Dagupan joins martial law remembrance
CITY OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE
A rosary rally and a candle lighting ceremony spearheaded by Archbishop Socrates Villegas was held at the St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Dagupan City to mark the 53rd anniversary of the proclamation of martial law on September 21, and in solidarity with the rallies against corruption held across the country.
But unlike in the well-attended “Trillion Peso March” in front of the People Power Monument at EDSA and the bigger rally at Luneta Park in Manila, the solemn event in Dagupan was attended by only a few devout Catholics.
The participants carried placards and wore black t-shirts denouncing corruption in flood control projects. Among those who attended the twin activities were Mayor Belen Fernandez, Vice Mayor Bryan Kia, and Councilors Michael Fernandez, Jose Netu Tamayo, Jeslito Seen Christel Hilary Paras, Jalice Cayabyab and Bradley Bemavides.
In a Facebook post, the mayor said they stand side by side with the Filipino people in fighting for transparency and good governance by guarding the funds of the city against the interests of just a few families.
Meanwhile, in his pastoral letter read in all churches of the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese on September 21, Villegas said remembering the martial law years is about not letting “those dark pages in history teach us. Never again.”
In that period, he said, the theft of people’s taxes was a syndicated business of a handful of family dynasties and cronies who never returned the plundered wealth of the nation.
Now, the people must stand up against corruption that has become systemic, organized, strategized and multi-layered, he said. (Leonardo Micua)
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