Thousands of Filipinos Rally Against State of Emergency
Protesters defy a ban on public rallies declared by President Arroyo, who said a coup plot by military officers had been squelched.
By Richard C. Paddock, Times Staff Writer
February 25 2006
MANILA — Thousands of Filipinos took to the streets in protest Friday, hours after beleaguered President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a nationwide state of emergency and banned public rallies.
Arroyo also ordered the arrest of military officers who were allegedly plotting a coup to oust her on the eve of a commemoration today of the "people power" protests that forced President Ferdinand Marcos to step down 20 years ago.
Former President Corazon Aquino, an icon of the 1986 protests and a successor to Marcos, led a march of more than 5,000 people through Manila's Makati financial district Friday afternoon and called on Arroyo to "make the supreme sacrifice" and step down.
Aquino, once a close ally, turned against Arroyo last year after revelations that she had sought to rig the 2004 election. Arroyo survived impeachment in September despite the release of a tape-recorded telephone conversation in which she appeared to direct a top election official to make sure that she won by a million votes.
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