Groups to hold Nov 30 rally against ‘revgov’

MILITANT groups merged on Friday to urge Filipinos to join a nationwide rally on November 30 to reject President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged plan of declaring a “revolutionary government.”

Kilusang Mayo Uno ( KMU) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan ( Bayan) said thousands of workers and members of other sectors are expected to converge at Liwasang Bonifacio as early as 11 a.m.and march to Mendiola to hold a program that will also commemorate the birth anniversary of Filipino revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio.

“Our anti-dictatorship action on November 30 becomes necessary and urgent. We invite all freedom loving Filipinos to join us on that day in rejecting Duterte’s looming dictatorship. In the spirit of Bonifacio’s revolution, let us persevere in the struggle for genuine freedom and democracy,” Bayan and KMU said.

The President recently said that he would initiate a “crackdown” against Bayan for allegedly uniting with communist rebels to destabilize the government. The group, however, denied the allegation.

Bayan’s Teddy Casino said that a declaration of a revolutionary government would only serve as a threat to the executive, legislative and judiciary powers of the administration.

”The threats against Chief Jus- tice Sereno, the Ombudsman, crackdown on the opposition — all of that are elements of a fascist dictatorship, this is only a ploy to violate rights, continue the drug war and enforce economic policies President,” Casino said.

The two groups are among the vocal critics of the Duterte administration on several issues including delays in the resumption of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Palace spokesman Harry Roque said that Duterte had signed Proclamation 360 on Thursday after the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the government peace panel to cancel peace negotiations with the communist group.

Over the weekend, the President also declared that he was no longer inclined to resume peace talks with the communist group, whose members he branded as “terrorists” and “criminals.”

“With his termination of the peace talks with the NDF and his constant hype for a ‘revolutionary government’, Duterte is rapidly establishing his fascist dictatorship,” the KMU added.