Just a mañanita: Pinoys protest on 122nd Independence Day

Look: Protesters, clad in party hats, are strictly observing social distancing measures for today’s “Mañanita” protest. pic.twitter.com/pTgwR7G2ol

— AlterMidya (@altermidya) June 12, 2020

What can stop the Filipinos’ freedom to air out their voices especially on Philippine Independence Day? Not the pandemic. Not authorities’ “temporary ban” on protests. And definitely not tropical depression Butchoy.

When rallies are mentioned, burning effigies and the colors red and black are a common sight to symbolize different messages. However, on Friday, June 12, several took it to the streets with popping colors, clad in their ready-to-party outfits, and equipped with props for the “mañanita” – a slap to the controversial birthday party of Metro Manila police chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas that violated quarantine protocols.

Photos of the birthday celebration previously posted by the police showed the lack of social distancing amidst the strict ban on mass gatherings during the lockdown in May. Despite the breach of the government’s guidelines and several criticisms online, Sinas was still able to keep his post with President Rodrigo Duterte on his side.

It may have showered from the skies because of Butchoy and the measures to address to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may have limited the movements, but progressive groups still channeled their creativity by branding their protest at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, a Grand Mañanita. Perhaps one big difference is that participants wore masks and observed proper physical distancing.

Thousands attended ‘Grand Mañanita’ on Independence Day, June 12, 2020 at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.#GrandMananita pic.twitter.com/1Xk0F3HhmH

— Kodao Productions (@kodao) June 12, 2020

Activist Mae Paner, more known as Juana Change, was also spotted, all-set for the mañanita as the main celebrant Sinas. With a shaved head, in an orange shirt, Paner carried roses as well just like how Sinas was photographed in his celebration.

Gen. Sinas is in the house! #mañanita #BawiinaAngKalayaan pic.twitter.com/GtuN3aPGVT

— Teddy Casiño (@teddycasino) June 12, 2020

The gathering is a cry to reject the Anti-Terrorism Bill that just awaits Duterte’s review and signature but several calls are also made to other issues such as the governments’ supposed selective justice on imposing penalties to violators, the attack on press freedom with the move to shut down broadcasting network ABS-CBN, and the overall handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

NOW: Despite the rain and threats from the government, youth contingent gathers in UP for the independence day Mañanita!#KalayaanIpaglaban#JunkTerrorBill#ResistAsOne pic.twitter.com/590cHq70Ol

— Anakbayan (@anakbayan_ph) June 12, 2020

Some groups that joined were Anakbayan – Albertus Magnus, Kilusang Mayo Uno Metro Manila, Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy, Movement Against Tyranny, Gabriela Youth, Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Anakpawis Partylist, and many more.

Aside from the protest in the Quezon City, other cities had their own versions of airing out their sentiments against the administration.

In Marikina, Gabriela Women’s Party chose a healthy exercise routine, quite fitting for the nation’s health crisis. The group had a Zumba dance while opposing the Anti-Terrorism Bill which it described as the “single biggest threat to Filipinos’ basic freedoms and civil liberties.”

“This is an expression of women’s collective stance to defend our hard-fought freedoms and civil liberties, which the Duterte administration seeks to erase through the ‘state terror’ bill,” Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said in a statement.

Fighting online

Not everyone had the liberty to leave their homes but still chose to make noise online.

Senator Risa Hontiveros led an online rally with different icons and groups posing the question “Tunay na nga ba tayong malaya (Are we truly free)?”

Similar to the causes that other protests targeted today, Hontiveros touched on the Anti-Terrorism bill and COVID-19, but also emphasized on China.

“Araw ng Kalayaan pero hanggang ngayon, nakakulong pa rin tayo sa kahirapang dulot ng COVID-19, sa panghihimasok ng Tsina sa ating mga isla’t teritoryo, at sa mga banta ng paniniil ng ating karapatan at kalayaan (Today is Independence Day but we are still caged with the difficulties of COVID-19, the invasion of China in our islands and territory, and the threats to our rights and freedom),” she said.

Hontiveros added, “We should not hurt China’s feelings daw. Pero ‘yung mga Pinoy, sakit na sakit na. Tinalikuran na ang tungkulin sa Konstitusyon, tinalikuran na tayong mga Pilipino para sa sinasabi nilang ‘kaibigan’. (But the Filipinos are the ones suffering. The Consitution is betrayed, the Filipinos were betrayed for those they claim to be ‘friends’.”

She underscored that ‘friendship’ has its limits especially in terms of abuse and lack of compromise.

Celebrities like Iza Calzado, Enchong Dee, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, former secretaries Albert Del Rosario, Butch Abad, and Dinky Soliman, veteran journalist Winnie Monsod, Diocese of Novaliches’ Bishop Antonio Tobias and photojournalist Raffy Lerma were just some of those who joined Hontiveros’s call.