Home 
DESPITE the huge crowd in Friday’s protest rally in Makati calling for her ouster, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is unmoved by demands for her to step down.
“The President is okay and continues to do her job,” said Cebuano Cabinet member Cerge Remonde.
“She’s in high spirits because she believes that she has all the necessary support,” he said.
Remonde, who was in town to induct new officers of the local broadcasters’ association, said Malacañang would not worry about the number of rallyists, which was reported at 15,000 to 30,000, the biggest protest gathering since the corruption scandal over the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal broke last month.
President Arroyo took a day off yesterday for much-needed rest in Malacañang after a hectic day marked by renewed demands for her resignation, the INQUIRER reported.
A text advisory issued by the Office of the Press Secretary said she had “no schedule this weekend”.
It was all quiet in the Palace a day after the interfaith rally with no post-rally statements issued by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.
LOZADA LAWYER
In Cebu City, the lawyer of whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada said the Senate witness, whose revelations of kickbacks in the NBN deal have stirred public outrage, is set to visit Cebu and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao during the Senate break from March 15 to April 15.
Lawyer Neri Colmenares said Lozada, a government consultant in the NBN deal, had planned to visit Cebu earlier on invitation of several student and religious groups but the Senate did not allow him at the time for security reasons.
Colmenares was the main speaker of a forum “Truth’s Consequence: Setting Things Right” at the St. Jerome Bible Center, Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in Mabolo.
The lawyer said some groups, who admire Lozada’s courage and honesty in spilling the beans, suggested Lozada sit as president of the Philippines if Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro decide to step down.
But this would never happen, said the lawyer, because Lozada has no such political ambition.
As a lawyer, Colmenares said constitutional succession should be followed. He said that while he and some other lawyers are not in favor of De Castro taking over the presidency, if the people decide otherwise, they would follow .
The important thing is that “GMA must go no matter what.”
Colmenares said he was encouraged by the big turnout in Friday’s interfaith rally in Makati and that he did not believe the protest in Manila was “isolated.”
He said he disagreed with observations that Cebu was “passive” about the controversy. He recalled that Cebu raised its voice loud during Edsa 1 in 1986 when the provinces of Cebu and Bicol stood up against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
During the forum, attended by students, businessmen, religious and civic group members, Colmenares expressed his disappointment with Philippine bishops for issuing a statement asking President Arroyo to lead the fight against corruption.
Colmenares said it was improper to choose a corrupt official to lead such a movement.
Answering criticism that his client had no hard evidence, the lawyer said Lozada has been consistent with his testimonies and that a survey showed that 76 percent of residents in Manila believe he is telling the truth.
He said Lozada did not even deny that he has sinned against his wife and family by having relations with another woman.
One of the forum reactors, Ustadz Najeeb Razul, president of Voice of Islam Foundation, said he agreed with the call for Arroyo to step down but he stressed that instead of shouting and yelling in rallies “we can sit down and iron things out.”
Efrain Pelaez, president of the Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber hasn’t discussed the issue as a group yet but that the national situation was similar to what’s happening in Cebu.
“We have been complaining about anomalies in Lapu-Lapu,” said Pelaez , who stressed that if people call for Arroyo to resign, “ some officials in Lapu-Lapu City should also be asked to resign.”
“Go after everybody and start punishing them,” he said.
Colmenares ended the forum by saying that to end corruption, there was need for collective struggle for social and political change.
“The consequence of truth is accountability, the consequence of truth is justice, and the consequence of truth is peace,” he said.
Secretary Remonde, chief of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), said Malacañang viewed Friday’s protest crowd as proof that “democracy in the country is alive.”
“We would rather not divide the country but rather unite to move forward to 2010.
HE also clarified with Cebu Daily News his non-appearance during the much-photographed “unity walk” of Cabinet members with President Arroyo as a show of support.
He said he was caught in traffic along South Express Way and missed the event.
Remonde said he remains loyal to the President and that she must be allowed to continue her term until 2010. With reports from Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan
