Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra and about 8,000 other Negrenses gathered at the Bacolod public plaza yesterday to say "never again" to martial law and Proclamation 1017 that, they warned, spell the death of democracy in the country.

Navarra said the black armbands, which he and the other members of the clergy wore at the rally, "stood for the death of human rights, liberal and free space for people to speak out and air their grievances, and, in a sense, also the death of democracy."

The prayer rally for the nation was called by Navarra who reiterated that Negrenses want the president to resign, but stopped short of calling for her to do so himself.

But protestors more dangerous
than Arroyo, writer tells bishop
BY NESTOR P BURGOS JR.

ILOILO CITY - Unfazed by President Mapacapal-Arroyo's statement that she may again use emergency powers, protesters yesterday marched in Iloilo, Aklan and Capiz to mark the International Women's Day and to call for the President's ouster.

In Iloilo City, around 1,500 protesters led by the militant women's group Gabriela and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) assembled in front of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas campus before marching to the Iloilo Rotary Amphitheater where they held a program and a mini-concert.

Bayan-Panay spokesperson Aurelio Bosque said their rally was also a "victory march" after the President lifted Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of national emergency.

Bacolod gets nat'l award
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

Bacolod City has been conferred the 2005 Apolinario Mabini Award for the Local Government Unit of the Year by the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia will receive the award at awarding ceremonies that will coincide with the anniversary celebration of the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons on March 24 at Malacañang Palace, with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as guest of honor and speaker.

Kate Gordon, 2005 Apolinario Mabini Awards Committee vice chairman, congratulated Leonardia for the city's concerted efforts in helping the disabled, and for a job well done, in her letter dated Feb. 23, 2006. She said the award recognizes the known individuals, groups and agencies who have made outstanding contributions in the rehabilitation of people with disabilities.