MANILA, Philippines--Seemingly unperturbed by mounting protests against her administration, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo kept a busy schedule Friday. She attended the ribbon cutting of the Manila Ocean Park in Manila Bay during its soft launch. Arroyo is flanked by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Philippine Tourism Authority Director Robert Dean Barbers, Senator Richard Gordon and House Speaker Prospero Nograles. Owned and operated by China Oceanis Philippines, the Manila Ocean Park features 20,000 exotic tropical fish, including small sharks and stingrays. Video taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania on February 29, 2008.
MANILA, Philippines -- On the day the groups seeking her ouster mounted their biggest protest rally yet, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo kept herself busy, even mixing business with a little pleasure, and managing to squeeze in short trips to the Luneta and Bulacan.
For all the studied nonchalance, however, the President did monitor the situation in Makati with top security officials through television news reports.
Before returning to Malacañang last night, the President dropped by Camp Crame for an unscheduled meeting with police and military officials and the Cabinet's national security cluster during which she spent the next three hours monitoring the Makati rally from a war room at the police headquarters.
The meeting included Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr.
After the President left shortly before 7 p.m., Razon told reporters Ms Arroyo wanted to be briefed by police and military officials on the security preparations for the rally.
Meeting mayors, govs
Razon, who said the Camp Crame visit had not been scheduled, said the President looked "happy" and did not appear worried at all.
"The President knew that we were monitoring the situation here so she said she was going to pass by to see for herself the developments, what the situation is," he said.
As of 7 p.m., he said no threats were monitored that could have disrupted the rally and expressed confidence that Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay would keep his word that the rally would not go beyond the 8 p.m. deadline. (The rally peacefully dispersed shortly before 9 p.m.)
Razon said the President did not give any directives or instructions during the meeting but just listened to the briefing from the AFP and PNP.
After the meeting, the President "returned to her normal duties" in Malacañang that included a meeting with mayors and governors, he said.
Esperon said the arrest of a foreigner with suspected links to the Jemaah Islamiyah was not discussed during the security briefing which focused exclusively on the Makati rally.
While it has downplayed possible threats from renegade military officers, the AFP said the rally could be infiltrated by terrorists or communist guerrillas wishing to take advantage of the situation to sow terror and violence.
Before the President set out of Malacañang early Friday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said she would be following a "normal" work day.
"Just because [there is a rally], it doesn't mean a leader would just stay in one corner ... [The President] will continue what she has to follow," he said.
Downplaying rally
Other Malacañang officials downplayed the significance of the Makati rally.
Reacting to convicted plunderer ex-President Joseph Estrada's criticism of the President at the rally, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Estrada was in no position to attack his successor.
"Eighty million Filipinos know that while his one finger is pointed at Malacañang, his three other fingers point back at him," Bunye told reporters.
Estrada escaped jail by being pardoned by Ms Arroyo last October barely a month after the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court convicted him of illegally accumulating wealth through corruption and illegal gambling bribes and sentenced him to 40 years in prison.
Business concerns
Trade Secretary Peter Favila, who joined the President on her Bulacan visit, said foreign and local businessmen were not at all bothered by the anti-Arroyo rallies.
Business was more concerned about the passage of important economic bills pending in Congress, like the measure to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the fiscal rationalization bill and the cheaper medicines bill, said Favila.
But the business people saw "nothing wrong" with the rallies, said Favila, adding that he had spoken with businessmen and members of the foreign business chambers.
"They have permits so they can go out there, as long as they are not violent," he said.
The businessmen were also confident that the Arroyo administration would weather the political crisis, mainly because of the state of the economy.
"At the end of the day one has to look at how the economy of a particular country is doing, that is what the businessmen are looking at," he said.
Wearing a carnation-pink pantsuit, Ms Arroyo started her day by leading a mass oath-taking of officials in the Palace.
From there, the presidential convoy, shadowed overhead by a military helicopter, headed for the area behind the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta where Ms Arroyo inaugurated the Manila Ocean Park, a state-of-the-art oceanarium, or large marine aquarium.
For several minutes, the President enjoyed the sight of schools of fishes swimming in large aquariums mounted on the walls and ceilings.
The President had lunch at the oceanarium with officials that included Favila, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Philippine Tourism Authority General Manager Robert Dean Barbers and foreign investors from the China Oceanic Group, which built the oceanarium.
Bulacan
Then off she went to Bulacan to open the business service center of Nestle Phil. in Meycauayan.
Next came the "inaugural drive-thru" of the new Meycauayan bridge where schoolchildren and residents greeted her with cheers.
The President got out of her car and transferred to a large van, peering out of its window and waving to the residents.
Some 2,000 residents and schoolchildren welcomed her at the Sta. Maria Elementary School, her final official appointment for the day in Bulacan.
Ms Arroyo led the groundbreaking for the two-story, four-classroom building in the school. She then went to a nearby gymnasium where she distributed groceries, health insurance cards and 25 tool kits and 150 scholarship vouchers from the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda).
Addressing the crowd, the President did not refer to the political crisis she is facing, talking about how the government continues to invest in people and infrastructure "for the good of the Filipinos" and thanking the residents for the warm reception.
Private meeting in Malolos
"The reception was so good and many told me 'I love you,' thank you," Ms Arroyo said in Filipino.
The President went to a "private meeting" in Malolos, Bulacan, which media was asked not to cover, after which she motored to Camp Crame. She returned at about 7.20 p.m. to Malacañang where she was welcomed by various governors and members of the House of Representatives.
While thousands of protesters converged in the interfaith rally in Makati Friday, a pro-government group was staging its own version of the quest for "truth" in the midst of the corruption scandals.
Some 70 members of the group Kongreso ng Mamamayan set up makeshift tents at the Welcome Rotonda monument on the boundary of Quezon City and Manila.
Spokesperson RJ Javellana said they had been gathering in the area as early as Wednesday and would stay until Saturday.
Javellana said they are calling on the public not to join the gathering in Makati which, he said, was organized by trapos (traditional politicians) and leftist groups whose "leaders' interest is to grab power from the President."
Not paid by gov't
Javellana said majority of Filipinos still believe in the leadership of Ms Arroyo. He said the group and elected officials would be conducting their own "Mass for Truth" in different provinces and cities all over the country.
He then assailed Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. for allegedly peddling lies to bring down the government.
"If Lozada and his cohorts have evidence to prove that the Arroyo family benefited from the ZTE project, then they should file a case in court," he argued.
Javellana denied accusations that the Kongreso ng Mamamayan members were paid by government to stage the gathering.
Promised P300 a day
But some of the people interviewed by the Inquirer admitted that they were not members of the Javellana group and that they were given money.
A man, who identified himself as Lito, said he and his neighbors were fetched by passenger jeeps rented by a Caloocan politician.
Lito said they were promised P300 a day for joining the rally. He said he did not know Javellana and other leaders of the group.
"I haven't met him. This is the first time I saw him," said Lito, adding he did not know why they were brought to the Welcome Rotunda or what the NBN-ZTE controversy was all about.
Free meal
Agripina Cruz, 59, said she, her husband and their grandson joined the rally because their area leader in a slum community in Barangay Payatas B, Quezon City, told them that they would be provided with free meals.
With a report from Marlon Ramos
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