SunStar: Group gears up for anti-Arroyo rally in Cebu

CEBU CITY - A new interfaith group is organizing a prayer rally tomorrow afternoon at the Fuente Osmeña rotunda to raise their call for truth amid allegations of widespread government corruption. The Cebuanos for Truth (C4T), a group organized last Tuesday, said the rally was scheduled to encourage Cebuanos “to be counted" as among those who want the country’s governance fixed. C4T also called on educators and students to join the rally as an “alternative learning experience." The group aired the call even as Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador said he planned to meet with leaders of militant groups to ask them not to bring children to their rallies. C4T has invited schools that belong to the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, an alliance of over 1,000 Catholic schools in the country, to send contingents to the rally. C4T also asked participants to wear green tomorrow as “a symbol of hope, truth and commitment to uphold the truth." “There should be a venue for citizens who are looking to be counted in the effort to have our government system checked. We have no illusions of (gathering) a big number of participants in the rally," said Fr. Max Abalos, SVD. Leadership Last Monday’s rally, which was organized to ask the President to resign and commemorate the first People Power revolt, drew about 500 people. C4T also questioned the recommendation by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in its pastoral statement last Tuesday for “the President and all the branches of government to take the lead in combating corruption wherever it is found." “How can the President take the lead when she is already being questioned?" said Abalos. In a press conference yesterday at the University of San Carlos main campus, religious leader Ustadz Najeeb Razul, former head of the Metro Cebu Muslim Peace and Order Council Hadji Nashier Ismael, pastors Carlos Muncada and Abel Baclayon of Bangon Pilipinas and Felix Barba Jr. of Citichurch said there is truth in the exposes made by whistleblowers on the national broadband network deal. They said they shared Fr. Abalos’ belief that there is truth in the testimonies of Senate witnesses Rodolfo Lazada Jr. and Dante Madriaga. Options While members of the group agreed that President Arroyo should be unseated, they have yet to discuss the best way to oust her—whether by ramping up pressure for a snap election or another People Power revolt. “There are groups in C4T that already reached the level of calling for another People Power while there are groups that are still discussing options among their members. For C4T, what is happening in the government is unfortunate. Just because there is no hard evidence to pin down officials doesn’t mean no corruption is happening," Abalos said. Razul said that in the Muslim community, they are still regularly consulting and meeting with their leaders on how they can contribute to uncovering the truth about government corruption. Their meetings, he said, are also meant to clear up their confusion, which they blamed on “organized and strategic planning" of corrupt officials in the government. “How can we achieve the truth? All documents and video support involved in the case must be taken and studied so that the people mentioned in these materials will be summoned and questioned," Razul said. Ismael, however, called for snap elections for the two highest posts in the country. No kids Comendador, meanwhile, asked militants not to involve children in their protest actions. Comendador said that in last Monday’s protest, when people from various sectors again called on President Arroyo to resign, several children were seen marching on the streets. He said the protesters exposed the children to harm. Comendador is planning to meet with protest organizers today. Crowd dispersal management (CDM) teams will be assigned to the rallyists, Comendador said, while other CCPO units will continue to conduct random checkpoints. He said the police is implementing the order of PNP Chief Avelino Razon Jr. to suspend all permits to carry firearms outside of one’s residence. For tomorrow’s rally, enforcers will also be fielded in the streets to manage traffic, he said. - Sun.Star