The protestors in front of the replica of the Bacolod City Government Center Thursday morning.*KMU Negros photo
“Jail corrupt government officials and contractors responsible for robbing the nation,” protestors in Bacolod City demanded on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Members of the United Transport Coalition, Bayan Negros and its allied organizations staged an anti-corruption protest in front of the replica of the Bacolod City Government Center at the Bacolod Public Plaza.
The protest was a prelude to the nationwide “Trillion Peso March” against corruption, which will be held on Sunday, Sept. 21.
Noly Rosales, Bayan Negros secretary general, said the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to investigate corruption in government flood control and infrastructure projects should ensure that the corrupt are jailed.
Senators and congressmen involved in corruption should be held accountable, Rosales said.
Rosales said that while they welcome the resignation of Rep. Martin Romualdez as Speaker of the House, they do not trust his successor, Rep. Faustino Dy III.
Dy comes from a political dynasty family and is a Marcos and Romualdez ally, he said.
The speaker of the house should be someone who has no record of corruption, he said.
The protest on Thursday was joined by members of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center-Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide, Kabakod Negros Transport Organization, and the Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators, and Drivers, Rosales said.
The drivers are angry because the taxes imposed on fuel go to corruption instead of to basic services and fuel subsidies, Rosales said.
They are also demanding that the franchises of their public utility vehicles be returned so they can ply the streets legally, he said.
Rodolfo Gardoce Jr., chairperson of UNDOC-PISTON, said Thursday marked the first anniversary of the arrest of transport group members who were water-cannoned while protesting outside a hotel in Bacolod.
Six of them were arrested and charged. They are calling for justice for them, he said.*