2 solons deny part in coup plot, to lead Mendiola march

By Maila Ager, Joel Guinto

INQUIRER.net

First Posted 16:18:00 01/17/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Even as they denied participation in any alleged destabilization plot against the Arroyo administration, two left-leaning lawmakers at the House of Representatives vowed to lead the protest rally on January 22 to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the massacre at Mendiola in Manila.

“Wala kaming kinalaman sa kung anumang destabilization plot na sinasabi nila [We have nothing to do with any destabilization plot that they are saying]. This rally is a legitimate protest and demand on behalf of the farmers,” Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo said over the phone on Thursday.

Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran agreed. “We are not involved in any destabilization plot. We are not participants to any kinds of destabilization move,” he said.

Their statements came a day after the arrest of five suspected coup plotters Wednesday.

Ocampo and Beltran, both charged with rebellion for allegedly conspiring with communist rebels to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005, suspected that the arrest of the five soldiers was meant to discourage the people from participating in the protest rally.

Ocampo criticized the government’s “excessive” security preparations, saying that unlike the 10,000-policemen to be deployed there would only be between 2,000 and 3,000 protesters, mostly peasants, who would attempt to march to Mendiola on January 22, the 21st anniversary of the massacre of 13 farmers who protested against the government's agrarian reform program.

"The marchers are unarmed. This shows that the government is paranoid and scared of the people, in this case, the poor who come from the province," Ocampo said.

“Kinokondena namin yung ginagawang pag-raise ng alarm para i-discourage ang paglahok sa aming protest sa January 22 [We are condemning the alarm raised to discourage participation in our protest on January 22]. It’s a waste of manpower. It’s anti-democratic,” Ocampo said.

"It's not true that in this particular anniversary there are plans to destabilize an already destabilized government," Beltran said.

Beltran said he also condemned the arrest of the five soldiers as another “ploy and design by the administration in order to threaten the people and inflict fear upon the people.”

“What are we going to do with the government, which has already destabilized itself?” he asked.

"Ka Bel [Beltran] can attest to this, we have not been talking about destabilization," Ocampo said.

Ocampo said militants and peasant workers will start their weeklong activity on January 21, Monday, by converging and holding a small program in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform on January 21.

On Tuesday, protesters will then march to Mendiola Bridge, a few meters away from Malacañang, to demand the immediate implementation of agrarian reform programs.