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The government reiterated that President Gloria
Arroyo’s resignation is not the solution to the political crisis,
saying any change must be based on the unified voice of all
Filipinos.
Deputy spokesman Anthony Golez on
Friday said they are not bothered by an inter-faith protest being
held in Makati City as of press time and that the President has no
time for such distraction. This and other protests, he added, do not
speak for all Filipinos. “Changing leaders will change nothing,”
Golez said.
He defended police checkpoints
that antigovernment groups said were put up to block them from
entering Metro Manila and joining the Makati demonstrators.
“The police’s duty is to
protect the well being of the people and it is standard operating
procedure to organize checkpoints to make sure that there are no
political opportunists infiltrating the ranks of the militants,”
Golez said.
Earlier, the Philippine National
Police assured the anti-Arroyo groups that they would not stop them
from going to the Makati inter-faith protest.
Protest vs. protests
Organizers of “Masses for Peace
and Sobriety” opposing calls for the resignation of President
Arroyo claimed success, saying tens of thousands of Filipinos came
out Friday to air their support for an end to political noise
supposedly aimed at hastening the removal from office of the Chief
Executive.
Mayor Ramon Guico of Binalonan,
Pangasinan, president of the Union of Local Authorities of the
Philippines, said the spontaneous and massive outpouring of support
for the leadership of the President clearly showed that majority of
the people are against the calls that she step down.
Such support is “proof that the
calls are only limited to a noisy few in Metro Manila and that the
greater majority of our people are fed up with street protests and
demonstrations,” Guico added.
As early as 10 a.m., he said,
more than 124 parishes, including 65 in Metro Manila, have heard
Masses that local governments had sponsored in towns and cities
across the country.
Guico asked that the show of
support for Mrs. Arroyo be respected by organizers of antigovernment
protests.
He appealed to businessmen who
are allegedly funding these protests to stop exploiting the poor in
their fight to bring down the Arroyo administration. Instead, Guico
said, they should share in the task of nation-building.
Cabinet men, not GMA
To another group also supportive
of the government, it is not President Arroyo who should resign but
Public Works Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Trade Secretary Peter Favila
and Romulo Neri, acting chief of the Commission on Higher Education.
The Bible Believers League for
Morality and Democracy, or Biblemode, composed of Baptist pastors
and led by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante said the three officials
were “the ones directly involved” in the botched broadband deal.
Biblemode claims a membership of
6,000 churches and 1.8 million members nationwide.
Abante added that there is as yet
no evidence directly linking the President to the allegedly
graft-tainted deal.
He urged Mrs. Arroyo to renew her
spiritual devotion, particularly through repentance, and restore
confidence by creating a policy of transparency and accountability.
Senators on sidelines
Senate President Manuel Villar
Jr. said he also will not join the resignation calls since they are
still looking into the broadband deal. He explained that he does not
want to be accused of politicking.
Villar said his fellow senators
will face the same accusation if they joined the inter-faith
protest.
Sen. Francis Escudero agreed,
saying they should give way to private citizens to lead protest
actions against the government.
“Politicians do not have the
monopoly of leadership,” he added.
Earlier, security officials said
soldiers and policemen also have no place in any rallies against the
government.
Military chief Gen. Hermogenes
Esperon Jr. said violators among the 120,000-strong Armed Forces
face arrest.
Policemen who will join antigovernment
protests will face administrative charges that may lead to their
dismissal, national police spokesman Nicanor Bartolome warned.
He and other police and military
officials were challenged also on Friday by a rebel soldier to break
away from the chain of command and to call on the President to
resign for alleged wrongdoing.
Fugitive Marine Capt. Nicanor
Faeldon’s statement was released to the media by his lawyer,
Trixie Cruz-Angeles, during a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, the
military’s general headquarters.
Faeldon was one of the so-called
core leaders of the Magdaló group that staged the short-lived
Oakwood mutiny on July 23, 2003, the first recorded military
uprising against the Arroyo administration.
He eluded capture by government
troops during a siege of a posh hotel in Makati last year that was
also mounted by other Magdaló core leaders.
--Angelo S. Samonte, William B.
Depasupil, Anthony Vargas, Sammy Martin, and Francis Earl A. Cueto
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