Police roadblock anti-APEC convoy
Police roadblock anti-APEC convoy
MANILA (Agencies): Heavily armed Philippine police set up frequent road blocks yesterday to delay convoys of leftist protesters heading to Subic Bay, site of an Asia-Pacific trade summit.
The protesters, most riding in the Philippines' colorful "jeepney" minibuses, were subjected to repeated searches by slow- moving but scrupulously polite policemen.
Tempers rose in the steady drizzle but although heated words were exchanged, there was no violence.
Police said they had been told to use "maximum tolerance" in dealing with protesters but were determined to stop them reaching the summit venue.
Security officials are determined to prevent any embarrassment to the government while it plays host to the fourth annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum today.
Most of the thousands of protesters taking part rode in shiny jeepneys, the most common form of public transport here and built locally to a design based on that of the World War II Jeep.
One convoy, organized by the Peoples Conference on Imperialist Globalization, was delayed for more than an hour before police finally allowed it onto the main highway leading from Manila to the former U.S. naval base at Subic some 80 kilometers to the north.
Nuns, a not uncommon sight at leftist gatherings in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation, prayed quietly.
"We have the right to pass through," Romeo Capulong, a noted leftist lawyer, told the police blocking the way. "Our constitution guarantees freedom of assembly and movement."
The Peoples Conference protest was one of three separate leftist convoys aiming to travel to Subic where U.S. President Bill Clinton and other Asia-Pacific leaders will meet.
Convoy
Both the Peoples Conference and a second "Slam APEC" convoy had more than 200 vehicles taking part. The third group of more than 100 vehicles, organized by the moderate Manila People's Forum, was not blocked by police.
"We are anti-APEC because we believe APEC is no good for poor people. It can't do any good for us," said 24-year-old factory worker Eddie Mission, taking part in one of the marches.
Opponents say developing countries are not ready for the rigors of free trade that APEC advocates and fear rising unemployment as a result of liberalization.
Outside the Freedom Gate on the outskirts of Subic Bay, a group of 20 residents of nearby Olongapo City, armed with placards and truncheons, stood guard and vowed to stop protesters entering the free port.
Chief presidential aide Ruben Torres said the protest groups would be allowed to proceed up to the town of Dinalupihan, adjacent to Olongapo City at the gates of Subic Bay, where the demonstrators planned to spend the night.
"I'll be there (Dinalupihan) to receive them. We don't want for them to clash" with pro-APEC residents of Olongapo who vowed to block anti-APEC protesters, he said.
Torres added that only the luaders of the protest groups would be allowed into Subic, and he would receive their petition at the gate of the former U.S. naval base.
Defense Secretary Renato de Villa said: "Let's just hope that nobody loses his cool, and nobody creates any trouble along the way."
Retired military chief Lisandro Abadia, head of the APEC national organizing committee, said that police, "aside from ensuring the smooth flow of movements they (the police) have to ensure there are no infiltrators" among protesters.