Opponents of Benigno Aquino hope for return of people power
On anniversary of 1986 movement, three groups are organising rallies against its heroine's son
As the Philippines today commemorates the 29th anniversary of the first People Power revolution, efforts are under way to hold a similar peaceful uprising - this time to unseat the son of the 1986 movement's heroine.
President Benigno Aquino, son of People Power icon Corazon Aquino, faces demands that he resign from three groups spanning the political spectrum. Members of these groups are staging week-long protests to demand the president step down over a disastrous commando operation on January 25 that killed a suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings but left 44 police dead.
Among the president's opponents are his mother's brother Jose Cojuangco and Cojuangco's wife and former governor of Tarlac province, Margarita Cojuangco, who have formed a group called the February 22 coalition.
Last Sunday, the couple - who held posts in the previous administration of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - joined a motorcade to the People Power shrine on Manila's Edsa highway and found it ringed by riot policemen.
"This is the only Aquino who's afraid of People Power," Margarita Cojuangco fumed about her nephew.
Earlier, the couple publicly demanded their nephew resign and give way to an "advisory council". Margarita Cojuangco claimed Vice-President Jejomar Binay had already agreed that if Aquino resigned he would form such a council.
