Photos: Davao’s anti-pork protest welcomes ‘Megan Yan’

By MEDEL V. HERNANI & ACE R. MORANDANTE
DAVAO TODAY

Davao City — Friday’s anti-pork protest activists drew 2,000 people coming from sectors of the workers, urban poor, small-scale miners, students and “middle class”.

But an activist dressed as beauty queen “Megan Yan” – a spoof character of Miss World winner Megan Young – stole the show.

The protest, organized by the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), started with a mid-day march led by red-shirted leaders marching along Magsaysay Park, Quirino Avenue, Bankerohan, Magallanes to CM Recto for a rally at Freedom Park.

Later at 6 pm, the protesters held a torch parade towards Rizal Park in San Pedro Street and held a concert featuring protest songs and poetry from Davao artists.

But what entertained the crowd was the spiel from “Megan Yan, a play on the phrase Me Ganyan (Is that so?).  She told the protesters that she arrived home after winning the “Mess World” title only to be welcomed by a congressman who offered her a feast of “pork chop, belly, liempo, sinigang, chorizo, tocino and special pork ice cream”.

But instead, the congressman took all the food and told her “I should go on diet, because I’m Miss World.”

Speakers from various sectors raised their calls to abolish all pork barrel funds including the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) and the President’s discretionary funds and have them rechanneled to social services.

Award-winning writer and playwright Don Pagusara delivered a poem, while a small-scale miner from Pantukan, Compostela Valley slammed President Aquino’s endorsement of large-scale mining that would not only displace small-scale miners, but also destroy the environment and livelihood in his province. (davaotoday.com photos by MEDEL V. HERNANI and ACE R. MORANDANTE)