Bayan to bring 13-foot PNoy during SONA protest

MANILA, Philippines - Militant group Bayan will bring a 13-foot effigy of President Benigno Aquino III during his 4th State of the Nation Address on July 22.

The production of an effigy or a giant paper mache sculpture of the President is one of the highlights of the group's protest action, a tradition that it has sustained since 2000.

"The effigy captures and symbolizes many of the issues raised against the current administration," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said.

Reyes said that for this year, President Aquino will be portrayed as a 13-foot giant feasting on a banquet, “piging” in Filipino.

He said that unlike the traditional fiesta, where hospitality, generosity, and goodwill is encouraged among the whole community, the President's banquet will be depicted as a lavishly sumptuous feast for a small circle of guests as the people wait for crumbs falling from the table.

The effigy is the group’s view of the real situation of the country's economy, contrary to the government's claim of economic growth.

He said there is no “inclusive growth” or “trickle-down growth” despite the claims that the Philippine gross domestic product is seen as the fastest rising in Asia.

Cris de Leon, spokesperson of UgatLahi, a group of progressive activist-artists who worked on the giant paper mache, said the effigy depicts a dinner party by the ruling elite.

"This government believes that growth will trickle down to the poor but that strategy has proven ineffective. People are being made to wait for crumbs to trickle down even as the richest one percent see their wealth double," De Leon said.

Each year since 1999, UgatLahi has helped Bayan prepare giant effigies of several presidents, from Joseph Estrada to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to Benigno Aquino III.

This will be their fourth effigy of President Aquino for the annual SONA protests. Visual artists and Bayan volunteers are currently completing the effigy.