A day after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the Philippines under a state of emergency, at least three of her political nemeses including a leftist lawmaker were arrested and a national newspaper raided.

Nine other party-list and opposition lawmakers claimed they had eluded plainclothes police officers that the legislators believed were intending to take them into custody.

Planned demonstrations to mark the 20th year of freedom from a repressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos have been banned.

Anakpawis party-list representative Crispin Beltran was arrested as he was leaving his farmhouse just outside Manila, the leftist Bayan Muna (Nation First) group said in a statement.

Retired general Ramon Montao, who served as security chief in Manila in the late 1980s and publicly backed the removal of Arroyo in a television interview on Friday, was arrested separately.

Shortly after midnight on Saturday, police raided the offices of The Daily Tribune newspaper, seizing editorial materials and a bundle of newspapers detailing Arroyo's state of emergency proclamation on Friday.

After the overnight raid, police were posted at the door and it was unclear if they planned to close the newspaper, publisher Ninez Cacho Olivarez said.

"They are part of a conspiracy to commit rebellion," Arturo Lomibao, head of the national police, told a news conference.

Arroyo declared a state of national emergency on Friday, claiming renegade military officers backed by civilians had forged an alliance with leftist groups to topple the government.

Arroyo's opponents were quick to cry foul, drawing comparisons between the state of emergency and the martial law decrees that Marcos used to entrench his power.

Former president Corazon Aquino asked: "What is this emergency act all about? Is it another name for martial law?"

Aquino, a former Arroyo ally who in July last year called on Arroyo to make a "supreme sacrifice" by stepping down, urged the people to stay vigilant and guard against forces who would like to "take democracy away from us".

Legal challenges to her emergency declaration were being drawn up.

Criticism that she overreacted came from many sectors including former president Fidel Ramos, whose support was considered vital when Arroyo survived her most recent political crisis last July.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Asia News Network