When both the anti-administration paper Tribune and the pro-Arroyo paper PDI agree that there was a lot of "Hakot-ing" involved in the Luneta crowds yesterday, then alam mong ginagago na talaga tayo ni Mrs. Arroyo at ng mga pro-Arroyo mayors and Governors na ito.
First, the tribune article:
Paid crowds fill GMA rally; gov’t funds used
OPPOSITION BLAST PNP’S DOUBLE STANDARD POLICY
Sunday, 07 17, 2005
In response to the Gloria Resign rally in Makati last Wednesday, which attracted some 60,000 anti-Gloria demonstrators, Gloria rally participants, bused in by their political leaders in Metro Manila and the provinces who numbered in the thousands, massed at Luneta Park to attend a rally yesterday in support of the embattled President Arroyo, who continues to resist calls to step down over alleged vote-rigging.
The rallyists were reportedly paid anywhere between P300-P500 per head. Sandwiches and food boxes were seen being distributed to rallyists.
Police estimated the crowd, which consisted mainly of government workers and members of Christian lay organizations, at some 50,000 but witnesses gave a much lower figure saying only around 15,000 turned up.
A police chief who is a known supporter of Mrs. Arroyo placed the crowd at estimate of 250,000.
The Metro Manila Development Chairman Bayani Fernando claimed 150,000 to 300,000 attended the rally.
Buses with rally participants as passengers from the provinces were not stopped at the checkpoints and entry points by the police and the military, unlike the opposition demonstrators who who were barred from entering Metro Manila, leading opposition leaders to charge the administration of engaging in a double standard policy.
.....
Mayors of Metro Manila and areas as far as Ilocos Sur and Nueva Ecija pledged to send supporters to the rally, seeking to top the number of people mustered by the anti-Arroyo camp on Wednesday.
The United Opposition said on Saturday that government funds and resources were used in a purely partisan activity to prop up the sagging image of Mrs. Arroyo.
Termed as a “prayer rally for peace and the rule of law,” participants were bussed in from various parts of the country in rented vehicles and government vans.
Reports reaching the United Opposition showed that the rallyists were transported to the rally site in buses paid for by local government units.
Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said some barangay leaders were reportedly ordered by their superiors to attend the rally in support of Mrs. Arroyo and were told to bring along with them their constituents.
Binay noted the obvious “double-standard” policy of the Arroyo regime in the treatment of opposition and pro-Arroyo rallyists.
“The opposition rallyists had been barred from going to Makati, while the pro-Arroyo rallyists were even seen being escorted by the police,” he said.
The Makati mayor also took exception to a statement of Mrs. Arroyo that the presidency is not a popularity contest. “Why do they have to transport thousands of government employees and barangay officials to Luneta (Rizal Park in Manila) if she were not affected by the multitude that gathered in Makati last Friday?” Binay asked.
He said the only thing that was good that happened during the pro-Arroyo rally was that the people who were present benefited financially no matter how meager.
In Nueva Ecija alone, Gov. Tomas Joson was reported to have ordered all the mayors of the province and their employees to show themselves at the rally.
“Many would be going to Luneta. It is compulsory. All the mayors of Nueva Ecija would be joining as it is ordered by Gov. Joson. The mayors would bring along with them their employees, so there would be more than 40 buses that would be going there,” one report sent to the UNO said.
Joson reportedly ordered all employees of the provincial government to attend the rally with the threat of withholding the employees' salaries should they fail to do so.
In Quezon City, Mayor Feliciano Belmonte reportedly ordered all barangay chairmen and their watchmen to attend the rally and were asked to bring along with them their constituents who would be paid P300 each.
One barangay chairman, Leonor Briones of Balon Bato, was reported to have promised residents to attend the rally for P300 to P500 each.
According to Davao Rep. Ruy Elias Lopez, an employee said they were being asked to go to Luneta along with Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System employees in exchange for P1,000.
Several buses assigned to various barangays were also seen lined up along Sucat Road in Parañaque City, just before the rally, to ferry the rallyists.
In Cavite, P300 was also being given those who would be going to Luneta.
In San Pedro, Laguna, the El Shaddai was said to be the one massing up for the pro-Arroyo rally.
Militant high school students who attended yesterday's rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta did so, not in solidarity but to condemn the Manila local government's “manipulative tactics” to make the students' attendance in the rally mandatory.
“How desperate can this government get that it is now employing underhanded schemes to manipulate innocent high school students? This is pure blackmail,” Anakbayan chairman Xaviera Vasquez said.
Vasquez added high school students in Manila were required to attend yesterday's so-called “Gathering for Peace and Unity through the Rule of Law” as part of their National Service Training Program (NSTP).
She said even local government employees in Manila were also compelled to participate as per memorandum issued by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, a known ally and staunch supporter of Mrs. Arroyo.
Vasquez added Atienza's order also compelled employees and students to sign an “attendance sheet” as proof of their participation in the rally.
“When we walked out of classes last Wednesday, we did so out of our own free will. We risked the consequences because we wanted to forge unity with the youth in calling for Mrs. Arroyo's immediate removal. But now we feel used and exploited,” she said.
For its part, the Western Police District (WPD) said it had fielded more than 500 policemen to secure the rally.
During an interview with the media yesterday, WPD chief Pedro Bulaong boasted that more than 250,000 persons attended the rally, but political observers said it can be visibly noted that only around 50,000 were present.
Bulaong is a close ally and staunch supporter of Mrs. Arroyo from her days as Vice President.
The political allies of Mrs. Arroyo were very visible in Luneta in their effort to create an impression of a highly successful rally.
Several students coming from various parts of Manila also disclosed they were provided meals as an “extra” incentive for what they described as their “mandatory” attendance in the pro-Arroyo rally.
Some of them even complained that after they were brought to the Grandstand, the shuttle service left them to return on their own.
The rally which started around 3 p.m. ended at about 6 p.m. It left behind a gigantic amount of trash.
Authorities in Manila claimed on radio that the event was successful.
But some of the alleged “paid” participants interviewed by the Tribune disclosed that the rally was a “flop” and was clearly an act of desperation by the Arroyo government and its allies to impress Filipinos that they are still in full control of the country.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also yesterday said the President is merely fooling herself and the nation by mobilizing local government officials to come to her rescue and create a facade of artificial support for her fast-sinking administration.
Pimentel assailed the President's propensity to exploit local executives for selfish political ends, and take advantage of their vulnerability because most of them are dependent on the national government for financial support in the form of internal revenue allotment (IRA).
The minority leader accused Malacañang of manipulating the local government officials and misrepresenting their sentiments by making it appear they are 100 percent supportive of the leadership of Mrs. Arroyo and solid against her resignation.
Pimentel laughed off the claim of Malacañang and its political allies that the President is on the way to surviving the political crisis after last Wednesday's grand protest rally of anti-Arroyo forces at the heart of Makati City's financial district.
“The truth is more and more people are now aware of the President's lack of moral ascendancy to run the country. The Makati rally was just the beginning. By refusing to voluntarily resign, Gloria is compelling the people to resort to extra-legal means to put her out of office,” he said.
And now the Inquirer Article:
Signs of 'hakot' all over Luneta despite denials
First posted 00:43am (Mla time) July 17, 2005
By Volt Contreras, Tina G. Santos
Inquirer News Service
DESPITE stout official denials that it was money that drew in tens of thousands of people to yesterday's prayer rally in support of President Macapagal-Arroyo, signs of big spending were for all to see.
Over a hundred buses and jeepneys—complete with "passes'' and control numbers devised just for the rally-crammed Roxas Boulevard, pouring out passengers in uniform shirts freshly printed with the name of their government units.
Some vehicles carried packed lunches, burgers and bottled water. Food went around sufficiently that ambulant vendors looking forward to brisk sales had a rather slow day.
Mandaluyong City Mayor Boyet Gonzales conceded that he and the city's congressman Benhur Abalos had to "shell out'' for food, drinks and jeepneys for the crowd they contributed to the rally.
Abalos and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza both denied that each person's attendance had a price tag.
"Whether you call it hakot (crowds for hire) or not is just how you perceive it,'' he said.
His city sent over at least 5,000 people "from my political base and that of Abalos,'' Gonzales said.
The number could have been bigger "had this been held at the Edsa Shrine'' in Mandaluyong, he stressed.
He said the city government, "as a matter of policy,'' simply asks for "volunteers'' on occasions like yesterday's.
"I will stake my name on it. There was no money involved,'' said Efren Agustin, chair of Barangay 607, Zone 61 in Sta. Mesa, Manila, when asked whether his constituents were offered any incentive to attend the rally.
But Agustin disclosed that Mayor Atienza, in an official communication, sent out "invitations'' to the different barangays. The invitation simply said that "those who want to can join.''
"Maybe they are just called hakot crowds because you literally had to transport them to get here,'' the village chief said.
As early as 8 a.m., however, the Inquirer received reports of payoffs being made for rally participants coming from as far as Pampanga and also from Marikina and Manila.
Going rate
The going rate was P500 per resident and up to P1,500 per government employee.
A group of employees from the Taguig municipal government said they received a "memo'' about yesterday's event. Like Agustin, they said the note merely said that the rally was open to the willing.
But in the same Taguig delegation, the Inquirer witnessed two instances wherein someone had a yellow pad paper passed around for an "attendance'' check.
The paper was soon filled with printed names and signatures.
Farther away from the grandstand, along the parking area, a similar check was conducted by a person manning a Quezon City government vehicle issued to Barangay Batasan with plate no. SFW644.
The vehicle-complete with the city's seal-was packed with food and beverage.
Lack of zeal
But whether they came for the money or not, the crowd that gathered for the rally hardly showed the cheer, zeal and attention span of groups expected to muster support for the President.
The attendance checks in the Taguig group were conducted just as a priest was a reciting a prayer onstage at around 4:30 p.m.
Applause mostly came just from those gathered in front of the stage, mostly members of a religious sect whose placards read "President GMA: Elected by the People, Annointed by God,'' and "We support the Appointed President (sic) of the Father.''
Those in the open field either chatted the hours away, ambled about, or sat in smaller groups on the grass listening to the speeches with hardly a reaction.
No Superwoman
And in a program designed to project the Arroyo administration's drawing power despite the President's falling popularity rating and her public apology over the "Hello, Garci'' tapes, one of the guest entertainers apparently picked the appropriate song.
The female singer who made up the opening acts to rev up the crowd rendered ballad titled "I'm not a superwoman.''
Majority of those who came were government workers and students-and most of them said they were instructed to attend the event.
Required attendance
Several students from Manila and Quezon City, who did not wish to be identified, said they were required by their school officials to be present.
They said that they were also supplied with transportation allowance and packed lunches.
A female student from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila was chided by her classmates when she told the Inquirer that they were required by their school officials to join the rally.
One of them said they were told not to talk to the media but that they voluntarily came to support the President.
An employee from the Manila City Hall claimed there was an order from the "higher-ups" for them to be at Rizal Park or their P2000 monthly allowance would be put on hold.
"I really wanted PGMA to resign but my job is at stake here," a 45-year-old mother of three said. "Aside from that, I wouldn't be able to get my allowance. My family needs that. I have no choice."
Not a bad day
A worker from the Quezon City Hall said he and his companions were told by their superior to join the rally in exchange for a P300 "allowance."
"I would have wanted to rest and spend the day with my family but there was an order from our boss. Anyway, apart from the money, we were provided with transportation and food. Not bad," he said.
Leaders behind the well-oiled machinery that bused thousands to the park dismissed reports that the crowds were either paid at P150 to P500 per head or forced by local government "memos'' to show up.
No funding
Manila Mayor Lito Atienza maintained in an Inquirer interview that "there's no funding involved whatsoever.''
"The barangays simply responded well,'' he said, adding that the 897 villages comprising Manila were expected to have produced "not less than 50,000'' warm bodies for the rally.
Asked how he arrived at that figure, the mayor said each barangay under his turf can deliver at least 50 persons: 10 from village chair down to councilmen, at least 20 security personnel (barangay tanods), 10 from youth organizations, and 10 more from women's groups.
If this is how they waste our taxpayer money -- to prop up the fake president -- then why even bother paying taxes?
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