'Painting' the city 'red'

by Frencie L. Carreon

Today, many in the City of Zamboanga are set to join the protest and wear red, display red ribbons, and even paint signs of protest in red. It's the Zamboangueño's way of "painting" the city red.

However, one has to admit that there will still be a minority who would not join the protest, as they would most likely favor the geo-political change with the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

It cannot be disputed that the electoral exercise, that is, conducting a plebiscite in the six barangays (and later in the forty others), will be a democratic exercise. However, those who are against it contend that there is no point in waiting for the plebiscite to happen in fear of its getting rigged. Others say that a thing similar to what happened to Mayor Isnaji Alvarez as getting double-crossed may also happen. These are among the people's sentiments.

Some businesses intend to be flagging their establishments with red ribbons, again, in strong support of the Zamboanga City Government's rigid campaign to oppose the inclusion of six barangays in Zamboanga to be part of the BJE.

Meanwhile, some civic groups called for prayer sessions especially dedicated for the common petition to exclude the city from the BJE.

Mayor Celso Lobregat, Congressional Representatives Beng Climaco and Erbie Fabian are in Manila to lead the city in the formal presentation of the city's opposition to the ancestral domain coverage before the Supreme Court.

The greater part of Zamboanga is all red today.