Amidst the ongoing national youth strikes which make use of planking as one protest form, Kabataan Party-list today launched “PLANK! For a Cause” which aims to “enhance the use of planking for social causes and consolidate various planking photos around the world to dramatize the militancy and creativity of the youth.”

“The global popularity of planking is largely due to its fun and eccentric character. We launch ‘PLANK! For a Cause’ to enjoin the Filipino youth and planking enthusiasts around the world to utilize planking in advancing social causes,” Palatino said.

In an online group created by Kabataan Party-list yesterday, plankers are encouraged to share their planking photos and specify which social cause they are planking for. One planker shared a photo of her group planking in various locations in the House of Representatives to apparently signify disagreement with the Anti-Planking bill of 2011.

Palatino said that the proposed Anti-Planking Act of 2011, filed by Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, impinge on the freedom of expression of plankers. He added that such measure is made more repressive by its proposal to draft a code of conduct against students who will join protest actions.

“The anti-planking bill is not only against planking as a protest form, it even restricts our students from staging protest actions. This definitely goes against the youth’s fundamental right to freedom of expression,” Palatino said.

Concurrent with mass plankings against budget cuts and insufficient funding to social services like education and health, Palatino said that State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) all over the country will also stage creative forms of protests during the strike week.

In the NCR tomorrow, The Technological University of the Philippines (TUP), the Rizal Technological University (RTU) and the Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) will be launching protest actions in the form of prayer rallies, white shirt and ribbon wearing, and noise barrages.

“It is not only UP and PUP who will be joining the strikes. SUCs all over the country will be launching protests to call for a sufficient increase in the budget of public higher education. This unprecedented effort shows the firm unity of our SUCs to fight for the welfare our youth and nation,” Palatino said. ###