Police block feminists' attempt to picket Malaysian king
Police block feminists' attempt to picket Malaysian king
MANILA (AFP): Riot police foiled an attempt by a leftist feminist group to picket against the visiting Malaysian king over his country's arrests of Filippinas, when he arrived in the Philippines yesterday for a three-day visit.
Sultan Azlan Shah came to Manila amid a barrage of protests over the arrests of 1,200 Filipina maids outside a Roman Catholic church in Kuala Lumpur March 27 and 13 Filipino musicians in Penang on the eve of the trip.
The Filipinos were apparently arrested as part of a sweep against aliens illegally working in Malaysia.
Soon after arriving at the airport, the monarch proceeded to a seaside park across town to lay a wreath on the tomb of the country's national hero.
About 40 members of Gabriela, a leftist women's group, were staking out the monument to picket the king over the arrests, carrying placards reading "Mahathir, the Asian Hitler," referring to the Malaysian Prime Minister and banners saying "Malaysian government, apologize."
They also accused the government of President Fidel Ramos for being "coddlers of batterers of migrant Filipinas," referring to Ramos's failure to demand an apology for the arrests.
However, before the king arrived, about two dozen riot police cordoned off the picketers and ripped up their placards. They then blocked them from the king's view, using military trucks.
Policemen said they ripped up the placards to prevent the women from disrupting the ceremony but the protesters denied they planned a disruption. The picketers continued shouting "Malaysia, apologize," during the wreathlaying but the official party showed no reaction.
The sultan is also due to attend a formal dinner hosted by President Fidel Ramos later in the day. The rest of his schedule includes golfing with Ramos and attending the opening of a local production of the opera Madame Butterfly.
The maids' arrests triggered calls by politicians and the local media to cancel the trip as a demonstration of Manila's displeasure, but Ramos rejected the demands, and warmly welcomed the king.
Legislators joined the fray with rightist Senator Arturo Tolentino calling for withdrawing Philippine Ambassador Alberto Encomienda from Kuala Lumpur and left-wing Senator Raul Roco urging the filing of a complaint before the UN Commission on Human Rights.
The controversy threatens to sour ties between the two Southeast Asian neighbors, which improved after Ramos and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad exchanged visits in 1993 and early 1994.
Ties between the two had been chilled for 30 years over the Malaysian State of Sabah which Manila claims.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, Labor-short Malaysia will turn to countries such as Indonesia and Bangladesh for workers following Manila's decision to cut the number of Filipinos employed overseas, a minister said yesterday.
Malaysia respects the decision and will not interfere, Malaysian Human Resources Minister Lim Ah Lek was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency.