President Aquino’s state security forces did all it can to prevent protests: declare a “no permit, no rally” policy, set up police barricades across much of the city of Manila, block and, in some cases, even detain protesters from the provinces. By the evening of November 18, cops had blocked all exits from the Baclaran Redemptorish Church, where 700 Lumad and Mindanaoans had camped out after being driven away from freedom park Liwasang Bonifacio. It deployed hundreds of cops from different provinces (how’s the crime incidence in Tarlac or Bulacan, by the way?) to Liwasang Bonifacio.

Aquino still failed to dampen the protests.

An estimated 10,000 people showed up–out of nowhere, it seemed–in Taft Avenue on the morning of November 19, and marched from Kalaw to Buendia, where a phalanx of armed PNP Special Action Force blocked the way. The protesters proceeded to march along Buendia, until they were stopped by a throng of anti-riot cops and container vans near the corner of Roxas Bouleverd and Buendia.

Clearly, Aquino never heard of the adage “repression breeds resistance”. The more he tried to stifle dissent, the more he invites it, especially with a highly unpopular and ultra-expensive event as the hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) economic leaders’ summit.