambulant vendors to those
checked in at the five-star Manila Hotel, located near the venue of the protest.

Sister Sofia from the Siena College in Quezon City decided to spend her Monday morning in
the protest action instead of the convent to call for the proper spending of public funds.

"We really wanted to be here. We wanted to be counted among the people with the same
sentiments. We would like the resources of the government to be used properly, especially for
the poor," she said in an interview.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle led a prayer and spoke during the event to appeal to Filipinos
for integrity in all levels of society.

"Patunayan natin na marangal ang Pilipino. Marangal dahil may takot sa Diyos, paggalang sa
buhay, pagpapahalaga sa kapwa tao, pagmamalasakit sa bayan at pag-aaruga sa kalikasan,"
the prelate said.

Judith Salvacion, a third year high school student from the St. Scholastica's College,
meanwhile said that she decided to forego her long weekend to join the call to prosecute
individuals who pocketed public funds.

"Unahin po ang Pilipinas bago ang bakasyon. Para ho sa kinabukasan namin ito," Salvacion
said in a separate interview.

Million March
The Facebook page which jumpstarted the mass action described the event as a "massive pocket
picnic get-together" of Filipino taxpayers to demand the scrapping of the pork barrel, and the
prosecution of lawmakers involved in the misuse of these funds.
The Facebook page which jumpstarted the mass action described the event as a "massive
pocket picnic get-together" of Filipino taxpayers to demand the scrapping of the pork barrel,
and the prosecution of lawmakers involved in the misuse of these funds.
The protest action, dubbed the "Million People March," pushed through despite Aquino's call on
Friday to abolish the pork barrel of legislators a change in his earlier stance to retain but reform
these controversial discretionary funds. Aquino won the presidency in 2010 with an anti-corruption
platform. The mass action was staged at the Quirino Grandstand on National Heroes' Day, a
nationwide non-working holiday. The event did not have formal leaders, but various groups,
including religious and activist organizations, earlier expressed their intention to join to
protest.

By Monday morning, over 20,000 people had confirmed their attendance on its event page on
Facebook, although the event is targeting one million attendees.

Not angry

The mood in the area was more playful than angry, with various groups staging pocket
protests by displaying militant messages and singing activist songs. Some families ate their
lunch at the park grounds during the mass action.

"Hindi kami galit. This is a celebration of democracy. Ang gusto ko lang, since may
kontrobersiya, i-scrap na talaga ang pork barrel at idiretso na sa mga ahensya ang pondo,"
said Taguig resident Opel de Asis, who dressed up as an "Angry Bird."

Fashion designer Rajo Laurel joined the event with other celebrities such as Raymond
Gutierrez and Georgina Wilson, who called for "more transparency and accountability in
government."

"Mahal natin ang bansa natin kaya gusto natin magbago ang gobyerno, magbago ang
proseso," Laurel said. "I'm not mad. I am just concerned, because if this doesn't change, it's
going to be a continuing disease," he added.

As of 9:15 a.m. Senior Supt. Joel Coronel, Manila Police District Deputy Director for
Operations, said around 60,000 people were at the venue, with more on the way.
As of 10:30 a.m. the situation in Luneta and other places in the country was peaceful,
according to National Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac.

Pork scam

Public outrage against the pork barrel funds, or PDAF, gradually snowballed after the
Philippine Daily Inquirer ran last month a series of reports detailing an alleged scam which
funneled P10 billion in PDAF to bogus groups to fund ghost projects.

Two weeks ago, the Commission on Audit (COA) also released a report which bared how the
PDAF was "not efficiently monitored and tracked, if at all" from 2007 to 2009 under the
previous administration of President of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now charged with plunder
and electoral fraud.

The money was frequently channelled to projects to impress voters, though many have turned
out to be non-existent.

Despite the economy's strong fundamentals - growth in the first quarter was the fastest in the
region - corruption remains a chronic problem hindering sustained economic development.

Aquino, who won the presidency in 2010 on a good governance and anti-corruption platform,
consistently enjoys popularity ratings of more than 70 percent, a feat not seen by previous
presidents, including his mother Corazon, who toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1986
"people power" revolt.

He has served half of his single six-year term. On Friday, he bared a new proposal that would
require projects under the fund to be set down in the budget, unlike in previous years where
the money was placed under a single budget entry consisting of about 1.1 percent of available
funds.

The President also promised to prosecute those found to have misused the funds. with a
report from Reuters/RSJ/HS/KBK/YA/HS, GMA News


Peoples voice: Stop greed
It was a rally of several firsts: The first largest protest assembly since President Aquino was
elected in 2010 on a platform of good governance; the first initiated and ignited through the
social networks; the first without a leader and political color.
The tens of thousands of predominantly middle-class Filipinos converged on Manilas Rizal
Park on Monday without a leader but pulled together by a shared desire for the complete
abolition of the pork barrel and the prosecution of the people who misused it to line their
pockets.
The protesters marched across Manila and streamed into the park to stage a leaderless
gathering called through Facebook and Twitter to express national rage at corruption in the
government.
Ignoring a slight rain and the muddy grounds, the protesters, whose number police estimated
at 85,000 to 100,000, stayed all day, hoping to drive home a common message: end graft and
corruption.
Aquino tried to head off the protest on Friday by announcing the abolition of the Priority
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a pork barrel that channels funds to congressional
districts, but allocations for it would be set down in the budget starting next year.
But angered by a series of reports in the Inquirer on the alleged plundering of the PDAF by a
businesswoman in connivance with legislators, the people appear to have rejected Aquinos
solution and proceeded with the march to demand the complete abolition of the pork barrel.
Start of being listened to
The protesters gathered at Luneta Park, some wearing pig masks and headgear.
Others carried banners saying Scrap pork barrel! or No to pork!

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We have learned here that we all have a voice, said Peachy Rallonza-Bretaa, one of the
netizens who propagated the idea for the mass protest on Facebook and Twitter.
If we speak up, we can be heard. Its the start of being listened to, Bretaa said.
She said the gathering was not leaderless, but leader-full.
Everybody who joined could initiate action and bring about change, she added.
After the gathering, people must sustain their anger to improve things in the government, she
said.
They could educate themselves about the controversy and take further action to ensure the
proper use of public funds, she said. They could write to mayors, lawmakers, even the
President, to air their demands, she added.
Bretaa said the people were clearly unappeased by President Aquinos decision to abolish
the PDAF and replace it with a new system that would put it in the national budget.
Complete probe in 100 days
The effect of the announcement was that the people took a deeper look at what he was
saying and they learned that he wasnt actually stopping the pork, Bretaa said.
She said the investigation of the pork barrel scam should be completed in 100 days, because
people might forget the issue if the probe stretched longer than that.
At the center of that probe is businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, who allegedly siphoned off
P10 billion in legislators PDAF allocations into her bank accounts through bogus
nongovernment organizations (NGOs) over the last 10 years.
Five senators and 23 members of the House of Representatives have been implicated in the
alleged plunder of the PDAF.
Napoles has denied any wrongdoing. But she has gone into hiding after being ordered
arrested by a Makati City court for the illegal detention of the principal witness in the pork
barrel scam.
A special audit by the Commission on Audit (COA) found wider corruption involving the
PDAF, with billions of pesos being channeled through 82 dubious NGOs.
Ten of those NGOs had been set up by Napoles and received more than P2 billion from 2007
to 2009 alone.
Honorable people
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, moved to tears by the pork barrel scam
during a recent news conference, joined the gathering at Luneta on Monday and called on
citizens to be heroes and to prove that Filipinos are honorable.
Honorable people are those who fear God, respect life, value their fellowmen, care for the
country, and respect nature, Tagle said.
The honorable self must prevail, he said.
Tagle also called on the people to care for the poor as their fellowmen and to listen to the
pulse of the nation. They must listen to God as well, he added.
Fr. Anton Pascual, in his homily during Mass at the park, said people must be vigilant, and
that eternal vigilance was the price of democracy.
Pascual also said that if people want good government, it must start with the individual, who
should shun corrupt acts as well.
Structural evil is rooted in personal evil, Pascual said.
Million mark
The Luneta gathering failed to attract 1 million people, but Bretaa said the million mark was
not the point of the event.
The point, she said, is to help people find their voices and act as one.
The Luneta protest started with a post from music executive producer Ito Rapadas, who
called for a million people march because of his frustration over news that the lawmakers
pork barrel allocations, coming from taxes paid by ordinary working citizens, were channeled
into ghost projects and ended up in the pockets of greedy politicians.
Rapadas post was shared by friends, including musician Monet Silvestre. Bretaa saw the
post and suggested that it be held at Luneta Park on Aug. 26, National Heroes Day.
Her idea was shared on Facebook and quickly gained online support, with people she did not
know vowing to join the march and offering to help organize the protest.
Goosebumps
Silvestre said the response of the people gave him goosebumps. It showed that Filipinos,
though coming from different economic backgrounds and political and social affiliations,
could unite for a common cause.
Rapadas played down the failure of the event to attract one million people.
He said he used million in his post because it was a good round number and an effective
mental tool.
Despite the anger, the Luneta pocket picnic was festive and full of humor, in true Filipino
fashion.
The costume of comedian Juana Changea pig mask, a plunging red top, and a barrel around
her waistwas a crowd drawer.
Also proving a big hit with the crowd was comedian Jograd de la Torre, who sang his parody
song Kawatan about the pork barrel scandal, set to the tune of the popular hit Price Tag.
Whats next? Boycott?
For the marchers, the protest was only the beginning, as talk of what should come next had
begun.
A group of employees at music companies gathered at one corner of Burnham Green was
overheard suggesting a boycott of taxes if the peoples demand for the abolition of the pork
barrel went unheeded.
If we just sign up for the campaign, what happens next? By April and no one involved in
this mess is in jail, or the reforms we are asking for are not done, lets just stop paying our
taxes, said musician Mike Villegas.
After the event, the park management was glad to find that the organizers kept their word and
cleaned up before leaving.
Very disciplined ralliers
Kenneth Montegrande, spokesman for the National Parks Development Council, said he had
seen protesters carrying garbage bags and picking up trash.
Francis Martinez, head of the Parkway Clearing Group of the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA), said only a truckload of trash was removed from the park
after the protest.
Compared to other ralliers, they were very disciplined. They even put out their own boxes
for trash, Martinez said.
There were no untoward incidents during the protest. The metropolitan police, which had put
its 18,000-strong force on full alert, said the Luneta gathering was peaceful.With reports
from Erika Sauler and J aymee T. Gamil

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Randy David: Pork protest a success for social media
MANILA The Million People March for the scrapping of the pork barrel may not have
gathered a million warm bodies but it was a big enough crowd to show that movements
sparked via social media cannot be ignored, political analyst Randy David said Monday.
Its really a metaphorical way of referring to something that we want to be massive and as
crowds go, this was big enough. I think it's just the beginning. Besides, we should take into
account not just the people in Luneta today but also the people who gathered in other public
squares around the country and in the rest of the world where Filipinos are. I think it is a
tremendous success and I am certain it is just the beginning. It is a way of telling our political
leaders that we are here. We are watching you, he told ANCs Top Story.
Calls for the million people march started circulating on Facebook and Twitter earlier this
month following a series of news reports on a P10 billion scam involving the Priority
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers.
Jonas de los Reyes, Socialytics co-founder and managing director, said online outrage over
the scam reached fever pitch after a blog and video of Jeane Napoles' ritzy lifestyle went
viral. Napoles is the daughter of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, alleged mastermind of
the scam.
Various lawmakers have washed their hands of the alleged pork barrel scam despite the
statements of whistle-blowers and a Commission on Audit report on the pork barrel
anomalies.
In the interview with ANC, David said he is dissatisfied with Malacaangs response to the
pork barrel scandal. He said the Palace response was too calibrated.
When the Napoles P10 billion pork barrel scam first hit the headlines, I was quite
disappointed with the reaction of Malacaang. Essentially, Malacaang was saying a lot of
good has happened from the use of the PDAF. And then that was replaced by 'Let's prosecute
those who have abused the PDAF.' And then last Friday, the President said let's abolish the
PDAF but in the same breath, the President was also saying that whatever has been
appropriated so far or will be appropriated for 2014 will now be itemized in a line itemized
way.
The legislators will still be given the privilege of electing and suggesting their own projects.
Well, it was a little too late. Maybe if he had said that in his [State of the Nation Address], it
might have been applauded as a heroic, courageous, very modern statesman way of running a
government but it is one month too late. Besides, given the magnitude of the reaction to the
allegations of abuse of the pork barrel, it was inadequate. Not bold enough as a response.
He also said Aquino failed to capitalize on the publics expression of vigilance and outrage
especially since his own rule has not been tainted by corruption.
I would think that if I were the President, wala kang record ng corruption, you have a high
moral standing in the political community, you have high approval and trust ratings. You
should draw further strength from this manifestation of public anger in order to initiate bolder
reforms instead of looking at it as somehow threatening you or feeling that it is being directed
against you, he said.
One reason, David believes, why Aquino has not been as strong in his statements against the
pork barrel scam is because the President may have spoken too soon about the controversy
not affecting his own administration.
He said that while the worst of the scam might have happened during the Arroyo presidency,
it would be premature to say that it did not continue under Aquino.
The worse forms of pork barrel abuse might have really taken place during the time of
former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It was a transactional presidency and pork barrel
was a very convenient tool for accomplishing your transactional goals but to say that it does
not happen, did not happen in the last 3 years, I think that is totally baseless, he said.
I would like to see COA [Commission on Audit] reports from 2010 -2012. I am quite certain
that Napoles-type scams were also taking place and the reason for that is very simple. When
you have lump sum appropriations that you offer to legislators both in Congress and in the
Senate, that is practically an invitation, a temptation. Dati dati the misuse or so called misuse
of the pork barrel took the form only of overpricing or the use of inferior materials or
suggesting suppliers or contractors who would somehow pay you a kickback of 5%-10%. If
you have an opening like that, you will have Napoles-types of characters who would pledge
to the legislator: I'll fix this for you and you get 60%-70%.
Pork barrel feeds padrino system
In the interview, David said there is ample reason why Filipinos should push for the abolition
of the Priority Development Assistance Fund of lawmakers.
He said the pork barrel system has always been a kind of concession or accommodation of
politicians so that they can play their role as padrinos.
He said that in the past, the use of the PDAF was very limited and subject to bidding rules
and submission of very detailed project proposals that are subject to strict monitoring. These
rules were later set aside and allowed lawmakers to name which non-government
organizations (NGOs) should get their PDAF.
David rejected the reasoning of some lawmakers that they can determine which of their
constituents should get scholarships, medical assistance and other funds.
Kayo bang mga senador at kongresista - do you have really the capability to examine who
needs dialysis? Who needs scholarships? Do you have the staff to do that? What criteria do
you use? Why don't you give that to people who have the staff and the professional training
to determine who is actually in need?
He also rejected the reasoning of some lawmakers that they could not verify if the NGOs
receiving millions of pesos of their pork barrel funds were legitimate.
Alam naman nila what kind of NGOs these are. When you give hundreds of millions of
pesos to NGOs, you have to at least know the records of these NGOs. That is why the real
development NGOs are up in arms because in a sense, the scandal has also stigmatized them
and many of them have done good work, he said.
David lamented the current legal and institutional systems in the country are "too advanced"
for the countrys political culture.
Our legal system and even our Constitution is very, very democratic and modern and yet the
whole social and political context in which these institutions is made to operate is very
backward and very feudal so there is a disconnect between your institutional systems and the
kind of society we have. It is a very hierarchical society that is really spit between the very
powerful and rich and the poor and powerless. It is a society that encourages precisely the
patronage system, he said.
However, he also noted that the reason why pork barrel should be scrapped completely is
already built into the Constitution. He said the role of Congress is not to disperse a portion of
the national budget to constituents but to look at the budget proposal from the executive and
debate policy implications. These include allocations for defense, education, infrastructure
and even scholarships.
David said lawmakers should criticize any form of partisanship that has entered the drafting
of a budget. How can they perform that function if they are interested in recommending their
own projects? It is a conflict of interest situation.
The power of social media
David said one way to break the political patronage system is to break the cycle of poverty in
the country. He said freeing Filipinos from economic dependency will lead to a break from
dependency on political patrons.
He also said Filipinos, especially the masses, must be empowered with information. He noted
that many of those who congregated in Luneta today are hooked into the information loop.
You have to give them the will and encourage them. It is to capacitate people to have the
will, readiness and moral courage to inspect, monitor and criticize if necessary. You cannot
expect that from very, very poor people who are out of the information loop. That is why
most of the people who are in Luneta are those who are connected to the internet. They are
the informed people but during elections, they constitute a minority. The majority are those
who are peripheralized from the circuits of national life, whether you are talking about
information, wealth or power. These are the clients of the patrons, he said.
David said todays protest was started by informed people who are calling for a complete
modernization or overhaul of the political system and getting rid of the political system of
patronage, which is also at the root of the political dynasties.
He also said the march could be the start of more social media-led movements similar to the
ones in Brazil and Turkey.
David described social media-led movements as very volatile but can be the core of really
massive change.
There is a tendency, I think, of the political class to underestimate the power of social-
media-driven movementsYou might think it is insignificant but (in other countries) it
started with families bringing their children, pitching tents and picnics like what you have
this afternoon.
You take a picture today, post it online and a relative sees it in America. The Internet in
other words has made communications one and global and instant and real-time. What kind
of power does that imply for movements, for protest movements? It is tremendous. Nobody
has grasped the full implications, not even the Left, I would say, he said.