'BACK OFF, FIRST GENTLEMAN!' Businessman Jose de Venecia III tells First Gentleman Mike Arroyo to "back off" during the anti-Arroyo rally held in Makati. De Venecia was the original whistleblower in the controversial ZTE-national broadband network deal. Video taken by INQUIRER.net editorial assistant Cathy Miranda in Makati City, Philippines.
DAYS OF DISSENT, NIGHTS OF RAGE The rally on Friday along the stretch of Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Avenue is the biggest expression yet of outrage against the NBN-ZTE deal since its explosive revelation. It worked mainly due to the absence of politicians on center stage and the proliferation of red flags. Crowd estimates varied from between 6-7 thousand to 10,500. Photo taken at 6:30 p.m. from the 25th floor of the Ayala Tower 1 Building. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ERNIE U. SARMIENTO
By DJ Yap, Julie M. Aurelio Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 01:26:00 02/16/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- In the loudest display yet of public outrage over the controversial $329-million broadband deal, thousands of protesters Friday demanded the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Spurred by the exposés of Senate whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., the rally brought together people of clashing ideologies, from opposition politicians and leftwing militants to office workers and robed seminarians.
Some 10,000 demonstrators, by police estimates and wire agencies AP and Reuters, took part in the protest, waving banners, singing songs, praying and chanting slogans.
Lozada wasn't around. But businessman Joey de Venecia, who first disclosed the alleged bribe offers in the negotiations for the National Broadband Network (NBN) project with China's ZTE Corp., was among the rally speakers, and he didn't hold his punches in lambasting Malacañang.
"You, thieves, get out of Malacañang!" De Venecia said to cheers.
The young De Venecia also alleged GMA, FG [First Gentleman], Abalos and the Malacañang cabal would have gotten P10-billion kickbacks from ZTE had the project not been scrapped.
"It's in the dark shadows of government offices that conspiracies defraud us ... We should fight this with our lives," said the son of ousted Speaker Jose de Venecia.
"The forces of evil in Malacañang are strong but we, the people, are stronger than anybody in Malacañang," he also said. At times tripping over his words, De Venecia later said it was his first time to speak in a public rally.
He started his speech by saying: "I'm no politician."
He said he was happy to be at the rally to "show support for the resignation of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."
At one point, to the delight of the crowd, he shouted: "Back off, First Gentleman."
'Lozada is the truth'
De Venecia was alluding to a purported attempt by Ms Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, to bamboozle him into withdrawing his proposal for the NBN contract.
De Venecia spoke of the supposed incident with Mike Arroyo when he testified last year at the Senate on the now-scrapped project involving China's ZTE Corp. He and Lozada also linked former Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. to alleged offers of bribe.
Lozada, a former government consultant, also implicated Malacañang officials in his alleged abduction by armed men at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to prevent him from appearing at the Senate.
The protesters converged at the Ninoy Aquino monument, where they expressed their indignation over the most serious scandal to buffet the Arroyo administration since the "Hello Garci" controversy of 2005.
Lozada's name repeatedly came up in the rally.
"Jun Lozada is the truth," activist priest Robert Reyes told the crowd, drawing cheers. "Where does true strength lie? Who is truly strong--Malacañang or Jun Lozada?" The crowd roared back Lozada's name.
Rally theme
The rally had one theme: The people have had enough.
"People, act now and we'll join you. That's our duty as members of the clergy: To be with the people as they walk toward a better future," Fr. Joe Dizon of Solidarity Philippines said.
Similar protest rallies were also held in Mindanao, including in the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos, as well as in the Visayas, including Bacolod and Cebu cities.
In Makati City, confetti rained down on Paseo de Roxas from the Philippine Stock Exchange Tower and another building. Office employees watched from windows.
Some of the placards and banners read: Lozada, di ka nag-iisa (You're not alone).
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said he hoped Friday's rally would sow the seeds of bigger protests "in the tradition of people power."
Students also came by the busloads.
At least 650 riot policemen were deployed at the corner of Ayala and Paseo de Roxas Avenues to keep the peace.
Feeling 1986
"This reminds me of 1986, before Edsa," Guingona told the Inquirer, alluding to the "People Power" revolt that toppled Ferdinand Marcos.
"The feeling was just like this--of tension, of excitement, of the feeling that something is going to happen."
Maceda expressed the hope that the protests would eventually convince Ms Arroyo to step down and resign.
Even the lame
A man wheeling himself on a makeshift wooden skateboard led the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan contingent marching along Ayala Avenue, unmindful of his lame legs.
Roel Balao, 40 and a resident of Valenzuela City, said he was a regular at protest rallies since Edsa 1. He wheeled himself by pushing himself forward, way ahead of the marchers.
"I can no longer stomach what Gloria is doing," he said in Filipino. "Even if I am lame, I join protests."
Antonio Lachica hobbled on one foot and supported himself with a pair of crutches.
GMA shirts
Office workers at the Central Business District showed their approval of the rally by showering the rallyists with white confetti from buildings.
Makati City Hall employees sold T-shirts with a cartoon of Ms Arroyo lying on bags of money, with the slogan: "Moderate the greed, exterminate the breed."
Students from the University of the Philippines, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the University of the East and the Lyceum of the Philippines also came. Lawyer Harry Roque sang a message to the tune of the Queen's "We Will Rock You," except that he sang: "We will oust you!"
They were there, too
A list furnished the Inquirer indicated the groups that sent representatives (and had their names announced onstage), among them :
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club, Philippine Airlines Employees Association, August 21 Movement, La Liga Policy Institute, Maryhill School of Theology, Inter-Congregational theological Center, Ecumenical Bishops Forum, and St. Andrews Theological Seminary.
With a report from Christine O. Avendaño
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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