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Saturday, April 09, 2005
Editorial: Witch-hunt
AS MILITANT groups have gleefully pointed out, the military may have been a bit desperate when it bared a so-called "enemies of the state" list that was supposedly contained in a video-compact disc (VCD) early this week.
The "enemies of the state" list identified a veritable Who's Who in the non-government orgnanization (NGO), religious, sectoral groups and even media sectors.
Yes, some parts of the media sector had been classified as the "enemy" by the military.
In particular they had identified some groups as the National Union of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) as being in cahoots with communist rebels and even the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MNLF).
Why they were classified as such, well the two groups had certainly explained themselves quite fully and we don't see what we can add in their defense. And that comprehensive list does reflect a certain paranoia on the part of the military.
Though that military label can certainly cause division among the ranks of the national media with some media outlets that possess an anti-communist stance like the Philippine Star--through their vocal publisher Max Soliven---likely to give credence to this military claim.
Though Soliven has conservative views the Philippine Star is largely independent in terms of editorial content. But this is not just about the Star but every other media outlet that is highly critical of the government and is giving space and airtime to rebels who clearly are out to overthrow the government.
In this regard the laws concerning subversion comes into play and the military's latest statement about the press giving access to the enemy and this "enemies" list represent a crackdown on freedom of expression.
Through these developments plus the plan to implement a national ID system it is shown that the government has a deep distrust of and contempt not only on some sectors working for the rights and welfare of the Filipinos but the people themselves in that it had to institute measures aimed at keeping them on a tight leash.
That deep distrust and contempt is now being directed at the media that is one of the last vanguards of democracy.
When confronted with it officials like Senator Rodolfo Biazon, himself a former Armed Forces Chief of Staff, distanced themselves from it.
If the military can't back up its claim on these enemies of the state list then they should focus more on the battlefield and not on witch-hunting.
(April 9, 2005 issue)
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