Manila protesters demand resignation of the president

Thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of the Philippine president marched through Manila on Friday, undeterred by heavy security after officials said they had uncovered an assassination plot.

An estimated 10,000 people, including left-wing and Roman Catholic Church-backed groups, carried streamers reading “Gloria resign!” at a rally in Makati, the capital’s financial district.

The rally was triggered by corruption allegations linking top officials and the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a kickback scandal.

“These are telling signs that the people are again roused and are ready to take political action,” said Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the left-wing Bayan Muna party, one of the organizers.

Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona said protests would continue “until the truth is revealed” about the Arroyo government’s alleged corruption.

The Rev. Jerry Sabado, who was among the nuns and seminarians at the rally, said they were “indignant at the unending coverup of this regime of all scams and scandals that have caused misery to our people.”

The military went on high alert after officials revealed allegations of a plot by the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and its Indonesia-based ally, Jemaah Islamiyah, to assassinate Arroyo and attack embassies.

Capt. Carlo Ferrer, spokesman for the military unit in charge of security for the capital, said hundreds of troops, backed by armored vehicles, were on standby and more could be mobilized.

The opposition dismissed the plot allegation as a means to discourage participation in the rally.

Political tensions heightened after former government consultant Rodolfo Lozada Jr. alleged in Senate testimony that a former elections chief and Arroyo’s husband were linked to what he said was an overpriced $330-million government broadband contract. Both men have denied the allegations.

Arroyo has survived three impeachment bids and four attempted power grabs, mainly because of support from loyal generals and a formidable political coalition during her seven tumultuous years in power.

She has been accused of rigging the 2004 election and implicated, along with members of her family, by opposition politicians in a series of corruption scandals. Arroyo has rejected the allegations and vowed to finish the last two years of her term.

“We want to fight corruption,” she said Friday at a business forum, and criticized the opposition for using the latest controversy “as part of our less-than-impressive political culture.”