Beltran not surprised at Palace downplay of EDSA 1 preps, paranoia of rallies

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* From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran


Reference: Rep. Crispin Beltran

Lisa C. Ito, Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006

Tel. # (+632) 931-6615 Email: crispinbeltran@gmail.com

URL: http://www.geocities.com/ap_news
*
*NEWS RELEASE *

February 15, 2006



*Beltran not surprised at Palace downplay of EDSA 1 preps, paranoia of
rallies*

*says GMA wants to downplay attention to EDSA figures actively calling for
her ouster *



Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran today said that he was not surprised at Pres.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's downplay of the EDSA 1 celebrations, saying that
"the Palace's lukewarm preparations for the EDSA 1 commemoration only
betrays GMA's extreme paranoia of mass uprisings".



"PGMA's coldness is not surprising. A fledgling dictator will naturally
downplay the events such as EDSA 1, events which have historically proven
that the masses have the capacity to rise up and kick out any incompetent
and anti-people President from the Palace. She is afraid of the same thing
happening to her," the EDSA 1 veteran and labor leader said.



"GMA wants to change the face of EDSA 1 precisely because she is afraid that
another EDSA will catapult her away from the Palace," he said.



"It seems that GMA is hiding another agenda behind all this talk of wanting
to have a simple ceremony. It seems that all the Palaces downplay of the
celebrations aim to deflect attention away from figures and institutions
such as former Pres. Corazon Aquino, the Church, young, patriotic, and
anti-dictatorship military officers, most especially, and the broad united
movement of the toiling masses. These are the configurations that figured
prominently in EDSA 1 and that are now up again in discontent against Pres.
Arroyo and her fascist, corrupt, and anti-Filipino policies," Beltran said.



"The toiling masses have long been calling for Pres. Arroyo's immediate
removal from the Palace due to her anti-poor and anti-Filipino policies.
Mrs. Aquino has been vocal about her disapproval of Pres. Arroyo. The Church
has already proclaimed its negative views towards the Arroyo
administration's suppression of the truth and its total sell-out of our
national patrimony to foreign mining interests. And more young and patriotic
military officers are calling for Arroyo's removal as well. Pres. Arroyo
will do anything to downplay the role these have played in a historic event
if only to deflect attention away from their current levels of discontent
against her administration," Beltran explained.



"It's essentially a desperate attempt at political preservation," Beltran
said.



Beltran also scored the Palace's announcements that it would be closely
monitoring rallies in the net few days, saying that "GMA is afraid of EDSA
1's shadow in these mass actions against her administration".



"PGMA is incorrect in saying that the people are tired of politics. The
toiling masses are sick and tired of poverty caused by GMA's dirty politics,
which is essentially a politics where the poor have no say in governance,"
he ended. ###