Militants hit Arroyo's Proclamation 1017
Iloilo -- Militant groups in the city condemned Pres. Arroyo's declaration of state of emergency in the country following the alleged coup attempt Thursday night.
Various cause-oriented groups gathered in different rally areas in the city Friday and Saturday defying the order stopping all forms of protest actions. However, police have been placed in the assembly areas of rallyists to monitor the movements of protesters.
Aurelio Bosque of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) - Panay assailed Arroyo's move saying the declaration of state of emergency is an initial move at curtailing the people's freedoms as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Bosque said there is not enough justification for the declaration even as he said that Arroyo is merely afraid of her own shadow.
Activist lawyer Romeo Gerochi, on the other hand, lambasted Arroyo's Proclamation No. 1017 for being unconstitutional and baseless.
Gerochi said "Arroyo has deliberately bent some Sections of the 1987 constitution to suit as legal bases for her utterly baseless proclamation!"
He also condemned the "baseless arrest of the leaders of progressive groups and other individuals who are merely exercising their duly constituted rights to speech and assembly."
Seasoned constitutionalist former Vice Governor Roberto "Bob" Maroma for his part observed that Gloria's proclamation may endanger the democracy regained by the Filipinos after successfully toppling the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.
Police and army officials in the region, however, assured there will be no abuses despite the president's declaration of state of emergency.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 regional director Doroteo Reyes II said they are merely mandated to protect the administration from destabilizers.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas as president of the League of Cities of the Philippines supported the president's move.
In a statement he declared: "The League of Cities composed of 117 cities all over the country remains steadfast in its adherence to the Constitution, the rule of law and the duly constituted authorities of the Republic of the Philippines.
"We call on all those involved in destabilizing the government to stop all efforts as these will only affect the current economic gains of the country and will result to more hardship to our less fortunate constituents.
"We call on all our countrymen to remain calm and support our duly elected President, Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo."
Albay Representative Joey Salceda, who was in Iloilo over the weekend for the nationwide Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT) briefing, defended the president's imposition of the emergency rule.
He said the president merely wants to protect the administration from power grabbers.
Salceda called the opposition and some military officials who allegedly plotted the coup attempt as unpatriotic. He said the country's economy will be deeply hurt by their actions.