All set for SONA rally
Groups Vow All-out Protest vs All-out War, Cha-Cha 

BY EMILY VITAL
Posted 4:07 p.m. July 17, 2006 

Amid massive security build-up and threats, the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) will mark Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) with a nationally-coordinated protest. 

In a press conference, Monday, Bayan Chairperson Dr. Carol Araullo vowed to stage all-out protests against Arroyo’s all-out war declaration against the Left and her moves to change the constitution.  

Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes, Jr. said they will lead 20, 000 hecklers and protesters during this year’s SONA. “Even if there are 20,000 people heckling the President, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is expected to observe maximum tolerance and respect the rights of the protesters,” Reyes added 

The big rally will have to face off with the biggest security detail for any SONA affair. Fourteen thousand police men are set to be deployed for this year’s SONA.  

“The wannabe dictator has to surround herself with so many policemen and soldiers just so she could deliver a speech. It is a testament to the fact that this government is afraid of its own people,” Araullo said.   

Araullo added, “The PNP is again using the supposed bomb threats, and infiltration of Rightist elements and of the New People’s Army. If there is something that will explode soon, it is the Arroyo government. It will surely self-destruct soon.” 

In its website, , a parody of the Nazi dictator Hitler shows Mrs. Arroyo dressed in a Nazi uniform with the swastika as background. An effigy with a similar theme is now being constructed for the SONA rally by the artist group Ugat Lahi. The Arroyo effigy will have mechanical arms that will do Hitler’s infamous salute. It will be escorted by artists dressed as motorcycle-riding death squads.   

Allied organizations of Bayan announced their participation to the SONA protest. 

Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) said, “May klase o wala, sa lansangan magkaklase ang mga kabataan para singilin ang Hitler sa Malacanang.” (Whether or not there are classes, the Filipino students will hold their classes in the streets to condemn the Hitler in Malacanang.)  Crisostomo was hit by policemen during a violent dispersal at Mendiola last week.  

Speaking for the Southern Tagalog contingent, Armand Albarillo, Bayan-ST secretary general, said that the families of victims of extrajudicial killings will join the SONA protest. “Makakamit lang namin ang katarungan kung mapapaalis na si Gloria.” (We will only have justice once Arroyo is unseated.) 

Karapatan Secretary General Marie Hilao-Enriquez said that there are already 702 victims of extrajudicial killings and 181 victims of enforced disappearances. “Arroyo’s all-out war has targeted unarmed civilians. The killings must stop.” Bulatlat