By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
When I got into college in 1972 it was the height of student activism. Rallies were everywhere.
So I was so interested to join the Sept. 21 anti-corruption rally a few days ago not only to really vent out my indignation but also to see how rallies are done now.
Too bad I was physically so down that time dealing with a number of minor health issues in addition to the major ones I have been contending with the past almost three years. Anyway, for 3 days just before this recently scheduled rally I have not been sleeping due to a virus affliction which, while not a cause for serious worry, it resulted in rashes on my chest and back that were pesky with their skin-deep irritating pain and itch. So wide eyed I was for a number of nights.
But on the eve of the rally I was a bit OK. Since I was not good enough yet to go and shout out on the streets, the least I could do was to brief the kids living with us and who were going– my 21 year old son and his two cousins who are a year older. They were excited to go.
First order of business is “you are not going to a fashion show.” Go in rubber shoes. There will be a lot of walking and, God forbid, some running if some saboteurs will be planted to coax or ignite the crowd into a riot.
Being in a riot is never fun. You would be facing a frenzied crowd out to lynch you. At least those were what scared me the most in all my life. One was in Tondo while the others were my having had to face about a 100 labor strikers whom I fired from their jobs.
Anyway, in a situation like that, the best thing to do is to run away as as fast as you can from the scene.
Usually, the favorite technique of saboteurs is to use pillboxes or Molotov bombs to rile a crowd into a riotous behavior. With a loud bang of any of these, the primal fear or the usual cowardice in those who can only find comfort or false confidence in having such kinds of small bombs will be stoked.
For law enforcers, their favorite way to cause a riot was a tear gas or the water cannons of fire fighters.
So be prepared.
If it will not be hot, wear a jacket. It can offer some protection even if in a flimsy way.
A handkerchief or a face towel can go a long way from protecting your face from the heat or fire from a Molotov or the powder or shrapnel of a pill box. And, as I heard, in case of a tear gas, a wet towel is very good to shield your face, eyes, and nose. It would enable you to breath a little bit and be able to maintain connection with dear life.
Having those things taken care of, I turned to go to our room to sleep. Then the kids reminded us parents of the cake. The incentive to go to the protest rally.
I said, going to the rally is for your future. Asking for the cake is having one and eating it too. Anyway, we bought one and was waiting for them the next evening for them to celebrate on. They came back safe and sound.**
