Militants, cops, soldiers brace for SONA protests

Militant groups in Cebu will be staging a protest action today to show their disgust at the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who will deliver her state of the nation address (SONA) this afternoon.

Even before hearing what the president would say in the SONA, militant groups have prejudged it as another lie.

In Manila, some 16,000 policemen and battle-hardened troops from the Armed Forces have been deployed to guard the Batasan complex in Quezon City where the president will deliver the SONA.

Police went on alert since yesterday with thousands of officers and soldiers ready to guard the Batasan complex and surrounding areas for the President's annual address, weeks after authorities reportedly uncovered a fresh plot against her.

The tight ring of security was implemented following repeated announcements of militant groups and critics to gather up to 20,000 protesters for today's SONA.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Vidal Querol said checkpoints have been put up in strategic locations to intercept the possible flow of guns and explosives to disturb the event.

"The (inclement) weather could also play a critical role on the tactical level of our security operations," Querol said.

He said the deployment of security forces would be adjusted "on the hour, on the day," in the event of heavy rains.

In Cebu, there will be three major groups that will be participating in today's protest action - the farmers, workers, and jeepney drivers. The three groups have designated a different assembly area, but are scheduled to converge at the intersection of Colon St., Osmeña Blvd. and P. Lopez St. in front of Metro Gaisano.

For Panfilo Arpay, who heads Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Arroyo's SONA would just be another lip service.

"Lain nasad ni nga pagarpar," Arpay said. He said that they are sure that the president will brag about her all out war against the New People's Army in her SONA today, which he said the administration should not be bragging about because it has displaced several farmers in the hinterlands.

Arpay claimed that in the third and fourth districts in Cebu, several farmers have been dislocated because of the all-out war, which gives the military the license to harass the civilians suspected to be members of the NPA.

According to Arpay, the all-out war is not really directed against the NPA who are up in arms against the government but to the legal organizations tagged by the military as fronts of the insurgents.

Arpay condemned the Arroyo administration for alleged political killings, which have already claimed 710 victims. Arpay said the government also failed to implement the real land reform. Instead, the government has displaced several farmers because of land confiscation in the guise of the eco-tourism program of the government.

Arpay said the militant groups will muster at least 7,000 members today for a protest action against the SONA. The farmers will assemble at 10 a.m. at the Capitol grounds, while the labor groups will assemble at the Department of Labor and Employment and the drivers will assemble at the City Hall.

The different sectors will converge at the Fuente Osmeña where they will take their lunch together before they will march towards Colon at 1p.m.

Members of Kilusang Mayo Uno will stage a protest in front of the Department of Labor and Employment this morning to demand for benefits like protection or workers' rights and security of tenure.

Jaime Paglinawan, KMU-Central Visayas vice chairman said that while the government claims that the employment rate is increasing, they observe that hundreds of workers are losing their jobs monthly due to retrenchment.

Meanwhile, Partido ng Manggawa said that absurd ideas like "Manila imperialism" and "supra regions" are precisely the reason that an overwhelming majority of people doubt that there is a grain of truth in the SONA of Arroyo.

"Workers know enough of economics and life to see that the coming SONA diagnosis and prescription for Philippine underdevelopment is downright wrong. It is US imperialism and not Manila imperialism that is the root of the underdevelopment and poverty in the country," PM said in a statement.

The group said that due to globalization, some 3,000 firms and factories shut down permanently or run away abroad yearly because of the intense competition of foreign capital and foreign goods.

"All the glowing data of economic growth, poverty reduction and stable unemployment are dead figures that are not felt by workers and the poor. Since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power, real wages have stagnated despite the supposed yearly increases of GDP. Productivity and growth has not trickled down to the workers whose labor created that wealth," PM added.

The group noted that the government bloated the data to arrive at positive figures to boast of her accomplishments.

To maintain the level of unemployment, PM said the government has cleverly changed the definition of unemployed in order to reduce the base figure of the labor force.

"Supra regions are merely a fancy word to cover up the surrender to imperialist globalization. National development against imperialist globalization and not supra regions against Manila imperialism is what is needed. The historical underdevelopment of the Philippines can only be broken by national industrialization and agricultural modernization based on a strong domestic market generated by social justice programs like agrarian reform, living wages and regular jobs," it explained. - Fred P. Languido and Wenna A. Berondo