MANILA, Philippines?Police rounded up some 120 people in barangays (villages) near the Batasan Complex in a crackdown on possible troublemakers on the eve of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
Security forces swooped down on four Quezon City barangays from Saturday night to early Sunday even as the Philippine National Police declared it had not monitored any specific threats on Ms Arroyo?s life, or any threats to disrupt her address before a joint session of Congress.
Militant students and workers in Metro Manila and other parts of the country announced they would take to the streets Monday to denounce Ms Arroyo?s alleged misrule, while transport groups vowed to launch strikes aimed at paralyzing public transportation in Central Luzon, the President?s home region, and in Bicol.
The military and the police are on heightened alert.
Police said the Quezon City arrests were implemented in accordance with an ordinance banning drinking in public places and of a 10-p.m.-to-4 a.m. barangay-imposed curfew.
All those picked up were released at around 7 a.m. after checks showed none of them had a criminal record.
Most of those picked up were residents of Barangays Batasan Hills, Commonwealth, Holy Spirit and Payatas-A. The four barangays are near the perimeter of the Batasan Complex and the operation was a precautionary measure against possible lawless elements, Supt. Constante Agpaoa, Quezon City Station 6 commander, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
Police also set up checkpoints along the Interim Batasan Pambansa Road, Commonwealth Avenue and Litex Road.
?No direct threat?
Security officials earlier said they expected anywhere from 10,000 to 17,000 protesters to hold rallies on Chino Roces (Mendiola) Bridge in Manila, the People Power Monument on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and near the Batasang Pambansa.
Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, PNP spokesperson, said authorities had not monitored ?any specific or direct threat? on the President?s life.
?We are verifying or validating the information we have been getting that there will be groups that will disrupt the SONA, but we have not confirmed any of these,? Bartolome said. ?Although we are planning for a worst-case scenario, we have not seen any threat.?
Bartolome called on ?usiseros? (kibitzers) at street protests to stay home instead and listen to Ms Arroyo?s SONA.
6,000 cops
Some 6,000 police, military and traffic enforcers from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be deployed throughout the capital on Monday, according to Director Geary Barias, head of the National Capital Police Region Office.
Half of the traffic enforcers are from the police civil disturbance management (CDM) unit, while some 600 will come from the military. They will be armed only with shields and nightsticks, officials said.
Barias said 5,000 to 7,000 protesters were expected to gather near the Batasang Pambansa.
Around 1,500 policemen will stand guard at Mendiola?which will remain a no-rally zone?starting at 7 a.m. Monday, said Manila?s police director, Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales.
He said about 2,000 cops would be deployed at various protest assembly points in Manila, including the Mabuhay Rotonda and Plaza Miranda.
?Tona? in Central Luzon
Rosales said the police would exercise maximum tolerance even to groups without rally permits.
The Central Luzon transport strike will be led by the Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator sa Pilipinas (STOP) and aims to paralyze at least 95 percent of public transportation in the region, organizers said.
?If the President is doing a SONA, we?re doing a TONA (Tsuper at Operator Nation Address) to express the difficult state of the transport sector and the people as well,? Rolando Catanghal, spokesperson of the STOP chapter in Central Luzon, said in a press briefing.
He said the major associations of jeepney and tricycle operators and drivers, as well as several bus companies, had agreed to strike from 1 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday in Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.
?We are not demanding an increase in fares. We are asking the government to find alternative solutions to the oil price increases because these affect not only us in the public transport sector but our fellow Filipinos also,? he said.
STOP wants the Arroyo administration to enforce a moratorium on oil price increases. It also wants Congress to remove the expanded value-added tax on oil and scrap the Oil Deregulation Law.
Catanghal said the government should regulate oil companies to cut their huge profits.
?We are fuming?
The oil industry must be nationalized and sources of renewable energy should be seriously pursued, Catanghal said.
The Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya in Central Luzon will support the transport strike with protest vigils and caravans, according to Aurora Broquil, KPD regional spokesperson.
In Bulacan, Danilo Ignacio, president of the Bulacan Jeepney Transport Alliance Inc. (BJTAI), said his group would also stop plying their routes.
?We are fuming. We will join the strike because every time we wake up, the prices of gasoline have risen,? he said.
In Baguio City, militant groups have scheduled a series of activities, including a Tanghalian ng Mahihirap (Lunch of the Poor), at the People?s Park.
Bicolanos protest, too
March-rallies will be held simultaneously across Bicol, with some groups carrying an effigy of Ms Arroyo rolling in money with an American flag as a backdrop.
?This symbolizes how Gloria is living in luxury while her countrymen are suffering from numerous crises that she aggravated,? said Tessa Lopez, spokesperson for the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Bikol.
A region-wide transport strike, which is expected to paralyze at least 95 percent of public transportation, is set for Tuesday and Wednesday to demand the scrapping of the VAT and the Oil Deregulation Law. With reports from Nikko Dizon, Allison W. Lopez, Jerry E. Esplanada in Manila; Jaymee T. Gamil, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Tonette Orejas and Carmela Reyes, Inquirer Central Luzon
