PHNO-HT: MILITANTS TO PNoy: ABOUT TIME YOU QUIT BLAMING ARROYO

MILITANTS TO PNoy: ABOUT TIME YOU QUIT BLAMING
ARROYO
[PHOTO -BAYAN ALYANSANG MAKABAYAN (BAYAN) SEC GEN RENATO
REYES]
MANILA, JULY 18, 2012
(INQUIRER) By Leila B. Salaverria - Entering his third
year in office, President Benigno Aquino can no longer point to his favorite
scapegoat, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and continue to blame her
for the country's woes.
Mr. Aquino himself should account for his administration's lapses and
shortcomings when he delivers his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on
Monday, according to Renato Reyes of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, an umbrella
organization of militant groups.
Blaming Arroyo for the problems is a tired, old refrain, he said.
"He can't blame the previous administration now. He has to take
responsibility for the crisis in the country," Reyes said in a press briefing.

He said he expected the President to paint a rosy picture, but it was the
people that would deliver the real state of the nation.
"The real Sona will not be heard in the Batasang Pambansa, the real Sona will
be heard in the streets," he said.
For Bayan, the President has continued to fail to turn his promises into
reality.
Reyes said Mr. Aquino's sound bites and glowing words could not mask the
bleak realities of unemployment, poverty, underdevelopment and massive overseas
migration that many Filipinos had to resort to.
"For all its PR gimmicks and rhetoric, the last two years of the Aquino
administration has been all about unfulfilled promises and the worsening
condition of the people," he said.
Other militant groups said that aside from taking responsibility for the
country's problems, they wanted to hear the President categorically declare that
he would not support Charter change, after the leaders of Congress recently
raised again the possibility of making amendments to the Constitution.
At the same press briefing, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)
objected to Charter change, daring Mr. Aquino to strike down the proposal in
front of members of Congress during next week's Sona.
KMP spokesperson Antonio Flores said the proposal to amend economic
provisions of the Constitution would put Philippine lands in the hands of
foreign agribusiness and mining firms.
Karapatan, for its part, wants the President to admit that he has been remiss
in protecting the human rights of Filipinos and that he has failed in his
promise to
arrest the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings and other abuses like
retired military officer Jovito Palparan who was implicated in the abduction of
two University of the Philippines student activists.
"We want him to stop trying to deceive us," said Karapatan's Cristina
Palabay.
She said the administration should stop making claims that contrast starkly
with reality, citing Karapatan records that list 99 extrajudicial killings in
the first two years of the Aquino administration, as well as 10 cases of
enforced disappearance.


Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved




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