GMA's justification for CPR crumbles again

From Ernie Maceda:

Not true. To justify its continuing acts of repression on Mendiola and Recto streets in Manila. GMA's officials claim that the White House in Washington, D.C., particularly Pennsylvania Avenue, is closed to traffic and public rallies. True, it is closed to traffic for two blocks but certainly not to pedestrians and small groups of rallyists.

I lived near the White House for 18 months. I saw anti-war protests, anti-Iraq war objectors picketing in front of the White House on a daily basis. As long as they are walking in a picket line, they are not bothered by the police.

The other streets on the sides of the White House are frequently used for protest marches. You have seen on CNN or Fox up to 100,000 marchers coming from all over the US converging at the Washington Monument grounds which are 100 meters directly behind the White House. No permits are required and police never try to block them.

Thousands of marchers walked through the streets of London or Europe without being blocked by police. The other day, thousands marched in the streets of Taipei, Taiwan. Street protests occur frequently in South Korea.

The Prime Minister's residence in Thailand or the Imperial Palace in Tokyo is not blocked off to traffic, much less pedestrians. Definitely, GMA's CPR and blocking of marches are undemocratic and violate the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free assembly.

If Malacañang is using the White House example, then only JP Laurel Street from Mendiola to Plaza San Miguel or Aguado Street should be blocked. With four major schools in Mendiola, with six subdivisions and residential areas adjoining it, and St. Jude, San Miguel pro-Cathedral and San Beda churches nearby, blocking Mendiola for the protection of one woman at the expense of hundreds of thousands of citizens is certainly unreasonable and unjustified.

Malacañang should move out to a more secure area such as the Blue House, the presidential Palace in South Korea. It can transfer without too much expense to the Clark Economic Zone and help decongest Metro Manila.

But the better solution, of course, is for GMA to get out of Malacañang. Then the rallies and protests in Mendiola will stop.