Thousands Demand Arroyo Resignation

In his speech tonight, Lozada called the protest “historic” because it could be the beginning, he said, of the movement that could drive Arroyo from power. At the same time, he urged Filipinos not to act out of mere anger over corruption but for them to realize that corruption destroys lives.

Toward the end of his brief remarks, Lozada asked the crowd: “Do you believe that the First Gentlemen and GMA are involved in the NBN-ZTE deal?” The crowd responded with a resounding “Yes!”

In the past several days, Lozada has been hopping from one university to another, repeating his allegations against the administration and urging the students to join the protests and register their outrage against corruption in government. On Friday, the students – many of them still wearing their uniforms – seemed to have heeded Lozada’s call.

“We don’t want evil! We’ve had enough!” shouted Jake Mecias, a student from a Catholic university, thrusting a placard that read “It’s time to go!”

Several students had on their shirts stickers that read “J.Lo, you are not alone,” referring to Lozada, who had said in his testimony that Arroyo’s husband had addressed him as “J.Lo” during one meeting.

Leftist activists and peasants held aloft effigies of Arroyo depicting her as a serpent and the devil. “Gloria resign! Gloria resign!” they chanted as they marched on Ayala Avenue, the country’s Wall Street.

“I don’t care what will happen to Arroyo after this or what she will feel about this,” said Randy David, a sociologist and professor at the University of the Philippines who joined Friday’s march. “The important thing is that Filipinos are outraged, as they should be.”

This week, Arroyo admitted in a radio interview that she had known about the alleged improprieties surrounding the contract the night before her officials signed it in China in April but went ahead with the signing because it had been too late, she said, to cancel it.

Arroyo said she immediately sought the contract’s cancellation. It was finally canceled in October, but only after a whistleblower, Jose de Venecia III, exposed the alleged overpricing. (Carlos H. Conde/pinoypress.net)