The students halted and they ready themselves for defense, bracing their arms together, but the police negotiations with the student leaders successfully agreed the bargaining agreement to just reclaim Rotunda rather than penetrating towards Mendiola.
STUDENT ACTION AGAINST THE WTO MINISTERIAL MEETING IN CANCUN, MEXICO
MANILA, Philippines- University students from various schools trooped down towards Mendiola- a few meters away from the Presidents palace, to protest the WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico.
Around 4:30 p.m., a number of 200 militant students from various universities in Metro Manila converged along Espanya Ave. infront the University of Santo Tomas bearing with them some action slogans condemning the ministerial meeting of first world capitalist countries who aims to liberalize major public services in the third world particularly the Philippines, the said agenda is one of the several points that is going to be discussed in the meeting which will be finally formalized by the forum without considering the analysis and position of the majority of the people.
One of the major public service that is going to be liberalizing through the economic policy of globalization is the service of Education. According to the anti-wto student's unity manifesto, « The predominant concern of the youth in General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) aside from the other services is the laying down of Education as an economic card to be traded in the whole world. As for the majority youth, treating education as mere commodity that only promotes massive commercialization of education by GATS and WTO, will no longer provide accessibility of it to the sector. The commercialization of education is but a market of expensive commodity, named EDUCATION, explicit only to privilege few who have the money and the power to purchase it. »
After converging along Espanya Ave. in Manila, the students marched towards Mendiola but the heavy presence of police armed with high powered rifle blocked the students and prevented them to enter along Morayta street from where the only street that leads to Mendiola. The contingent, changed route trying to outsmart the police by going down towards Forbes Ave. as the least alternative route in going straight into the target place for protest action. But then, the police followed the protesters and trying to violently disperse them using the fire trucks.
The students halted and they ready themselves for defense, bracing their arms together, but the police negotiations with the student leaders successfully agreed the bargaining agreement to just reclaim Rotunda rather than penetrating towards Mendiola.
Few minutes later, the students reclaimed the space and held a guerilla gig as part of their program of protest. The activity was participated by the Youth for Nationalism and Democracy (YND), Sanlakas Youth, KAMPI and MASP under the youth coalition of STOP THE NEW ROUNDS (SNR). The anarchist bloc also participated the activity; we have the Local Anarchist Network (LAN) and the Anarchist Study Cirlce (ASC) who expressed solidarity with other progressive hierarchical groups.
Meanwhile, several blocks away from the STOP THE NEW ROUNDS youth coalition, students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon city trooped down towards the Senate Building in Roxas Boulevard in Manila to protest the proposed revision of the state university charter that aims to commercialize the premiere state university in the Philippines. Violent dispersal occurred, arresting several students and injuring a few. The action was organized by STAND-UP- a local student political party in the university.
Series of protest action will still continue until September 21, 2003- a day of commemorating the bloody dictatorship of the Marcos regime in 1972 till 1986 that killed a thousand of Filipino people.