‘Oust GMA’ rally dispersed

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters who marched on Makati City’s central business district yesterday to demand the ouster of President Arroyo and condemn the defeat of a move to impeach Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

Ignoring the President’s calls for reconciliation, the protesters occupied Ayala Avenue in Makati City’s Ayala Center, snarling rush hour traffic.

Television footage showed protesters running away as riot police advanced toward them outside the Glorietta shopping center.

The riot police fired tear gas canisters and used water cannons and truncheons to disperse the crowd, defending themselves with shields against objects hurled by the protesters.

The protesters converged at the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center, the upscale apartment complex occupied during the July 27 mutiny by renegade soldiers calling themselves the Magdalo group.

They distributed leaflets calling for the removal of Davide and the President. Mrs. Arroyo had lobbied against the impeachment move, fearing it would have plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.

The demonstrators protested the "insane" actions of the government, including the recent killing of former Air Transportation Office (ATO) chief Col. Panfilo Villaruel, who was decrying corruption in government when he was shot dead by a special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team.

Villaruel and his aide-de-camp Navy Lt. (sg) Ricardo Catchillar were shot dead after they seized an air control tower of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal II early Saturday morning.

Led by Estrada’s supporters from the Philippine Movement Against Poverty (PMAP), the Makati marchers carried banners saying "We need a new government now," "Game over" and "Supreme Court-dictatorship." The groups included the October 28 Movement, which was organized after Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. adjourned the House to delay the transmittal of the impeachment complaint against Davide to the Senate, group spokesman Estelito Cordero said.

The protesters announced that former senators Francsico Tatad, Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor-Santiago — all identified as Estrada supporters — were expected to arrive, as well as entertainers.

Frederick Villaruel, eldest son of the slain ATO chief, arrived to thank those who supported his father’s cause.

Aborted Vigil

What started out as a protest march turned into an aborted vigil after the protesters made a beeline for EDSA, instead of converging at the Ninoy Aquino monument at Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas as they had originally planned.

A stage was set up in front of the Glorietta shopping complex when protest leader and newspaper columnist Herman "Ka Mentong" Tiu Laurel assailed trade liberalization, the purchased power adjustment and lamented the continued poverty burdening the majority of Filipinos.

When interviewed by reporters, Laurel said he was the spokesman for the Movement for a Just Society and Government.

While he declined to say whether the protesters expected military support, Laurel said "related events will transpire."

"We are not leaving until GMA (the President) leaves," Laurel said. Despite his ultimatum, the crowd was dispersed just hours after the protest began.

Television footage showed Laurel had fallen and was knocked unconscious after engaging in a brief tug-of-war with riot police. Laurel was arrested as the crowd dispersed.

Southern Police District (SPD) director Chief Superintendent Jose Gutierrez said Laurel may face charges of illegal assembly.

The protesters had brought cooking pots, changes of clothing and portable chemical toilets, indicating they intended to stay overnight, Gutierrez said.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said protest groups have always complied with the limitations of their rally permits — until yesterday.

"I don’t know what their motives were," Binay said. "But we cannot allow them to stay longer than what was allowed by the permit."

Anti-riot police began dispersing the crowd 30 minutes after their rally permit expired. It was the largest rally in the Makati’s financial district since the failed July 27 mutiny.

"This is a civil disturbance matter," National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said on television. "They were given a permit to demonstrate until 5 p.m. After that, the police asked them to peacefully disperse because of the rush-hour traffic in the financial district."

"We are not looking at it as a national security concern," he said, dismissing rumors that the demonstration was part of a plot to destabilize the government.

Protest leaders said they planned to camp out in the area for the next two days, aiming to paralyze the business district, but their numbers had dwindled by late afternoon.

Many of the protesters were from the slums of Metro Manila, particularly Payatas in Quezon City, where Estrada still has strong support despite his continued detention on plunder charges.

The march came after the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives this week killed an attempt by minority congressmen to have Davide impeached and tried before the Senate on fraud charges.

Davide is blamed for legitimizing the removal of former President Joseph Estrada from power in a military-backed popular uprising in 2001 that installed then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the helm of government.

Hours before the protest march, the President had called for "principled reconciliation" in the wake of the impeachment crisis. She said she would reach out to Estrada’s followers, opposition and rebel groups, including the communists and military coup plotters.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the government is appealing for "sobriety and calm." He also said the President will not apologize for supporting Davide. —With wire reports