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Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Arroyo may lift Proclamation 1017 as dissent rises
MANILA -- As resistance to emergency powers intensified, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may lift Proclamation 1017 as early as Saturday, if there is no longer a national security threat.
The Supreme Court ordered the Arroyo administration Tuesday to explain the basis for the proclamation, at a hearing scheduled March 7.
But in the meantime, the crackdown on prominent administration critics continued.
A group of party-list lawmakers holed up inside Congress to delay their arrest, after the authorities implicated them in a failed coup plot.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia said five of the six legislators facing charges stayed inside the Batasang Pambansa, at his request, "so arrest warrants can be served in a proper and civilized manner." The charges carry a maximum prison term of life.
Some politicians have alleged the coup plot was a pretext for Arroyo to shore up her hold on power, after surviving an impeachment vote in Congress last year.
Due process
Fifteen of the country's 23 senators, including several Arroyo allies, have denounced Proclamation 1017 and pledged "remedial legislation" to stop potential abuse of power.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, which is questioning the proclamation before the Supreme Court, also called for members to march Friday in defiance of a ban on protests.
Emerging from the Supreme Court's closed-door session Tuesday, Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban told reporters the court was not issuing a restraining order because "due process requires that, especially in critical, important, significant cases, we must hear the other side."
Arroyo proclaimed a state of national emergency last Friday, after an alleged coup plot.
But critics and civil libertarians are worried that a string of warrantless arrests, a ban on rallies, and a raid on a critical newspaper were curtailing political freedoms and fanning unrest.
Acknowledging a sense of urgency, Panganiban gave all respondents until Monday to submit responses. Oral arguments were set for Tuesday.
Custody
Police filed last Monday capital charges against 16 people, including left-wing lawmakers, military officers, a former senator, and a communist rebel leader suspected of plotting to overthrow the President.
Two of the 16 who are in custody -- party-list Representative Crispin Beltran and Army Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan -- were indicted for rebellion before a Manila court Tuesday.
Police also arrested Dennis Maga, a spokesman for a group calling for Arroyo's resignation, and party-list Representative Joel Virador, who was later turned over to de Venecia for protective custody.
Amid threats of arrest, lawmakers Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza, Rafael Mariano, and Teodoro Casiño sought refuge overnight at the House of Representatives, along with Virador.
Police, accompanied by justice department prosecutors, went to the House to try to subject them to inquest proceedings, but the lawmakers refused, saying they will cooperate only if police show proper arrest warrants.
"Inquest cannot be done because we have not been arrested," Ocampo said.
"We remain under the protective custody of the Speaker, pending the serving of appropriate warrants of arrest," he added.
Open letter
Meanwhile, Marine Colonel Ariel Querubin, who led last Sunday's protest in Fort Bonifacio over the relief of their commandant, was himself ousted from his post Tuesday.
Later this week, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to issue a new set of guidelines for coverage of the broadcasting industry, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza revealed.
Malacañang has been asking the media to limit airtime for anti-government forces, after Arroyo placed the country under a state of national emergency last February 24.
Palace officials denied that they are suppressing press freedom but are merely asking the media to be careful in what they air or print as it may result in civil unrest.
But the declaration of a state of emergency, a raid on a newspaper, and the massing of troops near TV stations have jeopardized the country's democratic advances and media freedoms, a press watchdog warned.
In an open letter to the President, Ann Cooper, executive director of the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said the Philippine Government's action sent "a profoundly disturbing message about the limits of press freedom."
"Democracy in the Philippines has been threatened in the years since the 1986 revolution, but no administration has used the restrictive means your government has taken," the letter said.
"It's deeply disturbing to see political unrest threaten the precious and deeply held concepts of press freedom and democracy." (AP/AFP/Sunnex)
(March 1, 2006 issue)
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