Post by ewoks46110 on Feb 27, 2008 22:59:32 GMT 8
PNP imposes week-long gun ban
The police has imposed a nationwide week-long gun ban that will last until next Monday (March 3), national police chief Avelino Razon said.
Razon said all permits to carry firearms outside of residence were deemed suspended effective Monday noon to prevent and limit the movement of firearms ahead of anti-Arroyo protests in Metro Manila. He said the ban will be lifted on March 3 at noon.
Razon's announcement coincided with the 22nd anniversary of 1986 EDSA People Power revolution, which ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Security was tight in Manila on Monday ahead of rallies calling on President Arroyo to resign over a corruption scandal.
At 7 a.m., three truckloads of military personnel from the Philippine Army and the Philippine Navy arrived and positioned themselves at the Don Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) Bridge near the palace. Some 100 members of the police's Civil Disturbance Management and armed Philippine Army and Special Action Force members have already been deployed to the bridge.
Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said troops were solidly behind Mrs. Arroyo, who on Sunday denied her family was involved in corruption and said she won't step down until her six-year term ends in 2010.
Esperon said military intelligence reports indicated Islamic militants may sabotage the anti-government protests planned to coincide with the anniversary of People Power, which brought down the Marcos dictatorship.
"We will remain as reserves for the national police," Esperon told reporters, noting that all commanders of the military service were "joining hands with the PNP for a solid chain of command."
Calls for Arroyo to quit have been mounting after a government official testified in a Senate inquiry early this month that her spouse and a political ally tried to get millions in kickbacks from a telecoms deal with a Chinese firm that was suspended last year.
The witness, Rodolfo Lozada, said Arroyo aides and police officers also tried to stop him from testifying and that his life was in danger. He said that Arroyo had tacit knowledge of the deals.
Former generals jailed for an aborted coup in 2006 on Monday also urged troops to turn against Mrs. Arroyo, who is also the commander-in-chief.
"Going out of barracks to join the people in communal action to rid the ills that befell our nation is a Constitutional duty," detained Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim said in a statement.
"In fact, it is demanded of us, as soldiers, by the very people whom we failed. Let us not, this time, fail them," he said.
He called on the troops to "be seen in and out of the barracks."
Mrs. Arroyo has been compared to Marcos, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 20 years until he was was ousted in a popular church-led revolt in 1986, and died in exile three years later.
He is believed to have stolen up to 10 billion dollars from government coffers but to date less than one billion has been recovered. -- ABS-CBN News, AFP, The Philippine STAR
The police has imposed a nationwide week-long gun ban that will last until next Monday (March 3), national police chief Avelino Razon said.
Razon said all permits to carry firearms outside of residence were deemed suspended effective Monday noon to prevent and limit the movement of firearms ahead of anti-Arroyo protests in Metro Manila. He said the ban will be lifted on March 3 at noon.
Razon's announcement coincided with the 22nd anniversary of 1986 EDSA People Power revolution, which ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Security was tight in Manila on Monday ahead of rallies calling on President Arroyo to resign over a corruption scandal.
At 7 a.m., three truckloads of military personnel from the Philippine Army and the Philippine Navy arrived and positioned themselves at the Don Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) Bridge near the palace. Some 100 members of the police's Civil Disturbance Management and armed Philippine Army and Special Action Force members have already been deployed to the bridge.
Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said troops were solidly behind Mrs. Arroyo, who on Sunday denied her family was involved in corruption and said she won't step down until her six-year term ends in 2010.
Esperon said military intelligence reports indicated Islamic militants may sabotage the anti-government protests planned to coincide with the anniversary of People Power, which brought down the Marcos dictatorship.
"We will remain as reserves for the national police," Esperon told reporters, noting that all commanders of the military service were "joining hands with the PNP for a solid chain of command."
Calls for Arroyo to quit have been mounting after a government official testified in a Senate inquiry early this month that her spouse and a political ally tried to get millions in kickbacks from a telecoms deal with a Chinese firm that was suspended last year.
The witness, Rodolfo Lozada, said Arroyo aides and police officers also tried to stop him from testifying and that his life was in danger. He said that Arroyo had tacit knowledge of the deals.
Former generals jailed for an aborted coup in 2006 on Monday also urged troops to turn against Mrs. Arroyo, who is also the commander-in-chief.
"Going out of barracks to join the people in communal action to rid the ills that befell our nation is a Constitutional duty," detained Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim said in a statement.
"In fact, it is demanded of us, as soldiers, by the very people whom we failed. Let us not, this time, fail them," he said.
He called on the troops to "be seen in and out of the barracks."
Mrs. Arroyo has been compared to Marcos, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 20 years until he was was ousted in a popular church-led revolt in 1986, and died in exile three years later.
He is believed to have stolen up to 10 billion dollars from government coffers but to date less than one billion has been recovered. -- ABS-CBN News, AFP, The Philippine STAR