Anti Glo Rally in NY

Protesters stage rally ahead of Arroyo’s arrival in NY
Lira Dalangin-Fernandez ldalangin@inq7.net INQ7.net
NEW YORK -- Militant groups who want President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo out of Malacañang held a pocket rally here on the eve of the President’s arrival for the United Nations (UN) summit.
Calling themselves the “unwelcome party” for Ms Arroyo’s visit, some 20 members of the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and the Philippine Forum staged a one-hour mobilization in front of the Philippine Consulate office along Fifth Avenue.
The protesters held placards demanding Ms Arroyo’s ouster, saying she was a bogus president, and asking her to own up to the human rights abuses of civilians in the Philippines.
“With the impeachment process killed in Congress, this leaves us no choice but to gain strength in the streets of Manila, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco,” Rusty Fabunan, spokesperson of the committee told INQ7.net.
Fabunan said the rally intends to expose Ms Arroyo as the “fake and illegitimate representative to the UN.”
Similar protest actions continue to hound her in the Philippines even after her allies in Congress junked the impeachment complaint filed by the opposition against her on allegations that she committed electoral fraud and that her family benefited from illegal gambling.
Protest organizers said they would hold another rally on September 15, the day of Ms Arroyo’s departure for Manila.
Ms Arroyo is to attend the UN summit and world leaders forum from Sept. 12-15.
She will be the first Filipino leader, the first Asian head of state and the first woman leader to preside over a summit of the UN Security Council.
She is expected to be back home on Sept. 17.
United Nations