Angry protesters pelt DPWH-Cebu CIty office with tomatoes

Local

By MyTVCebu Desk

TOMATOES flew and chants rang out in Cebu City on Friday, September 5.

This came after youth and multi-sectoral groups staged back-to-back protests against corruption in flood-control projects and low wages that they say keep workers drowning in poverty.

At sunrise, members of BAYAN–Central Visayas, Sanlakas Cebu, and the Kabataan Partylist gathered outside the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cebu City District Engineering Office near Pier 3.

They hurled ripe tomatoes at the agency’s signage, calling it a symbol of what they branded a “flood of corruption” under the Marcos administration.

The protest was timed to coincide with budget deliberations for the DPWH in Congress, where billions in allocations for flood-control projects are under scrutiny.

Activists accused the agency of implementing “ghost projects” while communities in Lahug and around Cebu Technological University continue to reel from flooding.

“Karon, nagtapok ang mga kabatan-onan uban sa mga nagkadaiyang sektor diri sa syudad sa Sugbo aron i-rehistro ang condemnation og ang pagpatawag og accountability sa DPWH og sa mismong administrasyong Marcos,” said Ian Peter Guanzon, vice chairperson of Kabataan Partylist Cebu City.

Guanzon said the demonstration, joined by labor, women’s, and urban poor groups, was a peaceful act of frustration over unmet promises of infrastructure development.

DPWH Cebu City District spokesperson Malou Avila acknowledged the criticisms but appealed for patience.

“Kami sa DPWH, particularly sa Cebu City District Engineering Office, nagpakabana mi. We are in the process of doing the best we can do to provide solutions. Pero dili siya ingon ana kadali gyud,” Avila said.

She said that flood mitigation plans are being reevaluated with the local government.

By mid-morning, the demonstrators marched to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office 7. There, under the banner of AMA Sugbo-KMU and BAYAN–Central Visayas, they pressed for a P1,200 daily national minimum wage.

“Ang kasamtangan nga suholan karon diri sa Central Visayas, ang P453 dungagan siya og P747, ang P463 dungagan siya og P437, ang P501 dungagan siya og P699 aron mutibuok siya og P1,200,” explained Jaime Paglinawan, chairperson of BAYAN–Central Visayas.

He illustrated how workers’ meager pay quickly evaporates once food, utilities, transport, and mandatory contributions are deducted.

Paglinawan argued that employers exaggerate the burden of wage hikes on small businesses, even though exemptions and subsidies already exist.

Meanwhile, he said, the country’s top corporations continue to rake in profits.

Col. Enrico Figueroa, chief of the Cebu City Police Office, confirmed that around 20 to 25 protesters joined the rallies, which ended by noon without incident.

“Sa nakikita po natin, peaceful naman sila at naglalabas lang sila ng kanilang mga hinanaing tungkol sa kanilang hinihiling sa gobyerno na dagdag sahod,” Figueroa said.(TGP)