Tens of thousands flocked to a religious rally in Manila's seaside Rizal Park yesterday in a show of defiance against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her supporters in the lower house of Congress.
Police estimated up to 50,000 people attended the peaceful gathering, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands expected.
But numbers were expected to swell later when charismatic Catholic group El Shaddai holds a vigil.
"We don't expect any violence because these people come here to pray and sing," one officer said.
Catholic bishops had called for a "Watch and Pray" rally after the House of Representatives tried to push through changes to the 1987 Constitution and create a UK-style parliamentary system, a move that critics said was designed to extend Arroyo's powers.
The Catholic prelates' opposition forced the lower house to abandon its plan earlier this week but the Church decided to push on with an open-air Mass.
"We need the gift of unity but that unity cannot be had except only through sacrificing ambitions," Manila's influential archbishop, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, told the congregation, which included prominent opposition politicians.
Although few Filipinos would agree that the US-style presidential system of government works well, the lower house's hasty move sparked alarm.
Analysts, however, do not see yesterday's rally as the start of a campaign to oust Arroyo -- who has survived two impeachment bids and one coup attempt -- because the small middle class is fed up with political turbulence.
"It's not a rally to revolution," said Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. "Nobody should be afraid of prayer."
``The great message today is that the government has been warned that if it pushes its luck too far, the people now will react,'' said Joe Dizon, a left-leaning Roman Catholic priest and vocal Arroyo critic.
The government still tried to dissuade people from attending the gathering, putting the capital on red-alert and warning that communist rebels might attack and militant leftist groups could try to provoke violence.
"Let us pray that the nation moves forward and that this event and others like it do not fall victim to political intrigue and manipulation," Arroyo said in a statement.
Arroyo has argued that the Constitution needs to be updated to turn the current US-style presidential form of government with a two-chamber legislature -- which has caused gridlocks and prevented economic development -- to a unicameral parliament led by a prime minister.
Opposition politicians, however, said her plan was aimed at diverting public attention from the many scandals plaguing her presidency and to cement her hold on power.
An attempt to amend the Constitution was derailed late last month when the Supreme Court ruled against a petition calling for a referendum on the issue.
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