The capital police were placed under alert Tuesday with the threatened mass protest by the opposition as the House of Representatives was undergoing the vote on a report dismissing impeachment files against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to the radio dzMM, anti-riot policemen were deployed to secure the places where the opposition activists threatened to launch protest, including some historical sites and business center streets.

Director Vidal Querol of the National Capital Region Police Office earlier said that an additional 2,000 policemen had been tapped to monitor rallies scheduled for Tuesday in Ayala Avenue in Makati and Mabuhay Rotunda in Quezon City.

The police raised its alert after former President Corazon Aquino on Monday called on Filipinos to back efforts to impeach President Arroyo by joining a protest march on Tuesday.

"It is good for us to show our support to the congressmen by being out there and marching," Aquino said at a news conference.

Those who had also claimed to join the protest included Susan Roces, widow of President Arroyo's main presidential rival Fernando Poe Jr., and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, another presidential candidate in the election last year.

"Maybe this is one way of telling them how much it means, not only to me but to all of us who love our democracy and who are searching for the truth," Aquino said.

On whether the protest would be backed by the military supporters, Aquino said that her call was for nonviolent action.

However, Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said during a TV interview that the opposition led by the former president was not asking for the truth. "They just want the president to go."

Source: Xinhua