Designated Time and Place of Flash Protest on March 24:
Luneta Park - 4:00 to 4:30 PM
Plan of action:
1) Wear BLACK
2) Assemble at any of the following locations between 3:30-4:00pm
a) Bayview Starbucks
b) Chow King Restaurant along Roxas Blvd. corner T. M. Kalaw
c) Manila Hotel
d) Parking Area of Harbor View
e) Entrance of Chinese Garden
3) Wait awhile for other people dressed in black. Take a snack, if you wish, while waiting for others.
4) At 4 PM, walk towards the designated location. Important: walk per family, or 2 at a time, so that this is not construed as a march by a group. Give sufficient spacing between families and pairs.
5) When you get to the designated place, mingle with the other people, without any unnecessary commotion.
6) When the signal is given, everyone in black must come together to pose for pictures.
7) Do the "patalsikin" sign during the picture taking.
8) On cue, disperse quietly.
Suggested preparations:
1) Bring your family. This is a non-violent action, after all.
2) Invite as many friends, or officemates to this peaceful event.
3) If you're an employer or a manager, invite all your subordinates to join you.
4) If you're from the same office, arrange for carpooling to your selected assembly point.
5) If you're located outside Metro Manila, and wish to organize a protest action, select an area where you and your friends can assemble peacefully. Advise your local media to cover your action. Document your silent protest by taking pictures and email them to helga1957@gmail.com.
Important reminders:
1) This is a SILENT PROTEST, not a rally. Please DO NOT shout, sing, pass leaflets, bring banners or placards or do anything to disturb the peace.
2) Bring your cameras. The highlight of the protest action is the picture-taking with the "patalsikin" pose.
3) In the unlikely event that there is one in our ranks who may attempt to disturb the peace by shouting or any other unruly behavior, take pictures of that person while trying to peacefully talk him down. We could use those pictures to prove that the rabble rouser is not one of us.
4) If the police block you on your way to the designated area, assert your rights without being confrontational. Get the name of the policeman in charge and ask someone to take pictures of him blocking you. Email to us so we can file the appropriate charges against them.
11 comments:
hi helgs, check out what's happening in belarus right now..
http://politicaljunkie.blogspot.com/2006/03/people-power-in-belarus-ongoing.html
Hey, John. Excellent post! The parallels are stunning. I first heard about the Belarus situation the day after their election, on CNN. These tyrannical despots learn from each other, don't they? On the other hand, we gave the world the gift of People Power. And at the rate the Thais and the Belarussians are going, they seem far better at it than we've been. I hope both situations end peacefully, in favor of the people. V for Vendetta - art imitating life.
Which brings me to the barangay meetings being scheduled for the next few weekends, almost all without warning. They're banking on the apathy to be so severe, there won't be enough people around to ask the right questions. That's Ronnie Puno, flexing his muscles. Leave a space in line for me if we ever get to him.
opinyonkoto:
with your caps, you sounded very agitated. kool lang.
gabriel was simply expressing his opinion.
with your black friday protests, i wonder what you hope to achieve? more media mileage? posting your plans on the net, not to encourage people to join you, but for the police's and media's consumption. you hope to land on saturday newspapers' frontpages? you don't care if people find your antics amusing as long as you get to your objective and that is media coverage.
sorry but that is how i see it. if not, please enlighten me.
Thanks for your concern, John. All your points are well taken. Alam namin na mino-monitor kami ng cops, that they plan to make life hard for us. And, of course, no one wants to go to jail. The idea of wearing black on Fridays is a good thing, and we are already spreading the word on that via text and through friends in influential places.
But if we ceased and desisted our Black Friday Protests, it would mean that they, specifically, SHE, would have intimidated us. Too many people have chosen the easy road, to be quiet. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean you.
What if Ninoy had given in? Rizal? What if Cory had said, no, she didn't want to run against the dictator? I think back to martial law days, to Chino Roces, who I got to know and greatly respect. He never gave up, he never backed down. He just became more creative, kept testing the limits. That's how I plan to keep going until the convenors say stop.
I understand if you have your reservations, won't take them against you.
john,
"helga, delikado na ang sitwasyon ngayon. apparently, the protests are not as risk free and the police doesn't see these actions as non-confrontational."
to the point where a family or group of friends having a picnic (but all of them are wearing the requisite black shirt) will be arrested for illegal assembly?
no cop would be so stupid.
You're right, guys.
deleted that last post na rin.
sorry for my silly post yesterday helga.
I guess i just wanted to make the pro-arroyo trolls see the stupidity of their whinings by highlighting the paranoid nature of this admin AND "agreeing" with them na yes, these harmless protests are not worth doing -- dahil baka dadamputin ka lang ng pulis for just wearing black on fridays while taking a walk at baywalk... because that's how paranoid the admin is these days.
Reverse psychology.
Too many people have chosen the easy road, to be quiet. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean you.
What if Ninoy had given in? Rizal? What if Cory had said, no, she didn't want to run against the dictator? I think back to martial law days, to Chino Roces, who I got to know and greatly respect. He never gave up, he never backed down.
The funny thing is, these protests are by design, supposed to be risk-free and non-confrontational. It was the police's ill-advised over-reaction that made it into something bigger. a major blunder on their part.
But if we ceased and desisted our Black Friday Protests, it would mean that they, specifically, SHE, would have intimidated us.
actually, if BnW immediately stopped the protests after the police incident, people would understand, and you've won the PR battle. gotta know when to hold em... and when to fold em... ;)
He just became more creative, kept testing the limits. That's how I plan to keep going until the convenors say stop.
i think the flash mob protest is a success in highlighting the paranoid nature of this admin. and now, it's time to try other new ideas of protest.
Hey, John! Your comment was far from silly, you voiced real fears, we'd be crazy not to own up to them. I for one, am not doing these actions to be arrested. Besides, I'm not doing anythng illegal.
The Black Friday Protests can be held anywhere. The ones we do here in Manila may go on hiatus at some point, true. But they will be held in many other places. The protests are creative, and created as exclamation points.
And yes, the regime showed it's paranoia, the fear within. No duly elected, truly loved, adminsitration would act in this brutal manner, di ba?
There are other ways to protest, you're right. One way is simply wearing black every Friday as your silent protest. You can also put up stickers, wear pins (we're making them). Another great way is to talk to friends about the crisis, get them to weigh in, pro or con. Hopefully, it will eradicate the apathy little by little.
If "pinoy" thinks these protests are designed to court attention, then he's right, but not for the reasons he states. We have to get our messages out there some how, because we don't have the money and propaganda machinery the regime has. I know you don't see it that way, "pinoy", but that's cool.
Jester, the cops ARE stupid.
Ok, guys, wish us luck! On our way to Luneta! :-D
3) If you're an employer or a manager, invite all your subordinates to join you.
But wouldn't that be the private sector's version of "hakot" or "barangay general assembly"? You can't expect subordinates to say "no" voluntarily without worrying about their jobs and performance appraisals.
I really respect your group's creativity in coming up with new way to protest, though I really hate the shirt design.
Post a Comment