Hecklers of President in Iloilo not arrested

ILOILO CITY—Youth activists disrupted a speech of President Benigno Aquino in Iloilo City on Friday, just two weeks after a student protester heckled him in Naga City.

Unlike in Naga City, the three protesters belonging to the militant youth group Anakbayan managed to elude arrest after they broke free from policemen who pushed and dragged them away from  Iloilo Esplanade where the President was speaking.

Mr. Aquino was nearly three minutes into  his speech and was thanking Iloilo officials and residents for their continued support for his administration and programs when the three protesters  shouted: “Noynoy Aquino patalsikon (Oust Noynoy Aquino).” Noynoy is the President’s nickname.

The President paused, looked at the protesters and said: “Thank you very much.” He resumed his speech to the applause of the audience.

The protesters managed to enter Iloilo Esplanade and were about 30 meters from where the President was speaking onstage.

Police and members of the Presidential Security Group accosted the protesters, prevented them from unfurling placards and forcibly pushed them out of the esplanade.

But the protesters apparently broke free from the police when they were pushed toward a group of protesters led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, which  was holding a picket along Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue, about 200 meters from the esplanade.

Supt. Gilbert Gorero, spokesperson of the Iloilo City Police Office, said the protesters who were in a jeepney suddenly alighted from the vehicle and entered the esplanade.

Chief Supt. Josephus Angan, Western Visayas police director, said the protesters posed no risk to the President. “We just don’t want them to interrupt the program,” Angan told the Inquirer.