Filipino women protest Arroyo and US

[Judi Lynn]

Filipino women protest Arroyo and US

Mar. 8 - Filipino women protest against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and American presence in the Philippines as part of International Women's Day.

Up to 400 mostly women protesters marked International Women's Day in the Philippines by marching through the streets of Manila on Wednesday (March 8) calling on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign and for American troops stationed in the country to pull out.

Angry demonstrators from leftist women's groups, like Gabriela and Kababaihan, chanted anti-Arroyo slogans and waved colourful protest flags, accusing the president of corruption and using security forces to intimidate critics of her administration.

The embattled president lifted a week-long state of emergency last Friday (March 3) after announcing that a conspiracy by communists and "misguided" troops to topple her government had been quashed.
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http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoStory.aspx?isSummitStory=false&storyId=36a5f9cb724fabe66c0ce25115cae000b62c31b6

[Judi Lynn]

1. Emergency again if need be, says Arroyo

Emergency again if need be, says Arroyo

Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
MANILA, March 7. — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo warned today that she would not hesitate to use emergency powers again to fight groups seeking her ouster, after imposing a week-long emergency to quash an alleged coup attempt.

Ms Arroyo said the conspiracy by Left-wing and Right-wing groups that the government quelled last week would have destroyed democracy in the Philippines if it had triumphed. “The laws are there and, as I said when I lifted the state of emergency, I am monitoring events and I will not hesitate to do what needs to be done to uphold the law,” Ms Arroyo said in an interview with GMA radio, which was broadcast nationwide.

Ms Arroyo imposed the emergency on 24 February and withdrew it on Friday, expressing confidence that order had been restored. She said she needed the emergency decree to thwart an alleged coup plot involving communist rebels, “misguided” soldiers, Opposition politicians, and businessmen. “I am a strong believer in democratic principles,” Ms Arroyo said. “But I also believe that we should stop people who abuse their freedoms and install groups that will one day destroy those very freedoms — the communists who conspire with the extreme right.”

“We showed how strong and stable our government was,” she said. “We moved swiftly and we averted violence.” Leftist groups have vowed to continue protests and call for Ms Arroyo’s ouster over corruption and vote-rigging allegations. In the wake of the emergency decree, a Left-wing lawmaker has been arrested and charged with rebellion. Five other Left-wing legislators are under virtual house arrest.
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http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=8&theme=&usrsess=1&id=109013

[bemildred]

2. I give her six months, tops, and good riddance when she goes, too. nt