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By Anthony Vargas, Reporter
MILITARY forces in Metro Manila have been placed
on their highest alert level status two days before the huge protest
rallies marking the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 People Power
Revolution.
The military’s National Capital Regional
Command (NcrCom), which had been building up its forces for the past
several days, went on red alert on Saturday.
In a show of force, the Ncrcom mustered 3,000
troops, two Scorpion light tanks, 16 armored personnel carriers,
several machine gun-mounted Humvees and a Huey gunship at Camp
Aguinaldo.
The Ncrcom chief, Major General Fernando Mesa,
said raising their alert status is part of operational readiness to
ensure that Metro Manila would remain peaceful in the coming days.
“Our primary duty here is to protect the seat
of government,” Mesa told troops at the parade grounds of Camp
Aguinaldo, the military general headquarters.
The NCRCom chief added, “If there are groups
that would make any attempt, they will not succeed. We are ready to
offer our lives in the name of democracy.”
Mesa said they are carefully watching for a
possible repeat of the so-called Edsa 3, during which supporters of
former President Estrada tried to overrun Malacañang on May 2001.
“We will not allow that to happen again… we
are ready to use force,” Mesa told defense reporters as NCRCom
mustered its troops in Camp Aguinaldo.
Several groups have scheduled a nationwide rally
on Monday to commemorate the Edsa 1 Revolt’s 22nd anniversary.
“We would like to remind the organizers of the
rallies to police their own ranks so that they will not be
infiltrated and have an orderly and peaceful activity. Security is
everybody’s responsibility,” Mesa said.
The National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO)
said Thursday that it would use calibrated response against ralliers
or protesters found violating the law.
The NCRPO chief, Director Geary Barias, said
while they expect rallies to be peaceful, civil disturbance
management unit had been placed on standby.
Barias said that they would be holding a
dialogue with organizers of the protest actions to set up a common
ground and ensure peaceful conduct of rallies.
The additional deployment of troops and armored
assets in the capital came amid the latest call for President Arroyo
to step down in the face of the latest corruption scandal hounding
her government.
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