Big protest slated in Iligan City today

By NITZ ARANCON
with ANJANETTE VILLAMOR,
and LITO RULONA
Correspondents

 MILITANT groups from all over Mindanao would converge in Iligan City today to dramatize their protest over the way the government has been handling the crisis in Marawi City and the extension of martial law in Mindanao even as they would also express their dissatisfaction with the Duterte administration.

The Iligan demonstration is going to be a part of nationwide protests organized in time for President Duterte’s second state-of-the-nation address before Congress today, and two days after Congress approved the extension of martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2017.

Congress, in a joint session, approved Duterte’s proposed extension of martial law on Saturday afternoon. The Senate voted, 16-4, while the Lower House voted, 245-14, in favor of the martial law extension.

Wildon Barros, spokesman of the Bayan in northern  Mindanao, said organizers are expecting as much as 10 thousand to take part in the rally that would start this morning at the Iligan Plaza.

The activists, who are to take part in separate caravans, would come from eastern, northern, western and southern  Mindanao.

Barros said they decided to hold it in Iligan because of its proximity to strife-torn Marawi. Iligan also has the biggest concentration of Maranao families who evacuated from Marawi since May 23 when the Isis-inspired Maute Group attacked, and when President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao.

“It’s going to be a Mindanao-wide People’s Sona 2017,” said Barros.

Barros said the protesters are in agreement that the martial law declaration and the air strikes in Marawi were wrong, and that the Duterte administration failed in its promise to solve the problems on contractualization, land  reform, and bring prices of basic commodities down, among others.

“Walay kausaban ang panginabuhi sa katawhan ning panahon sa Duterte administration,” Barros said.

The Dansalan Tano sa Kalilintad Movement said Maranaos were very disappointed with the Duterte administration over the way it has been handling the crisis in Marawi.

The group’s convenor, Agakhan Shariff, said the Mindanao martial law failed to end the Marawi crisis.

Shariff said previous administrations after the 1986 Edsa Revolution faced a similar crisis caused by rebels but did not resort to martial law.

“Ngayon sa panahon ni Duterte, merong martial law, pero hindi tuloy naesolve ang Marawi [crisis],” said Shariff.

He criticized Duterte for visiting soldiers in Marawi but not Maranaos displaced as a result of the fightings.

“Kahit silip na man lamang sa aming mga evacuees sa mga  evacuation centers ay wala siyang ginawa,” Shariff said.

Ireneo Udarbe, leader of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, said the militarization was taking place in other areas in Mindanao, especially in outlying villages, and has been affecting farmers.

“Walaon ang militar sa among lugar ug tagaan lang unta kami ug ensakto nga puhonan para sa among pananum ug paliton dayon sa goberno sa makatarunganun nga presyo, makabangon na kami,” Udarbe said.

Meanwhile, Sautol Haqq president Salic Dumarpa called on Duterte to come up with a clear program on how to help and sustain the food and basic requirements of the evacuees as well as their health and children.

Dumarpa said the Duterte administration should identify genuine victims and give them easy access to relief centers.

“Control the relief goods and remove the politicians from the picture as they only add pain to injuries,” he said.

Dumarpa’s group also passed a resolution urging Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Armed Forces chief-of-staff Eduardo Año to open important areas in Marawi City like the Guimba Bridge up to the Basak area.

“A great number of the weary evacuees have relatives residing around Lake Lanao where they want to transfer to sustain their respective living requirements and with whom they feel more comfortable, but could not do so owing to military and police restrictions for private citizens to pass by Marawi City,” the group stated.

Dumarpa said residents of the 41 municipalities surrounding Lake Lanao have been deprived of such basic necessities because of the ban to traverse Marawi City going to Iligan City, vice versa.

He said the areas that they identified are the places declared by the AFP to be under government control.

“For humanitarian reason and to serve public interest, it behooves upon the AFP to open immediately preceding roads to the public, subject to such reasonable conditions as maybe required by the AFP in the interest of security,” Dumarpa said.