Group lays 1,000 footwear on road in protest of EJKs

More than 1,000 pairs of shoes, sandals and slippers symbolizing those who died in the government's campaign against illegal drugs were arranged in rows along Commonwath Avenue on, just hours before President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to deliver his second State of the Nation Address in Congress.

A group, calling itself the Block Marcos Movement, was responsible for arranging the footwear along the main road that leads to the Batasang Pambansa, where House of Representatives is based and where the President will deliver his SONA.

The silent protest was staged within a yellow lane of Commonwealth, from Amity Street to J.P. Rizal Street.

"They represent all those who have been killed under the Duterte regime, particularly in the war on drugs and the martial law in Mindanao. Also all those who might be or who will be killed if martial law is extended and the threat of dictatorship is realized," Herbert Docena of the Block Marcos Movement told GMA News Online.

The new and used footwear were donated by families and groups expressing their sentiment against the campaign on illegal drugs and the supposedly victims of extrajudicial killings.

"Nananawagan po kami sa lahat po ng mga kaibigan namin, sa aming mga pamilya, sa mga tumututol sa war on drugs, sa EJKs ... Sa ngayon po humigit kumulang mga 1,000 po 'yang mga mailalatag namin," he said.

The number of footwear the group was able to gather is small compared to the more than 8,000 people supposedly killed in the campaign on illegal drugs under the Duterte administration.

Docena said the Block Marcos Movement feared that Duterte may replicate the regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos and declare martial law nationwide.

"Pag nangyari po 'yun malamang na malamang maaring mangyari ulit ang mga nangyari noong rehimeng Marcos. Marami pang mamamatay, marami pang maaring mabilanggo, at baka sa mga susunod na SONA ay wala na tayong mga martsa kasi ipagbabawal na 'yun," Docena said.

The Block Marcos Movement is demanding that Duterte put an end to martial law in Mindanao and stop promoting violence in his SONA.

"We demand that he says he will put a stop to EJK; that he will stop promoting state violence; that he will stop attacking human rights; and that he will immediately lift martial law," Docena said. — VDS, GMA News