Interfaith Rally

The Philippines demonstrated a great deal of political turnover when the late Ferdinad Marcos was ousted out of Malacañang during the 1986 People Power EDSA revolution. It won the world's attention through its peaceful means of non-violent and prayerful mass demonstration. It made news worldwide and the Philippines topped the headlines as "the revolution that surprised the world".

I thought yesterday's Interfaith rally would have been another world turner. I was on the phone talking to my father and he told me that there were already thousands of people gathered in Makati City and my brother is working somewhere near the rally area.


Former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada attendance made some religious groups and organizer disappointed, most of them walked out from the rally because it has been agreed upon that no politicians will be allowed to speak on stage.

“Manindigan para sa Katotohanan, Katarungan at Pagbabago” (Stand for Truth, Justice and Change) was the Interfaith rally theme. I saw in the news that the rally was attended by different sectors, youths, different religious groups, wives of those involved in the mutiny, businessmen, former cabinet members, Senator Panfilo Lacson and more.

Of course the event will not be complete without the ZTE NBN deal witness Jun Lozada. While watching him, it surprised me when he reveled that Philippines borrowed an amount of more than US$1.8 billion and Filipinos only knew about the ZTE which was only US$329 million.

The question is where did the rest of the money go? But what I am sure of is that we Filipinos will pay these debts that the Arroyo government had borrowed.