Martial law
The Daily Tribune: Publisher's Note
02/26/2006
President Arroyo and her aides may choose to call it a Declaration of the State of Emergency, but the stench of Martial Law has pervaded the entire country.
For what else can one call a warrantless raid of The Daily Tribune at an ungodly hour of 12:45 a.m. Saturday, where armed and uniformed policemen swooped down on the newspaper offices and raided these offices, without a search warrant and even filching some papers without even a witness present, then ordering the padlocking of the offices and then having at least three policemen guarding the area, claiming they were doing so to "ensure that nothing gets lost."
At the same time, another police operation was ongoing, almost simultaneously, raiding the printing press with the policemen demanding to know from the night shift where our distribution centers were, and confiscating the last bundle which was to be picked up by a news dealer.
Later, on questioning the policemen why they were in the premises, the reply was that they were ordered to secure the area which is a "possible source of destabilization."
Then came the Philippine National Police chief Director General, Arturo Lomibao, telling the media that the Tribune has been taken over temporarily and that the administration is mulling the supervision of the editorial content of the paper since the Tribune may be conspiring with the opposition to bring down the regime of Gloria Arroyo.
It was also said the Tribune will be made to submit to the police authorities its final copy for approval. The regime is also reportedly thinking of taking over the operations of the newspaper and have the government publish it.
As this is being written, another phalanx of policemen has been deployed to the printing press offices, waiting for the Tribune to roll to press, with the clear intention to stop its printing.
And all this is claimed by the Palace to be constitutional and to quote the presidential legal counsel, Eduardo Nachura, the declaration of emergency rule by Mrs. Arroyo is precisely done to safeguard our freedoms and democracy.
And despite the fact of the raid and the probable arrest of the publisher, the Palace insists that this has not occurred and that it has no plans of controlling the paper.
They call a government takeover of a newspaper, a private enterprise, in which any government has no business poking its hand, critical or not.
The Constitution says no law, which means no law — whether by Congress or a dictatorial executive with her declarations — can be enacted abridging the freedom of the press. This also means that government is not vested with the right or authority to exercise prior restraint on the press.
The acts against the press hardly enhance the people's freedoms and democracy. It in fact ensures the suppression of these freedoms.
Gloria and her aides don't have any respect for the constitutional freedoms of a people and especially of the press that is critical of the Gloria Arroyo regime.
Her emergency declaration is done for only one purpose: Gloria's political survival. She can no longer take criticisms. She wants control of the press to ensure that the dirt that sticks to her and her government will be hidden.
She does not care about the rule of law, or the Constitution, or the freedoms of a people.
All she cares for is her political survival.
Charges will be manufactured, as evidence will be manufactured, to jail those who defy her.
The Tribune will continue defying her. We will not be cowed.
She can order the closure of the Tribune, but we will not close down the Tribune in fear of her.
We were not cowed during the martial law years. We will not be cowed today.
|
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.
From Sun Star Network (February 26, 2006 issue)
|
