Public officials sabotage "Occupy Bugasong"?
Some public officials of Bugasong, Antique are unhappy, not because super-typhoon Yoland reduced the town to the proverbial howling wilderness last November 8, 2013.
Some public officials are diconcerted, not because Yolanda totally destroyed 826 homes and partially damaged 3,813 others in that forsaken northern Antique town.
Some public officials of Bugasong are embarrassed, not because of government incompetence and criminal negligence in responding to the emergencies in the wake of the super-howler.
Some public officials are unhappy, disconcerted and embarrassed because the people of Bugasong, the victims of Yolanda are taking matters into their hands, are raising their hackles and fists and demanding accountability of government.
The Yolanda victims of Bugasong are staging "Occupy Bugasong" May 18 a protest action right at the town center against government callousness, negligence and corruption.
For almost a week now, some public officials have been fanning barangays devastated by Yolanda, not to bring relief assistance, but to convey threats on those suspected to be joining the mass action. The most vulnerable sector -- and those likely to succomb -- are the "poorest of the poor" enrolled in the "4Ps".
Should any of them join the rally, he/she would be delisted from the program that dispenses P500 minimum per household (the amount to be adjusted according to the number of dependents one has).
That's an old trick actually. Public officials dangled that threat against Yolanda victims of northern Iloilo to dissuade them from joining mass actions.
"Indi lang kamo magrally kay mahuy-an banwa ta (Stay away from rallies because our town is exposed to embarrassment)," they told residents.
In Estancia town, Iloilo, the suppressors of the constitutional right to freedom of assembly and speech, set out to the villages with heavily armed soldiers in tow scaring residents of "communists" who were "behind the protests". And failing to scare the angry locals, they denied them permit to rally and threatened to arrest rallyists.
Those threats did not sound a bell to the ears of angry Yolanda victims who were determined to join the public outrage, anyway.
The protest went whole day and capped in the evening with a concert from Musikang Bayan band from Manila. All that local government could do to spoil the fun of angry Yolanda victims was to counter the concert with the blaring sound from a "bayle" or disco it set up in a nearby block, which actually added to the merriment.
May the angry people of Bugasong continue to rage, rage and rage against an incompetent and callous bureaucracy, the only way for them to attain justice.
Some public officials are diconcerted, not because Yolanda totally destroyed 826 homes and partially damaged 3,813 others in that forsaken northern Antique town.
Some public officials of Bugasong are embarrassed, not because of government incompetence and criminal negligence in responding to the emergencies in the wake of the super-howler.
Some public officials are unhappy, disconcerted and embarrassed because the people of Bugasong, the victims of Yolanda are taking matters into their hands, are raising their hackles and fists and demanding accountability of government.
The Yolanda victims of Bugasong are staging "Occupy Bugasong" May 18 a protest action right at the town center against government callousness, negligence and corruption.
For almost a week now, some public officials have been fanning barangays devastated by Yolanda, not to bring relief assistance, but to convey threats on those suspected to be joining the mass action. The most vulnerable sector -- and those likely to succomb -- are the "poorest of the poor" enrolled in the "4Ps".
Should any of them join the rally, he/she would be delisted from the program that dispenses P500 minimum per household (the amount to be adjusted according to the number of dependents one has).
That's an old trick actually. Public officials dangled that threat against Yolanda victims of northern Iloilo to dissuade them from joining mass actions.
"Indi lang kamo magrally kay mahuy-an banwa ta (Stay away from rallies because our town is exposed to embarrassment)," they told residents.
In Estancia town, Iloilo, the suppressors of the constitutional right to freedom of assembly and speech, set out to the villages with heavily armed soldiers in tow scaring residents of "communists" who were "behind the protests". And failing to scare the angry locals, they denied them permit to rally and threatened to arrest rallyists.
Those threats did not sound a bell to the ears of angry Yolanda victims who were determined to join the public outrage, anyway.
The protest went whole day and capped in the evening with a concert from Musikang Bayan band from Manila. All that local government could do to spoil the fun of angry Yolanda victims was to counter the concert with the blaring sound from a "bayle" or disco it set up in a nearby block, which actually added to the merriment.
May the angry people of Bugasong continue to rage, rage and rage against an incompetent and callous bureaucracy, the only way for them to attain justice.
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