Tuesday, November 14, 2006 Cops try to arrest lady journalist in Palace
FIVE plainclothes policemen on Monday tried to serve a warrant of arrest on Business Mirror reporter Ma. Romina "Mia" Gonzalez at the Malacañang press working area.
The policemen, who came at around 10 a.m., listed their names in the logbook of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) of the New Executive Building (NEB) as Police Officer 3 Jessie Manalang, Inspector Riparig, Police Officer 3 Rowel
Ramos, Senior Police Officer 1 Alfredo Tan, and Senior Police Officer 2 Rodrigo Bonoan, all of Manila Police Headquarters. The entry in the logbook said they were there "to serve warrant."
Only Manalang and another policeman went to the press office entrance where they were stopped by the guard and told that Gonzalez was not around. The policemen told Rose Novenario, reporter of Tanod, when she inquired of their business that they were only there to ask something of Gonzalez.
The warrant of arrest concerned the libel case filed by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo against Gonzalez for writing the article "Will she (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) now change?" which came out in Newsbreak magazine on June 7, 2004 and the Philippine Star in May 24, 2004.
Gonzalez, under the contributor's pseudonym Concepcion Paez, wrote in Newsbreak magazine that several issues will continue to hound President Arroyo after her election, such as the First Gentleman, the budget deficit and the Public Estates Authority scam. Newsbreak and the Philippine Star have a tie-up, where the newspaper could publish articles from the magazine.
The Malacañang Press Corps (MPC), where Gonzalez serves as vice president for print, expressed outrage over the way by which the policemen tried to serve the warrant against Gonzalez.
MPC president Paolo Romero said the MPC supports Gonzalez and "her work especially in pursuit of press freedom and truth."
"We understand that this case is already within the legal system but we also protest the apparent roughshod or even discourteous nature by which the supposed warrant was to be served against our colleague," Romero said.
"We call on fellow journalists across the country to support one of their own especially at these times when the Philippines is number one outside of Iraq as the most dangerous place for journalists in the world," he said.
Ruy Alberto Rondain, the First Gentleman's lawyer, said in a statement that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo had nothing to do with the attempt to serve a warrant of arrest against Gonzalez because Attorney Arroyo did not even know that the warrant was going to be served.
Rondain said Gonzalez should only blame herself for the inconvenience that she suffered. "She wrote the libelous articles and maligned the reputation of the First Gentleman. So she should be brave enough to face the consequences," he said.
He said "things would not have gone this far," adding that he has information that Gonzalez had been evading arrest.
"I have information that Miss Gonzalez has been walking around despite the warrant because she has been using an alias. I find it curious that someone who has been evading the legal process can now complain that that same process is taking its course. Frankly, I find it duplicitous that some people can avoid the law and cite it depending on their personal convenience," he said.
Gonzalez said the manner of serving the warrant against her was "somehow deceitful" because the police went to her place of work even if she gave her official address at the Newsbreak office in Ortigas Avenue in Pasig City.
She said her lawyer Jason Natividad was not informed of the issuance of the warrant of arrest. She said she used a pseudonym in writing for Newsbreak because she contributes to many media entities and she does not want it to appear that she is all over the place.
She also said she used her real name when she answered the charges against her by the First Gentleman. She denied evading arrest.
Maritess Vitug, Newsbreak editor-in-chief, said they were surprised that an arrest warrant was about to be served against Gonzalez because they have not received a copy of the resolution of the court on the case.
"We deplore the shortcut and clear abuse of power," Vitug said.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, whose office was on the second floor of the NEB or just above the press office, refused to comment on the incident saying he will still look into it because he does not know the details.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), in a statement, expressed suspicion that the attempt to serve an arrest warrant on Gonzalez "send(s) a chilling warning to journalists that no place is sacrosanct when it comes to appeasing the whims of the mighty."
NUJP noted that Malacañang is not only Gonzalez' workplace but the home of Attorney Arroyo and his spouse.
It said Attorney Arroyo and President Arroyo should "face the issues raised against them where they are best addressed - in the arena of free and democratic discourse. They should stop harassing journalists and stop using an antiquated libel law as a tool to silence criticisms against this administration."
It also said: "The Presidential spouse has gone out of control with his libel spree, which is simply proving how, in this country the powerful show no qualms in using antiquated laws to stifle the freedom of the press and expression and shield themselves from public scrutiny."
It reminded the PNP that there is a memorandum of agreement between it and the National Press Club (NPC) that any arrest of a member of media should be coordinated with the NPC. NUJP reiterated its appeal for the repeal of the libel law and the decriminalization of libel.
Former NPC president and incumbent NPC director Sammy Julian said the serving of the warrant is "an exaggerated as well as a menacing response to those who are considered to have committed such crime as libel."
"Such a flagrant display of power sends a stern warning to all journalists: that there is no place to hide from the reach of those who hold the power of the state in their hands," he said
"Such an act could have caused a traumatic experience and deep embarrassment for one who has no inkling that a stakeout for her was in the offing," he added.
Ely Saludar, Radio Mindanao Network station manager and another former NPC president, said the police should respect reporters' area of work. (JMR/Sunnex)
