Roque: I hope Joma has enough grandkids to heed his call for protests

Malacañang on Monday scoffed at Jose Maria Sison's call for the youth to march against President Rodrigo Duterte, saying that the Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairperson is "stuck in the past."

"Again, we don’t attach too much importance [to] Joma Sison. I hope he has enough grandchildren to heed this call," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a briefing in the Palace.

In an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday, Sison said the youth "should launch huge mass marches and rallies in the National Capital Region and in the provinces, like during the First Quarter Storm (FQS) of 1970."

"The problem with Joma Sison is he is stuck in history. He never moved beyond the First Quarter Storm," Roque said, referring to the series of protest mass actions which began on January 25, 1970 against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Sison said that the rising prices of basic goods and services are "already outraging and enraging the broad masses of the people," referring to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

"Even the unorganized masses are now predisposed to act in unison with the mass organizations," he said. — BM, GMA News