Dubai: Filipino expatriates in the UAE on Monday staged their own silent and online protest in support of the ‘Million People March’ in Manila, demanding their government scrap the congressional funds that have become a perennial source of corruption.
Thousands of Filipinos marched to Luneta in Manila and at least six other cities in the country on Monday to protest the alleged misuse of congressional funds by some congressmen and senators in the latest corruption scandal to hit the country.
Locally known as pork barrel funds, the congressional budget assigned to lawmakers was found to have been channelled to questionable and non-existent non-government organisations.
The 10 billion peso (Dh830 million) fund in question was reportedly pocketed by Janet Lim-Napoles, who served as a conduit and shared the money with several lawmakers and government officials. Napoles is now in hiding and wanted by authorities.
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Dubai showed their disgust over the alleged corrupt government practice in their home country on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.
Ion Gonzaga, a web designer and blogger based in Dubai, wrote on his Facebook shoutout: “I am Ion Gonzaga, your boss. You don’t just owe us an explanation, you owe us actions. And this day serves as memo to you. #MillionPeopleMarch #ScrapPork,” he said referring to President Begino Aquino.
“I may not be able to be in Luneta for the protest but I am protesting online from Dubai on a personal level,” Gonzaga told Gulf News. “Although we’re working overseas and we’re not directly affected, our families back home are,” he added.
Gonzaga said he and some 10 other Filipino expatriates will meet on Monday night to discuss what they can do to contribute to the cause in the Philippines.
Martin Bobis, one of the administrators of the Facebook group Global OFW Voices, an online group of about 18,000 Filipinos around the world, also expressed his anti-corruption views online. Gonzaga said the majority of the members of the group could not accept the fact that some government officials are diverting funds supposedly for public use for their personal gain.
Ronalyn Quina, the group’s administrator in Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News: “Just because we’re living abroad doesn’t mean we don’t care about what’s happening in the country. We do care and we want our voices to be heard.”
Nhel Morona, the country representative of migrants rights group Migrante International-UAE, said they will launch a signature campaign in two days to formalise OFW support to scrap the pork barrel funds system.
