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Monday, February 27, 2006
Lawyers' group to question state of emergency at court
* Bishop says Arroyo to suffer Marcos's fate if she declares Martial Law
* Police ready to defend takeover of anti-government paper
* Arroyo allies hit 'media harassment'
A GROUP of lawyers said Sunday it will ask the Supreme Court (SC) to declare unconstitutional President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Proclamation 1017 placing the country under a state of national emergency last Friday at the height of the celebration of the 1986 Edsa Revolution.
Marlon Manuel, spokesman for the Alternative Lawyers' Group, said they will file Monday a petition for certiorari against Proclamation 1017, which gave rise to the violent dispersal of rallyists and arrest of some key personalities deemed critical of the government.
The President issued the proclamation in the wake of an alleged coup attempt to topple her administration, constituting a "clear and present danger." She also issued Government Order (GO) No. 5, which gives the police and military powers to carry out "necessary and appropriate actions and measures to suppress and prevent acts of terrorism and lawless violence."
Proclamation 1017 was anchored on Section 18 of Article 7 and Section 17 of Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution.
Section 18 provides that "(T)he President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion."
On the other hand, Section 17 of Article 12 states that "(I)n times of national emergency, when the public interest so requires, the State may, during the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest.
"Proclamation 1017 is unconstitutional on its face and in its implementation. We will argue that the President committed grave abuse of discretion in misapplying these two provisions in the 1987 Constitution," Manuel said.
He said the declaration of a state of national emergency does not authorize the President to curtail basic rights such as freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly and freedom of the press. "What we've seen last Friday - the ban on rallies and warrantless arrests - were violations of the Bill of Rights. These rights are not to be suspended even at the time of a state of national emergency," he said.
He further cited a ruling of the SC immediately after the May 21, 2001 siege of Malacañang by pro-Estrada supporters that a declaration of a state of national emergency does not add to or subtract from the powers of the Presidency.
"The SC declared that such declaration (of a state of national emergency) is superfluous is not required in the grant of emergency powers to the President. The Court ruled that it's not worth to give powers (to the President) in the exercise of the invocation of such emergency powers to call out the military to suppress lawless violence," he said.
In misapplying Section 17, which governs the takeover of public utilities, Manuel said the government is veering too close to censorship and away from the original intent of this constitutional provision. "If government has to take over a public utility, such as a media facility, it must do so in the interest of public service and in performing public service. There is no justification for taking over a media entity if the purpose is to censor its product and content. Government cannot padlock a media office without the benefit of a court order," he said, referring to the raid of the editorial and business offices of The Daily Tribune, one of the local opposition broadsheets, last Friday.
Manuel said the government should not equate newspapers with public utilities. "Newspapers enjoy freedom of the press. Public utilities and other industries are operating under a license that can be revoked by the government. Newspapers don't need a license," he said.
Earlier, human rights lawyer and former senator Rene Saguisag was quoted as saying that he will also file a petition with the SC questioning the legality of the raid of The Daily Tribune offices in Manila by police elements allegedly because of the newspaper's "contribution to instability in government."
But Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the police are prepared to justify in court their conquest of the newspaper.
Bunye, who is also the presidential spokesman, said National Police Chief Arturo Lomibao had already explained that the raid on The Daily Tribune is in compliance with GO5. He said the paper should just bring their case to court, assuring that the Philippine National Police (PNP) would not just respond but also to justify their action.
The Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilpinas (PDSP), the party founded by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, expressed apprehensions over the recent crackdown on media.
The PDSP, in a statement, said restricting press freedom would be tantamount to restricting the growth of the country and its people. The group said it is the media's job to inform the people, criticize and expose wrongdoings, corruption and shenanigans in government and other sectors of society.
The group also said it is the media's goal to seek the truth and to use it for the people's common good. "Its (media) criticisms may be blistering sometimes, but a hard-hitting press is also the measure of a vibrant and working democracy. If the media is suppressed, harassed or intimidated, then it will not be able to perform its mandate," he said.
"While we recognize government's right to protect itself from those who conspire to bring it down in violent ways and from those who let themselves be used by the latter, we believe it should take steps to assure media that it does not intend to muzzle responsible journalism. Defining in the clearest terms possible what is irresponsible is one such step," it added.
The PDSP said a government that fears media is a weak government while one that can withstand responsible journalistic attacks and criticisms is truly strong. It added that the best defense that the government can do is just to ensure "good governance".
At the House of Representatives, not only members of the opposition but even the allies of President Arroyo criticized the alleged harassment that media organizations, particularly The Daily Tribune, have been experiencing under the state of national emergency.
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles and House Minority Leader Francis Escudero also hit Lomibao for coming up with a "wrong interpretation" of Proclamation 1017. They said Lomibao's statement during a press conference last Saturday as a "Marcosian pronouncement" that the PNP would issue a "reporting guidelines" that the media is expected to follow.
The PNP chief said they would implement rules to avoid a takeover of media entities that allegedly being used to contribute instability. He also warned media organizations that they might be taken over by the police if they would not follow the standards.
Lomibao said police authorities were empowered to seize control on media outfits under GO5 of Proclamation 1017 or the declaration of a state of national emergency.
Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco, a known ally of Arroyo, cried foul over the takeover of The Daily Tribune, saying such an action was a complete violation of freedom of the press.
Nograles branded the impending standards to be issued by the PNP as "illegal and unconstitutional" as it would infringe freedom of the press and violate the people's right to have free access to information.
"The police and military can't impose prior restraint on news. That's illegal. We won't stand for that line," he said.
For his part, Escudero asked Lomibao not to issue another illegal order based on an "illegal" Proclamation No. 1017 just to appease some Palace officials. "Who are they (police authorities) to judge this matter? And to whom will they recommend? They are issuing one illegal order after another," he said.
Davao del Sur Representative Douglas Cagas, a member of Nationalists People's Coalition (NPC) and a staunch ally of the President, hoped that the PNP chief did not mean any harm. "I just hope he doesn't mean to muzzle the media," he said.
Meanwhile, a Catholic Church prelate said the Arroyo government would "crumble faster and more miserable" than the Marcos regime if she would follow the footsteps of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and declare Martial Law.
Lipa City Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, a senior member of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), issued the warning following the issuance of Proclamation 1017 by Arroyo.
"If President Arroyo and his gang do not show results in the direction of purging all perpetrators of corruption and improving the lot of the poor, this regime will crumble faster and more miserable than the past dictatorship," he said.
Arguelles said while they let Arroyo to quell the political crisis which had been the reason why the Philippines is unable to regain economic growth, it does not mean that the Catholic Church in particular will allow her to return to the dark days of the Martial Law era.
"We are tired of the political bickering and the atmosphere of endless conflict we have had these days. A little bit of discipline is necessary. (But) I can say that we will never approve nor tolerate repression in any form. It can only lead to worse things. Definitely most of us will never allow the return of Martial Law days," he said.
The prelate said President Arroyo should clear up the period as to when the state of national emergency would expire so that the people would be sure that she is not planning to declare Martial Law. (ECV/JMR/MSN/DBP/Sunnex)
(February 27, 2006 issue)
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