PNoy effigies through his five years stay in Malacañang

No president since the time of strongman Ferdinand Marcos has been spared from the insolence of effigy burning – militant groups' way of dramatizing their discontent. But President Benigno Aquino III probably got the earliest whip of this scornful public demonstration in just a few months into his presidency in 2010, this was after he allowed to slash education budget by 1.7 percent for 2011.

In time for his last State of the Nation Address on Monday July 27, 2015, militants crafted an effigy of Aquino put atop a broken Metro Rail Transit (MRT) coach.


^{Sketch of PNoy effigy on broken MRT coach. --Rie Takumi}

Ugat Lahi Artist Collective, known for their grotesque interpretations of the president, crafted bamboo slats, pieces of wood, and clay to prop up a papier mache image of Aquino atop a broken MRT coach.

“Ang konseptong bulok na MRT train na nadiskaril ay nagpapakita na ang daang matuwid ni Aquino ay nagpahamak sa mamamayan patungong kamatayan. Sumisimbolo ito sa mga palpak at sa mga trahedya na idinulot at ipinatupad ng administrasyong Aquino,” said Ugat Lahi Chairman Rensi Managase Earist.

“Mga partikular na isyu tulad na lamang ng Mamasapano bloodbath, Typhoon Yolanda victims, K+12 education program at sa pagpapabaya sa ating pambansang soberanya, at iba pa.”

Asked why effigies have become a style of protest among activist groups, Earist said, “Traditional na ito, lalong-lalo na yung pagsunog. Repleksyon kasi iyon, [o] pagpapakita ng galit ng mamamayan o mga hinaing nila, doon nila tinutupok... Sinasabuyan namin ng gasolina yung paligid para matupok.”

On the other hand, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), along with other groups, placed an Easter Island head-like Aquino atop a mound of oozing green garbage. According to an artist, part of the inspiration behind the piece was what they consider as the government’s leniency in allowing Canada to dump their trash in Capas, Tarlac.


^{Rie Takumi}

For their scornful tribute, militant group Bayan Muna took cues from the MRT woes and placed a stylized Aquino head on top of a derailed MRT carriage.


^{Analy Labor}

Effigies of years past

So far, effigies of Aquino had taken issue of the President's lack of action on labor woes, human rights violations, and loopsided US-PHL relations.


^{Andrew Pamorad}

Militant workers of the Kilusang Mayo Uno had burned an image of Aquino for turning a deaf ear on the clamor for a P125 across-the-board wage hike on Labor Day 2012.

Ugat Lahi depicted the president as a “pitbull” to symbolize “Aquino’s boundless subservience to US dictates.”

The same artist’s group showed their disdain for Aquino’s foreign policy again on July 23, days before SONA 2012. Ugat Lahi presented a “two-faced president” sitting on top of a plane with  “VFA” on its wings and a skull by its tail to demonstrate their contempt for the Visiting Forces Agreement.



Various militant groups summed up 2012 by commemorating the International Human Rights Day through an effigy symbolizing Aquino’s alleged human rights violations under “Oplan Bayanihan,” the government’s anti-insurgency program.


^{Danny Pata}

In 2013's Human Rights Day, the historic Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang saw the burning of an elaborate effigy of Aquino as a "pig-cum-wrecking ball" that represented protesters' discontent over the “152 extrajudicial killings and 168 frustrated killings, 18 enforced disappearances, 358 illegal arrests and detentions on trumped up charges, tortures and other gross human rights violations” that supposedly happened under Aquino's watch.


^{Danny Pata}

Part of their anger stemmed from the shoving match with anti-riot police, hours before SONA 2013.

At least 10 protesters were charged for an incident that injured 41 militants and 21 policemen.

The effigy that was used was the monstrous face of a ravenous Aquino as he dined at a feast while“the people wait for crumbs falling from the table.”

Effigies were also burned against nepotism, corruption, and the supposed neglect of Typhoon Yolanda victims in 2013.

Corruption, nepotism, and lack of economic growth spurred most of the works in 2014, with activists kicking the year off with a bloody and fire-wreathed birthday cake for the president on February 8.



Some of the signs carried by the activists would be repeated by students who, instead of burning their effigy, settled for throwing tomatoes at a figure which symbolized their frustration at the perceived lack of support for Typhoon Yolanda victims.


^{Danny Pata}

Meanwhile, aggrieved farmers burned effigies of Aquino, his sister Kris Aquino, and uncle Peping Cojuangco Jr. together in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform building on April 24,  in protest against the alleged “bogus land distribution” and violence against their kin in the Cojuangco-owned sugar estate Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.


^{Danny Pata}

Land disputes also spurred protests by farmers at Mendiola at the “Peasant and People March vs. Charter Change and Term Extension,” the culmination of week-long nationwide actions against alleged land grabbing and human rights violations by the Aquino administration.

In the same year, militants burned a "pig-faced Aquino" on a chariot of red, blue, and white during the president’s fifth SONA to commemorate the alleged lack of action against the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam.


^{GMA News}

US President Barack Obama’s two-day visit, which began on April 28, riled up militants who summed up their rage in an effigy of a be-dogged version of Aquino pulling a chariot of villainous version of Obama.


^{GMA News}

Disenfranchised masses continued to display their frustrations through hues of orange and red in 2015, with environmental advocates and members of an indigenous tribe demanding the abrogation of the Mining Act of 1995 just three months into the new year.


^{Danny Pata}

Among the latest depictions of Aquino to be put in flames is the one with his body represented by a bag of trash. Activists who burned the effigy on April 20 saw it fitting to put Aquino to death, as they blamed him and his administration for letting so many OFWs be put on death row.

They also refused to give the President credit for the reprieve of convicted drug smuggler Mary Jane Veloso, whose relief was attributed to a treaty between Southeast Asian nations and not the appeals made by the Aquino administration. — LBG, GMA News