Lawyers' group, cops in Mendiola standoff

What started out as a lawyers' march to Mendiola near Malacañang in Manila turned into a street debate after police assigned their own lawyer to "negotiate" with the marchers. Traffic at the corner of Legarda Street and C.M. Recto Avenue slowed to a crawl as Police Sr. Supt. Arturo Paglinawan faced some 500 lawyer-protesters. "We met halfway. We wanted to hold it at the foot of Mendiola Bridge but they agreed to let us hold our program here (near corner of Legarda and Recto)," Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) executive vice president Feliciano Bautista said after the negotiations. But while both sides "met halfway," motorists and commuters appeared to be the biggest losers as traffic remained clogged as of this posting. Originally, the marchers wanted to bring their sound system to the foot of Mendiola Bridge but riot police blocked their path. The marchers then blocked the intersection. Paglinawan, whose last assignment was head of the Manila Police District's General Assignments Section (GAS), has a law degree. He negotiated with lawyers Jose Cadiz of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and with Neri Colmenares of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (Codal). IBP and Codal had led some 500 lawyers and law students to the march to Mendiola, to call for the defense of civil rights. Last week, the IBP applied for a permit to rally in defense of civil rights. The city government expectedly turned down the application and "diverted" it instead to Plaza Miranda. A few hours before the actual march, Cadiz sought redress from the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court but neither of them acted on his appeal. - GMANews.TV