Philippines: Two Former Presidents, Catholic Bishops Join "Inter-Faith Rally for Truth"

This is from the Pacific News Center. Church groups are often at the helm of demonstrations against Arroyo. This demonstration attracted two former presidents including Estrada who was ousted by People Power but who now is more popular than Arroyo who took over from him.

Philippines: Two Former Presidents, Catholic Bishops Join 'Inter-Faith Rally For Truth'
Jennifer A. Ng, Pacific News Center Correspondent 01.MAR.08
11:20 a.m. Manila, Philippines - Two former Philippine presidents, Catholic bishops and other religious groups, civil society groups, students, and members of the opposition joined the "inter-faith rally for truth" Friday.

Initial estimates by local media placed the crowd in Ayala Avenue in Makati, the site of the rally, at around 15,000. A stage was set in the area where political and civil society leaders stood and spoke to the crowd.

Former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Corazon Aquino took turns to address the rallyists, whose number, according to some observers, swelled to 80,000 at the height of the rally.

Engr. Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the "star witness" who alleged that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos accepted kickbacks from the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE to approve the national broadband network deal, also attended the rally.

Local news reports disclose that Jesus is Lord (JIL) movement leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva, who ran for president in the 2004 elections, offered prayers to "enlighten" the President, the military, and for the leaders of the Catholic Church to stand as "the salt and light of the world."

The inter-faith rally was staged to "search for truth" in the botched NBN project and other controversial government projects.

The NBN deal and other infrastructure projects like the Northrail project have been alleged as "overpriced" due to kickbacks given to government officials.

- Pacific News Center International