'Million people' protest vs corruption, pork barrel misuse set

MANILA, Philippines - Protests fuelled by the public's outrage over the alleged misuse of pork barrel funds will culminate on Monday, August 26, in "A Million People's March to Luneta,” which is seen to become the massive protest against corruption in government.

No single group has been identified to be the main organizer of the protest, which was first called for through Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

"Non-partisan, galit lang sa kawatan ... Wear white for solidarity ... 9:00 a.m.," the poster for the march reads.

The graphic with a design characteristic of posters in the 1980s features a raised fist highlighted with the rays of the sun of the Philippine flag.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has released a special report baring the lawmakers' alleged misuse of billions of Priority Development Assistance Funds and the Various Infrastructures including Local Projects allocations or pork barrel from 2007 to 2009.

The COA findings combined with the ongoing government investigation against businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles for allegedly setting up dummy organizations and ghost projects where congressional pork is channelled heightened the call for government to scrap the funds.

Social media personality Gang Badoy said in a blog post that a certain Peachy Rallonza-Bretaña and Neo-Colors band frontman Ito Rapadas, both claiming they are not affiliated to any group, first posted the call against corruption online.

"Peachy ...  was a taxpayer who is very angry at what is happening. She is angry and is just inviting people to gather, essentially asking them if they are angry, too. 'Luneta is a public space,' she says, 'This is just an invitation to go on August 26, National Heroes Day, to go to Luneta, and stake their claim on a little piece of our national historic park," Badoy shared.

Blogger Dulzspeaks, who has documented the Anonymous Incorporated's expose on Napoles' possible whereabouts, said the protest is "the right time" for Filipinos to meet for one cause once again.

"This is not a single person's fight but a nation shoving the politicians, waking them up, urging them to scrap the pork barrel system!" the blog post reads.

Not everyone welcomes the invitation without hesitation, however. Blogger Benign0, posting in GetRealPhilippines blog, said that he has "mixed feelings" about the assembly.

"On one hand, I am inclined to regard it with bemusement considering many of those who are now set to march with fists pumping in the air in “indignation” are the very people who routinely eat up the banal bullshit weaved into the campaign rhetoric of the popular politician of the moment. On the other hand, the breadth and volume of the clamor to do something about Congressional pork we are seeing today is unprecedented," he wrote.