You hate GMA? Go to Starbucks

Next time you visit an upscale coffee franchise, be sure to ask for decaf, whipped cream… and a new president.

Critics of President Arroyo are exploring a different venue to express their displeasure with her administration: coffee bars such as US-based Starbucks, which have become increasingly popular meeting spots for class "A" customers.

It seems the President’s Proclamation No. 1017 is good for business after all, at least for the coffee shop industry, which stands to profit from the opposition’s latest effort to mobilize the middle and upper classes against her.

Anti-Arroyo forces are asking members of the middle and upper classes to wear black and troop to a series of pricey coffee shops to make a political statement.

Starbucks, one of the world’s most popular hangouts of well-to-do students, businessmen, and professionals, will be tonight’s venue for the protest action from between 6 and 7 p.m.

Defiant coffee lovers are being asked to queue up at the counter individually for their drinks. Usually, one person in a group or barkada here orders drinks for the rest.

After getting their purchases, students, business executives and professionals are asked to sit or just stand around for at least 30 minutes.

When a cue is given, the caffeine-loving protesters will leave en masse, at which point everyone is asked to give a simultaneous "thumbs down" sign before peacefully dispersing and proceeding to the next gimmick place.

Planners of the coffee break protest did not explain how they would ensure the "thumbs down" sign would be construed as disapproval of President Arroyo — and not the coffee shop itself.

The trendy new anti-Arroyo crusade was conceived by the group eLagda, which launched what it calls the Black Friday Protest Movement.

Tonight’s "Starbucks Event" is supposed to be the first of a series of staged protests meant to provide the well-to-do and the rich a venue to express their objection to alleged repression under the Arroyo administration through its Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPPR), Executive Order No. 464, and Proclamation No. 1017.

"Patterned after the flash mob concept, the Black Friday Protest calls on people to gather at a designated time and place every Friday wearing black," eLagda founder Vicente "Enteng" Romano of the Black and White Movement (BWM) said in a statement issued yesterday during a forum at the Metro Club in Rockwell, Makati City.

"There will be no programs or speeches. Instead, people will be given specific instructions on what to do, and the whole exercise should last about 30 minutes at the most," he explained.

Romano explained that Black Friday protests will be safe, non-confrontational, and carried out within the bounds of law — "even a repressive one like Proclamation No. 1017."

According to him, the "flash" gathering of people would provide a peaceful expression of protest that will at the same time be visible and loud.

In an interview with The STAR, Romano said the idea is to offer venues where professionals, students, and businessmen can express themselves without having have to join street rallies and demonstrations.

"Starbucks is their natural hangout," he said, hinting that venues for future Black Friday activities will also be places enjoyed and frequented by the middle and upper classes.

Reached by The STAR, Starbucks issued no statement, saying they don’t want to be involved in politics, though they added tonight’s "coffee coup" will definitely boost sales.

Black Friday is actually asking everyone to invite as many friends or officemates as possible and go to Starbucks in groups instead of agreeing to meet there.

Office managers and executives are even encouraged to "treat" their subordinates and even provide carpooling service to the hangout.

Among those who attended the forum yesterday were Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) President Joel Caris, National Union of Journalists of the

Philippines (NUJP) secretary general Carlos Conde, resigned National Anti-Poverty Commission organizer Mely Nicolas, lawyer Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, and other BWM leaders.

They criticized the Arroyo administration for its alleged undeclared martial law and for a crackdown on the media through Proclamation 1017 which declared a state of emergency last Friday.