Groups declare ‘People’s Protest’ a success

Groups declare ‘People’s Protest’ a success

Sidebar: Ordinary citizens express disgust over oil price hikes
MANILA – To jeepney driver Seth Delima Bagalacsa, president of a chapter of Piston in Quezon City, the March 15 peoples’ protest had already won a small victory since three days before, when the energy department and the oil firms announced there would be no oil price hike this week. It contradicted its previous announcements.

“They don’t want to admit that the Peoples’ Protest has anything to do with it but the people know better,” said George San Mateo, national chairman of Piston (Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide), during the first part of their program at the Elliptical Road in Quezon City.

Bagalacsa and other drivers from his route joined the March 15 peoples’ protest, because, as he explained to Bulatlat.com while driving his jeep with the caravan en route to the headquarters of the Big Three oil firms in Makati City, “conducting mass protests evidently brought results.”

Such initial victory is “proof that mass protests are indeed effective,” said George San Mateo, national chairman of nationwide drivers’ Piston, during the start of their program at Ayala Ave. in Makati.

Transport caravan is transport strike? (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

March 15 was dubbed as Protestang Bayan (Peoples’ Protest) because it was a multi-sectoral protest held not just by drivers but also by workers, urban poor groups, youth-students, professionals, families of migrants, etc. Even though it was considered as the ‘peak’ of the campaign, so far, against skyrocketing oil prices, KMU chairman Elmer “Bong” Labog said the workers led by KMU will still launch “bigger protests in the coming months,” until some relief from increasing oil prices is achieved.

Multi-sectoral groups of protesters set up more than 30 protest centers in the National Capital Region, including those in Monumento, Batasan, Sta. Mesa, Delpan, Philcoa, and Araneta Avenue. Protests were also held across the country, from Baguio City to the urbanized towns in Southern Tagalog, from Aklan to Panay to Cagayan de Oro and Davao in the South. The drivers’ group Piston also held a protest caravan from Quezon City to Makati City, one of its biggest since it started doing protest caravans..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/16/groups-declare-%E2%80%98people%E2%80%99s-protest%E2%80%99-a-success/