BY REGINA BENGCO

MALACAÑANG yesterday said government would allow its critics to hold a prayer rally on Friday but the justice department would monitor it for seditious statements.

"Hintayin natin ang mangyayari. Hindi namin sila pipigilan," said chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol.

Apostol said the government will not suppress the rights of the rallyists, including Church leaders, to gather in Makati City.

"(Ang) DOJ ang mag-e-evaluate niyan, sila na ang bahalang mag-assess," he said with regard to statements against the Arroyo administration.

Civil society groups are set to hold an interfaith rally Friday next week. The initial plan was to hold it at the Luneta Park but organizers yesterday said the rally venue would now be Makati City, where a thanksgiving mass will be offered Monday to mark the 22nd anniversary of Edsa 1.

Two bishops have said the interfaith prayer rally could lead to calls for President Arroyo’s resignation. Militant and other anti-Arroyo groups joining the thanksgiving mass have said they would also hold mass actions after the event.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said the interfaith rally should be a "peaceful activity" and that Church leaders should lead the people to discern, instead of dictating on them what to do.

Members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines appealed for sobriety in the interfaith prayer rally that was organized in response to the CBCP’s call for "communal action" against corruption in the government.

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, CBCP spokesman, said despite the possibility of the rally turning into a call for Arroyo’s ouster, the event is a prayer gathering and should be kept as such.

"Sana maging within a religious atmosphere ang gagawin," he said.

Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said there is a need for proper discernment amid the ouster calls. He said the Church does not believe in a violent way of instituting changes in government.

Earlier this week, several civil society groups met with CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan and Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan to seek moral guidance on their response to the bishops’ call.

Lagdameo said this action could be a "new brand of people power" that the public is looking for in combating corruption and suppression of truth in the government.

According to Cruz, the prayer rally could eventually result in a massive call for Arroyo to step down because "it cannot lead to ‘Gloria remain’ calls."

VENUE CHANGE

In a media briefing yesterday, Fr. Joe Dizon of Solidarity Philippines said the interfaith rally was moved to Makati because he and other prime organizers want to save Luneta for the largest rally against Arroyo that he said they are planning.

"As of now kasi nagsno-snowball pa lang naman yung mga sumusuporta sa movement ng mga umaayaw sa administrasyong Arroyo," Dizon said.

Quitorio said Luneta "might be too big" as a venue for the event.

Dizon said for the series of mass actions against Arroyo, they are looking to top the number of attendees in the Makati rally last Friday which had about 10,000 participants.

The rally last week was organized by the United Opposition and militant and civil society groups to press for Arroyo’s ouster on the ground she has lost the moral authority to govern.

MORAL COMPASS

The new calls for Arroyo’s ouster were triggered by allegations that payoffs and commissions bloated the price of the national broadband network project that government awarded to the Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

"Malinaw na sinasabi dito na panahon na para sa taong bayan na maninidigan para sa truth and justice. The bishops have been providing the moral compass for us and it is up to us to act upon it," Dizon said.

Asked whether he agrees with Cruz that the prayer rally could lead to Arroyo ouster calls, Dizon said it depends on the people.

"Hindi namin pinagbabawal ang freedom of expression. If people ay sisigaw para mawala na si Arroyo sa Malacañang, hindi namin sila pipigilan. That is their right if they have already reached that kind of discernment," he said.

‘GLORIA MUST GO’

A Filipino-American group that led protests against Desperate Housewives’ racist slur has trained its guns at the so-called "Desperate Household" of President Arroyo and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

In an open letter to Filipinos in the US, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (Nafcon) lauded Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada, the Senate’s star witness in its investigation in the alleged overprice broadband project, "for risking his life and that of his family for the cause of our nation."

It said "because of its treasonous acts and sinful violations of our nation’s integrity and of our people’s dignity, Arroyo and her regime must go."

The Nafcon letter, signed by Rev. Fr. Benjamin E. Alforque, MSC, expressed support to the CBCP’s call for communal action "leading to innovative and creative forms of People Power."

"We call on our people both in the Philippines, in the USA and throughout the world, to withdraw their support for GMA and her regime."

RALLIES ELSEWHERE

The group Gloria Step Down-Hong Kong (GSM-HK) announced the holding of interfaith prayers for Lozada on Sunday at Chater Road where many OFWs congregate on their day-off.

"Here in Hong Kong, Jun Lozada and the truth have the support of Filipino migrant workers," said GSM-HK spokeswoman Dolores Balladares.

Balladares said Catholic groups, the Philippine Independent Church, the Jesus is Lord Church, associations of Filipino Muslim migrants and Protestant churches such as Methodists and Baptists will join the interfaith prayers.

Balladares said OFWs are outraged over "the astounding greed of the GMA government, her husband and their friends."

"In the face of the economic hardships we face, we cannot be but indignant at the blatant robbery and display of unconcern for the plight of our people and our country," she said.

Migrante chair Connie Bragas Regalado said OFW families would be at the interfaith rally.

OFWs will hold demonstrations in front of Philippine embassies and consulates on the same day, she said.

"For too long, this administration has used overseas Filipinos as ‘milking cows’ or as a photo-opportunity. It’s also reprehensible that while Arroyo and her lackeys wallow in multi-billion peso kickbacks, she turns her back on OFWs in distress," said Regalado.

NO PERMIT, NO RALLY

The National Capital Region Police Office said the "no permit, no rally" policy will be enforced for the Edsa 1 activities and the interfaith prayer rally.

Director Geary Barias, Metro Manila police chief, said he and his five district police chiefs would hold dialogues with the rally organizers so they can lay out the regulations.

He said about 10,000 policemen will be placed on standby during rally days.

Barias said he has yet to be informed by the protesters where exactly they would hold the Edsa 1 rallies.

He said his information is that one activity is to be held at the Sto, Domingo church in Quezon City to be led by former President Corazon Aquino and the United Opposition.

He said the NCRPO will go on heightened alert status on Sunday. –With Gerard Naval, Anthony Ian Cruz and Raymond Africa