Maroon shirts and placards flood the Oblation Plaza in front of Quezon Hall, UP Diliman as members of the UP community assemble for a short march before joining the Baha sa Luneta anti-corruption mobilization in Manila. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
Clad in maroon shirts and carrying indignant banners, members of the University of the Philippines community joined thousands of Filipinos who flooded Rizal Park in Manila last Sunday, Sept. 21, to demand transparency and accountability amid revelations of massive corruption in flood control and other public infrastructure projects.
In UP Diliman, UP President Angelo Jimenez joined the assembly and short program of students, faculty, staff, alumni and other community members in front of Quezon Hall before they headed to the Baha sa Luneta (Flood Luneta) anti-corruption mobilization in Rizal Park led by the Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw at Abusado Network Alliance.
Speaking to the crowd, Jimenez hailed the mobilization for continuing the university’s spirit and legacy of activism — especially as the anti-corruption mobilizations coincided with the 53rd anniversary of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s declaration of martial law, which is annually commemorated by UP as a Day of Remembrance.
(Top photo) The Oblation, draped in black cloth in protest against corruption, looms over colorful placards and streamers from the UP community as they assemble in front of Quezon Hall before joining the Baha sa Luneta mobilization. Photo by Tricia Mabale, UPS-MCO.
(Bottom photo) UP President Angelo Jimenez (holding banner, second from left) joins the UP community in marching from Quezon Hall to University Avenue. With him in the image are Narry Hernandez, chairperson of the Samahan ng mga Manininda sa UP Campus Inc. and Prof. Danilo Arao of the UP Diliman College of Media and Communication (holding banner, second and third from left). Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
“Hindi natapos ang ating sinimulan [noong EDSA],” he said, as recounted his days as a student activist during the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising which toppled the Marcos dictatorship. “At ngayon, nagagalak ako na buhay kayong lahat para [ipagpatuloy] ang walang humpay na pakikibaka para sa isang makatarungan, magkapantay-pantay at progresibong lipunan.”
(“What we began [in EDSA] did not end… Today, I am glad that you are all alive to carry on our continuing struggle for a just, equal and progressive society.”)
Flooding Luneta
At least 49,000 people flooded the stretch of Roxas Boulevard between Padre Burgos Avenue and Kalaw Avenue for the Baha sa Luneta mobilization according to the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, but organizers placed crowd estimates at 80,000.
From a makeshift stage, UP student leaders and professors delivered fiery speeches condemning corruption alongside veteran activists, church and civil society leaders, lawmakers, several celebrities and artists.
“Sinasabi po natin na ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan, ngunit paano po magiging pag-asa ng bayan ang mga kabataan kung ang kinabukasan po mismo namin ang inyong ninanakaw?” asked Joaquin Buenaflor, UP Diliman University Student Council chairperson.
(“We say that the youth are the hope of our people, but how will our youth become the hope of our people when you are stealing our future?”)
(Top photo) “Kurakot Managot” (Hold the Corrupt Accountable”), reads one maroon placard from the UP Workers Alliance. Photo by Tricia Mabale, UPS-MCO.
(Middle Photo) UP President Angelo Jimenez speaks before the UP community as he hails their participation in the anti-corruption mobilizations for continuing the university’s spirit and legacy of activism. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
(Bottom photo) A banner of the UP Diliman League of Filipino Students reads: “Iskolar ng Bayan, Baguhin ang Bulok na Sistema! Isulong ang Pambansang Demokrasya!” (Scholars of the People, Change the Rotten System! Advance National Democracy!” Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
Buenaflor likewise commended the series of walkouts and protests in UP and other schools and universities as he pledged the youth’s commitment to accountability: “Nagkakaisa po ang mga kabataan: isinusuka po namin ang lahat ng korap, papanagutin naman ang lahat ng korap.”
(“We, the youth, are united: we reject all corrupt officials, and we will hold accountable all corrupt officials.”)
Meanwhile, Prof. Gerardo Lanuza of the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy expressed outrage at how government contractors and politicians massively profit from public funds through bogus and substandard projects while the public education sector suffers from scarce funding and resources
“Sana nagamit natin [ang perang binubulsa nila] para sa textbook ng mga kabataan. Sana nagamit natin ‘yan sa para scholarship ng ating mga kabataang nandito ngayon — pero ano’ng ginagawa ng pamahalaan na ito? Nalulunod sa limpak-limpak na salapi habang mga guro, ang mga estudyante, nalulunod sa tubig kanal!”
(We could have used [the money they pocketed] for textbooks for our youth. We could have used them for scholarships for the youth here today — but what is our government doing? It is drowning in heaps of money while teachers, our students, are drowning in floodwater!”)
(Top photo) The UP Diliman College of Science Student Council marches to Rizal Park with a banner demanding higher state subsidies for research and facilities in the university. Photo by Tricia Mabale, UPS-MCO.
(Middle Photo) Amid the calls against corruption during the Baha sa Luneta mobilization, members of the UP Diliman College of Fine Arts march with a streamer marking the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law that day. Photo by Fernando Sepe Jr., UPS-MCO.
(Bottom photo) A UP student holds an inflatable crocodile while a placard beside it reads: “Sa Pinas, Mahilig ang mga Buwaya sa Baha” (In the Philippines, Crocodiles Like Floods). Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
He also vowed that UP students and faculty would continue to stand in solidarity with more protests in order to assert calls for the removal of corrupt officials from their positions.
“Makakaasa kayo sa mga Iskolar ng Bayan, makakaasa kayo sa mga guro ng bayan: sasama kami sa inyo. Kung kailangang araw-araw tayong mag-walkout, magwo-walkout kami dahil ‘di tayo titigil hangga’t ang mga magnanakaw na nakaupo ay mapapatalsik natin at maipapakulong natin ang kanilang mga kasabwat!” he said.
(“You can count on the People’s Scholars, you can count on us teachers, we will join you. If we need to stage walkouts everyday, we will walk out because we will not cease until we oust all thieves and jail all their accomplices!”)
“We cannot stay neutral”
The Baha sa Luneta mobilization in Rizal Park along with the church-led Trillion Peso March at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City capped the wave of anti-corruption protests all over the country — including the walkouts in various UP constituent universities which began with the simultaneous Black Friday walkouts in UP Diliman and its extension programs in Pampanga and Olongapo, UP Manila and UP Tacloban College on Sept. 12.
UP Cebu followed with its Day of Indignation on Sept. 15, while walkouts and mobilizations were also staged in UP Baguio on Sept. 17, as well as in UP Los Baños and UP Mindanao on Sept. 19. UP Visayas, meanwhile, joined the local Trillion Peso March in Iloilo City on Sept. 21.
In a statement on Sept. 11, Jimenez asserted that the university “cannot stay neutral” amid the “revelation of deep-seated and massive corruption plaguing the flood control projects in our country,” as he expressed support and encouragement for “the expression of general outrage of our citizens, in accordance with the constitutionally guaranteed rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.”
The UP System Walkout Across Constituent Universities
In reaffirming UP’s solidarity with the anti-corruption mobilizations on Sept. 21, Jimenez also stated that the university is “ready to support the investigation agencies and bodies such as the Independent Commission for Infrastructure and employ all legal and fair means to ensure full accountability for infrastructure projects including those affecting UP.”
“We enjoin all Filipinos to stand with the continued pursuit of accountability and good governance, and with the call for a government that is transparent, accountable and truly responsive to the needs of our people. After all, this battle against corruption is inseparable with our struggle for democracy, human rights and national dignity,” he said.
