CORONA BALCONY Impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona (center) waves to supporters (at right) who gathered on Thursday outside the Supreme Court building in Manila to call for a stop to the impeachment trial. At left, protesters call for the opening of Corona鈥檚 bank foreign currency account records during Thursday鈥檚 rally near the old Film Center at the CCP complex in Pasay City.
Seven thousand people and not one organizer behind them.
This was what the rowdy crowd that gathered outside the Supreme Court building on Thursday would have the public believe, with picketers saying they were simply 鈥渃oncerned citizens鈥� who happened to come across one another at the same place and time.
As early as 11 a.m. Thursday, droves of people, many of them members of the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), started convening outside the Supreme Court compound on Padre Faura Street in Manila.
They carried placards bearing such messages as 鈥淣o to Impeachment,鈥� 鈥淯phold Judicial Independence,鈥� 鈥淯phold bank secrecy law鈥� and 鈥淪top Malaca帽ang takeover of the judiciary.鈥�
At least 20 placards were obviously from the same source, with red words printed on white tarpaulin sheets. But when asked, the picketers said they were 鈥渧olunteers鈥� or 鈥渋ndividuals鈥� showing support for Chief Justice Renato Corona.
At around 2 p.m. a tearful Corona appeared with his wife Cristina at the tribunal鈥檚 balcony and waved to the crowd.
鈥淲alang iiyak! Walang iiyak (No tears)!鈥� the crowd chanted.
No rally permit
Police estimated the crowd at 7,000 by 2:30 p.m.
The area in front of the Supreme Court building is a hot spot for activists lobbying for their causes, but Thursday鈥檚 crowd was not from the usual leftist groups, according to Superintendent Ricardo Layug, commander of Manila Police District Station 5 and ground commander of the 100 policemen deployed to guard the rally.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e apparently from different places. They won鈥檛 say what group they鈥檙e from, and they have no leaders on site. They said they just met here,鈥� Layug said in Filipino.
He said the people in the crowd did not have a rally permit but authorities nevertheless allowed them to hold their mass action.
鈥淭his area is usually for mass actions like this, so we allowed them to proceed,鈥� he said.
Officials said there was a police intelligence report claiming that a number of those present were INC members.
At the interreligious prayer service held in the court foreground, many in the crowd were particularly observant and loudly cheered after an INC laywoman said her prayers.
The stretch of Padre Faura Street in front of the high court compound was closed to vehicular traffic. The crowd was densest outside the high court gates, roaring gamely whenever a photographer took pictures.
鈥楢ttendance sheet鈥�
A man wearing a makeshift shirt made of cartolina walked around, soliciting signatures for his 鈥淣o to impeachment鈥� campaign.
The picketers joked they were signing an 鈥渁ttendance sheet鈥� as they humored Fernando Flor, 41, a salesman from Navotas City.
Flor said he was at the rally and embarking on the signature campaign as his way of helping Corona.
鈥淭his is the people鈥檚 way to get attention. I hope the government realizes we are tired of the impeachment trial. They should be attending to more important issues such as employment or housing,鈥� he said in Filipino.
Alexander Fajardo, 32, a call center agent from Quezon City, expressed the same sentiment, adding that the picketers were simply 鈥渦pholding democracy.鈥�
Fajardo, accompanied by a friend, worked the crowd with a megaphone, calling for 鈥渦nity.鈥�
He said he had just finished his work shift and had headed straight to the Supreme Court on his own volition.
鈥淭his group, if there is a group behind this, has good intentions for the country,鈥� he said.