Black Friday: A Call to Action

From Enteng Romano:

My fellow e-Mandirigmas,

Last Friday, February 24 - as the nation was preparing to celebrate the
freedom we regained at EDSA two decades ago, Ms. Arroyo issued
Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of emergency, in response to a military
uprising.

In the hours and days that followed, it became evident how GMA intended
to implement this presidential decree. We saw the excessive use of
police power in dispersing the crowds. And even after the military threat
was decisively contained, we saw the warrantless arrests of known
opposition leaders, the closure of newspapers, and the barefaced intimidation
of media owners and practitioners.

PD 1017 is eerily similar to PD 1081. And the pattern is unmistakably
Marcosian. Crackdown on the reds - the public has no love lost for them,
anyway. Control media. And prop up the illusion of a new order after
the purging.

I'm glad that many, who have been sitting on the fence all this time,
saw through the farce and finally came out to take a stand. I saw
prominent businessmen, showbiz personalities, and working professionals go to
the streets to defy the proclamation.

Sadly, however, there are those who remain unmoved. Worse, they even
embrace the GMA propaganda that this is ultimately for the greater good.

I am reminded of 1972 where many in the middle class and the business
community actually welcomed the "New Society" of Marcos. They lauded the
arrests of known communists; they deserved it, many thought. They
didn't mind reading and watching government-censored news. They didn't mind
the imposition of curfews and the curtailment of some basic rights. All
these were a small price to pay in the interest of stability and
prosperity, or so they thought.

Until one day, the government began sequestering their business. Until
one day, they began arresting someone close to home and they realized
they had very little legal recourse to protect their rights.

It is time for the business community, the middle class, and all other
sectors to make a stand.

Today, we launch the Black Friday Protest Movement to give you an
opportunity to be counted with low risk and nominal involvement on your
part. All you need to do is, every Friday, you and your friends can wear
black, go to a designated place and hang around for about 30 minutes and
leave.

How will you know the designated time and place?

Register by sending a blank email to
BlackFridayProtest-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. When you're registered,
you will receive an announcement every Wednesday evening (Manila Time)
of the designated time and location for the coming Friday (example: 5:00
to 5:30 PM at the nearest Jollibee restaurant from your place).

There will be no speeches or programs at the designated place. Just
people in black hanging around for a few minutes to be counted. All these
are within the bounds of the law, even a repressive one like PD 1017.

The Book of Ecclesiastes teaches us there is a season for everything. I
believe this is the season for mourning. the death of democracy and the
numbing of our national conscience.

It is time to reawaken. It is time to be counted. It is time to say,
"tama na! sobra na!" Please register now by sending blank email to
BlackFridayProtest-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and pass this on to all
your friends, colleagues, and egroups.

By God's grace, we may yet see a better Philippines for our children.

God bless,

Enteng

eMandirigma

--------------

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for some good men to
do nothing."

- Edmund Burke

Good Idea, Enteng. I'll be there. Hope all ya reading this will participate too in this peaceful protest in defense of freedom of speech and press and freedom from oppression.

UPDATE: Enteng Romano also has put up a new blog just for Black Friday protest movements. (hattip: Helga)