Hanged maid given emotional burial in RP

Hanged maid given emotional burial in RP

SAN PABLO, Philippines (AFP): Up to 50,000 people attended an
emotionally-charged funeral here yesterday for Flor
Contemplacion, as a communist hit squad claimed responsibility
for the bombing of the Singapore Airlines office in Manila to
protest her hanging.

Yesterday President Fidel Ramos also ordered a military
transport plane to Singapore to ferry home some 200 domestics
turned over to the Philippine embassy following the diplomatic
crisis sparked by Singapore's hanging of the maid on double-
murder charges.

Applause erupted as Contemplacion's white coffin was laid to
rest at a private cemetery in the family's home town near Manila.
The crowd sang a nationalist song with clenched fists in the air.
There was near pandemonium as thousands jostled under a scorching
summer sun to get a glimpse of the coffin.

The burial came at the end of a seven-hour procession, and
support for the domestic worker was widely expressed at a mass
and other rites.

Thousands of people, led by a band and university cadets,
accompanied the flag-draped casket on a flat-bed truck from the
family's wooden house to church. Thousands more lined the 3.5-
kilometer route (two mile). Whole families came from nearby
provinces.

Some 10,000 other people jammed the cathedral's premises,
where two senior Philippine Roman Catholic church bishops
celebrated mass.

In the morning, grenades were hurled at the Singapore Airlines
office and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in
Manila. These were the first violent protests since Contemplacion
was executed at Singapore's Changi prison on March 17.

The explosions caused minor damage and no injuries. But police
tightened security around the buildings and the Singapore
embassy.

The communist Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) claimed
responsibility and said in a statement that the bombing "signals
the beginning of the ABB's hunt for those responsible for the
death of Flor and other OCWs (Overseas Contract Workers) in
similar predicaments."

Contemplacion's death has sparked a national outcry in the
Philippines that refuses to die down.

Residents of San Pablo lit candles and hung black ribbons on
their homes as the funeral procession passed. Huge dolls, heads
covered with black cloth, were hung on posts along the road with
the message: "Justice for Flor Contemplacion."

Leftist leaders, former army coup plotters and born-again
Christian groups mingled among the crowd, estimated by witnesses
at between 30,000 to 50,000.

Hundreds of thousands more were tuned to radio and television
for live coverage of the funeral.

Popular belief in Contemplacion's innocence has fueled the
increasingly angry protests and calls to boycott Singapore goods
and burning of the island-state's flag.

President Ramos, whose appeals for a stay of the sentence to
consider new evidence were rejected, downgraded diplomatic ties
and threatened to break them if an investigative commission he
had formed proves there was an injustice.

Singapore has claimed evidence against the 42-year-old mother
of four was overwhelming. It rejected two last-minute Filipino
witnesses who have surfaced to testify on her innocence.

Manila Auxilliary Bishop Teodoro Bacani, in a homily, slammed
Singapore for rejecting new evidence. He also denounced the
island-state for protesting the torching of Singaporean flags,
saying it was good Filipinos did not burn Singapore nationals.

Protest rallies were also held in Manila, the northern city of
Baguio and other provinces. A congressman said he will file a
bill making Contemplacion a national hero.
Government spokesmen appealed for calm however.

"They should not use such methods," said Ramos' Press
Secretary Jesus Sison.

Press Undersecretary Honesto Isleta slammed several left-wing
groups for riding on the issue, calling them agitators. "Do they
want Singapore to really get angry and declare war against us?"
he said.

"Will they stand up, bear arms and fight for our country if we
have a war against Singapore," he told DZBB radio.

"We are saddened that there are people who want to show their
anger violently," said foreign office spokesperson Susan
Castrence.

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