The White Friday Protest led by the Trillion Peso
March Movement (TPMM) resumes today at the EDSA Shrine and other protest
centers across the country. Contingents from Partido Manggagawa are
participating in the protest centers including the EDSA Shrine.
The regular noise barrage, followed by the
simultaneous ringing of church bells, forms part of the buildup toward TPMM’s
major protest action on November 30.
The devastation wrought by Typhoon Tino in Cebu and
across large parts of the Visayas and Mindanao has laid bare once again the
extreme vulnerability of millions of Filipinos to disasters. Entire communities
remain submerged or cut off, with homes, livelihoods, and public infrastructure
destroyed. The tragedy has exposed not only the worsening impacts of the
climate crisis but also the costly failures of governance — from the misuse of
calamity and rehabilitation funds to widespread corruption in flood control and
infrastructure projects that were supposed to protect, not endanger, the
people.
Despite billions poured into flood control programs,
substandard projects, ghost dikes, and overpriced drainage contracts have left
communities defenseless against heavy rains and storm surges. TPMM condemns
this cycle of disaster and corruption, where public funds line the pockets of
officials and contractors instead of building real resilience for the poor.
TPMM demands immediate relief and justice for all
victims of the recent calamities, alongside full accountability for those who
profited from public works meant to prevent such disasters. The people’s noise
will not stop until corruption and neglect are answered with truth and reform.
