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Saturday, July 09, 2005
Protesters in Makati, Cebu want President to resign
Hours after 10 Cabinet members resigned and with former Corazon Aquino asking President Arroyo to step down, protesters gathered in Makati City, the country’s financial district, yesterday afternoon.
In Cebu, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter formed an alliance with different militant groups and amassed in front of the Capitol building to demand for Arroyo to quit.
The Gloria Step Down Movement also called on Vice President Noli de Castro, Cabinet members and Comelec officials to resign.
The rallyists picked the venue outside Capitol since this is where Arroyo took oath as President last year.
After reading their “unity statement,” IBP directors Gloria Dalawampu and Democrito Barcenas led the chanting: “Gloria, step down now.”
More than 100 people from Akbayan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna and Bangon Pilipino joined the rally that began past 8 p.m. and ended at 10 p.m.
They assembled outside Fuente Osmeña and marched to the Provincial Capitol.
In a press conference that followed the speeches, Dalawampu rejected Arroyo’s choice of an impeachment trial because the majority in Congress are her allies.
“I doubt that the impeachment will reach the Senate,” she said, adding it is unacceptable for Arroyo to invoke the Constitution because she became President through electoral fraud.
Dalawampu said they are ready to declare Arroyo persona non grata if she comes to Cebu.
“The Gloriagate scandal has fueled the rage of Filipinos who have had enough of the lies and deceit of a bogus President. Not only have the people been swindled of their right to a very basic democratic exercise, we have had to pay for this fraud out of our own pockets, since at least P7.3 billion of public funds from Pagcor, Philhealth, PCSO and other government agencies have been audaciously used during Arroyo’s campaign,” their statement also said.
Audiotapes of wiretapped conversations allegedly between Arroyo and an election official surfaced last month.
Former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia and former congressman Crisologo Abines joined the protest.
In Makati, among the personalities spotted during the rally were Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos, Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero and actor Rez Cortez.
Susan Roces, widow of Arroyo’s closest rival Fernando Poe Jr., was expected to show up, but Escudero said the movie actress was in an undisclosed location.
She released a statement, though, praising the eight key Cabinet members and other groups who are calling on Arroyo to resign and appealing to leaders to set aside their personal interest.
“In these critical times, it is important for every citizen, especially the leaders of the nation, to consider the welfare of the people and set aside personal interest,” Susan Roces said in a statement aired on television.
The rally in Makati was attended by a motley crowd of opposition groups, including the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, which is a supporter of deposed president Joseph Estrada, and the leftist Bayan and Kilusang Mayo Uno, which were part of the uprising that overthrew Estrada. (With AIV)
(July 9, 2005 issue)
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