ABDULLAH dan ARROYO. JANTINA BEZA PERANGAI SAMA

Police Detain, Charge Nine Activists Who Heckled President
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MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Philippine police detained and charged nine activists who heckled President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as she attended a celebration of women's month Monday (3 Mar), police said.

Arroyo was leading the ceremony in Calamba, 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Manila, when activists from the left-wing May One Labor Movement started shouting "Oust Gloria!"

The activists were detained and charged with alarm and scandal, said Chief Supt. Ricardo Padilla, the regional police chief.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, in charge of presidential security, told reporters Arroyo "noticed the commotion but did not hear the taunts because there were a lot of people and the hecklers were a bit far."

Arroyo was leading officials in releasing balloons when the shouting began and police grabbed the hecklers, GMA TV reported. Arroyo was briefly stunned but regained her composure when city officials clapped, the report said.

Security officials last month reported they had uncovered plots by al-Qaida-linked militants to kill Arroyo and bomb embassies, but opposition groups claimed the government was using scare tactics to curtail demonstrations calling on Arroyo to resign over a raging corruption scandal. (AP)