Hundreds march in Manila against President Arroyo

MANILA, Oct 20 (Reuters) Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the Philippine capital today to support an opposition mayor who fought off the president's moves to suspend him before congressional and local elections in May.

Police watched as up to 1,000 people waved banners and Chanted slogans against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at a busy intersection in Manila's Makati financial district.

''The suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay was only the latest of continuing assaults against the will of the people and rule of law,'' Teofisto Guingona, a former Arroyo ally who served as her vice president from 2001 to 2004, told Reuters.

''She has been preaching of democracy and rule of law. But she must practice it.'' In another part of Manila, about 2,000 leftist activists and farmers burned an effigy of Arroyo near the presidential palace as they protested against unsolved political killings and moves to amend the constitution.

Arroyo is pushing reforms to boost revenues, fight graft and cut state debt, but some analysts say her attempts to suspend Binay and other officials could empower a fragmented opposition trying to oust her over accusations of graft and election fraud.

Arroyo, who invoked a brief state of emergency in February over an alleged coup plot, on Tuesday suspended Binay for two months over accusations he hired about 600 non-existent workers. The vice mayor and 16-member city council were also suspended.

Binay said Arroyo's move was politically motivated after an opposition mayor in another of Manila's cities was suspended for six months in September over a contested garbage contract.

An appellate court lifted Binay's suspension yesterday, ending a two-day standoff with police outside city hall where thousands of supporters had barricaded the mayor's office.

Today's rally attracted Catholic bishops, leftists, movie stars and opposition figures, including supporters of deposed president Joseph Estrada, who was succeeded by Arroyo in 2001.

Binay, a rights lawyer in the 1980s during the regime of late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, is an icon of the opposition for allowing anti-Arroyo rallies in Makati, which swelled to as many as 40,000 protesters in July 2005.

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