Philippines: Govt Told to Stop Linking Opposition to Makati Incident

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) today asked security and law
enforcement authorities to stop linking the legitimate
opposition to the failed attempt of Sen. Antonio
Trillanes to instigate an uprising against the Arroyo
government unless it has clear and solid evidence.

“I challenge them to name names. They should not make
sweeping accusations and they should stop intimidating
people without any proof,” he said.

Pimentel said the truth of the matter is that he and
other Senate opposition leaders were completely caught
by surprise when Trillanes and Army Brig. Gen. Danilo
Lim led a group of military mutineers in walking out
of their court trial and occupying the Peninsula Hotel
in Makati City.

He said he and other opposition senators were
attending the Senate Budget Hearings or the 1st Global
Parliamentary Meeting on HIV/AIDS at the Manila Hotel
when the turmoil in Makati broke out on Nov. 29.

The minority leader said that while the Parliamentary
Meeting on HIV/AIDS proceeded without disruption, it
brought embarrassment to the Philippines in the eyes
of more than 200 delegates from 69 participating
countries.

“The Makati incident has had a big effect on the
parliamentary conference because it created the
international perception that the Philippines is
politically unstable,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel denounced the arbitrary arrest by the
military and police of legitimate members of the media
who covered the incident.

“What the government did was an overkill because the
members of the media were only doing their job.
Obviously the arrest was carried out with the
deliberate intention of intimidating the media and
into toeing the government line,” he said.

Pimentel also said that the government went overboard
by imposing a curfew from 12 midnight to 5 a.m. of
Nov. 30 (Friday). He said this was not only without
legal basis but also without factual basis because the
Trillanes-Lim group had already surrendered and the
government had declared the alleged rebellion attempt
crushed.

He said the curfew smacks of the capricious use of
emergency powers without actually declaring emergency
rule or martial law.
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