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.