Restore press freedom and end culture of impunity -- FFFJ

The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc. (of which the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is a member and serves as its secretariat) held a press conference today in Palawan on the killing of broadcaster Fernando "Dong" Batul. The coalition also came out today with a media release on the spate of journalist killings in the country.

Batul, Third Journalist Killed in 40-Day Period -- FFFJ

As we prepare to bury yet another colleague felled by bullets, we are at the same time alarmed that Palawan radio commentator Fernando ‘Dong’ Batul, was the third victim in just a span of 40 days, to be killed because of his work as a journalist.

The popular Palawan broadcaster was waylaid by three assailants last May 22. He is the first journalist to be murdered in the said province, previously considered as one of the most peaceful areas in the country.

To further put insult to the already badly-injured press freedom condition in the country, one of the alleged perpetrators or assailants came from the ranks of the authorities, whose task is to protect the people, including the journalists.

Since democracy was restored in 1986, some 59 journalists have been killed because of their media work. Of these cases at least nine officers – four government officials, three policemen, and two military officers – are among the murder suspects.

In the case of Batul, PO1 Aaron Golifardo had been implicated as his killer. We hope that true to their word during last Thursday’s media dialogue with the Philippine National Police (PNP), this suspect will be slapped with both administrative and criminal charges, and that the wheels of justice will move at a faster pace.

The death of Batul could perhaps have been prevented had the police acted on the fact that Golifardo was already implicated in the killing of another person in Puerto Princesa on March 1, 2002.

However, despite the charges, which includes failing to support his family, Golifardo managed to stay in active duty until the recent killing took place.

Even the Mimaropa Police Chief Superintendent Delfin Genio admitted that the “dismissal case against (Golifardo) has been pending for some time now” as quoted by a Philippine Daily Inquirer report. Four years had elapsed, before Golifardo was finally dismissed.

It is not a hidden fact that the media have had their own share of mistakes, but the responsibility of providing a working environment free from the culture of violence and impunity that have been hounding the journalists, should be held by the government.

Although some journalists have not been objective and ethical in their media practice, there is no single reason to silence them, more so kill them. Yet, scores journalists had been downed because of their penchant for truth, despite being objective and backed by hard facts.

Crusading journalist Marlene Esperat was gunned down because of her methodical exposés on the multi-million scam and corruption inside the Department of Agriculture.

Batul earned the admiration of his listeners because of his fearless criticism and exposés of local government’s corruption and even ethical malpractice of other media practitioners. Yet, his attacks were not based from hearsays, but came from journalistic research and investigation.

We call on the government and authorities to put on more pressure in pursuing the suspects, including the masterminds, in the killing of Batul and scores of other journalists. Only with these efforts will the real resolution to the cases be attained.

The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc. (FFFJ) was organized specifically to help journalists who are under threat and to assist the families of those who are killed in the line of duty. The members of the FFFJ, composed of the organizations named below, are keenly interested in ensuring that justice is done to Fernando Batul.

We think that pursuing the case against his killer is one of the key steps in restoring press freedom and ending the culture of impunity, with which the murderers of journalists have been getting away with their crimes. We, along with other media organizations, are committed to following up this case for as long as it takes, and to helping the Batul family in their efforts and in their struggle with the country’s often-frustrating law-enforcement and justice system.

REDMOND BATARIO
Center for Community Journalism and Development

SHEILA S. CORONEL
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

DANILO GOZO
Philippine News

RACHEL KHAN
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

REY HULOG
Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas

JOSE PAVIA
Philippine Press Institute

The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) was organized to address the numerous attacks against journalists and news organizations around the country. Although these attacks are monitored by international groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), Article XIX, and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), these incidents receive scant notice in the Philippines until recently. The situation has been described as a “culture of impunity,” constituting a major scandal among press freedom advocates around the world.
The FFFJ represents a national effort to protect journalists in crisis and works in coordination with the international groups mentioned above, providing them with information on the cases in the Philippines which they follow-up and take up as cases for special advocacy.

Is the culture of impunity now a matter of gov't policy?

Melinda Quintos de Jesus, executive director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, writes about the continued journalist murders in the country in a column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer today.

In her article "Journalist killings point to policy of indifference", De Jesus writes:

"There is not much to suggest that the administration cares about the rights of its critics, even the fundamental right to life. It has given no sign of any intention to do anything about the problem, no plan to study, to review cases or to formulate a strategy to address the issue. After talking about it in Malacañang, all they had to say was, 'Let them protect themselves.'

"With no leads yet on the murder of (slain Palaweño journalist Fernando) Batul, Gonzalez went on to criticize 'fly-by-night journalists' and media members who abuse the power of the press. He said, 'You have to be sure of what is the reason (for the killing). There are media men killed in a drinking spree or because of a woman, so what does that have to do with his work?' We can only read this as a policy statement on the issue, quickly shifting the blame to erring members of the press.

She adds: "If the government is not actively pursuing a policy of violence, its demonstrated inertia effectively sustains such violence as a useful instrument to eliminate activists and to silence critics."

The culture of impunity, De Jesus says, "provides a comfort zone for assailants and their masterminds," allowing mechanisms for killings to go unpunished. "If the government does not undertake extraordinary measures to pursue the killers of journalists and activists, it is effectively tolerating and, at one level, facilitating the killings."

De Jesus ends with this criticial note: It is time to ask: Is the “culture of impunity” a matter of policy?

At it again

The indefatigable Raul Gonzalez is at it again.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer today reports:

DoJ turns up heat on Time mag reporter

"TIME MAGAZINE’S Philippine correspondent Nelly Sindayen, being put through the wringer, would be part of the plan of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to tighten the noose on several “middle-level government officials” said to have taken part in February’s alleged failed coup attempt against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“She is our star witness,” Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said of Sindayen, who had written about a meeting between Council of Philippine Affairs leader Pastor “Boy” Saycon and former Tarlac Representative Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, younger brother of former President Corazon Aquino, at the latter’s house in Dasmariñas Village in Makati City on Feb. 23.

Gonzalez said National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents were monitoring Sindayen’s movements and that she was last seen at a news forum in Manila.

“What is she hiding? She wrote the story and she has knowledge of what happened. Who are they (government officials), who are the businessmen who were around, were they the financiers?”

For the full report, click here.

I thought Gonzalez and other Palace officials are claiming they have enough information to pin down the alleged destabilizers of the Arroyo government? Why do they now have to rely on Nelly Sindayen to substantiate their proof against those who allegedly want to force Arroyo out of the presidency?

"In recent weeks, Malacañang has been pressing the media to help it provide corroboration and proof that it would enable it to nail down its enemies," I wrote then in the April 2006 issue of the PJR Reports.

"A comical, if not pathetic pattern is emerging. The government, which has been earnestly trying to clamp down on media, is also turning to it for help in providing information it needs to fight for its survival," I wrote in my article "The Tale of the (Missing Tape)".

"The Tale of the (Missing Tape)" tackled the government's efforts to get an alleged ABC-5 taped interview of Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, accused of conspiring to topple Arroyo from her post. To read the full article, click here.

Press Advisory from the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists

Still on the Batul case, below is an announcement from the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc. (FFFJ). The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is a founding member of the FFFJ and serves as its secretariat.

The recent killing of Palawan radio commentator Fernando ‘Dong’ Batul underscored the culture of violence that has been hounding Filipino journalists. Batul’s murder, along with the other cases of slain journalists and attacks against the media, highlighted the government’s inability to protect press freedom in the country.

In a conscious effort to call the attention of the national government and emphasize the need for a decisive and more steadfast resolution to the murder of Batul and other slain journalists, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc. (FFFJ), the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Palawan Community and Media Council (PCMC), and several local journalists and media groups will hold a joint national press conference tomorrow, June 2, in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Venue: Chancery (beside Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral, Taft St., Puerto Princesa City
Date/Time: June 2 (Friday)/10:30 a.m.

A funeral march – expected to be the biggest in the history of Palawan – is scheduled on June 3. Mass will start at 8:00 a.m., followed by the Batul’s burial at the Puerto Princesa Memorial Park.

For more information, please contact Nathan (0915-9987247), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility/FFFJ (02-8400903, telefax: 02-8400889), NUJP (02-4117768), or PCMC (09189086274).

If only the Pinoy Everest climbers did this

This post may be different from my previous posts, but I can't help but chuckle from this short report from Yahoo News.

Naked on Everest: a peek on the peak?

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association urged the government Saturday to take action against a sherpa who reportedly stripped on top of Mount Everest.

The Himalayan Times had reported Friday that the Nepali climbing guide, whose name it gave as Lakpa Tharke, stood naked for three minutes in freezing conditions on the 29,035-foot summit of the world's highest peak.

If confirmed, he would be the first person known to have stripped atop Everest, considered by Nepali Buddhists as a god.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, head of Nepal's top mountaineering body, said he could not confirm that the incident had happened.

"But if he did it, it is very shocking because Sagarmatha is the goddess mother," he said, using the mountain's Nepali name.

"The government must enforce strict ethics for climbing."

Authorities have yet to comment.

But the climb's organizers seemed happy enough with Lakpa Thaeke's strip.

"We are planning to file his extraordinary feat for the Guinness Book of World Records," the paper quoted an official of the hiking group that employs Tharke as saying.

At least 1,345 people have climbed Everest since 1953 from either the Nepali or Tibetan side.

The futility of it all

Carlos Conde continues the discussion on the arming of journalists in his PinoyPress blog.

Explaining that "journalists in a democracy should not be living like this," Conde wrote: "To be sure, having a .45 caliber pistol tucked in your waist while you type away on your computer might give you a sense of protection, perhaps invincibility. But how long can you keep doing that before you realize the futility of it all? How can a journalist do his job if he spends most of his time watching his back?"

Read his post.

Idiotic

"What thoroughly idiotic things to say. Have we lost all our senses?"

Thus wrote Philippine Daily Inquirer's hard-hitting columnist Conrado de Quiros in his column today about the idea of arming journalists as a way of solving the continued killings of members of the media.

De Quiros continued:

"To begin with, if arming journalists is the solution to their current decimation, why not arm activists, too? It’s not just the journalists that are being slaughtered like chickens in this country, as one activist puts it, it’s the activists too. Indeed, more the activists than the journalists, the murder of activists now having reached a mind-boggling near one-a-day. Why not allow them to carry .45s as well? Or since they’re fairer game than the others, Armalites and other high-powered weapons to defend themselves from the murderous?

"Indeed, why not arm the ordinary citizens who are victims also of murder and sundry mayhem? Why not arm the balut vendors who are robbed by istambays, and fast-food women workers who work at night and raped by thugs, and who may not report the crimes to cops for fear of being robbed or raped twice? What is the argument here, that only privileged classes or professions deserve to have the means to defend themselves?

"But more than this, where does government, even if it takes the face of the braggart (Justice secretary Raul) Gonzalez, get off exuding this airiness? Government is responsible for these killings, by commission and omission, by active encouragement and encouraging passivity, by commanding irresponsibility and command responsibility."

Read his column.

The continued journalist killings in the country prompted the international press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres and other media organizations worldwide, including the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, to write a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to show their concern about the killings.

Ten international NGOs press Arroyo over Esperat murder case
Source: Reporters Sans Frontieres

On the eve of the trial of four men accused of carrying out the March 2005 murder of journalist and anti-corruption activist Marlene Esperat, ten international non-governmental organisations today called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to ensure that justice is carried out for those who ordered the killing, as well as for those who carried it out.

The NGOs pledged to support the demands of Esperat’s family, lawyer and colleagues for justice to be done in this case.

“We support the calls by Philippine press freedom groups for the investigation’s conclusions to be reviewed,” they said. “This case shocked both Philippine journalists and the international community, and judicial system must not allow the instigators to go unpunished. Its credibility is at stake.”

"We are concerned by reports that the Cebu regional court says it foresees a rapid trial for the accused perpetrators, who have reportedly confessed. While trials should be quick they should not be hasty, and we are concerned that others, suspected of commissioning this murder, have not been named in the indictments for the trial, scheduled to resume on May 22," the NGOs said.

The NGOs also urged President Arroyo to ensure that the witnesses are protected before, during and after the trial. The groups have supported - morally and materially - the efforts of Esperat’s family and colleagues to obtain justice. And they intend to follow the trial with the help of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists.

To read the rest of the letter, click here.

Democracy is alive and kicking in this country

Another journalist was killed. Long live democracy in the Philippines!

Palawan Journalist Killed
Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Batul's photo courtesy of DYPR Palawan

Barely a month after a receiving death threat, a hard-hitting radio commentator was shot dead last May 22 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, 586 kilometers south of Manila.

Fernando “Dong” Batul, a radio journalist working in Palawan-based radio station dyPR, was killed early morning by two unidentified gunmen, who shot him repeatedly, just 200 meters away from the station. The gunmen immediately fled aboard a blue motorcycle.

Batul was rushed to the nearest hospital, but was declared dead-on-arrival.

According to Palawan provincial police chief Elpidio de Asis, the gunmen opened fire using 9mm and .45 pistols, hitting Batul twelve times. Initial probe by the local police suggested that the gunmen could be professionally hired assassins.

Batul, 34, was a popular hard-hitting radio commentator in the Palawan Broadcasting Corp-owned DyPR where he had his early morning program “Bastonero.”

Although the motive for the killing has yet to be established, de Asis said that it was likely more work-related than political. He stressed the fact that Batul had made many enemies of people he had criticized in his radio program.

Batul was known to be a severe critic of incumbent Puerto Princesa mayor Edward Hagedorn. His adamant criticisms of the local government, as well as interviews with members of the New People’s Army, a local leftist group, has also earned him the ire of both government and military officials.

Hagedorn immediately denied any involvement in the assassination. Several years ago, the mayor filed several counts of libel cases against Batul when the radio announcer was still with RGMA Super Radyo (Radio).

Although confirming that Batul had been his critic, the mayor offered a bounty of Php500,000 to anyone who could give information on Batul’s killers. He even ordered the police to resolve Batul’s case within 48 hours or face possible dismissal.

A former vice mayor of Puerto Princesa, Batul’s term was cut a year short in 2003 after an electoral protest ruled in favor of rival Lucilo Bayron. He ran again in 2004, but lost to incumbent Bayron.

Batul had initially raised an alarm last 24 April after discovering two live grenades inside his house. Fortunately, local police were immediately able to detonate the bombs before they could explode. A death threat penned in red ink was also found in front of the Batul’s residence, warning the broadcaster to “hold his tongue, or his family would suffer harsh consequences.”

Prior to that attack, Batul had been commentating on the plight of several overseas Filipino workers allegedly being maltreated in Taiwan, as well as illegal recruitment in Puerto Princesa, which involved a police officer.

Batul’s death raised the total to five journalists killed this year alone. If proven to be work-related, he would be the third to be killed in the line of duty after Orlando Mendoza and Albert Orsolino.

According to the tally of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, 59 journalists have died in the line of duty since the democracy was restored in 1986

Wow mali

By the way, here's a photo of the true Guy Kewney, taken from NewsWireless. Tsk tsk. This incident made me remember a story written by Booma Cruz, copy editor of the PJR Reports and Probe's editorial consultant, on how the local media became confused as well while it was covering the six-hour military standoff in Fort Bonifacio last February 26 (Too bad the story, published in the magazine's March 2006 issue, is not available online).

One hilarious part of the story went like this:

"With (Col. Ariel) Querubin already inside the building (the Marines headquarters), media was on heightened alert. From one side of the camp, reporters rushed toward a group of new faces. A reporter immediately pressed his radio: 'May foreigner na dumating. Foreigner ito!' (There's a foreigner coming. It's a foreigner!)

"Mobbed by reporters, the 'foreigner' was asked by an excited reporter: 'Sir, what's the stand of the US embassy?' The man in the sports shirt gave a puzzled look.

"Finally, another reporter recognized him. 'Ah, Iñigo!' The man was not from US embassy after all. He was Iñigo Zobel, son of the late industrialist Enrique Zobel."

Ooops, it's the wrong Guy

Talking about media booboos, well even the mighty BBC News 24 has its share of mistakes as well. At least they got a "Guy" who deserve an award for showing grace under pressure while being interviewed over the program. And man, check out that facial expression.



BBC News 'wrong Guy' is revealed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4774429.stm

The true identity of a man who was mistakenly interviewed on BBC News 24 has been revealed.

Guy Goma, a graduate from the Congo, appeared on the news channel in place of an IT expert after a mix-up.

But Mr Goma, who was wrongly identified in the press as a taxi driver, was really at the BBC for a job interview.

Mr Goma said his appearance was "very stressful" and wondered why the questions were not related to the data support cleanser job he applied for.

The mix-up occurred when a producer went to collect the expert from the wrong reception in BBC Television Centre in West London.

The producer asked for Guy Kewney, editor of Newswireless.net, who was due to be interviewed about the Apple vs Apple court case.

After being pointed in Mr Goma's direction by a receptionist, the producer - who had seen a photo of the real expert - checked: "Are you Guy Kewney?"

The economics and business studies graduate answered in the affirmative and was whisked up to the studio.

Business presenter Karen Bowerman, who was to interview the expert, managed to get a message to the editor that the guest seemed "very breathless and nervous".

Mr Goma was eventually asked three questions live on air, assuming this was an interview situation.

It was only later that it was discovered that Mr Kewney was still waiting in reception - prompting producers to wonder who their wrong man was.

'Happy to return'
Mr Goma said his interview was "very short", but he was prepared to return to the airwaves and was "happy to speak about any situation".

He added that next time he would insist upon "preparing myself".

A BBC spokeswoman said: "This has turned out to be a genuine misunderstanding.

"We've looked carefully at our guest procedures and will take every measure to ensure this doesn't happen again."

A reporter's nightmare

I don't personally know Michael Fajatin -- he of the infamous hostage-taking incident in 2002. But, oooh boy, what a bad report. I think he was reporting about the Guingona-led Mendiola prayer rally months ago.

The May 2006 issue of PJR Reports

For those who haven't received their copies of the May 2006 issue of PJR Reports (like Sir Robert Jaworski of the Northern Luzon Bureau of the Philippine Daily Inquirer), check out the magazine's online version. Except for the monitors, almost all the contents of the publication are online.

These include my two articles:

Governments seek to control 'citizen media' :
Cyberspace: the New Combat Zone

A negative editorial NYT makes Malacanang nervous:
Harbinger of Bigger Troubles?
(whom I co-wrote with Venus Elumbre)

Any comments? You are more than welcome to do so.

Yep, still here

Yes, I know, I know. This blog needs updating. I was not able to post anything in this blog for quite some time because I was too busy with Philippine Journalism Review (PJR) Reports and the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), the annual journalism awards program administered by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). Aaargh. I've been taken over by so many events -- the May 3 World Press Freedom Day, the continued killings of journalists and political activists, Gloriagate, even the issue of Sam Milby's alleged rip-off song "Close To You" (the rip-off issue again!?!) -- sigh, if I could only turn back time. I'll try to post something about these events... as soon as my workload on the June issue of PJR Reports becomes lighter. Aaargh again.

Meanwhile, here's the May 2006 issue of the PJR Reports. Four out of the five issues in the issue are already online, including my article on the recent conference on free expression in Asian cyberspace. Thanks by the way to Jove for posting my photo at the conference in his blog and to MLQ3 for granting me an ambush interview during the event. By the way, CMFR executive director Melinda Quintos de Jesus was a speaker in the conference (Check her presentation and audio file from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism blog)

The fifth article, a story I co-wrote with Venus Elumbre on the views of foreign correspondents on covering the Philippines (including their reaction to the infamous New York Times editorial that had criticized the Arroyo administration), will be up tomorrow, I hope.

The main story in the issue, which was about stifling media criticism in the world by jailing journalists, was written by Nathan Lee and our newest reporter, Don Gil Carreon.

Before I forget, congratulations to Ma'am Chit Estella, PJR Reports editor, for becoming the first runner-up in the Poverty Issues category in the 2006 Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).

To the CMFR interns whose research and help made me finish the May articles faster, thanks too. I'll remember your help when I do your final grades. Hahaha.

Address petition now, media groups appeal to CA

Here is a post from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism blog about the March 21 petition of media groups and journalists reacting to the the clampdown on the press.

Media groups urge court:
hear TRO petition

MEDIA groups filed this morning (March 21) an urgent motion asking the Court of Appeals to immediately set a hearing on a petition they filed against executive officials whom they said were engaging in an assault on the press.

Named respondents in that petition are Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita; Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez; Philippine National Police Director General Arturo Lomibao; and National Telecommunications Commission Chairman Ronald Solis.

In that petition, the complainants asked the court to prohibit the respondents from “imposing any form of content-based prior restraint on the press, be it formal or informal, direct or in the form of disguised or thinly veiled threats of administrative sanction or criminal prosecution.” The petition stressed that “only a court, with its accompanying due process safeguards, may impose content-based prior restraints, when the grounds therefor are duly proved.”

The petitioners asked the court to immediately issue a “certiorari and prohibition with application of a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction” against the respondents.

Echoing arguments they made in that petition, the complainants, in their urgent motion, today told the court that “the attacks (against the press) are becoming more and more virulent, and more ominous.”

Thirty-seven more groups and individuals have joined the petition, bringing to 83 the total number of signatories. The petitioners include journalists from various regions of the country.

In their urgent motion, the petitioners referred to incidents which they said continued to provide “direct and thinly veiled threats against the press.” These include, they said, the suspension of an award-winning radio program by the station that aired it for four years, and the subsequent testimony of a government witness that the program’s producer was fronting for the communist party; and the attempts by the Quezon City police to secure a warrant to search the premises of the PCIJ.

There were also, the petitioners said, repeated statements by the respondents and other executive officials about journalists being “monitored,” as well as warnings that the media will not be accorded any “special treatment” should they fail to police their ranks against those who will use them for their own gain. The petitioners also noted that a newspaper whose office and printing press were raided, following the declaration of a state of national emergency, continue to be monitored even after the pull-out of police personnel from its premises.

“The foregoing acts,” said the petitioners, “coming within days of each other and without let-up, show a deliberate pattern by the government to muzzle the press and gag protected speech.”

Saying that the respondents “have deliberately thickened the air with uncertainty, insecurity, apprehension and even fear,” the complainants asked the court to stop “these acts … of prior restraint.”

They asked the court to immeditely set a hearing “at the soonest possible time,” and then issue a TRO and preliminary injunction “on such terms as (the court) may deem just.”

The Inquirer this afternoon reported that the CA’s 15th Division has said it will defer any ruling on the petition until the petitioners have submitted a required certification lacking in their plea.

The petitioners’ counsels, of the Free Legal Assistance Group or FLAG, said they have not received any such resolution and that they hope the CA will look at the petition’s substance, rather than its form. “We fervently hope that the court will hear us,” lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno said.
The petitioners include:

Philippine Press Institute, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Newsbreak, Probe Productions, Center for Community Journalism and Development, and ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs.

The media groups are joined by the following:

Maria Ressa, head of News and Current Affairs of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network; Jessica Soho, Vice President for News and News Director of GMA-7; Ed Lingao, Vice President for Operations of ABC-5; Arnold Clavio of GMA-7 and dzBB; Pia Hontiveros of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network and ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC); Ricky Carandang of ANC; Marites Vitug of Newsbreak; and Sheila Coronel of PCIJ.

Read the urgent motion here and the March 8 petition here. View list of petitioners.

Getting ready for a Cueshe-Hale showdown

Sorry if this entry is nowhere near the seriousness of my previous posts. But I felt that my blog needs a bit of rest even for just one or two posts. Second, I did some entries about these bands, so this is just like continuing my previous entries about bands and music in general (For example, see this old post of mine where I dissed Orange and Lemons as an old plain copycat). I'll get back to the most pressing issues soon, I promise.

Here's an article from Manila Bulletin quoting Myke Sarthou, the manager of prominent pop-alternative band Cueshe, dissing another popular band, Hale (which by the way, was described by Wikipedia as a "pop band".

Haha. Let the war begin. Which pogi rock band stands after the dust has settled? Well, from the way I interpret it, it was Sarthou who drew the first blood. Unless there's a deeper story between Hale and Cueshe that we still don't know. Abangan.

Cueshe manager slams Hale
By Jojo P. Panaligan

"Members of Hale are two-faced and arrogant backbiters who think too highly of themselves and their music."

Thus, says Cueshe manager, Myke Sarthou, in lieu of Hale’s alleged ‘stab’ at the controversy the former band was embroiled in last year during the latter’s performance in the ABS-CBN show, "Magandang Umaga Pilipinas" last March 2. (The photo at left is the band Cueshe -- Bryanton Post)

Invited to "Magandang Umaga" to promote the repackaged version of their debut album, Hale performed their hit songs but intro-ed with a snippet of Silverchair’s "The Greatest View" which was publicly contended as one from which Cueshe derived the melody of their hit single, "Stay."

"Why did they perform ‘Greatest View’ if they have no intention of reminding people of that issue; one that already died down naturally for lack of basis? There’s no remake of ‘Greatest View’ in their album nor is that song part of their usual repertoire. It was covert attempt to taunt Cueshe. Pambabastos na pailalim," says Myke.

Cueshe apparently felt irked over the incident that, days later, they addressed the perceived affront in one of show segments in music channel, "MYX."

"Sabi ng Cueshe sa ‘MYX,’ ‘If you (referring to Hale) don’t like us, don’t say ‘Hi!’ to us when we see each other. Wag n’yo na kaming plastikin," recalls Myke.

According to Myke, Hale has not only been "backbiting" Cueshe even before, but has been "making the public believe that they’re really this important and sought-after band."

(Hale band, left photo -- Bryanton Post) "Paano silang magiging sought-after when according to their own website, they only have seven to eight gigs per month? At least ang Cueshe, araw-araw may show that pays well. Hale is managed by their record label and if one is going to use common sense, then they are probably mostly booked for shows that just sell the album. Then again, common sense is not so common," says Myke.

As for Hale acting precious about their music, Myke says that this is evidenced by the quartet’s perennial call to not be labeled as ‘pogi rock’ and for people to instead appreciate their music or musicality.

"Ano’ng musicality, eh, piyukin naman si Champ. And what’s to appreciate in music that usually just utilizes three chords? Feeling nila ang galing-galing nila. Ang Cueshe kahit isabak mo sa live, kaya nila kasi hasa sila being formerly a Top 40 band. Kaya lang maayos ang tunog ng Hale on record dahil sa recording studio, nareretoke ang music, " says Myke.

He adds: "Cueshe would never point out the merits of their songs because that’s something real artists don’t do unless they come across as self-serving. Only the public can bestow genuine compliments. Besides, what’s the point of crowing about the technical merits of music? Either people like you or they don’t for whatever reason."

When asked about Hale touted as the best selling new artist of 2005, Myke says that Hale has had the advantage of releasing their album months ahead of Cueshe’s.

"Sila, month of May nag-release ng album. Kami, July. Further, they were already promoting their album even before its release by serving ‘Broken Sonnet’ to both radio and music channels. What can I say about their Triple Platinum Award? Congratulations," says Myke.

Cueshe’s manager also says that Hale is so insecure of Cueshe that the former was said to have even contemplated "patterning" the concept of the video for their latest song "Tollgate" to that of Cueshe’s current, "Can’t Let You Go."

"The concept of the video for ‘Can’t Let You Go’ features footages from shows they’ve done all over. Naturally, the video has shots of their fans. When Hale saw it, they were said to have spoken to their label to produce another video for ‘Tollgate’ that will also show their fans."

What if that materialized?

"That would’ve been really amusing because it would once again show how desperate Hale truly is," ends Myke.

Cueshe’s Double Platinum debut album, "Half Full, Half Empty" has produced the hit songs "Stay," "Ulan," Sorry" and "Can’t Let You Go." The band will be doing a back-to-back show with Hale today at the Baseball Field Subic Bay, Olongapo City.

Hale and its record label EMI Music Philippines declined to release an official statement as of this writing.

Press Advisory

For more information: look for Nathan of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (tel. no. 02 840-0903) or Ayi of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (09104950087; NUJP office- 02 411-7768)

In a continuing effort to guard the people's right to information, media organizations and individual journalists are set to file today (March 21) an urgent motion for the Court of Appeals to act immediately on a petition filed last week to prevent the Arroyo Administration from "imposing any form of content-based prior restraint on the press."

Following the filing of the Urgent Motion at the Court of Appeals, lawyers from the Free Legal Assistance Group together with media groups and individual journalists will hold a press conference.

Venue: Max Fried Chicken Restaurant
1123 Ma. Orosa St, Ermita
(in front of Philamlife)

Date/Time: March 21, Tuesday
2:15 pm

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) joined other media organizations in supporting the petition.

To see a copy of the petition, click here. The executive summary of the petition can be accessed here. For a short primer on the petition, click here. If you want a story made by CMFR on the government clapmpdown on the press, click here.

The battle rages on

That sums up the article I and Nathan J. Lee wrote for the March issue of the Philippine Journalism Review Reports (PJR Reports) regarding the continued government clampdown on the press despite the lifting of Presidential Proclamation 1017. Check out the PDF copy of our article, which was the issue's main story.

As one of the two sidebars to the main story, I also wrote a bit about some of the provisions contained in the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines which can be used to "stifle the press and force it to toe the Palace line." Among such provisions cites the crime of inciting to sedition.

The sidebar also discussed some of the findings of the baseline study jointly made by The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (publisher of PJR Reports) and Article 19 (a free expression group based in London) on the state of press freedom in the Philippines (Actually, aside from the Philippines study, Article 19 also has studies looking at the state of press freedom in various countries in Southeast Asia.)

The baseline study stated: "An expression or news can only be categorized as 'endangering the public order' if it passes a three-part test," which falls under an international set of principles on the right to freedom of expression and national security recommened to UN states like the Philippines for consideration.

"Given this three-part test," I wrote, "can the government prove that Daily Tribune editor-publisher Ninez Cacho Olivares and two of her paper's columnists should be charged with 'incitiing to sedition'?"

Click here for the sidebar. The other sidebar was an executive summary of the petition media organizations and jounalists filed on March 8 asserting media's freedom against prior restraint.

The said March issue of the PJR Reports also carries a well-writting and scathing commentary by Vergel O. Santos on 1017 and stories about the cancellation of the Diyos at Bayan at QTV-11 written by Booma B. Cruz and the Ultra tragedy.

Some of the stories in the issue are not uploaded in the CMFR/PJR Reports pages (like the stories on the Marine standoff and the Inquirer Compact) and some of the photos in the PDF copies are a bit pixelized. Plus, the digital copy of PJR Reports does not carry the other sections of the magazine, such as the "Speaking of Media" and "Crisis" Local and International.

More importantly, the digitized copy does not have the "Monitor" section, considered as the "heart" of the magazine. In this section, we note the press coverage on various issues, hoping to raise a discussion of how the press conducts itself on issues and hopefully, improve its coverage. Reports were either given a kaimito (star apple) mark -- meaning the report did its job well -- or a kalabasa (squash) mark -- the report was not good enough and should have been improved. There are some reports that get both kaimito and kalabasa marks.

Here's a monitor summing up the 1017 coverage:

(Kaimito) Cheers for the press for covering non-stop all developments related to Presidential Proclamation no. 1017.

TV stations aired special reports on the issue, with news and public affairs programs focusing on the various aspects of the infamous proclamation. Websites and blogs kept up with mainstream media by recording the latest developments on the issue.

Below is a monitor on how the press reported on the Muslim cartoons controversy:

(Kalabasa) 24 Oras reported on a Feb. 15 rally of a group of Muslims in front of the Danish embassy in Makati without explaining what the controversy was about. The television news program did not even say that the Makati rally was just one of the many protest actions over the controversial cartoons worldwide.

For more details on how to get PJR Reports, please call (63 2) 894-1326/894-1314/840-0889 (telefax) or email us at staff@cmfr-phil.org. Our website is http://www.cmfr-phil.org

Black and White Movement blog hacked?

Here's Helga of the Black and White Movement posting a comment in my first post about the arrest of Dinky Soliman and Enteng Romano:

"Hello Bryant. Thank you for writing about our experience last night. Both Enteng and Dinky were released upon their own recognizance past midnight but it was ruled that the case has to go through further investigation. We maintain that we were merely hoping to stroll the Baywalk. We had no placards, we did not chant. In fact, we never got to the street."

She also offered apologies to those wondering what happened to their blog, which was inaccessible yesterday. Was their blog hacked? Hmmm. Does this mean that this site can easily be hacked too? Anyway, check out these other sites (here and here) of the group to get an update of their activities.

The picture above showing Dinky negotiating with the arresting cops was taken from one of the group's blog.

Police frees Dinky and Enteng

Saksi reports that the police decided to free Soliman's group. But according to the police, her group may still face illegal assembly charges, under the Marcosian decree Batasang Pambansa 880.

Police response, "paranoid and heavy-handed" - Black and White Movement

Now comes Inq.7 with its report of the arrest of Corazon "Dinky" Soliman and Vicente "Enteng" Romano.

Former social welfare chief Soliman arrested

Former social welfare secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman and Black and White Movement convener Vicente "Enteng" Romano III were arrested by police while about to hold a "flash mob" protest at the Baywalk area of downtown Manila.

Leah Navarro, a member of the Black and White Movement, said that Romano and Soliman were about to cross the street near Malate Church when police arrested them late Friday.

Romano is behind the Black Friday Protest, a series of snap demonstrations.

Soliman was among 10 top government officials who quit Arroyo's government last year and subsequently called for the president's ouster over allegations she cheated in the May 2004 polls.

Navarro told INQ7.net that there were less than 30 people who were set to hold the flash protest at Baywalk, a strip of open cafes along Roxas Boulevard fronting Manila Bay.

About 50 riot policemen were deployed in the area.

Click here for more.

Policemen, 100; Black and White Movement, 20

Here comes a text message from Sir Vergel Santos, who might be with the Black and White Movement at the Baywalk tonight or getting the latest updates on Dinky Soliman's arrest:

"Black and White Movement thumbs-down campaign at Malate baywalk stopped by police. Over 100 policemen blocked the group led by Dinky not numbering more than 20! Dinky first detained at police outpost along Roxas Boulevard outside Aristocrat Malate. Then taken by mobile somewhere."

Stifling press freedom means stifling democracy

“Sure, every journalist must live and work each day with the risk of drawing a case for libel or invasion of privacy, or contempt. All trained journalists spend some time learning the distinction between libelous and libel-proof writing.

“But sedition and other serious political crimes is something else. When the State through its various instrumentalities – the Palace, the NTC, the AFP or the PNP – uses its powers to threaten with sanctions media practitioners, or when the PNP raids a newspaper at dawn and then claims there was no takeover; or when broadcast stations are repeatedly reminded about ‘guidelines,’ that is dancing on the perilous edge between freedom and censorship. The net effect cannot be but to curb freedom of the press and stifle all the other values that democracy draws from it.”

- BusinessMirror editorial, March 17-18, 2006, p. A10

Cops arrest anti-Arroyo personalities Dinky Soliman, Enteng Romano

Details are still sketchy, but "Hyatt 10" member and former social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman and Black and White Movement convenor Vicente Enteng Romano, were arrested just a few minutes ago while they were leading an anti-Arroyo walk at the Baywalk Area in Roxas Boulevard.

According to the policemen reportedly led by a certain Col. Pedroso, Soliman's group was arrested for violating Batasang Pambansa (BP) 880, the law that prohibits illegal assembly without permit. BP 880 was issued during the Marcos dictatorship.

Soliman's group told the arresting police that they were merely walking in the area and were not disturbing anyone with their activity. Soliman even insisted that while they were wearing anti-Arroyo shirts, they weren't shouting calls for Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign. They didn't even have anti-Arroyo placards with them. Still, policemen brought Soliman and Romano (I'm still not sure if there are others from the group) to a police station in Manila.

While, we are waiting for more details about the arrest, this is what the Black and White Movement was planning to do tonight. The group holds an activity every Friday (called "Black Flash Friday Protests") to show their sentiments against the president. The first Black Flash Friday Protest was held last March 3 at Starbucks Cafe, in Makati.

Black Friday Bulletin #3 - Baywalk Makapili Protest Designated time and place of flash protest for March 17:
BAYWALK, Roxas Blvd - 6:30 to 7:15 PM

Plan of action:

1) Wear BLACK. BRING ALSO HAT, SHADES, AND IMPROVISED HOOD similar to the hooded witness of DOJ (see attached photo).
2) Assemble in front of the Aristocrat Restaurant, Roxas Blvd. between 6:15 to 6:30pm
3) Wait awhile for other groups in black. Take a snack, if you wish, while waiting for others to arrive
4) At 6:30pm, cross Roxas Boulevard in single file towards Baywalk.
5) Put on your "Makapili" hooded outfit and mingle with the regular Friday strollers on Baywalk.
6) When the signal is given, line up single file along the road and face the street.
7) Do the "thumbs down" sign to passing vehicles.
8) On cue, disperse quietly.

Suggested preparations:

9) Invite as many friends or officemates as possible.
10) If you're an employer or a manager, invite all your subordinates to join you. Offer to "treat" them after the flash protest, if you can afford it. Hey, it's Friday after pay day. So you can have your regular "gimmick" after this.
11) If you're from the same office, arrange for carpooling going to the Aristocrat restaurant.
12) If you're outside of Metro Manila, and there are enough of you to organize a protest action, just select your own area of protest, but follow the "MAKAPILI" theme.

Are we still under a democracy?

'No' to the Dark Days

That is the main title of the story I and colleague Nathan J. Lee wrote for the upcoming March issue of the Philippine Journalism Review Reports (PJR Reports). Actually, the article's full title is: "After PP 1017, journalists take battle to court: 'No' to the Dark Days." The story (which is the issue's main article) focuses on the continued clampdown on the press despite the lifting of Presidential Proclamation no. 1017 by Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The story begins with the filing of a petition by various media organizations and journalists last March 8 "asserting media's constitutionally protected rights against any government censorship or prior restraint."

"Presidential Proclamation 1017 may have already been lifted, but the battle for press freedom continues," we wrote.

The March issue of the PJR Reports will come out next week.

Meanwhile, here's a statement from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reacting to the statements made by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez saying that the government is monitoring the PCIJ because, according to Gonzalez, it has been posting "in their website many things I consider as inciting to sedition.”

PCIJ Statement

In an interview with ANC this afternoon, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that that the government is monitoring the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). “It is very clear,” he said, “they have been posting in their website many things I consider as inciting to sedition. We are studying them.”

“For example,” he added, “ the fact that it kept on posting the matters in the Garci tape is violative of [Republic Act] 4200 (the anti-wiretapping law).”

This charge is ridiculous. In June 2005, the PCIJ posted the three-hour audio recording of the alleged phone conversations of former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Our intent was to inform the public of the contents of those conversations so that they can make an independent judgment on the allegations of election fraud. The recording was clearly a matter of public interest, and it was this interest that we were upholding.

How can we be accused of inciting to sedition and of violating the anti-wiretapping law by posting the audio files of a tape that has been played in Congress? Radio and television stations have played portions of the tape as well. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye even played and presented to the media a different version of the supposedly wiretapped recording. Moreover, that recording is posted in about a dozen other websites and blogs.

Yet the Justice Secretary has prejudged our case and made a conclusion without giving the PCIJ the benefit of due process. How can a Justice Secretary do that?

As far as we know, the Bill of Rights and the Rules of Court are still in place. We are presumed innocent until proven guilty. We cannot be pronounced guilty on his mere say so.

I would like to ask the Justice Secretary: When the PCIJ published its exposés on the unexplained wealth and mansions of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001, were we also inciting to sedition? Our reports were used in the impeachment charge against Estrada. Were we inciting to sedition then? If some people went to Edsa after reading our reports, was that inciting to sedition?

If it is, then any legitimate piece of investigative journalism is seditious. Then anything that comes out in the media today can be construed to be seditious.

Secretary Gonzalez intends to intimidate the PCIJ. That is not his job. The job of the justice system is to provide an enabling environment that allows free and responsible journalism to be practiced. It is to protect journalists like ourselves from harassment suits and ridiculous charges. Instead he has become the purveyor of these charges. We are so very disappointed.

Newsbreak launches own site

Newsbreak, that hardhitting fortnightly news and current affairs magazine (a consistent winner in the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism), now has a website of its own.

The magazine's contents are used to be carried by Inq7.net.

The feisty magazine, which is in the news these days for its stories on election fraud in 2004 and rumored as a possible target of police raid, has veteran journalist Marites Dañguilan Vitug as editor. Marites was recently named as one of 50 individuals in "2006 Global Leadership 50" by the leading political risk consultancy firm Eurasia Group, the only Filipino in the list.

Check Newsbreak's site.

Media organizations condemn continued clampdown

Here comes media organizations the Asian Journalists Association, International News Safety Institute (INSI), Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), and Article 3 Alliance with their statements on the continued clampdown on the media.

Statement of Solidarity from AJA

At a time of popular unrest, the Arroyo Administration has found it fit to go against its democratic grain by encroaching upon the time-honoured sanctity of the free Press for which the Philippines has long been lauded in Asia.

The police raids on a newspaper office and a printing press for alleged unexplained offences; and warnings to the media against violating of “standards” were clearly attempts to stifle free expression guaranteed under the Philippine Constitution.

The Asian Journalists Association (AJA) joins the National Press Club and the Philippine Press Institute in calling upon the authorities to stop intimidating journalists and the media organizations.

We urge President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal to respect the professional right and duty of our fellows journalist to report political events without fear or favour.

In declaring our solidarity with our fellow media practitioners in the Philippines, we are confident that they would stay the course in defence of their rights and continue to play their part in upholding the nation’s democracy and freedom as enshrined in the Constitution.

Invasion of the Sanctity of the Press -- INSI

The International News Safety Institute (INSI)-Southeast Asia Office views with alarm and dismay the government's continuing harassment of media organizations and journalists despite the lifting of the state of national emergency last March 3.

INSI Regional Director Red Batario said, "The recent attempts of the police to obtain warrants to search the premises of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the closure of the award-winning radio program Ngayon na Bayan aired over dzRJ, and the subpoena served on television station ABC 5 are chilling manifestations of the state's abridgement of the fundamental right of the press to freely report."

On March 13, sound engineer Jonathan Tiongco, accompanied by three policemen, asked Quezon City Judge Alan Balot to issue a warrant to search PCIJ's office, apparently in connection with a charge of inciting to sedition. Judge Balot denied Tiongco's request. This is
the second time his request for a search warrant was denied. According to the PCIJ, an earlier application on March 10 was turned down by another Quezon City judge.

Ngayon na Bayan, recipient of the 2002 Golden Dove Award for best public affairs program from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), was cancelled over dzRJ because of "personal political differences" with the station owner, Ramon Jacinto. The program, which used to air from Monday to Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., lost its block time last February 24, hours after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of national emergency.

Then National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Acting Director Nestor Mantaring asked ABC 5's Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Regalado Galura to submit a videotape in which Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim announced his withdrawal of support from the Arroyo
government.

INSI calls on the Arroyo administration to stop these attempts to silent the press and uphold freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) in Brussels, Belgium, a global network dedicated to the safety of journalists and media staff and committed to fighting the persecution of journalists everywhere.

The Institute is a coalition of media organizations, press freedom groups, unions and humanitarian campaigners working to create a culture of safety in media in all corners of the world.

Invasion of the Sanctity of the Press -- CCJD

The Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD) is alarmed by the government's continuing harassment of media organizations and journalists despite the lifting of the state of national emergency last March 3.

The recent attempts of the police to obtain warrants to search the premises of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the closure of the award-winning radio program Ngayon na Bayan aired over dzRJ, and the National Bureau of Investigation's request to television station ABC 5 to turn over a video tape are chilling manifestations of the state's abridgement of the fundamental right of the press to freely report.

On March 13, sound engineer Jonathan Tiongco, accompanied by three policemen, asked Quezon City Judge Alan Balot to issue a warrant to search the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism's (PCIJ) office, apparently in connection with an inciting to sedition charge Tiongco filed against the media organization.

Tiongco was presented last year to the media by former Environment Secretary and now Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, apparently to discredit the "Hello Garci" tapes—the recordings that suggested Ms. Arroyo cheated in the 2004 presidential elections.

Judge Balot denied Tiongco's request, the second time he did so. PCIJ said Tiongco's earlier application on March 10 was turned down by another Quezon City judge.

The radio program Ngayon na Bayan aired over DZRJ and recipient of the KBP 2002 Golden Dove Award for best public affairs program was taken off the air hours after President Arroyo issued Proclamation 1017. The police presented last March 13 a hooded witness who claimed that Kodao Productions Inc., producers of the radio program, was a propaganda arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Reports received by the CCJD also showed that ABC 5 Television is being pressed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to submit video footage purportedly showing an Army Scout Rangers general announcing his withdrawal of support from the Arroyo government.

The CCJD condemns in the strongest terms these brazen attempts to harass, intimidate and suppress the media. It joins voices calling for the Arroyo administration to uphold the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and to observe the guarantees provided by international human rights instruments.

The continuing harassment of the media has very serious implications for the citizens' right to know and for the survival of democracy itself.

The Center for Community Journalism and Development is a non-government, non-profit media organization working with journalists, citizens and institutions for social change. It is also the Southeast Asia office of the International News Safety Institute (INSI) based in Brussels, Belgium.

We will not be cowed! -- Article 3 Alliance

It is all too clear that the Arroyo administration's main target are the media and the People's Right to Know, as much as, maybe even more so, than the sundry "destabilizers" from the Left, Right and all corners of the political spectrum.

It is no coincidence that applications for a search warrant have been filed and sedition charges are being poised against the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism even as the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines reported receiving a tip Monday evening from colleagues that the Armed Forces of the Philippines was planning to raid its national office in Quezon City.

Nor is it a coincidence that Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor warned of government's intention to charge "certain media personalities" with sedition.

It is likewise no coincidence that the award-winning program Ngayon na Bayan of Kodao Productions was unceremoniously and arbitrarily "suspended until further notice" by dzRJ, owned by Arroyo ally Ramon Jacinto, just hours after the President's declaration of a state of national emergency and later tagged as a "propaganda arm" of the Communist Party of the
Philippinesby the shadowy Jaime Fuentes, the government's putative star witness against
the Left-Right coup plotters.

Before these, of course, were the raid on The Daily Tribune and the subsequent filing of sedition charges against publisher Ninez Cacho Olivares and two of the papers' columnists, the deployment of troops to major broadcast networks during the state of emergency, the continued monitoring of media output for "seditious" content, the threats by the Armed Forces to
file charges against the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Philippines, incidents like these have increasingly become all in a day's work for the media, along with the growing list of journalists' murders, the most under any administration.

Punctuating this is the still unsolved abduction last March 3 of Aurora broadcaster Joey Estriber by armed men we strongly suspect to be military agents and the acquittal three days later in General Santos City of Ephraim Englis, prime suspect in the June 2004 murder of Ely Binoya.

Whenever beleaguered governments turn to tyranny to cling to power, the first target has always been the Press, believing that control of the free flow of information means control of the Truth. But, as our experience with dictatorship has proven, nothing can truly contain the Truth.

And this time, armed with the lessons of recent history, the Philippine media will no longer be cowed.

Indeed, the administration's worst threats, far from creating the chilling effect it no doubt intended, have only united the media and strengthened our resolve to resist any and all attempts to prevent us from the free exercise of our profession.

In Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Philippines, such threats and attempts have become not brands of shame but badges of honor.

We harbor no doubts about the resolve of our colleagues in the PCIJ, NUJP, Kodao, Daily Tribune, Inquirer and all other threatened and targeted media outfits and organizations to stand firm against this administration's attempts to clamp down on a free Press.

To them, Article 3, the alliance of Negros journalists asserting Press Freedom and the People's Right to Know, extends our fraternal support as we call on our colleagues nationwide to remain steadfast in the defense of our rights and liberties against all efforts to force us into silence.

To the audiences we serve, we renew our commitment to providing them with the timely, accurate and relevant information they require and deserve.

We must fight back

It was a good thing that my previous post about the planned search on the premises of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) did not happen. According to NUJP's May Rodriguez, some NUJP members stayed until 11 pm in their office last night, anticipating the arrival of military men. But the soldiers did not come. And it was supposedly a raid, not just a search, May clarified.

But is it really over for the raid on NUJP? Can NUJP and the press in general relax now, since both raids on NUJP and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism were botched?

I think that now is not the time to relax for the press and everyone. The mere fact that these attemps to muzzle the press exist -- the fact that The Daily Tribune was raided (regardless if it is an irresponsible and biased paper), the fact that an award-winning radio program Ngayon na, Bayan was sacked because the radio's producers had "personal political differences" with the station owner Ramon Jacinto (who is the former brother-in-law of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo), the fact that a critical TV public affairs program Diyos at Bayan was cancelled in QTV-11, the fact that you hear your justice secretary warning ABS-CBN that the administration is monitoring the network's coverage of the Marine standoff, the fact that government officials are threatening the press not following the "standards set by the government -- there is no time perfect than this to fight back against the oppressors of press freedom.

Last night, in their blog, PCIJ's Sheila Coronel talked about the curious circumstances surrounding the search warrant on PCIJ.

Twilight Zone

SOMETHING strange appears to be happening at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, at least in connection with a search warrant that police officials have been seeking against the PCIJ.

Although the QC police have twice asked the courts for a warrant to search the PCIJ office, court officials are denying such applications were made. Neither is there a paper trail to show that the first application made last Friday had been denied.

PCIJ lawyer Sandra Marie Coronel told a Senate inquiry today that Branch 76 of the QC-RTC has denied there were such proceedings. Atty. Coronel was at the QC-RTC following up another case yesterday when she saw elements of the QC police with sound engineer and police asset Jonathan Tiongco applying for the search warrant against PCIJ. She returned to the court today to get copies of the warrant, only to be told there was no such thing.

“Despite the fact that I personally saw the policemen and Mr. Tiongco undergo proceedings on their application for a search warrant, I confirmed today that the statement of the court is that there was never any application. They now claim that there was no application whatsoever for any search warrant against Sheila Coronel and the PCIJ,” Atty. Coronel said at a Senate hearing this afternoon.

What is as bizarre, said Atty. Coronel, was that there was also no record of a warrant having been applied for and denied last Friday, when an application was first made by the QC police. “I likewise checked insofar as the application for a search warrant that was confirmed by a police informant to have been made and denied last Friday and there is likewise no record of any such application,” Coronel said.

For more of Sheila's post, click here.

Is there a conspiracy in the offing, extending beyond the executive department?

An administration that has no respect for the freedom of the press has no respect for its constituents and their freedoms.

Libel, out; Raids, in?

In what could be a reflection of our democracy disappearing in thin air swiftly, I got reports (although unconfirmed as of this posting) that after the failed attempt to search the premises of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) is going to be searched (with no warrant of arrest issued) by no less than members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines tonight.

Here is an email from NUJP's Weng Paraan:

Reporters of the television network GMA-7 arrived just a few minutes ago, saying their desk received information that the nujp office will be raided tonight, without warrant, by AFP (take note, AFP, not the police).

If a major network finds the report credible enough to send a crew, then we of course should take it seriously and take necessary precautions. I have already notified the Free Legal Assistance Group and the Counsels for Defense of Liberty, the eliptical beat reporters, and other colleagues in media.

If true, then it could only be intended to harass us because really, I don't know what they would want to see or get from our office.

GMA-7's source could be giving a well-meaning warning or was a tool or part of a deliberate effort to harass us, perhaps to see how we would react. (And we have always known it could come to this.)

Meanwhile, I am sipping a cold can of soda. Hopefully, it won't be my last.

A search warrant on PCIJ?

Boy, it looks like the media clampdown continues.

In the upcoming March issue of the Philippine Journalism Review Reports, Mr. Vergel Santos (who serves as the chair of the board of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility) writes that:

".... Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has withdrawn the proclamation (PP 1017) only nominally; the suppressive spirit behind it remains."

Now comes this report from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), which I am posting in full below. You can also access this report in the PCIJ blog. Earlier, I got the tip that PCIJ was going to be searched, along with two other hard-hitting publications.

Keep vigilant guys.

Search warrant on PCIJ

LATE this afternoon, three members of the Central Police District, accompanied by sound engineer Jonathan Tiongco, asked a Quezon City judge to issue a warrant that will allow the police to search the office of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), apparently in connection with a charge of inciting to sedition.

The PCIJ received confirmation of the application from well-placed sources in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Quezon City Police. Court and police sources say that an earlier application for a search warrant was turned down last Friday by another Quezon City judge. This apparently prompted the police and Tiongco to apply today for a search warrant with another judge, Alan Balot of RTC Branch 76.

Alerted by the PCIJ, journalists from various media organizations waited outside Balot’s office while the hearing for the search warrant, which began at about 4:30 p.m., lasted past office closing hours this afternoon. The judge emerged from his office at about 5:30 p.m, but refused to talk to reporters. Interviewed by GMA-7 reporter Sandra Aguinaldo, Tiongco only said that the hearing had been cancelled. The clerk of court, meanwhile, told Aguinaldo that the there was no hearing, only an application for a search warrant.

The PCIJ and other journalists have been unable to confirm whether the judge granted the request for a warrant. But some court sources say that the presence of journalists prevented the warrant’s issuance today.

Click here for more.

A primer on the petition

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines released a primer today for reporters and others who want to understand the petition in a minute or two. The primer, entitled Primer on the PRESS FREEDOM petition, explains what the petition is all about, as well as its significance and what it wants to achieve. The primer also has the complete list of the media organizations and journalists that signed the petition.

For media organizations or individual journalists that want to support the petition, they can sing it before Wednesday, March 15. They can download a copy of the petition from the NUJP website, and if they are in agreement with it, add their signatures and submit or mail 15 notarized original copies to either the offices of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Press Institute, or NUJP.

Institutions as well as individuals can sign. Institutions will be required to submit notarized board resolutions and secretary’s certificates. Individuals will be required to submit identification."

If you support and uphold press freedom in the country, do join and sign the petition.

Primer on the PRESS FREEDOM petition
Prepared by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
March 10, 2006

What is the petition?

On March 8, 2006, 36 print and broadcast journalists and nine media groups led by the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the News and Current Affairs division of network giant ABS-CBN, asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to prohibit executive-branch officials from restraining media reporting and intimidating journalists.

Why is this petition significant?

This is the first time since martial law, and maybe ever, that such a broad range of media organizations and journalists in the Philippines have banded in unity to file a petition in court, questioning media censorship and seeking such relief from the courts.

What does the petition say?

The journalist petitioners said that certain officials of the executive branch, in implementing Presidential Proclamation 1017 and General Order Number 5, and even after the state of national emergency is supposed to have been lifted, acted beyond their authority, gravely abused their discretion, and violated free-press guarantees in the Bill of Rights by imposing content-based prior restraints on the press.

What does the petition ask from the courts?

It asked for two things.

First, it wants the courts to prohibit Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales, PNP Director Arturo Lomibao and National Telecommunications Commission chair Ronald Oliver Solis, and their officers and agents, from censoring publications, or preventing or prohibiting the broadcast of news and commentaries based on content.

The petitioners want the court to prohibit the same persons or their representatives from issuing, or enforcing any issuances or guidelines that infringe on the freedom of the press and expression, or from intimidating the press, publicly or otherwise, with administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution, to stop the media from airing materials that the government judges to be “rebellious”, “seditious”, or “subversive”.

Second, the petitioners also want the courts to annul certain NTC issuances that prohibit the broadcast media from airing news and commentary that is “subversive”, “tends” to incite to treason, rebellion or sedition, or which constitute "rebellious/terrorist propaganda, comments, information, interviews and other similar or related materials."

Specifically, the petitioners seek a temporary restraining order and an injunction.

Why do the petitioners think their move justified?

1. The petition cited the press-freedom guarantees in the Constitution (Article III, Section 4), which provide that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, expression or of the press. It cited landmark cases and precedents that establish press freedom as standing on higher ground than economic freedoms. Settled jurisprudence saying the need for prior restraint on the media has to be rigorously proved was also cited.

2. The petition argued that the government officials cited above had no lawful authority to censor the media, and that even their public threats and warnings were also unlawful and invalid.

3. The petition specifically questioned the NTC circulars as having been issued with grave abuse of discretion and excess of jurisdiction, and in violation of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.

4. Finally, the petitioners argued that they saw no other remedy in the ordinary course of the law but to file the petition.

Which court is handling the petition?

It was raffled to the 9th Division of the Court of Appeals, with case number 93529.and titled Philippine Press Institute et al versus Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita et al, for Certiorari, Prohibition, Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction.

Who were signatories to the petition?

Group/Corporate petitioners: Philippine Press Institute (PPI), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Newsbreak, Probe Productions, Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), UP College of Mass Communications and ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Group

Individual petitioners: Fernando A. Abogo, Jr. (news editor, ABS-CBN Channel 2), Danilo A. Arao (UP College of Mass Communications), Ricky Carandang (broadcast journalist, ANC), Arnold Clavio (television and radio news anchor, GMA-7 and DZBB), Shiela Coronel (executive director, PCIJ), Georgina R. Encanto (former dean, UP CMC), Anna Liza Eugenio (senior news editor, ABS-CBN), Federico E. Fernandez (executive producer, Sentro, ABC-5 primetime news), Glenda Gloria (managing editor, Newsbreak), Ana Patricia Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan (current affairs host and news anchor, ANC), Rodney Jaleco (senior news editor, ABS-CBN), Maritess Jimenez (head, News Desk, GMA-7), Jaileen F. Jimeno (program unit manager, Debate, Imbestigador and Lovely Day aired over GMA-7), Ed Lingao (vice president for operations, ABC-5), Jade Lopez (manager for operations, news and public affairs, ABC-5), Jo Ann Maglipon (editor-in-chief of Yes! Magazine and Hi! Magazine and board member of Newsbreak), Malou Mangahas (PCIJ editorial board member, GMA-7 public affairs department training consultant and Debate editorial consultant), Sylvia Mayuga (freelance journalist), Tina Monzon-Palma (news anchor and public affairs host, ANC), Henry Omaga-Diaz (news anchor, ANC), Rowena Paraan (associate editor, Philippine Graphic magazine), Jose Pavia (executive director, Philippine Press Institute), Maria A. Ressa (vice president for news and public affairs, ABS-CBN), Lyn Resurreccion (section editor, Business Mirror), Maria Cristina V. Rodriguez (freelance journalist), Joselito Saracho (news production head, ANC), David Jude Sta. Ana (head of features, ABS-CBN News), Lourdes E. Simbulan (UPCMC), Jessica A. Soho (vice president for news/news director, GMA-7), Maria Lourdes Talosig (associate producer, News Desk, GMA-7), Luis V. Teodoro (columnist, Business Mirror and former dean, UP CMC), Jose Torres (iGMA), Nessa Valdellon (vice president for public affairs, GMA-7), Antonio T. Velasquez (senior correspondent, ABS-CBN News), Rosario S. Villa (head of news gathering, ABS-CBN), Claude Vitug (senior editor, ABS-CBN), and Marites Vitug (editor-in-chief, Newsbreak)

What can media organizations or individual journalists do if they want to support this petition?

They can add their own signatures before Wednesday, March 15. They can download a copy of the petition from the NUJP website, and if they are in agreement with it, add their signatures and submit or mail 15 notarized original copies to either the offices of the Philippine Press Institute, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, or the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, whose addresses can be found at the end of this primer.

Institutions as well as individuals can sign. Institutions will be required to submit notarized board resolutions and secretary’s certificates. Individuals will be required to submit identification.

Media organizations can also closely monitor the developments of this initiative for coverage. For updates, they can send reporters regularly to the petitioner organizations or individuals, or to the offices of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), whose address can also be found at the end of this primer.

Please refer questions to:

National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
105-A Scout Castor, Barangay Laging Handa,
Diliman, Quezon City
Telefax 411-7768
www.nujp.org

Free Legal Assistance Group
2/F Eastside Building, 77 Malakas St
Barangay Pinyahan, Diliman, Quezon City

Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Address: 2/F Ateneo Professional Schools-Salcedo,
#130 HV dela Costa St.,
Makati City 1227
Tel: 894-1326 / 894-1314 / 840-0903
Telefax: 840-0889
Email: staff@cmfr-phil.org
Website: http://www.cmfr-phil.org

A quick look at media's petition vs muzzling efforts

The petition the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has filed along with other media groups and journalists last March 8 against efforts to muzzle the press is written concisely and elegantly, thanks to the efforts of Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), which prepared the petition.

The petition raised the arguments well as to why the current efforts of the government to stifle the press in the country should stop now and should never happen again. I urge you guys to read the 41-paged petition in full (which you can download from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism blog) . But if you want an executive summary of the petition to have a quick grasp of what it is all about, I'm pasting it below.

Executive Summary:
Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Declaratory Relief

The decision to file a petition was arrived at after two meetings between FLAG and media practitioners; the contents of the petition were fully discussed with media practitioners; substantial changes, were, however, made to ensure that the petition addresses concerns of both print and broadcast media.

A. Objectives

a. To declare that the Executive Department, represented by the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of Justice, the Director General of the Philippine National Police, the Chairman of the National Telecommunications Commission and their officers, agents or other persons acting under their authority or supervision, have no lawful power, authority or jurisdiction to prohibit the publication or airing of news and commentary based upon its contents.

i. Only a court, with its accompanying due process safeguards, may impose content-based prior restraints, when the grounds therefore are duly proved.

b. To prohibit the Executive Secretary, the PNP, the DOJ, and the NTC from imposing any form of content-based prior restraint on the press, be it formal or informal, direct or in the form of disguised or thinly veiled threats of administrative sanction or criminal prosecution.

i. The threat of official intervention—in the form of administrative sanction or criminal prosecution—is just as damaging to a free press as the fact of it.

c. To annul and set aside the issuances of the NTC that prohibit the press from airing or broadcasting news and commentary that, in the NTC's sole and unfettered discretion, are "subversive," which "tend" to propose or incite sedition or rebellion, or which constitute "rebellious/terrorist propaganda, comments, information, interviews and other similar or related materials."

i. NTC does not have any lawful power, authority or jurisdiction to prohibit these, much less judge what is subversive (when the crime of subversion has long been repealed), what merely "tends" to propose or incite sedition or rebellion (whatever that means to the NTC), and what constitutes "rebellious/terrorist propaganda, comments and the like (whatever that means to the NTC).

d. The dangers of un-reviewable administrative actions that impose prior restraints on the press are as ancient as dictators. We seek the intervention of the Court to stop the use of the strong arm of the law to exclude speech protected by the Constitution.

B. Petition is not hinged on declaration of state of national emergency; hence its “lifting” does not in any way affect the nature and objectives of the petition.

C. Parties

a. Petitioners

i. Media organizations
ii. Journalists and Broadcasters
iii. Academe

b. Respondents

i. Eduardo R. Ermita, Executive Secretary
ii. Raul Gonzalez, Secretary of Justice
iii. Arturo Lomibao, Director General of the Philippine National Police
iv. Ronald Olivar Solis, Chairman of the National Telecommunications Commission

D. Venue: Court of Appeals

a. Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to hear petitions for declaratory relief.

b. FLAG has concerns over current composition of Supreme Court, most of whose members were appointed by GMA.

c. FLAG has concerns over outcome of petitions challenging Proclamation 1017.