Thursday, December 06, 2007 Espinoza: Arrest of media people unacceptable By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
DRAG racing on Ouano Ave. inside the Mandaue City reclamation area has been going on for sometime now. Saturday nights, motorists (with motorcycles and cars) converge there and race until early morning.
My source told me the promoters of this illegal activity are close to the powers that be in the city. This must be the reason the Mandaue police could not stop this activity.
Several drag racers have been injured but these never got to the news. If it did, the facts were doctored. The activity was reported to the Traffic Management Group (TMG) 7 but the report was tossed back to the Mandaue police.
Drag racing does not only endanger the lives and limbs of racers but also innocent motorists unaware of the activity while driving at night along Ouano Ave.
It also uses up scarce and expensive fuel. Under the Marcos regime, a presidential decree outlawed drag racing to conserve fuel. I think this decree is still in force.
On the other hand, while Mayor Jonas Cortes’ administration is focusing on cleanliness and sanitation, enforcement of traffic ordinances and laws leaves much to be desired.
Trisikads, limited to tertiary routes and in subdivisions before, now ply everywhere, even in the city’s busiest streets. Worse, their drivers pedal against the flow of traffic.
The same is true with tricycles. They now enter streets where they were banned before. What makes tricycle and trisikad drivers special, mayor?
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I condemn in strongest terms the arrest and handcuffing of media people that covered live the standoff at the Peninsula hotel.
Media’s coverage inside the hotel where Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and company holed in was an exercise of freedom of the press and their obligation to inform the public.
The arrest violated their rights, which is protected and guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.
It also violated Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees unhindered freedom of expression. Our country was a signatory of ICCPR on Dec. 16, 1966.
Article 19 of ICCPR states: “1.Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or though any other media of is choice.”
For failing to move out of the hotel after a police’s ultimatum, media people were accused of obstructing justice. I don’t know where the police and the military got their definition of obstruction of justice.
What was the ultimatum about? Were they out to bomb the hotel to fish out Trillanes and company and serve his warrant of arrest for walking out during his court trial? How cocky.
The police and military were perhaps embarrassed. Media coverage showed that Trillanes was not armed, neither was he supported by an armed group.
A coup d’etat is defined as a sudden and violent overthrow of government and seizure of political power, especially by the military. Trillanes is a senator and no military group was behind him in his latest caper.
Handcuffing members of media was unnecessary and unacceptable. They did not commit a crime. I support the filing of charges by the National Press Club against those responsible for it.
