MILITANT groups in Northern Mindanao will be mounting a massive protest rally in time for President Rodrigo Duterte's July 23 State of the Nation Address (Sona)to highlight the administration’s “anti-people” tax reform law.
The militants, through the “Stop Train Network” composed of workers, urban poor organizations, and members of the transport sector, have started running a month-long signature drive which kicked off on Friday, June 1, to demand that lawmaking bodies scrap the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or Train law.
Wildon Barros, spokesperson of the Kilusang Mayo Uno-Northern Mindanao Region (KMU-NMR), said the network is aiming to gather 50,000 signatures from the region to contribute to the 6 million target signatories across the country.
He said the petition will be submitted to Congress when session resumes next month.
"I-submit nato ni sa Congress aron ipaabot sa atong mga lawmakers nga i-scrap ang Train law (We will take this to Congress to convince our lawmakers to scrap the Train law)," Barros said.
The group is also urging district representatives and even senators coming from the region to meet their constituents and hear their thoughts through a consultations.
Barros said they were dismayed by district representatives from Northern Mindanao who failed to consult their constituents and who just expressed their own, personal opinion when the Train was brought up and deliberated in the plenary.
"Nadismaya kita kay ngano wala nila mapuga kung unsay epekto sa Train law sa katawhan. Duha ka representatives nato dinhi sa Cagayan de Oro ug Misamis Oriental pero wala nila gikuha ang pulso sa katawhan ila rang huna-huna ilang giconsider (We were dismayed by the actions of the congressmen from the city and Misamis Oriental for their failure to connect with their respective constituencies regarding the effects of the Train law),” Barros said.
The group has been going against the new tax reform law which for them has worsened the plight of the Filipino people because prices of basic commodities such as goods, petroleum products, electricity, water, among others, have continued to shoot up.
Barros said point persons from the group will be positioned in public markets and terminals to convince people to affix their signatures.
After the signature campaign, the group is set to launch a series of protest rallies in the streets.