|
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Journalists rally against attack on press freedom
MANILA -- Media practitioners rallied behind The Daily Tribune, which was the subject of the "first attack" against freedom of the press after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo put the country under a state of emergency.
Police raided The Daily Tribune office in Port Area, Manila, past midnight Saturday and seized several copies of its Saturday issue that were about to be dispatched nationwide.
PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said that under General Order Number 5 issued in relation to Presidential Proclamation 1017, the PNP has a "clear mandate" to "carry out appropriate action and security measures to prevent an escalation of the situation."
Aside from The Daily Tribune's office, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operatives also attempted to raid the office of Abante, a tabloid, also in Port Area, Manila, and offices of Malaya but the policemen withdrew when they noticed several crew of two television stations in the area.
Niñez Cacho Olivares, publisher of The Daily Tribune, decried the act saying that the police conducted the raid without a warrant.
She also said they will file a case.
"What's this martial law? Does the state of national emergency allow the policemen of (President) Arroyo to just confiscate anything they please?" Olivares said in a television interview.
Marites Danguilan-Vitug, editor of Newsbreak Magazine, feared that they might suffer the same fate that The Daily Tribune had experienced.
"We view the raid on Tribune, an opposition newspaper, with alarm. It appears to signal the start of a crackdown on media organizations. We have always believed that repression is never the answer to a critical press," she said.
Vitug reminded authorities that a free press is a cornerstone of a democracy and without it, "we cannot claim to be a democratic country."
"Twenty years ago, we regained our freedom of the press. Today, we stand the risk of losing it. It is ironic that on the day we celebrate People Power, a glorious and festive moment in our history, we are reminded that our freedoms are fragile. They can easily be taken away," she added.
Vergel Santos of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) likened the incident that happened to The Daily Tribune to the early days of martial rule.
Santos said media organizations should band together and oppose the proclamation or any attempt that would curb the freedom of the press.
Also, the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said it is about time that journalists must take a stand regarding the issue.
Carlos Conde of NUJP feared that the situation might worsen had not media would not take any stand on the matter. "This is going to get worse. We are worried and concerned about the implications of this proclamation on press freedom," he said.
The five daily newspapers in Cebu Saturday also said the government cannot censor the media as proclamation of a state of emergency does not suspend the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
Proclamation 1017, which put the country under a state of emergency, said that certain sectors of the media are "recklessly" promoting the cause of those who want to bring down the Arroyo administration.
Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said the "strong presence" of the police in the editorial offices of the Daily Tribune will remain while "extraordinary conditions" in the country exist.
Defensor said the publication will operate under police watch in the coming days as a reminder to other media organizations not to aid those who want to overthrow the government.
Arroyo, in issuing Proclamation 1017 last Friday, warned the media against irresponsible reporting. She said the media should not be "publishing rumors and baseless information."
Cebu editors warn v. prior restraint
In a joint stand, the five daily newspapers in Cebu Saturday reminded government it cannot impose prior restraint on media as proclamation of a state of emergency does not suspend the constitutional right to liberty of expression.
The papers that aired this warning were Sun.Star Cebu, The Freeman, Sun.Star Superbalita and Banat News. The editors-in-chief of these papers are Pachico Seares, Eileen Mangubat, Jerry Tundag and Juanito Jabat. Joining the Cebu newspapers stand were individual journalists like columnist Juan L. Mercado of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and broadcaster Bobby Nalzaro of dySS and GMA 7.
CDN's Mangubat stressed that the imposition of the state of emergency by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should not curtail the Bill of Rights. Thus, prior restraints will violate the Constitution's injunction against abridging freedom of the press, she said.
Seares of Sun.Star said the raid of the Daily Tribune was a "disturbing" development, which presented an implied threat against press freedom.
The Cebu journalists recalled the self-defeating role of Marcos censors. "In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas," they said.
(February 26, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Marines protest relief of chief