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Global Day of Action in the Philippines

Around 1,000 people marched through downtown Manila as part of the 2008 World Social Forum Global Day of Action.

Around 1,000 people take a turn and emerge from below in a march through downtown Manila to the presidential palace as part of the World Social Forum 2008 Global Day of Action. They were blocked by riot police.

Around 1,000 people marched through downtown Manila as part of the 2008 World Social Forum Global Day of Action.
It was a small mobilization but -- for something that was called for not in response to an immediate and pressing local political issue -- it was relatively sizable, especially in a country where mobilizing has become increasingly difficult due to the internal weakness and fragmentation of the progressive movements combined with growing state repression.

And though the marchers were relatively few in terms of actual number, many of the country's left political parties, social movements, and other progressive formations were represented, including a sizable women's contingent.

United under the call "On with the struggle: Jobs and justice, land and freedom!," the march capped a week-long series of actions that saw almost daily rallies by landless farmers, workers, and anti-war groups and a one-day camp of forums, exhibits, film-showings, and concert held in the middle of an urban poor community in the city.

On Monday, landless farmers who had marched for around 200 kilometers from the countryside arrived in the capital to call for agrarian reform.

On Wednesday, an anti-war coalition marched to the US embassy demanding the withdrawal of US troops from the Philippines and end to the country's military cooperation with the United States.

On Thursday, workers succeeded in blocking a busy highway to protest against labor contractualization.

In the shadow of a massive new shopping mall, at the heart of a slum community that could soon be demolished to give way to a new commercial district, a whole-day People's Camp for Change was held Friday.

Though organized by nearly a hundred organizations, attendance at some of the workshops in the camp was small even as the open air film showing and concert managed to draw in up to a thousand of the community's local residents, many of whom also became directly involved in organizing the event. Despite the failures and difficulties, however, it was a step in bridging the gap between the movements and the people. #

Global Day of Action in the Philippines - http://wsf2008.net/eng/node/6000

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Global Day of Action in the Philippines

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