Listen to “One Day More.”
Itaguyod ang Katotohanan.
It is time to be COUNTED!
Join us at the Friday Inter-Faith Prayer Rally
Ayala cor. Paseo de Roxas — 4:00 to 8:00 PM
Where former President Cory Aquino and Jun Lozada will join us as we make the call for Truth and Accountability.
Black and White Movement, together with Hyatt 10/La Salle 60, MBC, MAP, Manindigan,
and other professional and church groups will assemble at the
AIM (Paseo de Roxas) Parking lot at 3:00 PM.
Please join us.
Sa Totoo Tayo. Now Na!
Today there will be people from all walks of life and different generations and varying political and non-political persuasions, coming together to make a stand.
It’s unfortunate that the focus on Makati will obscure the efforts being made elsewhere in the country. Whether a rally in Cebu City, or elsewhere, the only divide I see is between urban and rural Filipinos: though the majority, for some time now, of Filipinos are urban dwellers. I strongly believe the sentiments among urban Filipinos are converging while rural opinion won’t be far behind.
Returning to today’s rally, the authorities are pulling out all the stops: PNP renews warning about communists, terrorists at rally. They’re spooked.Yesterday, something remarkable happened at PUP, see: PUP bomb threat fails to stop Lozada. And something else happened, see: Dirty Tricks in Uniffors.
But two bloggers say it best.
Market Manila declares he will be there:
Because we live in a democracy by choice. Because not speaking up when you know something is wrong makes you an accomplice to the wrong. Because I think everyone must be held accountable for their actions, particularly where their actions impact the welfare of millions. Because of the increasingly brazen disregard for the laws and even basic ethics that should apply to educated individuals. Because in many ways, I am embarrassed to be in the same gene pool as those who are perpetrating and then possibly getting away with such outrageous actions. Because of dozens of other reasons I will keep to myself as I know you get the point.
A reply he gives to a commenter is zeroes in on the issues even more:
mapster, I agree that we have to do everything we can everyday. I pay my taxes and a LOT of them. I have never ever slipped a policeman lunch money. I have voted with a conscience and watched at the polls. I have volunteered services for politicians or candidates which I thought rose above the rest, and I have never accepted any gifts, compensation or positions for the effort. So yes, I think we have to do our daily bit. But I also used to believe that we had a high corruption rate because we were poor… and that somehow the petty corruption of the streets and licenses, etc. were a function of poverty. But that is simply not true. The folks who are implicated in multi-billion scandals are well to do, and as someone above says, how much money do they need to live a decent and comfortable life? And the Hello garci scandal was offensive precisely because it suggests that the elections themselves are rigged, hence the votes of the people are ignored. At the very least, we have to indicate a great deal of displeasure and let everyone know they can’t get away with these kinds of behaviors.
As for being in the company of crooks and wannabees as some intimate above, I think in all democracies people from all walks of life will band together for similar causes, though they all may not look, sound, or be the same. While some of the folks who will be there at the rally this afternoon are opportunists and perhaps not folks I would normally look up to, many others could or should be every day folks who simply want to say, TAMA NA! And while I am not the biggest of Cory fans, I think she IS someone to look up to and her presence is only one of the minor reasons I would show up this afternoon.
I agree with other sentiments about changing the system et al. But I would agree more that we need to change the people on a massive scale with folks that really want to do the BEST for their country, a noble and difficult scenario, I concur.
As for others, you are definitely entitled to your opinion and free to choose what you will, can or want to do. With Marcos it took 20 years to reach the “boiling point.” In subsequent administrations the flare ups occurred with less time required. But at some point, when we all are personally so incensed or affected directly, you too will feel the need to do something.
If you re-read the post above, I would like to point out that I only said that I WOULD BE GOING. Not that I thought all of you should as well, that is obviously your choice.
Touched By An Angel says,
Though not a popular choice by our Catholic Bishops, I believe, GMA has to go. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has to go.
I truly believe that The President and her people have engaged in so much lying that they can no longer recognize the truth even if it stared them in the face. (PDI) As to the next step to take, I will take one step, one day at a time. I do not have the answers yet but in time, I will discern it. Our Filipinos will discern it. I will be there at the The Interfaith rally…
Among young people, there will be those, like on a red day who will be there, as will Tristan’s Mental Assylum ristan’s Mental Assylum and Jamel Ignes who is attending a rally for the first time! (for the religious, see melo touch). Other young people share their views, and efforts at discernment: a slice of wine.. and a shot of cake.. points out the dividing line and respects those who have decided to speak up against the President. There are others who are still uncertain, yet watchful, like Prudence and Mandess, and such as student Timmyland or who remain ambivalent, who will not go but who will be keeping those gathered in their thoughts, see OFW jihAn.zillA. Sh, and Yeweifang’s blog .
Among more senior bloggers, Red’s Herring puts everything in perspective:
If the events that have led to People Power I (EDSA Revolution of 1986 or EDSA I) are any guide, revolutionary uprisings go through certain levels (of consciousness): First, the underlying belief by a sizeable segment of society that the rulers and certain institutional arrangements have lost legitimacy; second, certain intense participants or change agents have gotten around their sense of powerlessness and come to realize they have the power or capacity to effect the needed changes; third, the disaffected members of society have more or less formed a consensus as to the nature and or scope of the changes they desire to occur in lieu of the illegitimated rulers or arrangements, whether be it about a total systemic overhaul, a “regime change,” an extra-constitutional overthrowing of a corrupt or immoral government, etc.
My sense is that People Power III has already reached the first and second levels of consciousness described above. However, before the Great Beast “could take care of itself” today it has yet to hurdle the third level of consciousness.
For one, I have noted even the reformists in the military and the progressives in the civil society are still tentative about the scope and the nature of the changes to be sought (note should also be taken for instance that the mere suggestion during the Manila Peninsula “uprising” that a military junta was being contemplated has not sit well with potential supporters), while other veteran people power practitioners are apprehensive the next exercise “could again end up repeating a vicious cycle of simply ‘moving on’ in circle, and not leaping onward or to a higher ground” or a “new qualitative state.”…
…Now, the question once again: Why is People Power III taking its time?
My own take is: There is yet no general consensus among potential people power participants and activists, as has been in EDSA I or EDSA II, as to what change to aspire for and institute.
Arguably, proposals for reforms or transformations, at odds with each other for the most part, still abound. To cite a few: some who believe the two EDSAs were both a failure aim this time to act against a failed system and plan to overhaul it either according to some rigid ideologies or based merely on the “best practices” of ongoing successful experiments; other groups are just angry and frustrated because of “relative deprivation” (middle class weighed upon with a looming downgrade to the next class complain how come only their counterparts in other regions are having all the fun); still others are focused only on struggling for control of the state apparatuses and effecting “regime change” while keeping both the political and economic structure intact; and specifically, accused coup leader and now detained senator Sonny Trillanes is eager to transform the nation “without reinventing the wheel” or whereas Bishop Francisco Claver can only entertain the belief that “our problem comes down to this: how to correct the aberration that is the present administration without destroying the stabilizing structure that is our democratic system of government.”
…As a result, reactionary moves from old and once reliable alliances, the CBCP in particular, are silently taking place in the form of tokenism (a plea to President Arroyo to take lead in the fight against corruption) and diversion (a call for a new brand of People Power through “communal action”).
Mon Casiple on the part of the political pundits, observes,
The nature and circumstances of this political crisis is such that it can only have one resolution: the end of the Arroyo regime within the context of the existing electoral democracy. From there, it may result in the affirmation of this electoral democracy and thus the integrity of the 2010 elections. Or, more remote, it may lead to the ending of the electoral democracy itself. At any rate, these are the days of reckoning.
The people’s consciousness and readiness to action are developing by leaps and bounds. The usual tactics by the GMA administration are not working anymore and proved to be ironically pushing faster the momentum for change. From the JDV triumphal ouster to its present travails, the Arroyo administration has rapidly traversed a half-circle towards a downward spiral.
What’s Casiple referring to? I can only guess, but think of this. Did you notice the article, 52 governors troop to Palace to show support for Arroyo ? A friend encountered one of these governors on a plane bound for Manila, and the governor prattled on about how he was going to Manila on business -only for my friend to see the governor on TV lurking near the edge of the gathered governors. Said my friend: you see, they’ve begun to get embarrassed over their support for the President (the governor knew my friend’s an oppositionist; but a mere month ago, the governor would needle my friend and crow about the President every chance he got). And the news leaves an even bigger question hanging: what of the other 29 governors?
Recall that one of the officials proclaimed a convenor of the Loyalist rally in Manila on Feb. 25 pointedly told the media, “oh, I’m in Manila doing shopping.”
While Amando Doronila notices that:
Speaking to a joint meeting of the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines and PinoyME Foundation last Feb. 26, Aquino did not make a pitch for another People Power uprising, to the disappointment of many people. She merely called on President Arroyo to step down, saying it was the least disruptive way out of the “severe moral crisis” facing the country. She said, “She must give way to a credible government that could lead by example. Given our concern to protect the moral pillars of democracy, the extra-constitutional removal of the President is not an ideal we would want to aspire for.”
Aquino’s call for restraint was echoed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which in a pastoral statement on Feb. 26, called on the President to allow her officials to tell the truth about the slew of allegations of corruption related to several government transactions, but fell short of demanding her resignation. Instead, the bishops urged the President to be “part of the effort” to seek the truth.
The coyness of Aquino and the disappointing position of the bishops restraining people power highlighted the departure from the dynamics of 1986, when Aquino rode the crest of a forceful people power movement driven by the activist archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin, and the mass civilian participation in street protests in support of the military mutiny led by Marcos’ Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Constabulary chief, Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos.
Today’s configuration has lost the fervor for mass action of 1986. It tells us that today’s movement is not based on mass action to bring pressure on the key support institutions of government to defect, such as the military and the bureaucracy. Today’s movement has changed emphasis. It has shifted its cutting edge from confrontation in the streets to bringing moral pressure on government. The shift is not exerting a powerful pressure on government officials to step down. It emboldens them to stonewall.
Though as the Inquirer editorial today points out,
We realize that, in itself, the language of the recommendation (“Urge the President and all the branches of government to take the lead in combating corruption wherever it is found”) seems to be neutral. But in the present context, it actually disregards a fundamental reality. In the scandal over the National Broadband Network, the President and her men have been less than forthright in telling the truth. That, in fact, is one of the reasons we have a crisis in the first place.
Apropos of the bishops, read An Open Letter to the CBCP at Brown SEO.
(courtesy of pedestrianobserver)
Meant: Ms. Luli has been complaining that they are not given air time to reply.
March 1st, 2008 at 1:11 am
jakast, you can see, any time something is going on a whole parade of government officials invite themselves to push the party line. they have no shortage of airtime minutes.
MLQ, Here is a scandal brewing that could explode or fizzle depending on the outcome of the RCMP investigation, but not posting it as may distract the discussion at the moment, but it touch on some sort of Bribery in Government that was just revealed in a book..you may check it here in today’s headline:
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/308112
Luli is going to need a psychiatrist after this.
But that ABS-CBN piece on VP Noli talking to puschists (I’m not sure of the spelling but you used loyalists) of a post-GMA scenario is poor judgement knowing that he was and is still close to the station. I read it as planting seeds of doubt.
I am dismayed at the presence of the ex-convict Estrada at the rally, sitting on the stage beside former president Aquino, at that. So the enemy of our enemy is now our friend?
jakcast, unless it’s true. though you do have a point. what if he’s been sending feelers to many groups? every instance should be reported, i suppose.
aames, how can you be dismayed when you don’t even sympathize with the various issues that drew people to that rally??
that’s like my saying i’m upset the president hangs out with drug lords like luis villafuerte.
In that case, a pressure point will be to VP Noli. I pity the guy.
BWA HA HA HA HA HA, YOU CAN REALLY TELL HOW DESPERATE THAT BIGGEST BITCH IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD IS ALREADY BY HOW MANY OF HER PAID-HACKS ON THIS MESSAGEBOARD ARE IMMEDIATELY TRYING TO DOWNPLAY THE SUCCESS OF THE RALLY TODAY.
YES, THE SAME CYBER-WHORES* THAT HACKED THIS BOARD AND ELLENVILLE YESTERDAY AND THE DAY BEFORE, ARE NOW TRYING TO MAKE US ALL FEEL BAD ABOUT THE SUPPOSED “FAILURE” OF THE COMMUNAL ACTION , BUT THEY HAVE NOT FOOLED ME, AND I HOPE FOR YOUR OWN SAKES THEY HAVE NOT FOOLED ANY OF YOU EITHER.
* NOW DO YOU BELIEVE ME ABOUT THE BLOGGING BRIGADES OF MALACANANG?! I REALLY DON’T KNOW HOW, IN A WORLD WHERE THE CHINESE HAVE THEIR OWN OFFICIAL CYBER-HACKER ARMY, THE RUSSIANS RECENTLY ENGAGED IN A CYBER-INVASION OF ESTONIA, AND WEBSITES ACROSS THE WORLD ARE CYBER-ATTACK EVERYDAY, YOU PEOPLE CAN STILL REMAIN SO NAIVE ABOUT THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITIES OF CYBER-WARFARE?!
OH BY THE WAY, ABOUT THE SO-CALLED LOYALISTS OF GMA, IT WAS SHOWN ON ( IRONICALLY ) GMA NEWS, THAT NOT ONLY DID MANY OF THEM NOT EVEN KNOW WHY THEY WERE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE, EVEN THE REGULAR PEOPLE AROUND THEM ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY WERE MOSTLY “BAYARAN HAKOT” , SO MAKE OF THAT WHAT YOU WILL!
So, this S.O.B. tagalog is still alive.
Henceforth, I’ll call you “TheColdCut” for your tiny weiner. Everyone knows Bisayas have bigger dicks.
This guy thinks I didn’t mean it when I said I required an apology for all Bisayas.
mlq3, I don’t understand your comment. I am against corruption and the rally was a stand against corruption. What was the ex-convict Estrada doing there?
my two cents:
aames, i support your cause. but one at a time, one at a time. estrada carries the votes of the masa–believe it or not, he was a good man. he won the trust of this masa enough to bring them to the so-called Edsa 3. to cut him down now would also cut down the strength of labor and the masa.
you noticed that estrada was a little disconcerted in his presence in the rally? with his pardon hanging over his head, he and arroyo are certainly “two sides of the same coin”. but think of it this way: he, at least, did his fair share of punishment. maybe not enough, but we were vindicated. the bitch is a different story.
to those who are anti-edsa:
“those who are not with us are against us; those who are against us SCATTERS”
to everyone else:
do you hear the people sing?
singing the songs of angry men
it is the music of the people
who will not be slaves again!
when the beating of your heart
echoes the beating of the drums
it is a start of a new life
when tomorrow comes!
BrianB, why? Are you a Bisayan? (Cebuano?)
Just watching at the news (TV Patrol), I could say that the police estimate was a downplay (dumbplay could be a better term). I may be wrong, but I think the protesters could be anywhere between 50k to 80k at the time of the newscast. It’s a lot, lot bigger than the previous rally.
Kabayan, and all those who were there, your guess estimates are much better than the “folis” figure.
(Sigh!)I wish I were there.
Will: I like that song!!!! But you did not quite tell the ending, and Marius singing.
When you lambaste a people that makes up half this country, you are not only showing your prejudice but saying in effect you have no clue what democracy is all about.
brianb:what did he say?
aames, well, let’s look at why he was there. he was impeached. the people rebelled, he went home, he was charged, so he was jailed, he was convicted, and he was pardoned.
so legally speaking he’s a perfectly free man and starting afresh in the law.
the rally was for the truth in getting to the bottom of many things.
again, come to think of it, he’s a pretty good poster boy for the system at least functioning sort of, kinda. instead of not functioning, totally, completely, as it is now.
hey, i’m beginning to see why he still gets lustily cheered.
Sen. Gordon today mentioned about some of the unresolved issues I was saying about the 1986 and 2001 upheavals: who killed Ninoy Aquino?, compensation for human rights victims, claims on Marcos wealth. I’ll add these: who killed Bobby Dacer? who’s telling the truth/lies, Erap or Chavit. Senator Gordon called “no closure” issues. I call them scores to settle. For as long as we keep them in inventory, we will have more, and more of these days of reckoning. And more frequent. Am i pro-corruption for raising these? Certainly not. Realist maybe. Are these part of vibrant democracy? Maybe. But please let us not try to enforce our politics to the people in the countryside, who in all simplicity, may just be trying to earn a daily living.
TheColdKing
This can also be directed to the OFWs. Hnestly, I don’t know what Beho means.
We had a company Christmas party last December @ SMX and it did not really require too much area to fit us 8000+ employees. Looking at how compact and massive the crowds were in both sides of Ayala Ave and and Paseo de Roxas Ave, the 15,000 estimate was, I’m sorry to say, either done by a sane person who can count only up to 15000, or else a lunatic who was trying to sell us a joke. I’d say at least 50,000 thousand just within the 200 meter radius of the stage, and since I think it stretched further than that, 80,000 would have not been impossible.
BrianB, rom, coldking,
Ah, what coldking said is unacceptable not only to Bisayans but also to Tsinoys (“beho”). It’s a statement that reeks of ethnic prejudice, no matter where you look at it.
That’s the same as the movie “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo” which earned the ire of Sen. Pimentel (a Bisayan), because it is derogatory to all Bisayans. He cited the portion of the film in which a grandmother was telling a nanny in Tagalog: “Bakit pinapalaki ninyong Bisaya ang apo ko?” The mother butted in: “Speak to the kid in Tagalog. Para Pinoy.”
Apparently, coldking’s statement follows about the same line: “sabagay halos karamihan ng mga katulong sa pilipinas, mga Bisaya naman” (most maids in the Philippines are Bisayans). I doubt if that statement is founded on statistical reality.
Why can’t we tolerate other pinoy groups? Being a Bisayan or Tsinoy doesn’t make one less (or not) pinoy or whatever.
What we shouldn’t tolerate, regardless of ethnicity, is the cheating, lying, stealing of this govt under Gloria. As the saying goes (in obverse), “what’s not good for the goose is also not good for the gander.”
Guys, pagpasensiyahan na lang natin si coldking. Tutal, katsokaran naman natin siya dito. (Kabalo na ta sa mga ingana nga sinultihan, ayaw na dungagi pa aron walay gubot. Pasabta na lang siya nga sayop kana.)
what can one say about a “communal action” led by one convicted plunderer and one fascistic (mendiola & luisita massacres) ex presidents; partisan rabble-rousers in priestly garbs; fat nuns “praying” with upraised clenched fists in bellicose stance; turncoats and disgruntled former partakers and beneficiaries of the “corruption” they are now hypocritically denouncing; out-of-power politicians pining for another opportunity to retrieve past glory; former influence-hawkers who have fallen out of grace but suddenly found instant-celebrity status; partisan businessmen who have axes to grind against the incumbent president; assorted malcontents and the ubiquitous red flag bearers, and ideologues from both sides of the political divide. yeah, that’s some kind of “diversity” all right.
but like the old song asks: is that all there is? 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, out of 80 plus million. that’s people power?
hundreds of helpless victims of landslides and flooding in bicol and samar are digging for their lost loved ones with their own bare hands while these self-righteous hate mongers are busy findings ways to depose a sitting president. and they mask their unchristian activities by calling them “inter-faith prayer rally”. right! what is happening to our country?
wonder how costly these unholy exercises are in terms of lost productivity, lost energy, expenses for transportation of everyone involved, security and maintenance of order, street-cleaning, traffic disruptions, absenteeism at work, and impact on business and commerce, as a whole. for the oligarchs and the “elites” among the agitators, it may not matter. but what about the ordinary masses, wage earners, jeepney and tricycle drivers, employees who survive from small paycheck to small paycheck, etc., etc.? it’s good for their soul, they are told, but what about their body?
and the 64 million-dollar question is: who will enjoy the spoils if these “leaders” succeed in deposing gma?
Bogardo: 80,000 people will need about 320,000 square feet (3-sqft to 5 sqft per person, depending on how “friendly” to each other — “cheek-to-cheek” versus “cha-cha” dancing — the crowd is). A traffic-lane is about 9 feet wide. So 4 traffic lanes and 2 sidewalks (on both sides) will be 50 feet wide. 80,000 people will “need” about 6,400 feet by 50-feet-wide “space”. 6,400 feet is just a shade under 2-kilometers.
The road to an Ed Panlilio presidency is being paved..
I do not have read minds. alas kadora wrote:
Kasi nga as early as 6 may mga nagsi uwian na rin. isa ako dun sa mga umuwi bfore 6:30 because i live far. Nanay ako I still need to attend to my children after office.
Am`sure that it is not only she who wanted to be out of that place. As passionate as she is in commenting here, she can not spare more than a few hours for the anti-gMA advocacy.
so what do you think of those people who are working in makati? they make usi muna, stayed a little while then go home. they were never there to join these professional rallyists.
yong career eh mag rally and the moment, their anointed one becomes the president, they solicit juicy positions in the government.
Parang edsa 1.
investment lang yan.
Just pull out a ruler and a calculator and you can compute to your imaginings and your satisfaction. And when the 80,000 bodies are “butt-cheek-to-butt-cheek” magka-AKBAYAN/KAMPI friendly, still need a 4-lane boulevard… a little under kilometer.
Ganoon, pagkasama ninyo sa anti-GMA, okay lang ang bigot pero pag pro-GMA, kapaos kayong pagalitan at tawaging mga pangalan.
Sheesh.
I saw the aerial view of the mass rally.
May description sa tagalog na hindi mahulugan ng karayom pag maraming tao. Iyon, kahit kalabaw ang ihuhulog mo, sasayaw pa ang kalabaw malaki pa ang espasyo. Ilang libo din kaya yong mga vendors. Isama ang 5,000 policemen, siguro nga may 10,000. peroang alam, ilang daan lang ang kasama ni erap tsuwariwap.
Yong green tshirt ng mga kampon na binay at para makita kaagad sa roll-call. hehehe
he just want to be in the right place at the right time when there is people power. baka makasingit pa rin. hohoho.
cant make it dear,severly laid up in bed dear,head feels like a train wreck dear! with jeremy here on his “business trip” went out on the tiles LaST night ,started in Makati dear (your pinoy gin really packs a punch)bumped into Glor somewhere ,I think she was incognito! ended up at some twadry establishment in Ermita at 5 in the morning!! now if you can please keep the noise down and stop shouting ,your hurting my head dears!!
UP n student: I suppose you will be correct if the person in your 3 to 5 square feet/person computation is as big as fatass FG.
My estimate is the size of a lowly Juan Dela Cruz who can squeeze in (contented enough) and occupy quarter the size of what you had given.
Do your math kung taga-UP ka talaga.
What an a–ho–e he made of himself this Favila! FG for Florante G Igbiten? Dapat dito kay Favila, IBITEN patiwarik para malaman niya na ang FG stands for First Gentleman, plain and simple, end of story.
Sorry guys, ipost ko sana sa ellenville, pero kahapon pa, hacked iyong site niya.
if you pack people shoulder to shoulder (4 per sq meter), you need to fill ayala from herrera to makati av and paseo from dela rosa to ibm to get 80,000 people
Ca T,
Ikaw naman. Pati hindi katsokaran, pinagtatanggol ko din, at pinagpapasensiyahan lagi. Pero ung ethnic prejudice, mahirap talaga ipagtanggol un, tulad ng pagsisinungaling, pagnanakaw at pag iimbot. Hindi ba?
bogardo: My estimate does not have to match your estimate. You are as correct about your numbers as you desire to be.
Enough with complains!
Let’s talk about alternatives. Meron ba?
So far as I can tell, many of the commenters who argue for a higher crowd figure are basing their estimates on the TV and Youtube. Yet this was not a tightly packed crowd. You could move around easily enough, even quite near the stage.
Compare this to the crowds in front of the EDSA shrine in 2000/2001. Anyone who was there knows that once you got close to the shrine you were stuck as more people piled in behind you. A big crowd should give you a slight frisson of panic “how will I get out of here?â€Ââ€â€I doubt many felt that last night.
My football team in Scotland plays in a 16,000 capacity stadium. I have been there many times and I have a good sense of what 16,000 people look on the streets before and after the game and en masse in the stadium. When I go to a rally I try to imagine fitting the crowd into the stadium and, as I said above, yesterday’s crowd could have fitted in there comfortably. That’s just my opinion of course; we are just comparing guesstimates.
Still, it was bigger than other anti-GMA rallies I have observed (as mlq said) and may be a stage on the way to bigger things.
I would agree with your 4 person/sq meter.
If you come up with 20,000 sq meters to accommodate 80,000 people, and that this is just equivalent to 200m x 100m, then you can easily imagine that the crowd yesterday surpassed this area more than enough.
This is just equivalent to 16 Olympic sized pools.
sidewalk-to-island of ayala is 10 meters, herrera to makati av is 700 meters, do the rest
my point is, to test the accuracy of an estimate, compare the actual density to 4 per sq m, and if filled up ayala up to herrera and makati av. if it didnt, it’s probably less than that. if it did, it’s more than that.
From Inquirer:
Director Geary Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, told the Inquirer that the corner of Ayala and Paseo de Roxas measured half a hectare, or 5,000 square meters.
So, given your 4 person to 1 sq meter figure. This would already be equal to 20,000 people. And, we know that the number of people surpassed this area quite easily. And that’s just counting one side of the intersection.
and you didn’t check? the corner of ayala and paseo measures 30×30 = 900 sq meters
pro gmas here are talking about the proper venue of removing gma- impeachment or other legal processes. the problem is gma and her minions have already bastardize and prostituted or blocked any attempt of following the rule of law. she has been rebuked by supreme court time and time again! majority of the congressmen men are under malacanang’s payroll. gonzalez is the sec. of dept. of injustice. ombudsman’s office head is an arroyo lapdog. the comelec has been bought. top brass of the military is not protecting the state’s interests but of gma and gma is not the state.
people are fed up and outraged by all the greed and corruption in the arroyo administration. the only venue left to vent that outrage is to go out to the streets and express them collectively. anger is just an understatement of how people feel! being angry and outraged is not only right but also that is how people should feel if his rights are violated by those same people who should be protecting them!
people who don’t see the obvious (or just refuse to see it for reasons i don’t want to speculate- may involve some pera?) are the __________ (fill in the blanks)!
Go ask the General. but 70 x 70 is not bad. The length is just almost 1-1/2 the length of a 50m pool, which I think you can easily fit there.