Arroyo SONA, militants counter-SONA to be accessible online

Filipinos at home and abroad who have an Internet connection can watch both President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's last State of the Nation Address (SONA) and militant groups' counter-SONA, live this Monday. The Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said Internet users who wish to monitor Mrs. Arroyo deliver her SONA can access the OPS Web site. "Internet users in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world will be able to monitor, real time, the President's SONA through the OPS Web site," it said in a statement posted on the OPS Web site Saturday evening. President Arroyo is expected to deliver her SONA at 4 p.m. Monday, before the joint session of Congress at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City. On the other hand, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) also offered to stream online its counter-SONA dubbed "People's SONA" at about the same time. Visitors to the Bayan Web site can click on the "Live Streaming" button to view the live feed via ustream.tv. Also, Bayan said it is "all set" to conduct its protest rally against SONA near the Batasan Complex. Aside from the protest rally that will converge in the area before the St. Peter’s Church along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, anti-SONA marches and rallies will also be held nationwide. Bayan said hundreds of marchers from Southern Luzon under the Lakbayan (People’s March) have already entered Manila and will join Bayan in the march toward the Batasang Pambansa on Monday. The Southern Luzon contingent will march with torches from the College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD) building inside the UP Diliman campus as early as 5 a.m. Monday. It will join the 9 a.m. assembly of all Bayan forces in Metro Manila at the Fairview-bound side of Commonwealth Avenue just after Tandang Sora. Bayan said it expects to start marching from its assembly point toward the Batasang Pambansa at around 10 a.m. Similar Lakbayans have also been organized in Panay province and Eastern Visayas. The Lakbayan in Eastern Visayas will culminate in a Mass with newly elected Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) vice president Archbishop Jose Palma at the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Plaza in Tacloban City while the Lakbayan in Panay will converge in Iloilo City. In Cebu City, the NASDU-Piston will hold a transport strike to be followed by a multi-sectoral program in Colon Street led by the local Bayan chapter. In Tagbilaran City, a march rally organized by Boholanos Against Con-Ass (BACONA) will be held. In Bacolod City, protesters will have a march rally together with the Diocese of Bacolod. Even in Mrs. Arroyo’s home province of Pampanga, a forum with a former Constitutional Commission (Concom) delegate will be organized at the Holy Family Academy in Angeles City and followed by a protest march. Protest actions will also be conducted in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, and Aurora. SONA protests are also expected in Baguio City led by the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) and in Santiago, Isabela where the rally will be spearheaded by the broad formation United Action Kontra Cha-cha (Charter change). Motorcades and march rallies, on the other hand, are expected in Butuan City and Tandag City. In Dipolog City, a torch parade around the city will be held on Monday while march rallies are also anticipated in Naga City, Legaspi City, Sorsogon, Masbate, Virac (Catanduanes), Daet (Camarines Norte), Pagadian City, General Santos City, Koronadal City, Cagayan de Oro City, Valencia (Bukidnon), Iligan City, Surigao City, and Davao City. Security Police forces have been on full alert since last week to secure the SONA participants and protesting militant groups. Instead of firearms, video cameras will be the main 'weapons' of police dealing with rallies on Monday. Metro Manila police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales said Saturday the video cameras will help them review any incident that may occur during the day. "The video cameras will be part of our operation. They will help us document what happens, so we will have a reference if something untoward happens," Rosales said in Filipino on government-run dzRB radio. This will complement the closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems already in place, he said. As this developed, the Central Luzon police sent at least 500 personnel to Metro Manila to beef up security for the SONA. - GMANews.TV