Bato prays for rain on Edsa protest rally

PNP Chief Ronald Dela Rosa. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

The Philippine National Police chief is calling on all PNP chaplains to storm the heavens with prayers for rain on Wednesday to wash out a planned mammoth protest against the burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

And it seems PNP Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has faith the heavens will grant his prayer, because he is not ordering security preparations for the big protest at the People Power Monument on Edsa in Quezon City.

“We don’t have to prepare for everything. We will give them all they want. They can have the streets, parks, plazas. Go ahead, we will not block them provided they will not make any trouble,” Dela Rosa told a news conference on Monday at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

All chaplains to pray

“I will just require all priests in the chaplain service here in the PNP to pray for rain. The priests will pray for rain to prevent the protesters from massing [on Edsa]. All the priests in the PNP,” he said.

The Coalition Against Marcos’ Burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani said the protest on Wednesday, which coincides with Bonifacio Day, would start from 4 p.m. and last up to midnight.

The group urged those who would join the protest to wear black to symbolize their opposition to the burial of Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery.

Marcos’ remains were buried at Libingan in a secrecy-shrouded ceremony on Nov. 18, with the Marcos family getting help from the military and the police to keep the burial secret up to just two hours beforehand.

Opponents of the burial decried the burial as contemptuous, as the Nov. 8 Supreme Court decision that found for President Duterte, who allowed it, gave them 15 days to appeal.

It had been just 10 days since the decision came down when the Marcoses transferred the dictator’s embalmed remains from a mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte province, to Libingan in Taguig City and buried them there with military honors.

‘Black Friday’ protest

The surreptitious burial sparked widespread protests that peaked in a massive rally at Manila’s Rizal Park on Friday.

Late-season rain, however, kept many people from the park, gladdening Dela Rosa, who thanked heaven for the wet help.

The PNP chief said that during the “Black Friday” rally, he instructed the director of the National Capital Region Police Office, Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde, to notify him immediately by text about any “significant incident.”

“Midnight came, but I got no text message from him, so there was no problem. So far, so good. No problem. Thanks to the rain,” he said.