Letter to Vice President Noli de Castro

25 October 2005


Hon. Noli de Castro
Vice-President of the Philippines


Dear Vice-President de Castro:

We, the Black and White Movement, firmly believe, based on the revelations from the Garci tapes and the political developments that followed, that GMA cheated. It’s as clear as black and white to us, and to 80% of the Filipino people, according to recent surveys.

We also believe that in spite of the overwhelming consensus among our people that she cheated, many are reluctant to participate because of some key questions left unanswered. What is the alternative? Who will replace GMA? What post-GMA program do we offer?

We decided it was time to answer these hard questions.

Last Saturday, October 22, 2005, leaders of organized groups from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao gathered to build a consensus on our desired post-GMA leadership, immediate reform agenda, and action plans and programs to pursue our agenda.

After a full day of intense deliberations, we agreed on an 8-point reform agenda and the actionable points with this reform framework within the first 100 days. We also reached a consensus that you, as Vice-President, are the most viable and certainly capable successor to GMA. Like you, we are committed to adhere to the succession mode provided for in the Constitution.

It is in this spirit that we implore you to lead us in implementing our reform agenda. May we request a dialogue with you at your earliest convenience?

Respectfully yours,

Vicente Romano III
On behalf of the Convenors of Black and White Movement

Crossing Mendiola

October 19, 2005

BLACK & WHITE CROSSES MENDIOLA BRIDGE

THE members of Black & White Movement, together with the Hyatt 10 and other concerned citizens, today exercised their freedom of conscience and their right to peaceably assemble, and pray for the good of our country.

We gathered together to demonstrate that Malacanang is not the enclave of a particular administration, but instead, belongs to the people. We gathered together because any and all like-minded groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to express themselves, and invoke the Almighty for His divine protection of their cause.

Without a rally permit, the Black & White Movement challenged and overcame the CPR policy of GMA by crossing Mendiola, stopping at the Chino Roces monument for a flower-laying ceremony before proceeding to the San Beda chapel to seek divine intervention from our current political crisis.

It was clearly a moral victory for a precedent-setting active, non-violent form of protest. Henceforth, all other groups planning to organize peaceful assemblies or passage through Mendiola can claim the rule of precedence to challenge the phalanx of anti-riot forces preventing them from exercising their freedom of expression and assembly.

We continue to pray, as the entire country prays, for a peaceful resolution of the crisis of legitimacy afflicting our country. We continue to hope that the President will find enlightenment and make the supreme sacrifice for the nation. But even as we hope and pray, we shall continue to mobilize to demonstrate that concrete action is called for, so long as the will of the people is ignored, and their attempts to manifest their collective voices are thwarted.