MANILA, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Philippine police Friday arrested a former social and welfare secretary, accusing her of illegal assembly and allegedly leading a protest at the water-front tourist district of Manila.

    Corazon "Dinky" Soliman was arrested together with the leader of a group calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, when they were talking in a park on the Roxas Boulevard in Manila, said police.

    Soliman and her companion were accused of violating law for public assembly without a permit, said police.

    But the two said they did not see the need to secure a rally permit because they only wanted to walk in the park.

    Witnesses said they had no anti-Arroyo banners but wore black shirts printed with words in Tagalog, the local tongue, calling on government officials to resign from their posts.

    Soliman was one of the 10 former members of the Arroyo government who resigned in July last year calling for the resignation of Arroyo. Enditem