|
Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. said he faces new death
threats, claiming that a P10-million bounty has been placed on his
head.
Lozada, whose Senate testimonies
sparked the recent rounds of antigovernment protests, spoke after a
Mass at the Redemptorist church in Baclaran on Monday, attended by
some 5,000 people including former President Corazon Aquino.
That day was also the 22nd
anniversary of the first people power that propelled Aquino to the
presidency. The anniversary was marked by a number of
protests—some pro government but mostly against the
administration—across the country. They were mostly peaceful,
reports said.
At Baclaran church, Lozada said
he has been receiving threatening text messages, this time with a
huge price tag on his head. He added that the text message claims
that because of the huge bounty, killers are scrambling on who will
actually rub him out.
He added that he will not be
intimidated and that he will continue telling the truth.
The defense of truth is the new
call of the times, Lozada said in Pilipino.
People should not repeat the
mistakes of the past people power revolts, he added.
Believer in Cory
Former President Aquino
reiterated her support to Lozada. She sat beside him throughout the
Mass, and thanked him for the sacrifices he made in exposing
alleged anomalies behind the controversial broadband deal that was
awarded to China’s ZTE Corp.
“Like most, I don’t know who
Jun Lozada is, but when I watched him during the Senate inquiry,
sinabi kong talagang naniniwala ako kay Jun [I said I genuinely
believed in Jun (Lozada)],” Aquino said.
She told Lozada that she pities
him and his family for the hardships they were forced to go through,
and assured him his sacrifices will not be forgotten.
Antigovernment protests
Militant groups, non-government
organizations and cause-oriented groups organized separate
anti-administration rallies in both in the metropolis and other key
points in the country Monday as Filipinos marked the People Power 1
anniversary.
Calls for President Arroyo’s
resignation or ouster have escalated in the past few weeks in
different parts of the Philippines as her family allegedly received
multi-million dollar worth of kickbacks in the broadband deal.
President Arroyo denied her family is involved in government
contracts.
They also called for
investigation in other scandals hounding the government.
Mrs. Arroyo has been compared to
the late President Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the country with an
iron fist for 20 years until he was ousted in a popular church-led
revolt in 1986, and died in exile in Hawaii three years later.
Marcos is believed to have stolen
up to $10 billion from government coffers, but to date, less than $1
billion has been recovered.
At Mendiola bridge
Thousands of protesters, mostly
from militant groups like the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan),
Anakpawis and Kilusang Mambubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), arrived at
the foot of the Mendiola bridge on Monday afternoon after marching
their way from Welcome Rotonda at the boundary of Manila and Quezon
City.
The anti-Arroyo protesters,
estimated by the organizers to number around 4,000 individuals,
called on the President to resign amid charges of anomalies in the
ZTE deal.
Aside from Manila, Bayan said
protest actions were also held in at least 15 cities nationwide to
stress the need for continued action in the people power tradition.
No people power fatigue
“There is no such thing as
people power fatigue,” said Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes
Jr. “It’s not People Power that people are tired off, its the
superficial changes that have been made by those in power in the
previous people power incidents.”
“As the nation commemorates the
22nd anniversary of the EDSA 1 uprising that toppled the Marcos
dictatorship, we join all freedom loving Filipinos in affirming the
need for continued collective action in the grand tradition of
‘people power.’ No longer can we allow the perpetuation of a
morally bankrupt, moribund and fascist Arroyo regime,” Reyes said.
He added that, “The necessity
of people power stems from the reality that the current government
will cling to power at all costs.”
“The present regime has totally
avoided any accountability over issues of corruption, human rights
abuses and gross puppetry to foreign interests. Simply put, this
regime will not fold on its own. It has to feel the collective wrath
of the people first,” he said.
His remark was echoed by Bayan
Muna party-list Representative Teddy Casiño who said that “people
power is what happens when institutions do not function properly,
when people are moved by issues to act. If we see anything today and
in the days before, it’s that the anger and the readiness to act
is there, just waiting for the right time.”
Reyes concluded that the momentum
for people power is still on the side of those who are against the
current administration.
Earlier, students and militant
youths from Anakbayan and Youth Revolt Now occupied Mendiola,
holding a rally while giving roses to cops, and releasing three
white doves that, according to them, symbolize truth, justice and
accountability.
Military men protest
Even a former general jailed for
an aborted coup in 2006 urged troops to turn against President
Arroyo, who is also the military’s commander-in-chief.
“Going out of barracks to join
the people in communal action to rid the ills that befell our nation
is a Constitutional duty,” detained Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen.
Danilo Lim said in a statement.
Opposition’s moves
Though Monday’s rallies ended
rather peacefully, political analysts said the tension is escalating
and despite enjoying a solid military support, Arroyo is not free
from worries if she fails to solve the crisis promptly and continues
to lose blessings from influential politicians.
Oppositionists said they will
stage an even larger rally on Friday and take more actions if Mrs.
Arroyo refuses to step down within 30 days.
United Opposition spokesman Adel
Tamano said Mrs. Arroyo’s fight is over after she admitted knowing
about the irregularities in the broadband deal before it was signed.
--The Manila Times with AFP and Xinhua
|
