MANILA, Philippines – Former President Corazon Aquino will lead key players of the 1986 EDSA people power revolution in a thanksgiving Mass at Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City on Monday to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the first bloodless revolution that ended an era of dictatorship.
Mrs. Aquino, hailed as an icon of Philippine democracy, will attend the Mass with Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay and other key opposition figures who were invited to grace the affair. Senate star witness in the ongoing national broadband network scandal Rodolfo Lozada Jr. is also expected to attend.
Binay originally allowed the holding of the Mass at the Ninoy Aquino statue at the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Avenue in Makati City, but the venue was moved to Sto. Domingo, site of many of the Masses for the martyred Ninoy Aquino in the mid-1980s.
The Makati venue had been the site of recent protest rallies by the opposition and militant groups calling for the resignation of President Arroyo.
Security forces were put on alert last Friday after an estimated 10,000 people, including left-wing and Roman Catholic Church-backed groups, held protest actions in the area.
The rallies were triggered by corruption allegations linking top officials and the President’s husband.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), on the other hand, has placed a total of 10,000 policemen for deployment to maintain peace and order in the venues of anti-government rallies.
PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said the entire force of the PNP remains on normal alert amid threats from civil society groups and the opposition to launch massive protest actions to sustain their call for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation.
Church leaders and other allied religious groups will also hold an inter-faith prayer rally at the Rizal Park on Feb. 29.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez Jr., public affairs committee chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said the inter-faith rally will be represented by 50 leaders of various religious groups in response to the “communal action” call made by CBCP.
“This (prayer rally) is a communal action that is expected to deepen consciousness of our people on the current (political) situation of our country and also a call for us to act together,” he said.
Yniguez said the prayer rally organizers expect at least two million people to attend.
“A considerable number of groups met with us and shared perceptions on the current situation of our country. On the second part of our meeting, we asked them (groups) what they thought were concrete actions needed at this point and it was agreed that we should start communal action with an interfaith prayer rally on Feb. 29,” Iniguez said.
PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said the PNP will continue to monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis.
“And (we) will upgrade (the) alert level (if) necessary,” he said.
As part of security measures, Bartolome said the PNP is putting the Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) contingents from Regions 3 and 4-A on a standby status to augment the 10,000 policemen in Metro Manila if the situation demands.
“These 10,000 police personnel are actually organic to Metro Manila Police doing regular police duties in the metropolis but are also ready to dispense CDM duties if necessary,” Bartolome added.
Bartolome also belied claims of deployment of elite police forces at the North Luzon Expressway to block any support forces coming from the provinces. - Cecille Suerte Felipe, Edu Punay