Police and military vow loyalty to Arroyo

By Ronron
June 28, 2005

Amid her confession to committing impropriety by
calling an election officer in last year’s
Presidential polls which she participated, President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo still enjoys the support and
loyalty of the police and the military.

In separate statements issued Tuesday, a day after
Arroyo made the public confession, the Philippine
National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the
Philippines even heeded to Arroyo’s call for the
public to continue supporting her program of
governance.

“The officers, men and women of the PNP fully support
President Arroyo in her courageous apology before the
nation,” national police chief Gen. Arturo Lomibao
said.

“The men and women of the AFP fully recognize and
remain loyal to the President as the duly constituted
authority and our Commander-in-Chief,” AFP Information
Officer Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual added.

Anticipating a series of mass actions that will be
launched by groups critical to Arroyo, the police and
military vowed not to tolerate any acts that border on
lawlessness and violence.

“The PNP shall remain faithful to its sworn duty to
enforce the law and maintain peace and order,” Lomibao
said.

Pascual, for his part, said: “While the AFP respects
every Filipino’s right to freedom of expression,
violent and armed actions to espouse such beliefs
shall never be tolerated. Let us respect each other’s
civil rights and follow the rule of law.”

Tomorrow (June 30), various multi-sectoral groups
critical to Arroyo, including members of the United
Opposition, will hold a rally at Plaza Miranda in
Quiapo, Manila City as a start of their intensified
campaign for the resignation of the President.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secertary General
Renato Reyes, Jr. said at least 10,000 people will
gather at noon time tomorrow at the historic site.

“Arroyo is completely mistaken if she thinks protests
will waver after her confession. Kami’y sawang sawa
na (We are already fed up). The Filipino people will
force her out of Malacanang if she does not come to
her senses soon,” said Reyes.

Bayan and other allied groups are rejecting Arroyo’s
apology, saying that the latter, in the first place,
does not have the right to be in power for cheating
her way to the Presidency.

Other activities are being planned by Reyes’ group
until Arroyo delivers her State of Nation Address
(SONA) on July 25 to continue pressing her to resign.

Among these activities are the planned mass leave by
teachers on July 8, and a mass caravan from Visayas to
Metro Manila by mass-based groups.

But Pascual is enjoining “each Filipino citizen to
stand behind the Constitution, and contribute to
national stability and progress by adhering to
calmness, sobriety, and genuine cooperation.”

With Arroyo’s confession, the police and military
sought everyone to put an end to the wiretapping and
election fraud controversies and direct their energies
to helping the government realize its programs.

“We must move on as a nation and take advantage of the
opportunities for progress that have been sidetracked
by the recent events,” Lomibao said./DMS