Protests greet Arroyo in Davao, Cotabato cities; 8 activists arrested

Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo during her visits Friday, July 17, 2009 to Davao and Cotabato cities. Her visits sparked protests from student activists who are opposing proposals by Arroyo’s allies in Congress to amend the Constitution that could prolong her stay in power. Arroyo is to step down next year, but is said to be seeking a congressional seat in her hometown in Pampanga. And her allies are proposing a shift to parliamentary government where

Arroyo could be elected as Prime Minister. (Photo by Allan Martin Tamayo / Text by the Mindanao Examiner)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 17, 2009) – Police arrested eight political activists during a rally in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines where Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo visited on Friday.

Police whisked the young men as they protested proposals by Arroyo’s allies in Congress to amend the Constitution that could prolong her into power.

“We refuse to be used as laboratory for ‘destabilizers’ and agenda seekers of Charter Change, we refuse to be categorized as ‘harborers’ of terrorists,” said Michael Dumamba, a spokesman for the youth organization called Liga ng Kabataang Moro.

Dumamba said his group was conducting a peaceful rally, but policemen stopped them and arrested the eight, mostly students. The Liga ng Kabataang Moro last week also protested the killing of an eleven-year old Muslim girl who was allegedly shot by soldiers during a raid at a village outside Cotabato.

The militant group Suara Bangsamoro has demanded the immediate release of those arrested. It said police were harassing political activists.

Arroyo arrived in Cotabato from Davao City where she inaugurated a new building at the Awang airport in Maguindanao province.

In Davao City, students of Holy Cross of Davao College lit candles and held a noise barrage outside their school also to protest amendments in the Constitution.

“We hold the future of this nation. We do not favour Charter change because it is a selfish move by politicians who are desperate to remain in power,” said Cai Safar, a social work student, who joined the protest.

Arroyo is to step down next year, but is said to be seeking a congressional seat in her hometown in Pampanga. And her allies are proposing a shift to parliamentary government where Arroyo could be elected as Prime Minister. (Mindanao Examiner)

Youth Groups Demand GMA Resignation In South RP

Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo, center, with husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, and daughter, Luli Arroyo.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 28, 2008) – Militant youth and student groups calling for President Gloria Arroyo’s resignation held a street rally Thursday in Davao City in southern Philippines and vowed for more and larger protests in the weeks to come.

Rachel Pomar, spokesperson of the Anakbayan-Southern Mindanao, said there will be huge street protests to come as more groups are joining calls for the president to resign over corruption scandals involving the flawed national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE.

Members of youth organizations League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Anakbayan led the rally which coincided with the national day of action initiated by the group called "Youth Act Now!".

“The NBN-ZTE Deal is said to be a concrete manifestation of how the present government would want to steal people's wealth to stay on power,” Pomar said in a statement.

She said the many young people, particularly the youth, are disappointed with the Arroyo administration. “In as much as the youth's primary concern is education, they say that it has long been neglected by the government, instead, focuses on other projects that are not actually demanded by the people," Pomar added.

“Here is our call for our right to education which we believe is more important to be largely allocated by government budget than an overpriced broadband network deal, among others. Majority of the Filipinos is in dire need of free and affordable education while GMA and her corrupt officials continue to harbor projects as sources of corruption.”

Karlos Manlupig, LFS-Southern Mindanao spokesperson, said Arroyo’s resignation would bring new hope for the country to move on. “We cannot wait for her to retire on 2010 as she had a bad record of telling the truth in the past, she would only perpetuate her stay in power. The Filipino people deserve a better leader that would genuinely serve the interest of the people,” Manlupig said. “The streets will serve as our den in defending our democratic interest slowly stolen and deprived by a corrupt government.”

Anti-Arroyo Protests Held In Mindanao

A small group of Muslim and Christian activists hold a picket Monday, February 25, 2008 in downtown Zamboanga City in southern Philippines calling for the resignation of embattled President Gloria Arroyo, accused of fraud in the 2004 elections. A similar rally is also held in Cotabato City. Opposition politicians and civil society organizations also accused Arroyo of corruption involving the flawed and overpriced national broadband network deal with China's ZTE. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 25, 2008) – Political activists and members of militant Muslim groups calling for the resignation of embattled Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo held a peaceful rally on Monday in Zamboanga City.

The protesters, mostly from the group called Kawagib Moro Human Rights, Suara Bangsamoro and the Liga ng Kabataang Moro, distributed anti-Arroyo propaganda to citizens and took turns in criticizing the president on corruption scandals brought about by the flawed and overpriced national broadband network deal with China.

Sittie Sundang, Kawagib Moro Human Rights secretary-general, said public clamor for Arroyo to step down is getting stronger every day. “People want change and they want Arroyo to resign,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.

“The public should know all the truth behind the flawed NBN deal and corruption scandals that are now hounding the Arroyo government,” one activist, Abdul Muktar, said.

Arroyo admitted she knew about the flawed NBN deal, but still signed the $329-million contract with China only to scrap it five months later after the opposition accused her government of corruption.
The opposition said the contract was overpriced by $130 million. The scandal triggered calls from the opposition and civil society groups, including the Church for Arroyo to resign.

“She should resign if she still has little shame left and there must be snap presidential elections in order to restore trust and confidence. We are fed up with corruption,” said Juanita dela Cruz, 54.

But the influential Bishop-Ulama Conference said Arroyo should finish her term in 2010 and appealed to citizens for sobriety despite calls by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for a communal action in the wake of corruption scandals hounding the Arroyo administration.

CBCP President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said the Philippines is experiencing a “new brand” of people power in various archdioceses and dioceses. “Various activities in the form of people’s response to calls for communal action are borne out of discussions in the parishes, groups and associations for truth, justice and accountability,” Archbishop Lagdameo said.

But Ustadz Shariff Julabbi, spokesman for the Bishop-Ulama Conference, appealed to religious groups to stay neutral. “Filipinos should unite for the sake of the country and work together for progress and development to achieve real peace in the land,” Ustadz Julabbi said in a separate interview.

Anti-Arroyo protesters also held a rally in Cotabato City on Monday, which coincided with the 22nd anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolution that toppled the Marcos regime.

Bai Ali Indayla, of the Suara Bangsamoro, said the rally was participated by members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Liga ng Kabataang, Alyansa ng Kabataan Laban sa Panghihimasok ng Amerikanong Sundalo and Gabriela Youth. (With a report from Mark Navales)

Maguindanao Folks Denounce Opposition, Threaten To Stage More Rallies!

Some of the protesters in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Fidayen Ramos)

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / 30 May) – Muslim villagers on Wednesday have threatened to stage more street rallies to protest what they say is “undue” allegations that there was massive cheating in the recently held national and local polls.

On Tuesday, more than 20,000 Muslims from across the province held an indignation rally and condemned the opposition for tagging Maguindanao as an area where fraud and cheating had catapulted President Gloria Arroyo’s 12 senatorial candidates in the polls.

Opposition bets have failed to gather enough votes in Maguindanao.

“We supported our leaders and the President and our supports spelled victory for all the TEAM Unity senatorial candidates,” Hakim Abubakar, a farmer, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Abubakar said his family voted straight for the TEAM Unity after the governor of the province, Andal Ampatuan, and his son, Zaldy, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), appealed for their support.

“It was a vote of confidence to the datus, the “knights in shining armor” of the Lakas-Christian, Muslim Democrats,” said another party leader, Hashim Lisondra.

He said they would go to street again if the opposition continues to accuse the Muslims of cheating in the polls.

Ustadz Farid Solaiman, chief of the ARMM Madaris Education Bureau, said the gathering of voters at the provincial capitol was also a “tacit indication” of a strong belief by ethnic Maguindanaons to religious teachings espousing “obedience” to leaders.

Solaiman said it is the verse in the Koran, “atiy Allah, wah atiy or rasul wa umil amri ingkom’ (obey Allah, obey the Messenger (Prophet Mohammad) and obey those who lead over you) that catalyzes the political solidarity of the datus in Maguindanao, a known hotbed of Islamic militancy.

“Of course, this political solidarity comes through the concept of shura, or consultation among the people the datus lead,” Solaiman said in a separate interview.

Organizers of the rally, which lasted for five hours, denounced what they described as “classic stereotyping” of the Moro voters in Maguindanao with allegations there was cheating in the province in favor of the Team Unity senatorial ticket during the May 14 polls.

All of Maguindanao’s 22 mayors, almost all of them virtually unopposed during the elections, joined the rally together with thousands of supporters.

“So immense was the show of support to us that if we allow all of our followers to come along, shops will close in the town centers, flow of traffic in the province will stop for the whole duration of the rally,” said Mayor Shamer Uy of Datu Piang, Maguindanao’s oldest town.

The elder Ampatuan, who is also chairman of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat party in Maguindanao, said he cannot understand why the opposition simply cannot accept the reality that as early as 2004, all of his constituent-mayors already declared the province as “GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) country” to project their patronage of Malacañang as a “center” of government power.

Ampatuan said that during the 2004 Presidential and national elections, mayors in the province gave some 200,000 votes for Arroyo, with her closest rival, movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr., trailing far behind with only more than 60,000 votes.

Ampatuan drew a long applause from the protesters when he said in jest that while he was an avid fan of Poe, he did not support his bid for the presidency for fear he could no longer appear in the movies once elected president.

“I want to see more of his action films. He was a good actor and was so loved by the Moros for his being an actor. Letting him sit in Malacañang as president would also mean an end to his acting career,” Ampatuan said.

Sulu’s newly-elected governor, Sakur Tan, said the opposition should learn to accept defeat in Moro communities, which are known for a strong “block” voting tradition.

Tan and Tawi-Tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali, both political allies of the Ampatuans, agreed one reason for the overwhelming loss of the opposition senatorial candidates in many areas in the ARMM is the absence political leaders that openly campaigned for them.

“Campaigning for opposition senatorial candidates in the ARMM would be like selling costly water in sealed containers to the people dwelling in the surroundings of the vast Lake Lanao where water supply is free,” Tan said. (Fidayen Ramos)