Several buses which will ferry the delegates from Tagum City to Manila are parked outside the United Church of Christ in the Philippines compound on Monday night. Tarpaulins calling for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines hang outside the buses.
TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte – Almost a thousand indigenous peoples and human rights activists from Davao Region prepared for their travel by land going to Manila via Surigao City as early as 5:00 am on Tuesday. They will be attending President Rodrigo Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address on July 25 and submit to him their 10-point Mindanao People’s Agenda.
According to organizers, an estimate of 5,000 delegates of the Manilakbayan sa SONA” will come from Southern Mindanao, Northern Mindanao, Caraga province, Zamboanga Peninsula, Socsksargen, and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
Some delegates of the Manilakbayan sa SONA caravan carry their supplies from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines compound to their buses.
Delegates pack up canned goods and sacks of rice as they prepare for the travel to witness President Rodrigo Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address in Manila.
Delegates of the Manilakbayan for SONA line up to board the buses along the national highway in Tagum City on Tuesday morning.
A total of 14 buses, a truck that serves as the kitchen and a van ferry hundreds of delegates for the Manilakbayan sa SONA. (Earl O. Condeza/davaotoday.com)
