MANILA, Philippines - It was like attending a fair than a protest action. At around 8 a.m., the number of people at the Luneta Park in Manila started to build up for the anti-pork barrel Million People March. But they were not the "usual suspects," not the left-leaning groups with their bloodshot banners and placards and "Ibagsak" slogans.
The people who occupied the main ground of the historic park were unaffliated groups and individuals, families and friends who wanted to show their opposition to the decades-old corruption through the misuse and abuse of pork barrel allocated to lawmakers. While left-leaning groups attended the rally, their presence was low profile and unobstrusive.
With no central organizing force, only citizen and hobbyist groups coordinating with one another, the rallyists expressed their opposition to corruption in their own creative ways.
One family from Pampanga produced its own streamer and went to Manila to join the rally. A group led by an old woman in a white dress and floral headdress was seen chanting and dancing. There were also families who brought their dogs, which they dressed with anti-pork barrel messages.
There were artists who came with their anti-corruption paintings and effigies and a group of Muslim people bantering and sharing meals.
Among the ralliers is 77-year-old Emmanuel V. Soriano, former University of the Philippines president , who was on a wheelchair, suffering from expressive aphasia or the loss of ability to produce language. His daughter, Rinna, said that despite his ailment, Soriano insisted on attending the rally because he wanted to unite with the people calling for change.
Soriano was president of U.P. from 1979 to 1981 during the Marcos administration. Rinna said her father did not have a complete term at the university apparently because then President Ferdinand Marcos was not convinced of the reforms that Soriano introduced in the university. Later on, Soriano joined movements calling for the ouster of the strongman.
"He even thought of writing down the names of senators being linked to the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, put the list on his pocket before he attends the rally," Rina told InterAksyon.com.
Protester Sonia Alampay who came with her family including her grandchildren, said she felt that private citizens attended the protest action because "they are looking for something meaningful to doi.
"It feels like the repeat of EDSA 1 when people got fed up, went out of their way to express their anger and frustration," said Alampay.