Militants picket Noynoy house, get 'water treatment'

Members of militant farmers' and urban poor groups picketed the house of presidential front-runner Sen. Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III before noon Tuesday, seeking for so-called reforms in government. While security aides and police tightened security at Aquino's house, the protesters ended their picket peacefully with the "water treatment" - when Aquino's staff gave them bottled water to drink.

No violent confrontation took place, even as police kept their distance, with some plainclothes policemen taking video footage of the picket. Some 100 members of the Kilusang Mambubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)gathered in front of Aquino's house along Times Street, asking for "genuine land reform" in various areas, including Tarlac’s Hacienda Luisita, owned by the Cojuangco and Aquino clan. They also asked for a dialogue with Aquino to formally relay their concerns. Members of the urban poor group Kadamay also joined the picket, protesting demolitions in the Metropolis and the proposed Quezon City Central Business District. But the protesters eventually left before noon, after Aquino's aides brought out boxes of bottled water for them. — LBG, GMANews.TV