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Friday, March 14, 2008
Vidal appeals: No politicians at interfaith rally
MANILA -- Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said politicians should not be allowed to participate in any interfaith rally as the solemnity of the occasion is being lost.
"For me, if it's purely interfaith rally and no politicians, that is good, but if it will be political, just like what happened in the February 29 rally, where they were given the chance to speak what kind of interfaith (rally) is that it's inter-politics already," he said.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Vidal was referring to the participation of former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada in the Makati rally.
He hoped that the Liwasang Bonifacio rally to be held on Friday will not be used by some politicians.
The four-hour interfaith rally in Manila will be attended mostly of students from the different universities and colleges in Metro Manila. It will start at 3 p.m.
Three bishops, namely, Oscar Cruz, Teodoro Bacani, and Antonio Tobias are expected to join the assembly.
Cruz said two other bishops, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Angel Lagdameo and Socrates Villegas, have earlier committed to attend the rally but due to some avoidable circumstances, they will not be able to make it.
Lagdameo, who is supposedly the surprise guest of the rally, advised Cruz through a text message that he is in the hospital suffering from severe pulmonary hypertension.
"He (Lagdameo) texted me and told me that he is in the hospital," Cruz said.
Villegas, he said, would stay in Balanga as the youth in his diocese will be holding a rally also on Friday.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim meanwhile assured the safety of the participants in the rally.
He said the Manila Police District will deploy more than 2,000 unarmed policemen, 25 of which will be assigned to secure the immediate vicinity of the rally.
Organizers are expecting 10,000 participants.
Not yet over for Arroyo
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the pressure for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign continues to build up contrary to Malacañang's claim that it is tapering off.
Pimentel said National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales is merely trying to soothe the President's frayed nerves by saying that the "worst is over" after about 70,000 people held an interfaith rally in Makati City early this month to press for her resignation.
"The worst is far from over for Gloria. The worst is still to come," he said.
He said the President has every reason to worry over the resignation calls in view of the fact that students and teachers in both private and public schools; bishops, priests, minister and nuns from the Catholic and Protestant churches and born-again Christian and evangelical groups; and businessmen, workers, peasants and fishermen are now at the forefront of the anti-Arroyo street protests while politicians have been relegated to the sidelines.
During Thursday's press conference called by former senior government officials (FSGOs) at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, former national treasurer Leonor Briones also contradicted the statement of Gonzales that the "worst may be over as far as the Arroyo administration's political problems are concerned as destabilization efforts have already waned down."
"I would like to think the worst is coming and hopefully very soon," said Briones, adding that not even the Holy Week break nor the coming summer vacation of schools would be enough to dampen the people's search for the truth in the many scandals besetting the present administration particularly the controversial national broadband network (NBN) contract with China's ZTE Corp.
Briones said: "It will not be interrupted by students going home to their provinces. On the other hand, they will be bringing what they have learned in the cities to the provinces, to a much bigger audience."
Gonzales attributed this confidence pointing to the lack of support of the people and the fact that by the year-end attention would then shift to the 2010 presidential elections.
The administration has said that the failure of the opposition to muster enough warm bodies compared to the past People Power uprising is indicative of the lack of support of the people to attempts to grab power and oust the President. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (March 14, 2008 issue)
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