Author: Julian Alejandro

Statement of Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye On Proclamation 1017
from Gov.ph

There is a crackdown on anarchy and disorder, not on freedoms.

Proclamation 1017 is not a tool for oppression but a shield of the state and the people against mob rule and the seditious use of the tools for public information to foment civil unrest.

The President commends the PNP and the Prosecutor’s Office for the speedy filing of criminal charges against those who tried but failed to bring down the government.

If the plotters had succeeded, the country could have been in flames by now as the factions of the extreme left, the misguided elements of the military and the political opportunists fight among themselves for supremacy.

With their setback, the plotters also failed to derail our economic gains.

Confidence in the economy remains high and this is a tribute to the decisive actions taken by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to restore political stability.

The perceived restiveness within the ranks of the military is abating and the chain of command is secure as ever.

As the crackdown on government critics continue with the filing of cases against more than 50 “communists” and the arrest of another activist lawmaker–Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador–the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication issued a statement calling on President Arroyo to “end the assault on press freedom and the media and immediately rescind Proclamation No. 1017.”

Below is the complete text of the statement from the website of UP CMC Prof. Danilo Arao:

From Bayan Muna website:

February 27th, 2006

Bayan Muna swiftly condemned the arrest today of one of its partylist representatives at the Davao City airport.

The human rights advocate-turned-legislator Joel G. Virador was to rebook his plane ticket to Manila at the PAL office at around 2:00-2:30 pm when he was approached by elements of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Recent developments, including the Friday night raid of the Daily Tribune newspaper office, the deployment of troops to “watch” over broadcast stations ABS-CBN and GMA7, and the threat implied against news organizations in the February 24 proclamation declaring a state of national emergency, all indicate that the Arroyo government is seeking to intimidate print and broadcast facilities and journalists, and scare them from covering and exposing all the angles of the present crisis.

The question is: will we be cowed?

International human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong said Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran’s arrest is “illegal” and “an act of harassment and persecution.”

Capulong said Beltran is being held by the military for a charge of sedition against the labor leader-solon during the Marcos regime. Television reports say the case was filed in 1985, even before the dictator was ousted by People Power!

Manwhile, former Police chief Ramon Montaño and retired Police General Rex Piad were also arrested. Reports say Tribune editor Niñez Cacho-Olivarez will also de picked up.

Below is the media release from the office of Rep. Beltran:

After Procalamation 1017, the biggest news today are the police raid of pro-Estrada newspaper Daily Tribune, the arrest of Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, and attempts to get other opposition figures.

Manila police raided and closed the Tribune office in Manila after midnight today, according to news reports.

Tribune editor Niñez Cacho Olivarez, one of the journalists who dared to criticize Marcos during martial law, said she will go to Supreme Court if the government will shut down the Tribune.

“Its just like Marcos all over again. It won’t be long before they start ringing editors and asking them to fire columnists or writers they consider to be againt them,” she added.

Press Statement
February 24, 2006

Protect Media Freedom

We demand that the Arroyo government allow journalists and media organizations the fullest freedom to air and print news and information about the current political crisis, and that it desist from undertaking repressive action against journalists and media organizations covering the crisis.