(Eagle News) – At least 200,000 supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte showed up at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park as of late afternoon today and continued to grow as of evening, according to the police.
Pro-Duterte rally organizers claim the number was even bigger at 400,000. The pro-Duterte supporters showed up wearing mostly red which was the campaign color of Duterte.
In contrast, the peak crowd estimate at the People Power Monument along EDSA was from 2,000 to around 3,000 in the afternoon, and dwindled to just more than a thousand by late evening, according to police estimates.
As of 7 p.m., the number was at 1,500 and continued to drop, according to Philippine National Police-National Capital Region Police Office (PNP-NCRPO) head, Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde.
“The number is slowly decreasing,” he said, while he stressed that there was no untoward incident that happened in the event which was also attended by former President Benigno Aquino III, Vice-President Leni Robredo and other notable former government officials who served during the Aquino administration.
Those who showed up at the People Power Monument rally was also a motley group, composed of crowds demanding the exhumation of the late president Ferdinand Marcos’ remains, those expressing support for detained senator Leila de Lima, and militants and leftists pushing for the continuation of the aborted peace talks of the government with the communists who were not entirely anti-Duterte. There were also those denouncing the alleged dictatorship of the Duterte administration, likening the 71-year-old former Davao City mayor to the late President Marcos.
More than 1,000 people took to the streets of Manila on February 25 to protest Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. / AFP PHOTO / Noel CELIS
As of 9 p.m, their numbers dwindled to 1,200, according to NCRPO spokesperson.
In contrast, Filipinos who trooped to the Quirino Grandstand to express support for President Duterte grew to 215,000 as of 9 p.m.
This was the latest estimate coming from PNP-NCRPO spokesperson Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas. She said they expect the number to grow.
The pro-Duterte supporters held a candlelight vigil expressing support for the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, criminality, and poverty.
Albayalde said a Zumba session was even scheduled early Sunday morning.
Those who showed up at Luneta also expressed support for the President amid calls made by his staunchest critics who have converged at the EDSA People Power Monument.
Thousands more of the President’s supporters gathered at different venues in the Philippines, including in Davao City, which were all timed to counter the People Power rally against Duterte.
Other pro-Duterte gatherings were also held outside the Philippines including London, Saudi Arabia, California, Israel, Singapore and Laos, among others.
Rallies were also scheduled in Tokyo, Macau, Dubai, London, Madrid, Toronto, Paris, and Hong Kong.
The pro-Duterte rallies and the People Power Monument rallies were both held on Saturday, February 25, marking the 31st anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution.
Duterte supporters mounted the rallies nationwide and in different parts of the globe as they said they feared the “yellow” supporters of former President Aquino would try to use the People Power event to destabilize and overthrow Duterte. The 71-year-old former Davao City mayor was popularly elected as President by more than 16 million voters.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party’s Robredo, who had constantly criticized policies of the Duterte administration, is facing an electoral protest case filed by her then-rival former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. The Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal had already junked Robredo’s motion to dismiss Marcos Jr’s electoral protest case, paving the way for a recount of votes cast for vice-president in the May 2016 national elections.
Robredo, who was seen in the People Power Monument rally on Saturday, had earlier said she was ready to serve as the face of the opposition after resigning from her Cabinet post in December last year.
She said she wanted to be the “unifying force” to amplify the voices of those who are critical of the policies of the Duterte administration.
But the number of people who came to the EDSA rally was less than what they had expected.
(Eagle News Service)