Sept. 21 protests aimed at Duterte

LEFT-leaning activists on Tuesday downplayed President Rodrigo Duterte's semblance of support for the nationwide protests on September 21 and stressed that these are aimed at the President and his policies.

Duterte has declared September 21, the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, as a "National Day of Protest." Work in government offices and classes in public schools are suspended on this day.

Saying he, too, would like to protest his meager salary and lack of allowance, Duterte called on the people to join protests against the government.

In separate statements, militant groups Bayan and Anakbayan brushed aside the declaration and said protest actions targeting Duterte will proceed as scheduled on this day.

"The people can see right through the demagoguery of Duterte. What is of utmost importance now is the broad national unity against the extrajudicial killings, rising tyranny and the return to fascist dictatorship," Bayan said in a statement.

The group said it has scheduled protests and gatherings on September 21 in Bicol, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Davao and Hong Kong.

Contingents from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog are expected to link up with the Lakbayan of national minorities, who have been camping out in Quezon City since the start of September.

Anakbayan, for its part, called for Duterte's ouster.

“From the rehabilitation of the Marcoses, elimination of institutional checks with the P1,000 CHR (Commission on Human Rights) budget and the SC chief justice impeachment, selecting barangay officials by appointment, reviving mandatory ROTC, imposing a national ID system, and charter change through his 'supermajority' in Congress, Duterte is aiming to install himself as a fascist dictator like Marcos and Hitler,” said Anakbayan national chairman Vencer Crisostomo.

Anakbayan said youth and student groups in Metro Manila will march to the gates of Malacañang prior to joining the Movement Against Tyranny at the Luneta Park.

The group said similar protests are scheduled on the same day in other areas of Luzon as well as in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Sister Mary John Mananzan, coconvenor of the Movement Against Tyranny, said their primary call is for a stop to extrajudicial killings.

"Our call is to stop all these killings, and we would like to protest against all these tendencies toward authoritarianism, tyranny, martial law, oneman rule - whatever he (Duterte) wants to call it - because we feel that our democratic state is getting narrower and we do not want this to happen," she said in a TV interview.

Manila Police District (MPD) director Joel Coronel said over 1,400 police officers will be fielded to maintain peace and order especially in Luneta.

Of the 1,400 personnel, 600 will come from the MPD while the others are the augmentation force from the National Capital region Police Office (NCRPO).

Coronel said the policemen, whose main task is crowd control and traffic management, will be deployed as early as 5 a.m. Thursday.

He said they have yet to monitor any direct threat against the upcoming event but intelligence monitoring is ongoing.

Coronel said they are bound to implement a maximum tolerance policy but the safety of the public is still their priority. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)