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Monday, December 18, 2006
More prayers than slogans mark rally
CEBU CITY -- There was more prayer than sloganeering in Sunday's prayer-rally, contrary to the fears of the Cebu Archdiocese.
Still, most prayers mentioned opposition to the perceived moves of railroading Charter change in Congress.
Sun.Star Network Online's 12th Asean Summit Watch
In the absence of leaders from the Cebu Archdiocese, who say they'd prefer to educate people about Charter change rather than protesting in the streets, the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Movement took on the role of leading the prayer-rally.
Heads of church-based and other people's organizations were given three to five minutes each to share their prayers.
Lawyer Democrito Barcenas of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) joked that contrary to the public's view, lawyers pray too.
"Give us the courage to unite in protest against these devilish forces out to amend our Constitution, whose ends to serve the people, but our leaders' greed," Barcenas prayed.
Even if the House of Representatives withdrew its resolution to convene itself as a constituent assembly (Con-Ass), Sunday's rallyists were not impressed.
"While we celebrate this initial victory, we must not let our guards down. We must remain vigilant in the fact of the Arroyo administration's long list of public deceptions and political machinations," said a press release from some youth and students' groups.
Speaking for the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)-Cebu, Lito Vasquez criticized Cebu City Representative Antonio Cuenco, who apologized for supporting the Con-Ass resolution by saying he didn't want to go against his party and be accused of grandstanding.
"Cebu representatives to the Congress are guilty of betraying people's interests and should resign. Their support for the railroading of Con-Ass was a disgrace to Cebuanos," Vasquez said in a text message to Sun.Star.
Reverend Rey Gelloagan of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines estimated the crowd at more than 500, but other estimates placed the crowd at only 250.
Gelloagan, in an interview with reporters after his prayers, also said that there remained some fears about speaking out against the government.
While he was disappointed by Cardinal Vidal's silence on the matter and on the number of people who attended, he believes that yesterday's prayer rally was just the first step in many protests against moves to change the 1987 Constitution.
Between prayers, songs were played as intermission. Among these songs were "Heal our Land" and "Bayan Ko." The former was sung in protests at the height of then president Joseph Estrada's impeachment trial, while the latter was popular during the first People Power uprising in 1986. (JGA/Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (December 18, 2006 issue)
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