‘Trillion Peso March’ fatigue

Cardinal David’s address at the second Trillion Peso March naturally drew criticism from those agitating for “Resign All.”

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

While not everyone could participate in the “Trillion Peso March” held last Nov. 30, many others joined in pounding the gates of heaven during the First Sunday of Advent masses.

The “Oratio Imperata for Integrity, Truth and Justice” was prayed aloud en masse at Catholic churches and parishes all over the country. It echoed the Filipino people’s prayer to save us all from the evils of corruption.

In the liturgical calendar, Advent is the period preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ. To start the celebration of the mass for the First Sunday of Advent, a lavender-colored candle at the altar is lit. As our parish priest explained, it is the color of hope among the four colored candles lit up until Christmas Day mass.

It just so happened that First Sunday of Advent fell this year on Nov. 30, coinciding with the birth anniversary of one of our country’s revolutionary heroes, Gat Andres Bonifacio. Principal rally organizers precisely picked this day to gather massive crowds to dramatize the national outrage and revolution calls against the alleged “ghost” flood control projects.

The Trillion Peso March stood for the amount of our government's annual budget wasted in highly anomalous flood control projects. The ongoing investigations revealed the bulk of budget allocations went to the pockets of contractors conniving with officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and certain corrupt lawmakers.