Protests to greet Ramos on return

Protests to greet Ramos on return

MANILA (Reuter): Philippine militant groups in an uproar over rice and sugar shortages vowed yesterday to greet President Fidel Ramos with street protests and marches when he returns from a foreign trip this week.

"We want to remind Mr Ramos of the problems that his administration has fostered on the Filipino people, in case his jet-setting ways have made him forget," said Crispin Beltran, head of the May 1 Movement (KMU), the country's biggest leftwing labor group.

Ramos is to return to Manila on Wednesday night from an eight- day trip to New Zealand and Australia and workers and youth groups affiliated with the KMU have scheduled protest demonstrations the following day in Manila and seven provinces.

Newspaper reports quoted organizers as saying they expect to mobilize 100,000 people for the protests.