5 arrested in anti-Arroyo lightning rally in Baguio

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines -- Five activists were arrested while some others were injured after scuffling with police enforcers who tried to prevent them from staging a lightning rally in front of the presidential mansion in Baguio City late Tuesday afternoon. Those arrested were John Silverio Saligbon, the University of Philippines Baguio Student Council Chair; John Voltaire Dalangin, deputy secretary of Anakbayan; Keidy Transfiguracion of the League of Filipino Students; Eddie Mancilla of Anakbayan, and Imelda Tabiando, vice chair of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance. The five were released around 6:30 p.m. Radio dzBB reported that some 25 to 30 students from four schools in Baguio City sneaked past Baguio City police and chanted slogans calling on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to step down. At the time, the President was about to hold a dinner for the Philippine Military Academy graduates and their parents. The police here is on a red alert as President Arroyo and her entourage would be staying in the Mansion House during the Holy Week. The President is also scheduled to visit remote towns in Abra, Benguet, Ifugao and La Union. - GMANews.TV