Massive Rally in Philippines Today
THE LARGEST PROTEST YET GATHERED IN MANILA'S FINANCIAL DISTRICT TODAY URGING PRESIDENT ARROYO TO STEP DOWN,
VIDEO HERE
30,000 protest in Manila today.
Thousands rally in Philippines to push for the resignation of Gloria Arroyo.
A massive protest march was held today in the financial district of Manila urging President Goloria Arroyoy to step down:
Around 30,000 people have marched in the Philippines capital Manila, calling on President Gloria Arroyo to quit.
It was the biggest demonstration against Mrs Arroyo since she started facing calls to resign over allegations of vote-rigging in 2004 elections.
Crowds gather in the Philippines today.
The protest in Manila's financial district forced a long walk on many brokers and office workers:
The main avenue in Manila's Makati district was closed to traffic early Wednesday, forcing stock exchange traders and office workers to walk to work past small groups of protesters massing ahead of the mid-afternoon rally.
The anti-Arroyo forces are pinning their hopes on a turnout of up to 50,000 to force the resignation of Arroyo over allegations that she tried to fix last year's election.
Arroyo is clinging tenaciously to power despite last Friday's resignation of 10 top officials and resignation calls from business groups, former political allies and ex-president Corazon Aquino.
A protest in the Philippines today urging President Gloria Arroyo to step down.
The size and frequency of the rallies seems to determine Arroyo's chances of staying in office:
A huge protest promised by Philippine opposition groups built slowly on Wednesday, with its size and staying power seen as a barometer of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's chances of survival.
At least 10,000 people, mostly young men, were converging at a major intersection along Ayala Avenue, an eight-lane artery which cuts through Manila's business and diplomatic district.
"I want Gloria to resign because I think it's good for the Philippines," said graduate student Ernesto Lina. "She's a cheater and she's not done well for the people."
Analysts have said a crowd above 20,000 may signal rising rage against Arroyo over allegations of poll fraud and put her on the back foot after a former president came to her rescue last week and the Catholic Church did not join calls on her to quit.
Organizers said the crowd would swell over the day to 40,000 or 50,000 -- a big step up from recent rallies of around 8,000 but far from the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets of Manila to overthrow presidents in 1986 and 2001.
But analysts said Arroyo, a U.S.-trained economist and the daughter of a late president, would not be under immediate threat unless protests grew larger and more frequent.
Previous Posts on "GloriaGate" in the Philippines:
Wire Taps & Protests in Philippines
Philippine Protests Mount Against Arroyo
GloriaGate Continues in Philippines
Coup Alert in Philippines!
Update: The "Great One", Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, is running this news. John Marzan at Philippines Politics '04 is all over the Gloria Arroyo story.
posted by Gateway Pundit at 7/13/2005 04:09:00 AM
6 Comments:
Just FYI, the so-called John Marzan you link to is a vehement pro-Estrada/Marcos loyalist who trolls various Filipino message boards with rabid anti-Arroyo propaganda. His weblog entries are, of course, always slanted towards the far-extreme anti-Arroyo side, even if it means linking to a newspaper owned by Estrada/Marcos loyalists (the Tribune) and defending the corruption and violence of previous administrations. Not the kind of person I'd trust my links to.
There are a few other local Filipino weblogs with a more balanced viewpoint of what's going on here: columnist Manuel Quezon III and The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
Oh, and I work just a couple of blocks from there. It's an impressive rally, but there have been a couple of street fights outside my building. Not the best elements of society; I'm seeing banners carried by "Akbayan," a socialist group not unlike International ANSWER.
Thanks for the information.
gateway, be careful of bloggers putting in comments. there is a propaganda campaign even in blogs being mounted by the palace to counter anti-arroyo blogs. so do not trust this comment.
I used to work just a block from there, and I was there during the street protests for Joseph Estrada's resignation, also heavily attended by far left socialist groups like AKBAYAN. This is deja vu all over again.
(Concurring with the first Anonymous poster about "John Marzan" and the Daily Tribune, by the way. Just google Pinoyexchange.com for "krove." ;-)
It's not all that it seems.
Estrada has been ousted by the general public and is now in jail for plunder,only the second person to be charged as such in Phil.History and the penalty is death by lethal injection.It amounts to very grave Corruption in public office.So,with this,he made an all out war to counter this by launching on a severe and well funded propaganda to diss Arroyo.
Of course,the oppurtunist Communist FRONT organizations who calls themselves as militants also joined in the melee BUT for a different agenda,and that is of course to take over the government through a communist revolution.Right now,they are still engaged in an armed struggle with a several thousand communist guerillas called the New People's Army who on a protracted insurgent war has claimed thousands of lives from military,civilians and from among themselves in a bloody purge in the late 80's to the 90's and is suspected to doing again now,2006.
But,despite the political noise,the Philippines is rapidly expanding economically.its GNP/GDP is one of the high performing in the world eclipsed only by China.
People have actually grown tired of the way intellectuals and religious fanatics have run the country and now don't care much about politics esp. those espoused by the Elite and intellectuals in the web,newspapers and broadcast media.
So.before commenting on something,get several viewpoints,not just from some noisy individuals with a vested interest in the outcome of an orchestrated campaign to discredit political personalities.
Have it crossed your mind that the truth is not in numbers or that those people they were able to muster are the only one they could indoctrinate or worse,pay?>>.
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