 |
| Photo taken from the article "Saudi Arabia Facebook Group Calls For Protests" of The Huffington Post |
I was awakened suddenly while in a deep sleep by a long distance call from the Philippines late in the afternoon the other day. I got lucky when my phone didn't die even for 3 days after I bought it as I replaced the old one that I overcharged and no longer functioning. It was my mother calling me, her voice sounds like she was anxious and quite disturbed. She was getting scared and worried about the turmoil and war over here in the Middle East and though the riot has begun already from the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia when it all started from Tunisia and Egypt after they overthrew their leaders to step down from their positions who ruled the country for several years through demonstrations and rallies, it seems like every country is trying to mimic what these two countries did after the United Nations applied some international western interventions. There it all started the protests and it spread like a virus from the nearby country like Libya and Bahrain which happens to be in the same political conflicts where their leaders rule for decades but only, this time, particularly in Libya, it is becoming more bloody and violent as their strong willed leaders are not willing to give up the posts.
This political conflict has created major effects not only in terms of the worldwide economy but also it has taken the risk of the lives of the people particularly of the overseas workers. The Philippine government and other countries provided assistance to take their citizens home, though there are some Filipinos who are refusing to go back in the country, specifically those who are in the medical field believing that they are safe and won’t get hurt by other nationalities. Moreover, the Overseas Worker Welfare Administrations extends their assistance through a program to displace OFWs by giving them 10,000php each.
I always sympathize those people whenever I watch the news, especially those Overseas Filipino Workers or expatriates who have their families with them who were trapped in the middle of the crisis as they risk their lives in danger. But not more than a week ago when I got a friend who stated that same thing could also happen here in Saudi Arabia. I was in doubt at first, because I witnessed how Saudi nationals welcomed King Abdullah, their ruler after having medical treatment abroad for a few months and everyone celebrated his come back and in return the king has declared one public holiday nationwide, for Saudi and non-Saudi. So how could they revolt against their claimed good king when they are all happy at the moment seeing him back.
On the contrary, I was surprised when I heard from the news that Saudi is as well planning a revolt against the kingdom on the 11th of March. It's a protest to outcry for women's rights and freedom, and the release of political prisoners. I don’t know exactly what they are fighting for but I don’t like what they are planning and what is exactly happening here.
"This is a video from Youtube showing how they have welcomed King Abdullah in Riyadh City"
On the contrary, I was surprised when I heard from the news that Saudi is as well planning a revolt against the kingdom on the 11th of March. It's a protest to outcry for women's rights and freedom, and the release of political prisoners. I don’t know exactly what they are fighting for but I don’t like what they are planning and what is exactly happening here.
"While here is another video from Fox News stating about the plan for a call of rage on the 11th of March initiated by Saudi nationals via social media."
There may be skepticism as whether they have the ability to demonstrate but the rumor has just begun. I just pray that the price will be worth it and no one will get hurt after the occurrence of such event and I hope for a peaceful rally in case they can get organize on the 11th of March.Whether it will take place or not, everyone has to be prepared for it!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.
