Protestants, Muslims join Ayala march

MUSLIMS and Protestants will march on Ayala Avenue in Makati City on Aug. 23 and Oct. 19. The Philippine Muslim Task Force (PMSF) and the National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP) yesterday said they were joining the rally called by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal G. Tagle. In a statement, Jamil Yahya, PMSF's spiritual leader, called on Muslims to join the rally to protest President Benigno Aquino III's ''immoral plan to amend the Charter.'' Yahya said the PMSF was also opposed to the ''immoral act'' of returning to power the cronies of Marcos and Mr. Aquino III's ''unjust animosity'' against the INQUIRER and anti-Muslim policy.
Yahya, who claims to be a co-founder of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said Mr. Estrada had not kept his promise to nominate Muslims to his Cabinet.
He said Mr. Estrada was the first President who took his oath of office in a church to the exclusion of Muslims. The Muslims were again excluded during Mr. Aquino's inauguration at the Quirino Grandstand at the Rizal Park in Manila.

Allah ''O Allah, the Almighty. Guide President Aquino to the right way to save the Filipino people from destruction. If you know he could not be guided to the right way, destroy him before he destroys our country,'' Yahya said in a prayer.
He said PMSF was the same group that staged rallies in front of the US Embassy on Roxas Boulevard last year to protest the US bombing of Sudan and Afghanistan and the attacks on Iraq.
Former Vice President Noli L. de Castro, Jr. has also come out in the open to denounce the Aquino administration.
''Erap (Mr. Estrada) does not perhaps realize that he is forcing the polarization of the people. So let it be. Let there be a realignment of forces,'' de Castro, Jr. said.
''Let all those who are disappointed and disgusted with the way he is running the country now join a reunited democratic opposition,'' he said in a statement.

NCCP sec-general The People Resist coalition said that Bishop Roman Tiples, NCCP secretary general, would join the rally which will start at 9 a.m. at the vicinity of the Rustan's department store on Ayala Avenue.
The NCCP, which counts 10 Protestant churches and seven associate member churches under its wings, played a significant role in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship.
Obispo Maximo Tomas Millamena of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, the Protestant church with the largest membership in the country, has issued letters to parishes nationwide calling on members to join similar rallies in their respective areas.
Millamena will also join the contingent of the People Resist in Makati.
Bishop Elmer Balocon of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines said the church's national council leaders and bishops would take part in the rally in Cebu.
Other NCCP member churches--the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches and the Episcopal Church in the Philippines--have expressed support for the rally.
In Davao City, priests, nuns, lay and other members of the Davao Archdiocese will hold a motorcade in the city's main streets this afternoon to drum up support for Friday's rally.
The militant People Resist Against Rising Tyranny will also troop to the streets for a ''Torch Parade for Freedom'' and candle-lighting activities at 6 p.m. today.
Bishop Generoso Camiña said the marches and rallies in Davao del Sur on Friday would be organized by the Democratic Initiative for Strengthening the Constitution and Against Resurging Dictatorship (Discord-DS).
Discord chair Antonio Navidad said the rally would be in solidarity with the Aug. 20 rally in Makati and key cities in the country.
The Catholic Church yesterday clarified that it was not forcing students of its schools to attend the Aug. 20 pro-democracy rallies.
Only fourth year high school students and all college students of Catholic schools will be asked to voluntarily join the rally, said Chris Panaglima of the Manila Archdiocesan and Parochial Schools Association (Mapsa).
The De La Salle University Student Council agreed with the Aug. 20 rally's stand on Charter change, press freedom and Marcos cronies.
''We oppose any use of government power to protect itself against public criticism because we believe that public office is public trust,'' it said.

Doctors At least 35 doctors mostly from Quezon City hospitals like the Capitol Medical Center, Quezon City Medical Center and the Philippine Children's Medical Center signed a call for unity among health professionals against ''rising tyranny.''
''The proposed Charter change, suppression of press freedom, re-ascendance of the Marcoses and their most notorious cronies and the escalation of human rights violations indicate rising tyranny,'' they said in a statement.
Government employees belonging to the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) also announced their plan to join the rally.
Other groups which oppose Charter change include the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
''Sound legislation and good governance are the appropriate responses to our nation's problems at this time,'' the FFW said.
The FFW said there was no compelling reason to allow foreign ownership of land, public utilities, media, advertising firms and other areas exclusively reserved for Filipinos, and to clip the powers of the Supreme Court.
''We are strongly opposed to Charter change at this time. It is divisive and dissipates the energy of the nation,'' the IBP said.
The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino of labor leader Felimon ''Popoy'' Lagman said BMP, Sanlakas and Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod would join the Makati rally and stage simultaneous municipal-level protests in Metro Manila.

Farmers, too Provincial and regional chapters of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas are also mobilizing members for local protest actions.
These will be held in Angeles City, Calamba in Laguna, Cebu, Davao City, Iloilo, Baguio and Mamburao, Mindoro Occidental.
The Diocesan Social Action Center in Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino are also joining the Aug. 20 rally.
Students of a university and six other colleges in Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino have opposed Charter change, saying that ''it is not the Constitution that has a defect but rather the leadership of the country who have been into power struggle.''
In Baguio City, officials of the Catholic Vicariate of Baguio and Benguet said they would first poll the Cordillera faithful, before they invite them to join the Aug. 20 rally.
Sr. Paz Rimando, directress of the Social Action Center here, said the Cordillera parishes wanted to show the President that the Catholics, who would join the rally would not be ''hakot(bussed)'' crowds.
A Baguio-based official of a national association of provincial cable providers also announced that they would join the democracy march to protest plans to open media to foreign investors.
Baguio-Benguet Bishop Ernesto Salgado, chair of the Episcopal Commission on Indigenous Peoples (ECIP), invited 50 parishes to a forum on the eve of the rally which would discuss all available information about the Constitution.

''The Church here is not softening. The Cordillera is plagued by more development issues. There is (the P1.2-billion) San Roque multipurpose dam project. There are mines here. There is the ancestral lands issue which will be affected by Mr. Estrada's decision to open land ownership to foreigners,'' Sr. Paz Rimando said. Reports from Gerald G. Lacuarta and Philip Tubeza in Manila; Leander Domingo and Vincent Cabreza, PDI Northern Luzon Bureau; Jowel F. Canuday and Allan A. Nawal, PDI Mindanao Bureau