No let-up in anti-Estrada rallies

The outrage mounts.

Anti-Estrada rallies continued yesterday in different parts of the country, with no let-up in sight as multisectoral groups mapped out more protest actions to pressure Mr. Estrada to step down from office.

The Diocese of Bacolod, for instance, hopes to gather 100,000 Negrenses at the city’s plaza to call for Mr. Estrada’s resignation and express their disgust over the "Group of 11" senators who voted to disregard potentially damaging bank records of the President under the fictitious name "Jose Velarde."

The diocese has been holding nightly vigils at the San Sebastian Church since Tuesday night when the pro-Estrada senators did what rallyists called "the shameful act."

Kabankalan Bishop Vicente Navarra, papal administrator of the diocese, called on Negrenses to join the rallies.

The same call to action was aired by Sorsogon Bishop Jesus Varela who said that the overwhelming evidence against Mr. Estrada showed that he no longer has the "moral ascendancy to govern the Filipino people."

Varela, who chairs the regional peace forum, exhorted Bicolanos to support all coordinated efforts initiated by the church and other sectoral groups. One such protest action was the noise barrage staged, despite a drizzle, in Legazpi City last Wednesday afternoon, and a separate candle vigil at the city’s Peñaranda Park.

In Cebu City, Barug Sugbu, a broad-based coalition initiated by church-led groups like the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference (BBC), met the other day to map out protest actions against Mr. Estrada.

But Ernesto Aboitiz of the BBC said it was necessary for the group to get the support of the church, as he alluded to the silence of Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on the unfolding political events.

Aboitiz and C-CIMPEL executive director Marilou Chiong-bian met with Vidal the other night to explain to him what they have been doing.

Huge Cebu crowd

About 7,000 Cebuanos took to the streets the other night, braving the rain, in what Aboitiz described as the second most attended mass action in the city since 1998, when Cebuanos rallied against Mr. Estrada’s plan to tamper with the Constitution.

Pangasinenses displayed the same indignation the other night when, despite a 30-minute power outage, they continued with their noise barrage and rally in Dagupan City.

The huge crowd, numbering about 5,000, mostly wearing black t-shirts and black armbands, overwhelmed Msgr. Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese, who also chairs the Erap Agco La! (Enough of Erap) movement. The crowd was threefold the size of previous rallies in the city.

Besides the noise barrage, candle vigils and protest allies since Tuesday night, various groups in Dagupan also staged a motorcade that snaked through city streets.

About 6,000 students as well as members of various sectors are expected to line up this morning along major streets in Dagupan for a bigger noise barrage, which will culminate with a rally at the city plaza.

Anti-Estrada rallies were also staged yesterday in the cities of Davao, Marawi, Baguio, Puerto Princesa and Cagayan de Oro. Davaoeños massed in front of the Davao Cathedral, while hundreds of students in Marawi gathered at Plaza Cabili in Banggolo district to condemn the 11 pro-Estrada senators, led by Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta who got the most flak.

In Cagayan de Oro, protesters assembled at the Divisoria Plaza where speakers took turns calling for Mr. Estrada’s resignation and lambasting the 11 senators.

A pro-Estrada group, on the other hand, held a demonstration at the Iligan City public plaza to throw their support behind the President who, according to rally organizer Jun de la Cruz, had the guts to fight the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

‘Flames of revolt’

In Moncada, Tarlac, anti-Estrada forces, led by former Gov. Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco and former communist spokesman Satur Ocampo, invaded this hometown of Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio Morales yesterday.

Local officials joined the crowd of more than 3,000 people who converged at the Moncada plaza named after Morales’ late grandfather, former Tarlac governor Luis Morales.

In his speech, Ocampo said, "We should thank the 11 rabid pro-Estrada senators. Because of their eagerness to prevent the truth about Jose Velarde from coming out, they have fanned the flames of revolt."

For her part, Cojuangco said: "Based on the pronouncements of Mr. Estrada and his allies, they will resist the people’s verdict that he is guilty as charged. We may have to make sacrifices in instituting significant change in the government."

In Pampanga, Emmanuel Angeles, president of the Angeles University, dared Mr. Estrada to be "man enough to resign and save the nation from further political and economic unrest."

Cavite Gov. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. also asked the President to step down and heed the clamor of the people "before it is too late."

Laguna Gov. Joey Lina postponed a plan to troop to Mendiola in Manila today. Led by the Filipino Manindigan Ka movement which Lina formed, the protesters would have converged at the San Pedro Central School in San Pedro town. — Lino de la Cruz, John Unson, Rene Alviar, Celso Amo, Antonieta Lopez, Ding Cervantes, Eva de Leon, Edith Regalado, Benjie Villa and Freeman News ServicePlace text here