Protesters gather during a rally against government corruption in Manila. Photo: Basilio Sepe
The Trillion Peso March Movement, spearheaded by the Church Leaders Council for National Transformation and backed by over 80 civil and faith-based organizations, will begin holding weekly nationwide protests every Friday, to demand accountability and transparency against government corruption.
Organizers encouraged people to join in the act of solidarity on what they call “White Friday”, a series of movements meant to sustain the call for good governance.
“Join us in daily acts of solidarity: Wear a white ribbon. Put white flags in your house, car, and churches. Toll the bells and sound a noise barrage, light candles at 8:00 p.m. and recite the National Day of Prayer and Public Repentance,” the group posted on its official Facebook page.
This weekly protest launched yesterday, Friday, Oct. 10 with a 6:00 p.m. mass at the EDSA Shrine, followed by ringing of all church bells nationwide at 8:00 pm, to symbolize what organizers describe as a prophetic “cry of indignation and outrage against the evil corruption” and a “resounding call to contribution and conversion”.
St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Scout Magbanua, Quezon City, will lead the noise barrage and bell ringing, headed by Rev. Fr. Romerico Prieto.
Local parishes and communities across Metro Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod and other regions nationwide are also expected to join.
The movement also eyes a major nationwide rally planned for Bonifacio Day, Nov. 30 as a culmination of the movement’s series of actions. One hundred groups are expected to attend the gathering.
Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chair Teodoro “Teddy” Casiño said that there are also ongoing plans for another large-scale protest against corruption to be held this October.
“There are suggestions that aside from the one on Nov. 30, another big centralized rally should also be held this month. So these are the things that are being discussed now. The various sectors are also preparing their own mass actions, which we are encouraging because of what we are seeing,” said Casiño.
The White Friday movement was inspired by the Trillion Peso March held last Sept. 21, where thousands marched from Luneta Park to EDSA People Power Monument to protest alleged anomalies in government flood control projects.