|
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Palace ready for a new siege
MANILA -- The calibrated pre-emptive response (CPR) policy of the Arroyo administration may be out but Malacañang said it will have no qualms in reinstating a state of national emergency should protesters in the planned Labor Day mass actions become unruly.
Pro-Arroyo legislators, however, believe that the rallies on Monday "will not reach a boiling point."
The Supreme Court (SC) has yet to rule on the constitutionality of Proclamation 1017, which placed the country under a weeklong state of national emergency last February following a foiled attempt to wrest power from government.
Reports said the High Court will rule on the issue this week.
Proclamation 1017 made it possible for the police to make arrests and conduct searches even without securing warrants from the courts such as what had happened in the case of University of the Philippines (UP) professor and television host Randy David and the raid in the offices of a pro-opposition paper, The Daily Tribune.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said the national security cluster is preparing for the protest actions tomorrow but he said the Palace is not alarmed that the mass actions would escalate into a situation similar to the May 1, 2001 siege to oust President Arroyo via another people power.
Gonzalez also said although the SC has declared the CPR policy unconstitutional, authorities may still implement its originating law, Batas Pambansa (BP) 880, which has been affirmed by the high court, in dispersing rallyists who will continue to disobey the "no permit, no rally" policy.
"The CPR is still there, the SC decision has not yet become final. As far as we're concerned, we want to observe it. The government will observe what the SC said. Anyway that was only CPR. The maximum tolerance has been there," he said.
"If the President wants to put it (CPR) to the test, we will always react according to (the law). (We will not) apply the full force of the law if it's not necessary. But you must react accordingly," Gonzalez also said.
In Cebu, the police and military forces in the field are on red alert starting today in preparation for the Labor Day activities, particularly rallies by militant groups and different labor unions.
Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Vicente Loot was quoted in a radio report that coordination between military and police forces has been proven successful in thwarting rebel attacks in mid-north area.
The quick reaction force of the Regional Mobile Group, which is based in Sibonga town, will be on standby to respond to any emergencies.
The Army's 78th Infantry Battalion in Danao City will also tighten patrols in identified rebel-infiltrated barangays in Cebu's mid-north area.
Gonzalez said the government learned its lessons from the 2001 incident that it has already made contingency plans.
"We were talking in the Palace about the May 1, 2001 siege. They never believed that something like that would happen and it did happen. I believe that it can't happen in that magnitude but we are prepared. If the situation deteriorates, anything is possible, but that's a little far-fetched," he said.
"The national security cluster and the President meet every day to monitor the day-to-day development and every piece of information is being analyzed and validated," he said.
At the House of Representatives, allies of President Arroyo were optimistic that protests and all moves to oust the President will never reach a boiling point.
"Protests against the President will not reach the boiling point for a civil war because the majority of the people refuse to be influenced by negative politics," said House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles in reaction to opposition Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo "Ompong" Plaza's statement last Thursday.
Plaza reiterated his call for the President to call for a snap election, the only way, which could put an end to the never-ending issue on her legitimacy.
Meanwhile, Trade Union Council of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman Alex Aguilar said the TUCP has decided not to hold any rally and instead host a job fair in Quezon City and present their 10-point Labor Agenda to President Arroyo on May 1, which includes a demand for a P75 across-the-board salary increase.
Among the TUCP's other demands are employment generations where they recommend pump-priming of the economy through labor-intensive projects more specifically on the building, development and repair of infrastructure projects; construction of medium to high rise housing projects; and the immediate passage of tax exemption bills before December 2006. (AIV/Sunnex)
(April 30, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
