A CROWD of around 4,000 Christian and Moslem clergy, students, workers,
women, and artists marched along Ayala Avenue in Makati City on March
28 to denounce the ongoing US-led strike against Iraq and demand President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's withdrawal of support to the war.
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| Relgious against the war |
Churchpeople yes to peace |
The crowd gathered in front of the statue of Ninoy Aquino at the
corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas and listened to the speakers
and watched cultural presentations by the Artists for Peace and other
performers.
Carrying antiwar banners and posters, they chanted antiwar and anti-imperialist
slogans and were cheered upon by bystanders. Some employees in a high-rise
building even showered confetti to the flag-waving protesters as they
marched along both sides of Ayala Avenue.
Employees in another building also displayed two big banners bearing
the word peace in two local languages.
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| Nat Santiago of Bayan Muna
and child. |
Peace banners |
Interfaith prayers for peace by representatives of the nation's various
faiths and religious organizations were offered after the march.
Leaders and participants of the protest-and-prayer actions stressed
on the importance of continuing antiwar actions despite the commencement
of the conflict.
"It is important that we continue to be united and insist that
war will never be the solution. War will only worsen the problem,"
said Sr. Mary Grenough, a convenor of the Justice Not War Coalition.
Kairos leader Fr. Joe Dizon said that even as the war in Iraq is
on-going, the faithful should never stop in praying for a miracles.
"We should not be resigned to war… The more we should
protest, the more we should act for peace," he told Tinig.com
in an interview.
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| Prescription for Peace |
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Tagalog |
Fr. Dizon likened the quest for peace to the resurrection: "It's
like the Holy Week, We have to go through Food Friday before the Sunday
of the Ressurection," he said.
Rasti Delizo of Peace Camp, another antiwar coalition, said: "All
the more, worldwide protest should intensify voices in the streets
in the major capitals of the world. We must stop the war by building
heavy pressure (on the governments staging and supporting it)."
He added they are also calling for the ouster of both US President
George W. Bush and Arroyo for they hardheadedness and refusal to heed
the world's opinion on the war.
Amirah Ali Lidasan, secretary-general of the Moro Christian People's
Alliance, was quoted by Inquirer News Service as saying: "We
make a stronger condemnation of the war if we work together."
A significant portion of the crowd in Friday's protest march was
composed of Moslems.
Apolinario Alvarez of the militant League of Filipino Students, one
of the groups spearheading a boycott on US products as a form of protest,
said the people and the youth must act to stop the deaths of the young
Iraqi civilians as well as the American, British, and Iraqi soldiers.
"Young lives are wasted in a nonsense war which objective is
to address the capitalist crisis and save the US' face," he said.
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| Batang Peace. |
UP College of Fine Arts students |
Alvarez said that this summer, members of his organization will integrate
themselves in the communities and do education campaigns to help the
people clearly understand the issue of war.
Meanwhile, Red Constantino of Greenpeace urged the protesters to
sign their organization's petition invoking UN Resolution 377 or the
Uniting for Peace, a mechanism that would allow the UN General Assembly
to take up an issue of war in case the Security Council is rendered
incapable of doing so.
In his speech, Constantino said the attack on Iraq is "illegal,
immoral, and must be stopped immediately." He also described
US government as "criminal" for launching the war.
For his part, Rep. Omar Fajardo of an overseas Filipino workers'
party-list group, said the Legislators Against War, of which he is
also a member, has filed a resolution that formally asking Arroyo
to withdraw her support to the war.
Fajardo decried the negative effects of the war on Iraq to the OFWs.
He cited the delay in their remittances, which cause the OFWs' families
in the Philippines to go hungry.
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| OFWs rejecting the war |
Toyota workers against agression |
Most Reverend Tomas A. Millamena, Supreme Bishop of the Philippine
Independent Church, in a statement said "We, the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente, denounce the US-led war of aggression on Iraq, with
its insane passion for destruction and death, to be anathema to our
Christian faith and morality."
Meanwhile, His Holiness Dr. John Florentine Teruel, Patriarch of
the Apostolic Catholic Church, said his congregation is offering more
"pure prayer for peace."
Fr. Dizon, in a press statement further reminded the Philippine government
headed by Arroyo, a pious Catholic : "As faithful Christians
we will follow the lords command to lead meaningful lives and be at
peace: 'Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called children
of God."
A five-hour Fasting for Peace, followed by a concelebrated Mass
for Peace at the a Catholic chapel located in financial capital Makati
City last Friday started the series of activities for a "National
Day of Interfaith Prayers and Actions for Peace."
Sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic group Kairos Philippines, the
fasting and mass were attended by personalities of various prominent
organizations as well as Bayan Muna Representatives Satur Ocampo and
Lisa Maza.
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