Rains, loud music keep protesters away from cops

The Philippine Star 07/25/2006

It rained on their parade, but the band played on.

Incessant heavy rains spawned by typhoon "Glenda" and loud music from the Philippine National Police (PNP) band kept hundreds of protesters in Quezon City in check and away from police lines hours before President Arroyo delivered her State of the Nation Address (SONA), a ranking police official said yesterday.

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan said the inclement weather sent many of the protesters running for shelter and kept them from confronting the police.

On orders of police Director Vidal Querol, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) deployed its band, which accompanied the heavy downpour with the music it played near St. Peter’s Church.

The lead QCPD contingent assigned to secure Commonwealth Avenue set up an advance command post in front of the church and secured the area with a blockade of barbed wire, container vans and fire trucks.

On Saturday, QCPD personnel underwent a human rights seminar as a refresher course for members of the crowd dispersal units on the people’s right to peaceful assembly.

"The weather helped our crowd control units," Radovan told The STAR.

Some 700 protesters in 50 vehicles gathered at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City. Their leaders said 5,000 more protesters were due to arrive from various parts of Luzon.

The protesters had been there as early as Sunday night, but the weather prevented many of them from holding a vigil near the St. Peter’s Church.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. granted permits to at least eight groups of protesters, allowing them to conduct their rallies from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Anti-Arroyo groups were allowed to hold mass actions close to the Ever Gotesto shopping mall, while the periphery of the Commission on Audit (COA) head office area was reserved for pro-Arroyo groups.

The Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) assisted the QCPD and Metro Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcers in keeping traffic flow smooth in these areas.

Traffic along Commonwealth Ave. was heavy, as the northbound lane was closed leaving only the south lane open to two-way traffic.

Number reduction Querol said the number of protesters were reduced by 20 percent because of the rains, and anticipated the early conclusion of the programs of various militant and anti-administration organizations.

"If you’re a crowd manager, less people would mean better management because less people would be easier to handle. So, anything that reduces the crowd is a blessing," Querol said, referring to the incessant rains dumped by Glenda on Metro Manila.

Querol also said the anti-government protests were "uneventful" — something the police were thankful for because "there were no violent confrontations and the rally leaders and organizers kept their word."

The police initially expected the number of protesters to be between 15,000 and 20,000. As of noon yesterday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) estimated that its delegation totaled 10,000 people.

The anti-government protesters confined themselves to the northbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue and the bishop of Novaliches had shut the St. Peter’s Church early "because he does not want the church to be used as a political arena," Querol said.

"The typhoon has eased our numbers and delayed the conduct of some of our programs," said Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman for Laban ng Masa, one of the anti-government groups."Although we managed to defy the rains, it still, however, suppressed us."

The Laban ng Masa contingent had expected to draw at least 10,000 people for their anti-Arroyo rally yesterday.

The rains failed to dampen the spirits of Bayan’s contingent or the fervor with which they attacked what they called a "fascist government."

"Despite the rains we were prepared to march (to Commonwealth Avenue), we braved the rains to get our message across," Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said." We’re used to being hosed down with water canons, this is only rain."

Bayan expected 20,000 people to join their protest.

Reyes said they prepared for the downpour and that their effigies were "waterproof." They burned their main effigy, which portrays Mrs. Arroyo as Hitler, to vent their outrage.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas information officer Carl Ala said other anti-Arroyo materials were "dissolved by the rain," including their scarecrows and placards. The kite the women’s group Gabriela attempted to fly failed to soar.

Bayan also assigned a "medical unit" as they expected some of the protesters to get sick after being soaked in the rain. Some 52 persons were reported to have come down with colds, cough and fevers during the rally.

The Bayan contingent hired vehicles to ferry anyone who may get hurt if the police dispersal turned violent and designated some 1,000 people as their group’s "anti-dispersal unit."

Protest version of SONA

Bayan chairwoman Dr. Carol Araullo said the country’s current state is still one of widespread poverty, joblessness and hunger. "Certainly, Arroyo will not admit that unemployment rate stands at 11.4 percent, and that 12.8 million Filipino families are experiencing hunger. Her ‘triumphal mood’ is an insult to the majority of the Filipino people," she said.

Araullo added that the President "did nothing to regulate the prices of basic commodities. So what development is she talking about?"

According to Bayan, the price of oil increased by 140 percent, electricity cost increased by 110 percent per kilowatt-hour and the cost of water services rose by 370 percent per cubic meter since Mrs. Arroyo was installed by popular revolt in 2001.

Bayan also said that while the aggregate net profit of the top 1,000 corporations in the country in 2004 was P370.7 billion, 80 percent of Filipino families lived on P14.60 to P97.80 a day in 2003.

Araullo said the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon is a "glaring counterpoint to any so-called economic achievement. If not for the OFW remittances, which rose by 25 percent last year, the economic crisis could have been worsened."

"So long as the Arroyo regime adheres to globalization, development will only be for a handful of the elite and their imperial masters," she added. "Under the Arroyo regime, development means the unhampered plunder of natural resources by transnational and multinational corporations."

Protesting still

For others, heavy rains could not quench the fire in their bellies as, despite the heavy rains, members of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) pushed their protest actions forward during the Presidentís SONA.

"We braved the rains and cold weather, to show that the need to end (Mrs.) Arroyo’s dictator rule is more burning than ever," Dion Carlo Cerrafon, SCMP chairperson, said in a statement yesterday morning.

Youth groups earlier declared they would hold "street classes" during the SONA, whether there are classes or not. Classes were suspended yesterday due to the typhoon.

"It is better to join the people in the streets because they cannot lie about their real and desperate situation. We do not expect her to speak about the truth even if she talks about economic recovery. Her policy programs – including the VAT (value-added tax), job production, livelihood programs – proved to be directed not at solving basic problems," Cerrafon said.

SCMP also denounced Mrs. Arroyo’s parading of the "people’s champions," saying this is another gimmick to promote her image. Cerrafon said Arroyo "is a people’s champion — a champion of dictatorship — who earns medals of honor by the blood and sweat of the people."

The group was set to parade their own "champions" — their 700 "martyrs" and activists who have gone missing –including fellow students Karen EmpeÒo and Sherlyn Cadapan.

Cerrafon said that if EmpeÒo and Cadapan are not found, the youth will storm the streets again: "Rain or shine, we will storm the streets again."

An estimated 5,000 students and youth from the UP, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Sto. Tomas, University of the East, Adamson University, Far Eastern University , University of Makati, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Mapua Institute of Technology, Trinity College, St. Paulís University, Philippine Christian University, Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, public high schools and urban poor communities spent their ìclass hoursî along Commonwealth Ave. under the banner of the Youth Demanding Arroyoís Removal (Youth-DARE).

"We had it all planned. Weeks before the SONA, students already knew where to go in case classes were suspended. We also identified alternate convergence points, but many schools opted to stick with their original plan and converged in their campuses before going to the Batasan area," UP-Diliman University Student Council chairman Paolo Alfonso said in a statement.

Alfonso said the suspension of classes worked to their advantage, as many students chose to spend their free day joining the protests.

National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) president Marco delos Reyes said governmentís own statistics will disprove Mrs. Arroyo’s statement that her administration prioritized education and the welfare of young Filipinos.

Anakbayan chairwoman Eleanor de Guzman denounced the government’s move to alter the definition of some economic indicators, particularly unemployment, to paint a rosy picture for the economy: "How can (Mrs.) Arroyo explain that while economy, according to government indicators, has been growing by an average of five percent every year, more and more Filipinos continue to experience hunger and languish in poverty? Faulty growth indicators and economic statistics are useless if itís not felt by ordinary Filipinos."

League of Filipino Students (LFS) chairman Vencer Crisostomo said the government keeps on breaking its promises and making flawed policies "because political survival has always been the thrust of the Arroyo presidency."

The youth demonstrators also wore colorful headgear made of school supplies which bore the message "May Pera sa Giyera, Wala sa Eskwela (there is money for war but none for schools)."

Young artists from the Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan (KARATULA) also burned a life-size effigy of Mrs. Arroyo on a battle tank.

Youth-DARE chapters and affiliate organizations in Ilocos, Metro-Baguio, Bicol, Panay, Cebu, Negros, Davao and other key cities also led youth protests in the regions. — Perseus Echeminada, Katherine Adraneda, Non Alquitran, Sandy Araneta

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