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| Sunday, 26 February 2006 |
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Filipinos mark 'people power' MANILA, Feb 25 (Reuters) The Philippines marked 20 years of freedom from dictator Ferdinand Marcos on Saturday under a state of emergency as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo confronted an alleged plot by communists, soldiers and politicians to oust her. Marcos was chased from the country by a "people power" revolt after a two-decade rule that included nine years of martial law used to jail opponents and close down the free press. After Arroyo invoked emergency rule on Friday, police raided a pro-opposition newspaper, The Daily Tribune, early on Saturday, gathering documents, confiscating copies from the printing press and padlocking the office. "They just swooped down, went inside," Editor-in-Chief Ninez Cacho-Olivares, said on radio. "This is like martial law." Police also went to the offices of the Abante tabloid but Elvira Altez, a member of its board, said the officers left after seeing crews from two television stations. On Friday, the military detained the commander of an elite regiment as the leader of troops who were allegedly planning to incite crowds at anti-Arroyo rallies. Police later broke up two protests of about 5,000 people each, one by using fire hoses and batons. All rally permits were revoked and events cancelled for the 20th anniversary of "people power", which had looked set to be low key in the divided nation even before the emergency decree. The president's allies defended the newspaper raids as a legitimate step against attempts to incite unrest. Ignacio Bunye, Arroyo's spokesman, suggested the government knew few details. "We will find out the circumstances. But I believe that those who did this had reasons, because the authorities are unlikely to be capricious about Tribune and Abante," he said. "What is important is the publications concerned have the chance to question this in our courts." Rights group Amnesty International said it was concerned the state of emergency "may increase the risk of serious human rights violations and may undermine the rule of law in the Philippines". There have been a dozen coup attempts in the last two decades, but some analysts say Arroyo's government amplifies threats to ward off plotters and shore up public support. The state of emergency dented investor sentiment, with the peso falling 1 percent to 52.20 to the dollar on Friday. Despite the promise of the 1986 uprising, corruption remains entrenched, politics is fractious and driven by patronage, and a third of the 86 million people live in dire poverty. Arroyo, an economist, has pushed reforms to boost revenues and cut debt but has been dogged by allegations of vote-rigging and corruption that led to a failed impeachment attempt in September by her foes in the lower house of Congress. Last week, the army said it uncovered a plot that would have involved the
escape of officers on trial over a brief mutiny in 2003, the overthrow of
Arroyo and creation of a military junta. |
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