CEBU CITY, 16 February 2003 — About 3,000 people in the Visayan cities of Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod attended separate prayer rallies on Thursday and on Friday to protest the US plan to invade Iraq.

About 2,000 persons, mostly students from religious schools, converged at the Plaza Independencia in downtown Cebu City at about 2 p.m. Friday.

They marched to the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda, a distance of about 2 kilometers, where a short program was held. Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal sent a message read for him by Monsignor Vicente Manuel during the rally.

In his message, Vidal urged the faithful to pray for peace.

“If waging war is an act of faith in one’s capacity to dominate, waging peace is an act of faith in providence of God,” Vidal’s message said.

“If the powerful and the mighty have their arms and soldiers to wage war, we will have our prayers to wage peace,” he added.

In Iloilo City, around 150 protesters also on Friday gathered across the Jaro Cathedral and offered prayers, flowers, songs and lighted candles to voice their opposition to the impending US war on Iraq.

The protesters, mostly students and members of religious groups, called for worldwide opposition to US plans to attack Iraq.

The youth groups include the National Union of Students of the Philippines, Anakbayan and League of Filipino Students.

The student groups also displayed heart-shaped placards in schools to show their protest.

Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, United Church of Christ of the Philippines, Philippine Independent Church, and the Salvation Army joined the ecumenical prayer.

Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo quoted poems in his message to call for peace.

“. . . Let us declare that we choose inclusion instead of excluding others; expanding acceptance, instead of restricting rejection; love and dialogue, instead of hate; peace, instead of war!” said Lagdameo.

In Negros Occidental, about 1,000 Negrenses of different faiths gathered at the public plaza in Bacolod City on Thursday to appeal for a stop to the war on Iraq. (INS)