BOILING POINT

The day started as any normal day as it would for me. Getting up early and preparing myself to go through my usual coverage rounds for the day.

But when I opened the TV for my daily dose of the morning news, viola! Manila was in a hoopla! Rally time at the EDSA Shrine!

Today is supposed to be the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the EDSA I revolution. A peaceful commemoration. The Arroyo Administration, fueled by the arrest of some Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Field Commanders who were allegedly plotting a coup d' etat, declared around noontime a STATE OF EMERGENCY all over the country.

Minutes after the pronouncement by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, water cannons and swinging truncheons were the order of the day for the crowd gathering at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City.

Only the timely intervention of ex-Vice President Teofisto Guingona saved the day and resulted in a peaceful dispersal of the rallyists and their subsequent regrouping at the Ortigas-Santolan area.

As of this writing, the group is reportedly to be marching its way to Makati City, skirting the sidestreets of Mandaluyong and Makati. The group is targeting the intersection of Ayala & Makati Avenue where a bigger, star-studded (ex-President Cory Aquino & Archbishop Bacani included in the billing) rally is in the making.

The Philippine Peso slid down from 51.66 to 52.20 to a US Dollar.... The effect of the declaration of a State of Emergency....

An irony to celebrate the anniversary of the very event that unshackled this country from the clutches of the Marcos Regime 20 years ago.

Perhaps... this is the Boiling Point...

Perhaps not....

A call to a PRAYER FOR PEACE is appealed of everyone....