Tacloban youth lambast dynasties, say Marcoses and Dutertes 2 sides of same coin

“Here in Tacloban, the same family, Marcos Jr.’s relatives–the Romualdezes–have ruled the city for decades yet there is still no progress that can be seen.”

By Veronika Generyll Barbosa
Bulatlat.com

TACLOBAN CITY — Five days before the EDSA People Power 40th Commemoration, youth groups in Tacloban staged a protest demanding the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte and linked the two to dynastic politics that have kept the majority of the country poor.

Rejomar Cabanacan of Kabataan Partylist Tacloban Chapter, in his speech, highlighted the longstanding effects of dynasties ingrained within the political system in the county.

“These families that run for local and national positions–like the Dutertes and Marcoses–are the reason why the entire Filipino people are in so much poverty. It is these political dynasties that pocket funds that are supposed to be used for healthcare, education, and other public services,” Cabanacan said in vernacular.

“Here in Tacloban, the same family, Marcos Jr.’s relatives–the Romualdezes–have ruled the city for decades yet there is still no progress that can be seen,” he said.

What Tacloban has seen instead, he said, is “inefficient flood control projects, the deplorable transportation system, and the lack of access to public services.”

Meanwhile, Bradley Espina from the University of the Philippines Tacloban Student Council stressed the need to renounce both the Marcos and Duterte clans, who, he said, “share the same crimes against the Filipino people.”

He cited the dictator Marcos Sr.’s Martial Law and former President Rodrigo Duterte’s “militaristic rule.”

He said both families have “summarily executed thousands of Filipinos and cracked down on activists… and also made billions from embezzling government funds.” 

On the local level, he said, the government is not working to resolve people’s issues and “instead are complicit in the destruction of Cancabato Bay that led to the loss of livelihood of local fisherfolks.”

He said the local government has also been silent about mining in agricultural land in MacArthur town in Leyte that threatens farmers’ livelihoods.

Paul Adrian Daloso of Pulso han Mag-aaram, a political organization in UP Tacloban, questioned Sara Duterte’s announcement to run for president.

“The same Sara Duterte that spent P125 million in 11 days and pocketed millions under the guise of confidential funds is now gunning for the highest position in the government. Let us not allow for another Duterte to sow terror and continue the atrocities and corruption committed by their clan,” Daloso elaborated in vernacular.

He added people should not be forced to choose between the Marcoses and the Dutertes “because they are two sides of the same coin.”

He said the public is already “sick of having to pick between equally evil names.”

Daloso added: “It’s time that we collectively challenge and fight the system that enables these hungry-power political families.”

He also encouraged the youth and people of Eastern Visayas to practice the spirit of EDSA People Power and join the protest on February 25. (JDS)

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