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Press Statement, 8 December 2000 KOMPIL CONDEMNS STOPPAGE OF JERICHO MARCH The Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino II (KOMPIL) condemns the stoppage of the Jericho March around the Senate by police elements commanded by Gen. Aglipay. Gen. Aglipay reneged on earlier agreements regarding the conduct of the march on the flimsy excuse of unverified reports that the marchers would create trouble. Such assertions are belied by the presence of Former President Corazon Aquino and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the head of a large group of prayer warriors not to mention the host of personalities from politics, business and civil society. The composition of such groups definitely indicate the nature of their mission. Only a person with malice in mind would fail to see this. Certainly, former President Aquino and Vice President Arroyo deserve better treatment from our police forces than being shooed like common vagrants. We also condemn, in no uncertain terms Senator Pimentel's order to limit the number of marchers to be allowed into the Senate grounds. It seems that he has conveniently forgotten the basic foundations on which mass actions are anchored. But knowing Senator Pimentel's grasp of extra-parliamentary politics, perhaps the clue to his strange behavior lies elsewhere --Malacaņang maybe? Who is he protecting? In one fell swoop, the police and the Office of the Senate President were reduced and diminished in the public's eye as being mere security guards of the Estrada family and its syndicate of cronies. One cannot help but see a sinister hand behind all these. We therefore call on all right-minded citizens to heighten their vigilance on the impeachment proceedings amid clearer indications to stage manage the proceedings and subvert the truth. KOMPIL II Secretariat CODE-NGO, 2F CCS Building |