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THE Air
Force commander on Wednesday warned against bloodshed if
those pushing for mass protests in the coming days start
a revolt to topple the government.
“It
[ouster of President Arroyo] will not happen. There will
be bloodshed,” Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog, Air Force
chief, said.
Cadungog
said an example of a bloody incident occurred during the
Labor Day celebration in 2001, when scores of
participants in a mass protest against Arroyo were
injured when they tried to storm Malacañang.
“I was
inside Malacañang during the supposed Malacañang siege.
I was there issuing instructions to the defenders what
to do,” Cadungog revealed.
He asked
if the people wanted a replay of that bloody incident.
The
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP),
meanwhile, clarified that it is not calling for a
people-power revolution when it encouraged Filipinos to
undertake “communal action” following allegations of
anomalies linking some government officials to the
multimillion-dollar national broadband network (NBN)
deal.
CBCP
president Angel Lagdameo said what the clergy meant was
for Filipinos to pray as one people with the country
facing another political storm as NBN witness Rodolfo
Noel Lozada Jr. revealed connivance by people in the
government to stop him from spilling the beans on the
botched project.
This, as
the National Police asked the leaders of the rally
scheduled on Friday in Makati City to police their ranks
to ensure that their protest action would be peaceful.
The
National Police chief, Director Gen. Avelino Razon Jr.,
asked the organizers of the rally, which will be joined
by the opposition and members of militant groups, to
ensure that their ranks would not be infiltrated by
lawless groups.
Razon
assured the police will maintain maximum tolerance.
Lagdameo
said it is up to the people to interpret how communal
action would take place after they “pray, discuss and
plan” for the nation.
“We did
not define what communal action is because that depends
on the people. It depends on how they see what’s
happening to the country,” Lagdameo said.
Cardinal
Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila, said the clergy
is not calling for another people-power revolution to
address the current political crisis.
Early
this week, the CBCP issued a statement calling for
“communal action” following Lozada’s exposé, with some
groups interpreting it as an implied declaration from
the clergy to oust the Arroyo administration.
“The
CBCP was very clear about it. We are not calling for a
revolution especially now that we are observing Lent.
What we are hoping to happen is what action we’ll do
together [based] on our reflection and discernment,”
Rosales said.
Militant
organizations and civil- society groups have renewed
calls for Arroyo’s ouster and have been quoting the
CBCP’s “communal-action” statement as basis for their
action.
A total
of 650 policemen from the National Capital Regional
Police Office have been mobilized to guard the rally
site, but Razon said the policemen would be there to
maintain law and order.
Senior
Supt. Rhodel Sermonia, Metro Manila Police Command
spokesman, said the policemen would come from the
Regional Special Action Unit and the different police
districts in Metro Manila.
Still,
Razon appealed to the organizers to hold the rally in a
place other than Makati City if it is still possible,
owing to the city’s standing as the country’s financial
center.
Meanwhile, the military’s National Capital Region
Command (NCRCom) sent 50 soldiers to the Metro Manila
Police Command to help the police in its anticriminality
campaign.
The
NCRCom chief, Maj. Gen. Fernando Mesa, said Director
Geary Barias, Metro Manila police commander, requested
for the augmentation of his forces in their fight
against criminality because there has been an upsurge in
the incidence of bank robbery and car theft.
“General
Barias said the 50 soldiers will be helpful in
preventing bank robberies, which are becoming a headache
lately, especially in the Quezon City area,” Mesa said.
He added that he could give Barias more soldiers if
needed.
Mesa also warned the protesters to exercise their freedom
of speech within the bounds of the law as his men will
not hesitate to take action against those who will
advocate toppling the government.
“We will
always be vigilant. We will always be on alert, and we
will not allow them to be a cause for instability,” he
said. |
