Hundreds rally in Manila ahead of Duterte's annual speech

Hundreds of protesters marched, staged motorcades and held a rally against a new anti-terror law and other issues Monday in the Philippine capital, despite police threats of arrests ahead of the president's annual state of the nation speech.

Authorities have banned public gatherings of more than 10 people under coronavirus quarantine restrictions but protesters said the government was using the health crisis as a cover to mute widespread criticism over a wide range of issues, including its handling of the pandemic.

The protesters who wore masks amid a continuing rise in coronavirus infections, lashed out at an anti-terror law which President Rodrigo Duterte signed early this month.

More than a dozen petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court for the law to be declared unconstitutional, mainly on fears it could be used to muzzle legitimate dissent and human rights defenders.

The protesters also condemned the shutdown of the country's largest TV network, ABS-CBN Corp., after a committee in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Duterte's allies, voted to reject a new 25-year franchise for the broadcaster which the president has repeatedly threatened to be shuttered partly for what he said was the company's failure to broadcast his campaign ads in 2016 and support for a rival candidate.

ABS-CBN has denied any wrongdoing.