Militants swim vs. US intervention in Asia

Some 40 militants belonging to the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and its affiliate group Panaghugpong sa Gagmay'ng Mananagat sa Sugbo (Pamana-Sugbo) took a hundred-meter swim off the shores of barangay Tangke in Talisay City this morning as a sign of protest against US intervention in Southeast Asia.

Pamalakaya spokesman Gerry Alexis Corpuz said the activity dubbed "Swim Against US War of Terror, Plunder and Intervention" was part of the group's muscle-flexing exercises as they show opposition over the anti-terror pact.

The group tried to bring their protest to the Mactan Channel, but were immediately barred by the Philippine Navy and the police some 200 meters away off the shoreline.

Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap, Pamana-Sugbo chairman Victor Lapaz, and activist swimmer Clemente Bautista of Kalikasan led protesters in a swim to protest against the ASEAN anti-terror pact and on what they called "President Arroyo's active promotion of further US war against terror and military intervention in the Southeast Asian region."

The sea-based protest, which activists labeled as a community swim, took place near the Malacañang sa Sugbo.

Corpuz alleged that the anti-terror convention was pushed by the Philippines on the instigation of the United States.

He warned that the anti-terrorism accord could facilitate the "entry of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction under military agreements such as the Visiting Forces Agreement." - Jasmin R. Uy