Pro-palace group pays for full-page newspaper ads

In an apparent bid to woo their support for the Arroyo government, paid full-page ads praising soldiers for adhering to the "chain of command" appeared in major newspapers Wednesday. The full-page paid ad came amid the political opposition's announcement of plans to conduct dialogues with soldiers in various military camps. "We believe in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law," the message in the paid ad said, even as it thanked the people and the soldiers for following the "chain of command." The ad, supposedly paid for by the shadowy "Mahal Ko, Bayan Ko" group, featured a long list of names but did not include images of their supposed signatures. It also echoed presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye's oft-repeated calls for people to "move on" instead of dwelling on so-called political noise. The ad also said the group believes time, energy and resources "are best utilized in moving our country forward towards peace and development." "Sa pagkakaisa natin sa tulong ng Diyos kaya natin ito. Tama na ang gulo! Let's move on (Through unity and God's help we can do it. Enough of chaos! Let's move on)!" it said. Among the more notable names on the ad were those of "Ong, Mary" and "Soriano, Bishop Elias," though there were no accompanying images of their signatures. Mary "Rosebud" Ong, a self-proclaimed intelligence agent, is one of the supporters of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She tried to link Sen. Panfilo Lacson and officials of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) to various criminal activities. Elias "Eli" Soriano, leader of the religious group "Ang Dating Daan," also supported Arroyo in the 2004 elections. Still, it was not clear if the "Ong, Mary" and "Soriano, Bishop Elias" referred to the two pro-Arroyo figures. The ad also insinuated that there were more names that were not mentioned but supported its call for "moving on." "Due to the overwhelming support and response to our message printed March 08 2006, this reprint lists only names in order to accommodate the many names. We apologize to those whose names were not listed or may have been misspelled due to glitches in fax transmissions," it said. The group listed its email address as mahalko_bayanko@yahoo.com. At the height of the impeachment process against Mrs. Arroyo last year, pro-Arroyo groups including local government leagues and non-government organizations published full-page ads on newspapers almost daily, supporting Arroyo. The full-page ads also hit major newspapers in June 2005, at the height of the "Hello Garci" scandal. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said the ads may have cost Arroyo's supporters some P22 million.-GMANews.TV