BY REGINA BENGCO and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR

PRESIDENT Arroyo holed out Camp Crame for three hours yesterday at the height of the interfaith rally in Makati on a day which Palace officials said she spent doing "regular governance work."

She returned around 7 p.m. to Malacañang, the approaches to which were blocked by stacked empty container vans.

PNP chief Avelino Razon said Arroyo gave no specific instructions as she was in Camp Crame simply to monitor the Makati situation.

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said the military was waiting for word from the PNP but it turned out there was no need to deploy soldiers.

Across Edsa, at least 2,000 battle-ready troops, 13 armored carriers and four light tanks were standing by at Camp Aguinaldo.

Aside from Razon and Esperon, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Secretaries Ignacio Bunye (press), Ronaldo Puno (interior), Leandro Mendoza (communication) and Alberto Romulo (foreign affairs) were with Arroyo in Crame.

Arroyo started her day at 10 a.m. by administering the oath to 235 members of the Lady Municipal Mayors Association of the Philippines.

She also inducted the new set of officers and directors of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines and the Metro Manila Federation of Environment Multipurpose Cooperatives before leading the soft opening of the Manila Ocean Park at the Luneta Boardwalk Platform.

She proceeded to Meycauayan in Bulacan to inaugurate the new service center of the global Nestle Group for its Asia-Oceania-Africa operations.

She followed this up with an inaugural drive-through at the Meycauayan bridge in Barangay Banga. She capped her Bulacan visit with the groundbreaking for a two-story four-room Sta. Maria Central School building in Sta. Maria before proceeding to Camp Crame.

Bunye said if the President’s schedule was any indication, it showed they were not that concerned about the rally.

He said security around Malacañang was "regular."

Malacañang officials expressed relief the interfaith rally was peaceful but took potshots at some speakers, particularly Senate national broadband network deal witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said Lozada was "maliciously misleading our people on the truth about the government loans last year."

"We hope that Mr. Lozada will not take advantage of the situation in using the people to shield him from the consequences of his wrongdoings in the past," he said.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said while the rally helped vent the emotions of participants, it was "disturbing" that Lozada continued to sow seeds of hatred and anger by spreading lies and innuendo.