During the ASEAN Summit: Militant groups vow to defy 'no permit, no rally' policy

Militant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and their foreign allies of the Asian Peasant Coalition have announced it will defy the "no permit, no rally" policy that the police is set to enforce during the Asean Summit this December.

The planned protest actions will push through to air their sentiments and concerns, to the participating heads of state, about the condition of the farmers in the Philippines, the KMP members said in a statement.

KMP-Cebu spokesperson Nick Abasolo clarified however that his group is not out to disrupt the international event but to condemn U.S. political and economic intervention in Southeast Asia through the Asean.

"Once again they are using this Marcos edict; to curtail our policy would be militant assertion of our rights," Abasolo said as he urged the police to be reasonable enough by letting his group go on with its protest actions.

Citing the track record of the police, Abasolo however said that the KMP and APC are preparing for the worst to come.

He said, "We are trying to avoid a Battle of Mactan-Part 2 but if push comes to shove then we are prepared for it. Though this time it would be Filipino activists versus Filipino police defending foreign tyrants, unlike when Lapu-Lapu defeated a foreign conqueror named Magellan."

The groups' members have already set refresher courses on basic anti-dispersal training system and on intermediate anti-dispersal training system. "These are strictly defensive techniques and tactics,""said Abasolo.

Fisherfolks in the Visayas, meanwhile, said they would gather in Cebu for the summit but would hold only a so-called festive or lively march, hoping to convey the concerns of their sector to the state leaders.

Manny Paterno, chairman of the working committee for the National Government Organization for Fishery Reform, said the festive march would be held in time of the opening of the summit. - Jasmin R. Uy