Cops on full alert for Sept. 21 rallies

Two thousand anti-riot policemen will be deployed to face an estimated 30,000 anti-government rallyists expected to assemble in three strategic points in Manila, Makati City and Quezon City today, the 33rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The 17,000-strong National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) was placed on red alert starting at noon yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, Eastern Police District director, has declared the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City "off limits" to rallyists.

NCRPO chief Director Vidal Querol said police fear violent anti-government militants could infiltrate the ranks of protesters.

Rally organizers, he said, "must always keep in mind the interest of the greater majority of the motoring commuters and the public." Police expect the rallyists to assemble at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila, Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in Makati City, and the Mabuhay Rotunda at the boundary of Quezon City and Manila.

Former President Corazon Aquino, actress Susan Roces and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay are expected to join the rally on Ayala Avenue.

The protesters are expected to call for the ouster of President Arroyo whom they accused of cheating in last year’s presidential election.

"A government without a legitimate mandate from the people, a regime that came to power and holds on to power based on fraud, lies, and suppression of truth and subversion of democratic rights cannot hold on to power for long," the militant "Bukluran para sa Katotohanan" said in a statement yesterday.

The Makati City government said the entire stretch of Ayala Avenue would be closed to traffic starting at 10 a.m. today.

Motorists were advised to take alternate routes since thousands of rallyists are expected to march along the streets of the Makati central business district.

Both lanes of Ayala Avenue, from Makati Avenue to Herrera street, will be closed, along with the entire Paseo de Roxas, from De la Rosa all the way to Sedeno street.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., NCRPO intelligence chief, said party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo will spearhead the rally at Liwasang Bonifacio, party-list Rep. Etta Rosales to lead Mabuhay Rotunda rally, and the Ayala Avenue rally will be led by the political opposition.

Rally organizers vowed to gather more than 30,000 people for the mass action, he added.

Police are also keeping watch on squatters’ areas in Baseco and Parola compounds in Tondo, Manila, where organizers are mobilizing for anti-government rallies, Rojas said.

Querol asked the rally organizers to secure a permit from the local government where they plan to hold their mass action and anti-government protest.

"In the spirit of unity and reconciliation as called for by the Arroyo government, we will maintain maximum tolerance in dealing with the rallyists," he said.

Valenzuela said he will deploy 150 riot policemen at the EDSA Shrine "to enforce the wish of the parish priest" banning political rallies at the Catholic religious site.

"We will keep the rallyists away at all costs," he said. "The EDSA Shrine would be declared a zone of peace and security."

Police will also secure the Pandacan oil depot near Malacañang, stations of the Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit, bus terminals, and other private and public installations.

Manila Police District head Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong said police would not allow any march or rally in the city today.

"So far, we have no reports of any group given permit by the local government to stage rallies or demonstrations," Bulaong said. "So it means that the police shall see to it that no marches or rallies take place (today) in Manila."

Police shall maintain the "no permit, no rally" policy, but shall maintain maximum tolerance towards the rallyists, he added.

Bulaong said he has placed the 3,000-strong Manila police on red alert because Manila hosts several vital installations, like the Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) bridge near the Malacañang, traditionally the site of huge rallies.

Bulaong said a large number of policemen would complement the 2,000 policemen deployed by the NCRPO to ensure that peace and order is maintained during the protest actions.

Today, all leaves are canceled for Manila policemen, who should remain at their posts 12 hours a day.

Atienza Recalls Martial Law

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza reminded Filipinos yesterday about "the damage wrought on our government, politics and economy as well as to our national psyche" by martial law.

In a statement, Atienza said authoritarian rule deprived Filipinos of good leaders, as well as causing the decline of the country’s economy.

"The country lost its breeding ground of leaders because political parties were banned, and those who served in government were not expected to question policies, only implement them," he said.

"We not only lost two generations of leaders, many of our youth also lost their initiative and their ability for critical thought, two crucial characteristics of leadership."

Atienza said the country’s highly centralized police system had its origins during martial law.

"It was when martial law was declared that the armed might of the state, from the Armed Forces to the police, was concentrated in the hands of the dictator and his minions," he said.

"This anachronism continues to hound us today, and prevents the government from effectively addressing peace and order concerns."

Atienza said many of the victims of martial law have not obtained justice after more than three decades.

"One can never appreciate what freedom really means until you experience how it is to lose it, and we should never forget the damage martial law caused for the sake of the nameless and faceless Filipinos who struggled against it," Atienza said.

Atienza was detained twice for speaking out against martial law.

Detainees Go On Fast

Political detainees nationwide will start their fast "for freedom, truth and justice" today.

The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) said at least 30 inmates in various detention facilities would participate in the protest.

Their families and relatives will also hold noise barrages, sympathy fasts, and prayer rallies outside the detention centers, the TFDP added.

Twenty-two inmates led by Juanito Itaas, the co-accused of Donato Continente in the killing of US Army Col. James Rowe, will hold a mini-rally and fast inside the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa.

Nine political detainees at the Quezon Provincial Jail will also join the protest fast, which will be observed every 21st day of the month from today.

Dubbed as the National Day of Fasting for Freedom, Truth and Justice, the protest fast and noise barrage would last until Dec. 7, or Political Prisoners Day. — With reports from Nestor Etolle, Michael Punongbayan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Katherine Adraneda, AFP