Military on red alert

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has gone on "red alert" in Metro Manila in anticipation of anti-government protests.
This as former President Corazon C. Aquino yesterday asked for prayers and sobriety in the midst of protests directed against the Arroyo government.

The highest alert level took effect at 10 p.m. Thursday, a few hours after the Philippine National Police (PNP) enforced its highest "full alert" status.

AFP National Capital Region (NCR) Command chief Lt. Gen. Allan Cabalquinto said the red alert status would strengthen its internal security preparations after several opposition groups vowed to conduct mass rallies during the weekend.

"All units under the NCR Command are now on stand-by status all over the metropolis for deployment if needed and if requested by the Philippine National Police," NCRCom spokesman Captain Ramon Zagala told reporters.

The red or full alert level means that all policemen and soldiers would be on duty.

Opposition and militant groups have scheduled rallies to call for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo following allegations that she cheated in the May 2004 elections and that some members of the first family received jueteng payola.

Supporters of the late Fernando Poe, Jr. and deposed President Joseph Estrada were to march to Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila yesterday. But the group was not able to secure a rally permit from Manila Mayor Lito Atienza so a police barricade blocked the estimated 5,000 marchers at the Mabuhay Rotonda which lies at the boundary of Quezon City and Manila.

The PNP NCR Office has deployed some 6,000 anti-riot policemen to prevent the protesters from going to Malacañang palace.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said they would strictly enforce the "no permit, no rally policy" and arrest unruly protesters.

The Coalition for National Solidarity formed by retired Gen. Fortunato Abat had scheduled a "peaceful solidarity march" for today but the former Defense Secretary yesterday cancelled the protest action. Mr. Abat noted that the rally would be reset for after the burial of retired Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin on Tuesday.

Former President Corazon C. Aquino yesterday asked for prayers and sobriety in the midst of protests directed against the Arroyo government.

"The best thing we can do for our country right now is to pray for each other, pray for our leaders, and as always, I would advise that we stick to sobriety and to follow the rules," she said at the sidelines of the awarding of the second Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Awards for Nationalism in Malacañang.

Meanwhile, Bro. Rolly R. Dizon, former president of De La Salle University-Manila, who is chairman of the Federation of Catholic Schools’ Alumni/ae Associations that organized the awards, called for support for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"I will publicly affirm my trust and confidence (in President Arroyo). In time, the truth will come out and she will be vindicated. Let us support her with our love and prayers. She is a brave leader, a true nationalist, and our duly-elected President," he said.

President Arroyo, for her part, said she was humbled by what she called as "assaults on her character."

"Ninoy Aquino paid with his own life. And I am undergoing, as Brother Rolly said, assaults on my character. I feel humbled because they are assassinating my character as they have assassinated Ninoy. This humbles me and it should humble us all," she said.

She also continued to be combative, saying during her speech at a Gawad Kalinga celebration, that even if everything has been thrown at her, including the kitchen sink, her government is legitimate and she is the duly-elected president.

This claim is affirmed not only be her lead over former actor Fernando Poe Jr. in last year’s election, she said, but also by foreign observers, heads of foreign embassies and different government leaders.

She also dismissed mounting calls for her to break her silence over her alleged participation in recorded wiretapped conversations with an election officer.

Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita, in a radio interview, said the President will make her explanation at the appropriate time. "Only the President knows when the appropriate time is... she knows what to do," he said.

Administration lawmakers yesterday sought to call a halt to the House probe into the alleged wiretapped conversations of the President.

House Majority Floor Leader Prospero C. Nograles called for the suspension of the probe on Tuesday in deference to Jaime Cardinal Sin’s burial.

He also pushed for the suspension of the hearing, citing the Constitutional provision that mandates that the House must be in recess 30 days before the next regular session. Congress will resume its session on July 15.

Sin, 75, died of kidney complications last week. The former Manila archbishop, who was a leader in the two bloodless People’s Power revolutions, is set to be buried on Tuesday.

The administration lawmaker from Davao said the investigation by the five committees in the House has become a clash of personalities and not of issues.

"The investigation is heading towards a very, very dangerous direction. If the joint investigating committees will allow the playing of the so-called ’Gloria-gate’ tape and allow it to become part of the House record, the entire process can become legally untenable because these materials, whether authentic or not, came from a questionable and illegal source," Mr. Nograles said.

But there are some lawmakers who disagreed with the Davao congressman’s proposal to suspend the hearing. Another administration legislator, Paranaque Rep. Roilo S. Golez, said the rule Mr. Nograles cited does not prohibit committee hearings during a recess, thus, the probe can continue.

According to the Article 6 of Section 15 of the Constitution, the Congress shall not conduct sessions 30 days before the resumption of the next regular session. However, it does not "prohibit committee meetings during break. There is already precedent to this, recently, the Garcia hearings," Mr. Golez said.

Mr. Golez and Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, head of the investigating panel, said pro-administration lawmakers should reconsider their proposal since it would look like they are blocking the probe.

"We will discuss that [proposal] on Wednesday. That’s their right, but it doesn’t look good for the defenders of the President," Mr. Remulla said.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Francis G. Escudero maintained that the proposal was a ploy by the administration to prevent Samuel Ong, ex-deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation who claimed to have the originals of the recordings, from testifying in the House next week.

"That is an erroneous application of the Constitution," Mr. Escudero said of Mr. Nograles’s proposal. "Are they suddenly raising this simply because Ong will already testify? What are they hiding and what are they so afraid of?"

Mr. Nograles and Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin also dismissed the opposition’s appearance of solidarity against the Arroyo administration. They said it was only a "marriage of convenience" that is bound to fail because of what they deemed a "deep seated hatred" between the supporters of Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson and the late opposition presidential candidate Fernando K. Poe, Jr.

"Ping was forced to swallow his pride because he needs the mass base of the FPJ camp. On the other hand, the FPJ camp was forced to unite with Ping because they need his expertise in the campaign against the President," Mr. Nograles said. By Carina I. Roncesvalles, Judy T. Gulane Kristine L. Alave