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Monday, July 25, 2005
Uproar expected in Arroyo's Monday speech
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte expects the national capital to be in an uproar Monday as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers her State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Congress, but he is confident the same will not be felt in Davao.
"There's no need for it (chaos) because we give everybody their due. I do not expect any trouble here," the mayor said.
Duterte said he already ordered the military and the police to keep a healthy distance from protesters who are expected to hold a protest rally in the city Monday.
He told protesters that they have all the freedom to vent their sentiments provided they do it peacefully.
Duterte said this as he urged Dabawenyos to listen to the president's Sona, which will be aired in radio and television nationwide.
He also encouraged his constituents to hear as well what the president's detractors are going to say in their own Sonas.
Duterte said it will not be only the president who will be doing a Sona Monday but other personalities as well like former President Joseph Estrada as well as other leaders from the opposition and progressive organizations.
"That would be good so that people will know where they really stand, who they will really want to support," Duterte said during his weekly television program on Sunday.
Text messages had been circulating since Sunday as to what color of dress people would wear on Monday.
Blue would mean you are for Arroyo, red means you are for Estrada, yellow means you side with former president Corazon Aquino, and white would mean you are for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
Asked what color he would wear today, Duterte said he would wear black.
"To commemorate the loves that died in my heart," Duterte said in jest.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) earlier raised their security alert level as the nation braces for Arroyo's speech on Monday.
In a statement, Major Jose Maria Cuerpo II, 5th Civil Relations Service Group commander, said the military is exhausting all means to preempt any plans to disrupt the President's Sona.
Cuerpo said communist terrorists "are planning to launch a plot that would create havoc during the activity".
"The military organization is fully supporting the PNP's preparations to ensure the conduct of a peaceful and orderly Sona on July 25. We have received reports that the NPA (New People's Army) is planning to sabotage the Sona and we are not giving them a chance to succeed," Cuerpo said.
Cuerpo said the capture of Nilo Cardinal, top NPA leader in Sorsogon, was a big blow to the CPP-NPA's plot since Cardinal was part of the group planning to carry out the plan.
"Let us not give these terrorists the chance of fulfilling their evil plans, together let's all be vigilant to avoid possible attacks from these heartless and selfish NPA rebels," Cuerpo appealed to the people.
Colonel Eduardo del Rosario, Task Force Davao chief, said his unit is in full red alert. He said he already deployed all of his available troops in closely monitoring the NPA infiltration on demonstrations and rallies that would coincide with the Sona.
Davao City Police Office director Catalino Cuy, meanwhile, said they are on heightened alert and will employ maximum tolerance during rallies.
Only 13 percent of Filipinos who say they are aware of President Arroyo's previous national addresses say they expect her to deliver an address today that would reflect the actual state of affairs in the country, a Pulse Asia nationwide survey conducted from July 2 to July 14 and released Sunday showed.
The survey found that 59 percent of the population were aware of the President's previous State of the Nation addresses. Forty-four percent of those that said they were aware claimed Arroyo had not been truthful in those previous addresses. Eighteen percent said Arroyo had been truthful and 38 percent were undecided.
Forty-five percent believe Arroyo will again not be truthful in Monday's address to a joint session of Congress while 42 percent are "ambivalent on the issue," the survey organization said in a statement.
A national newspaper had reported that Arroyo's address on Monday "will be about her very political survival."
It quoted Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as saying that the President realizes how crucial this year's State of the Nation address will be and has personally taken charge of its preparation with "focus and intensity".
Ermita said that among the items the President would tackle were her accomplishments, how she is managing the economy, peace initiatives and proposed amendments to the Constitution.
The Pulse Asia survey had 1,200 representative adults aged 18 years old and above as respondents. It has an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level. The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews and on its own initiative, Pulse Asia added. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(July 25, 2005 issue)
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