DAVAO CITY (April 11) — Youth activists took to the streets on Friday, April 10, calling out what they described as government inaction on the worsening socioeconomic crisis, as rising fuel prices and inflation continue to squeeze drivers, workers, and ordinary households.
Members of Anakbayan Southern Mindanao Region staged a picket rally near Freedom Park, pressing both local and national officials to deliver immediate relief measures instead of what they called “empty responses” to the crisis.
Fauzhea Guiani, spokesperson of the group, said urgent interventions—particularly direct cash assistance and tax relief—remain absent despite mounting public hardship.
“In these times, what drivers, the youth, and workers need most is immediate cash relief—aid that truly responds to daily needs,” Guiani said, criticizing the government’s failure to suspend value-added tax and excise taxes, which the group described as regressive and a major driver of rising prices.
The group also slammed the ₱5,000 cash assistance program of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., calling it insufficient amid escalating living costs.
“With rising prices and heavy taxation, the ₱5,000 cash aid is an insult,” Guiani said, contrasting it with what she alleged as billions lost to questionable flood control projects linked to corruption.
At the local level, protesters criticized Davao City’s Executive Order No. 7, Series of 2026, issued under the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emergency Socioeconomic Crisis Response, saying it falls short of addressing urgent needs.
Guiani described the order as “performative,” arguing that its focus on reducing fuel and energy consumption fails to directly respond to the economic burdens faced by residents.
“For over a month, Davaoeños have been suffering from rising fuel and commodity prices, yet until now it remains just a plan,” she said. “It creates the illusion of action but does not address the people’s real economic needs.”
The group also reiterated its “failing” assessment of the Marcos administration, first issued ahead of the President’s State of the Nation Address in 2025, citing what it sees as continued neglect of urgent public concerns.
“Until now, nothing has changed,” Guiani said. “The president is still failing because the most urgent needs of the people remain unaddressed.”
As economic pressures mount, the group warned that public frustration is reaching a breaking point—signaling that without decisive government action, protests on the streets may only intensify in the weeks ahead.
