PENOY a.k.a. PNoy a.k.a. President Benigno S. Aquino III is burned in effigy on Commonwealth Avenue minutes before he delivers his July 25, 2011 State of the Nation Address

Editor's note: A riotous and cheerful crowd of activists from various organizations, urban poor, students, journalists and others marched today up to the point of St. Peter's Cathedral along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City where they were met by metal barriers with truncheon-wielding policemen on the alert to prevent any further passage to the House of representatives Building Complex where President Benigno S. Aquino III was set to deliver his annual State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The crowd essentially did not agree with the spin being put out by the Palace that there were any solid achievements on the part of the Aquino Administration and they were determined to make their case before a wider audience through political theater, song, dance and mobile installation art (we will be posting more pictures as soon as possible).

Embedded below are the pictures taken by Diliman Diary editor Chanda Shahani of President Aquino being burned in effigy, and of other scenes in the anti-SONA protests along Commonwealth Avenue. At one point, the flames grew so fierce and hot that the crowd was forced to beat a hasty rereat. At the end of it all, all was left was a sad heap of ashes, and a feeling of temporary catharsis followed by the unsettled feeling that there were so many burning issues left unfixed and unaddressed by this administration.

 

The media photographing the effigy burning

U.P. Diliman's Zorro joins the rally and reads a manifesto criticizing the Aquino administration

University of the Philippines (Asterisk) Asosasyon ng Kabataang Artista at Iskolar ng UP Diliman members paint a caricature of President Aquino on Commonwealth Avenue

The finished product

 

Policemen on a bridge fronting St. Peter's Parish on Commonwealth Avenue scan the crowd

A police line on Commonwealth Avenue preventing protesters from going anynearer the House of Representatives where President Aquino delivered his speech

Members of the Panginoon Hesus Kristong Hari Espiritu Santo-Holy Spirit Government based in Tandang Sora, Q.C. calling for a change in government from one run by people to one run by the Holy Spirit Government

MMDA assigns lanes along Commonwealth Avenue

QUEZON CITY, Jan 24 (PIA) – Tagged as the “killer highway” due to the alarming number of motor mishaps credited to its name, Commonwealth Avenue will have separate lanes for buses, jeepneys, and motorcycles beginning Tuesday to mitigate road accidents and ensure safety among motorists.

Starting 4:30 a.m. today, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will assign the yellow lanes to public utility buses (PUBs), the second lane next to the bus lane to motorcycles and public utility jeepneys, and the remaining five lanes to private vehicles with two lanes reserved for U-turn slots.

The lane assignments will be initially implemented from Batasan to Philcoa and vice versa.

MMDA enforcers will also be armed with speed tracking guns to make sure motorists observe the 60-kilometer per hour speed limit along the highway. Violators will be fined PhP 1,200.

Commonwealth Avenue, according to the MMDA, has a total of 18 lanes with nine lanes going from Fairview, Quezon City to the Quezon Memorial Circle, and nine lanes going the opposite direction. (PIA-NCR/Jayson P. Leguiab)