Thousands join anti-war rally at Rizal Park

Thousands of anti-war protesters staged a colorful march from Liwasang Bonifacio to the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park for a Nationwide Prayer Assembly for the Peace to send this message to President Arroyo: She is all alone in her support for a United States-led war on Iraq.

Justice Not War Coalition convenors Sr. Mary Grenough, MM, multi-awarded poet and playwright Bienvenido Lumbrera and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) chairman Rafael Mariano joined rally leaders Vice President Teofisto Guingona and Novaliches Archbishop Teodoro Bacani onstage at the Quirino Grandstand at 2:30 p.m.

With them at the rally site were groups of students, priests, nuns, legislators and workers. The rally coincided with the deadline for the final report of the United Nations arms inspection team to the UN Security Council.

The rally began with all its participants raising and ringing their cellular phones.

The rally also created monstrous traffic jams all afternoon yesterday in areas in the city of Manila adjacent to the rally site, as rallyists’ shuttle vehicles. Passenger jeepneys, FX taxis and buses ferrying the protesters crammed roadsides on Roxas Boulevard and its service road from the US Embassy to the Gate 1 entrance of the South Harbor, reducing traffic flow to two lanes on either side of the boulevard.

Mariano said, "President Arroyo is now put on notice that she is alone, very much alone, in the uncomforting arms of Bush and other war hawks."

Bacani and Guingona unveiled a peace quilt made of colorful scraps of cloth stitched together to create a symbol of the Filipino people’s united stand against the US war "on Iraq and Mindanao."

In lieu of a speech, Mariano delivered a soulful rendition of the song Patak ng Ulan (Raindrops), accompanied by violinist Jonathan Urbano.

"We hope the Philippine government would heed the nationwide call for neutrality and not (show) blind obedience to the plans of the White House. As an immediate step, all US troops should be withdrawn from Mindanao to prevent the Vietnamification of the Philippines’ armed conflicts," Mariano said.

Stage director Bonifacio Ilagan read Lumbrera’s poem titled Paanyaya ni Bush kay Gloria (Invitation of Bush to Gloria) to express the solidarity of the Justice Not War Coalition. Bayan secretary-general Teodoro Casiño served as one of the rally emcees.

In a statement, Grenough lauded Guingona and Bacani for helping the Filipino people mount what would perhaps be the biggest anti-war demonstration in the Philippines – a gathering that was, as of press time, 50,000 people strong. — With reports from Katherina Adraneda