There should be no reason for authorities to arrest protesters as President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA), Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said Monday.
“Our constitution provides that the freedom of speech cannot be taken away,” Reyes said, addressing police statements that protesters can be arrested for demonstrating during the SONA.
Protest actions will be different today, he said, as organizers seek to secure the health of the demonstrators amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bayan has placed physical distancing markers along University Avenue at the University of the Philippines campus in Quezon City, and will not burn effigies as in past years to ensure people “will not stick together,” Reyes said.
“This protest will be safer, unlike the previous day's protest held at the Rizal Coliseum,” he said, noting the stadium in Manila where thousands of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) are huddled together in apparent disregard of the government’s social distancing protocols.
Rather than look at the protesters, Reyes said the government should focus on solving the COVID-19 crisis, as the Department of Health (DOH) doesn’t seem to have enough plans to solve the pandemic.
“Our economy is really collapsing, millions have lost their jobs, there is still no help for many of our countrymen, and they are prioritizing things like the Anti-Terrorism Law, the franchise of ABS-CBN and even the Cha-Cha (Charter Change),” Reyes said.
Many Filipinos, he said, are disappointed with the government because “they do not have a clear plan for the country.”
“Many people know that there is no vaccine (for COVID-19) yet, so the government should take care of the economy especially those who have lost their jobs in our country,” Reyes said.