AS EXPECTED, the much-ballyhooed “Trillion Peso March” and “Baha sa Luneta 2.0” held last November 30 turned out to be a dismal failure of epic proportions. There were more security personnel than rallyists—17,000 riot policemen versus only around 5,000 protesters, give or take.
In “I Am Iloilo City,” a simultaneous rally was held with fewer than a thousand “useful idiots” in attendance.
The November 30 Bonifacio Day rally was mounted by the Makabayan bloc and its allies, along with the “cult of the yellow ribbon”—now dyed pink—backed, of course, by the Catholic Church and the “usual suspects”: the “useful idiots” from the University of the Philippines and a sprinkle of trendy Frappuccino/Salted Caramel Macchiato–sipping social climbers. Combined, they barely reached 5,000 warm bodies, which makes one wonder how the Makabayan bloc even manages to secure congressional seats.
At the People Power Monument (PPM) in EDSA corner White Plains Avenue, the number of police officers on duty even outnumbered the demonstrators.
According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), more than 17,000 personnel were deployed across three protest sites in Metro Manila—Luneta Park, the PPM, and the EDSA Shrine. At the PPM alone, the Quezon City Police District estimated the crowd at only around 5,000. (Daily Tribune, 11/30/2025)
This so-called rally was supposedly a march for “truth,” “accountability,” and “good governance,” aimed specifically at the alleged massive corruptions or “insertions” in the 2025 General Appropriations Act prepared by the chairman of the appropriations committee, approved by the Speaker of the House, and signed into law by the President.
But November 30 was an illusion—just another round of anti-corruption rhetoric without the courage to name the throne behind it. It was rage without risk, moral posturing without moral consistency. If they are loud against corruption but silent about the masterminds, then they are not fighting the system—they are protecting it.
Real accountability is never selective. Real reform does not skip the powerful. Real courage confronts whoever sits on the highest seat, however inconvenient that may be. Or has power simply purchased their silence? (Rob Rances, 11/30/2025)
This brings us to one of the key players behind the Bonifacio Day “Trillion Peso March” and “Baha sa Luneta”—the Makabayan bloc and its friends.
Take note of the CPP-NPA-NDF’s dual political strategy: the simultaneous pursuit of armed struggle and electoral participation through its legal “patriotic and democratic” organizations.
The Makabayan bloc and its party-lists join elections and rallies not as independent reformists but as part of the broader revolutionary framework—an extension of the underground movement’s objectives.
In other words, the revolutionary underground led by the CPP-NPA-NDF and the aboveground Makabayan bloc operating openly under the 1987 Constitution function as complementary components of a single strategic goal. It is a tactical adaptation—a calculated maneuver to reach, mobilize, and radicalize the masses in pursuit of the eventual “withering away” of the state.
They had hoped that the November 30 nationwide protest would spark the “perfect storm”—total anarchy in the streets leading to a so-called critical mass. Unfortunately for them, a thin crowd of 5,000 stood no chance against 17,000 fully prepared riot policemen.
Meanwhile, during the rally, a certain Perci Cendaña—recently Akbayan party-list representative—was calling for Vice President Sara Duterte to resign. The irony is almost comical, considering the Vice President has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged corruption in the 2025 GAA.
Another cringe-worthy moment of epic proportions./PN
