Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 22 July 6 - 12, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Journalist in Military OB, AFP General Says Top
military officials deny that there are journalists in their Order of Battle
(OB). The denial came in the wake of reports about journalists being mowed down
allegedly by military and police authorities. In a forum, media leaders and AFP
officials agreed in principle to forge a Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MMoU)
that seeks to guarantee the protection of the press from harassment. By
Karl G. Ombion and Edgar
A. Cadagat No
journalist is in the Order of Battle (OB) of the military. Gen.
Ernesto Carolina, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, revealed thus to newsmen
in a forum in Manila last June 26. Carolina
said there journalists’ names may land in military reports especially when
they cover insurgency- or war-town areas. It is possible that law-level
informers and intelligence agents may have monitored them interviewing some
personalities who are on the military’s list, he said. “But
these are raw information which have got to be verified and if, indeed, a
journalist is on the OB, it is such a top secret report which are not easily
known,” the military’s second-most ranking officer said. Raw
reports are classified as green information, and if more reports come it could
turn to yellow, then orange and red which could mean high alert and immediate
follow-up. Carolina,
who was commander of AFP units in Mindanao and later in Southern Luzon, also
said that the military may adopt the practice of enrolling embedded journalists
in their units soon. The
practice became the mode of coverage in the recent U.S.-led war against Iraq
where hundreds of journalists were assigned to units of the invading U.S. and
British armies instead of being allowed to conduct their own independent
coverage. The
press forum opened a three-day seminar on press freedom and union organizing at
the Executive Plaza Hotel sponsored by the National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). In
the same forum, NUJP leaders and participants proposed the signing of a
Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MMoU) with the AFP which would ensure that
journalists are protected from harassments and threats from the military as well
as police authorities. Both
sides are set to discuss the matter soon. Cases
of harassment Carolina’s
denial and the proposed MMoU came up following complaints aired in the same
forum about the harassment of journalists. College
Editors’ Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) president Ronalyn Olea revealed an
increasing number of campus journalists being subjected to harassments and
threats by government, military and police authorities. Among
CEGP officials subjected to harassments were their Northern Luzon regional
coordinator, who was arrested by the military on charges that she was a
top-ranking rebel leader, Olea said. Cagayan
de Oro-based journalist Herbie Gomez, who was briefly detained last month after
a municipal official filed libel charges against him and another reporter, said
this was a form of harassment carried out to force journalists into silence or
self-censorship. But
Carolina and Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, AFP spokesperson, denied there were
conscious efforts from the AFP to target journalists or to prevent them from
covering militant affairs including field operations. Journalists
present also bewailed the fact that while the media as the so-called Fourth
Estate is conceded as among the most powerful of institutions, those responsible
for the killing of many journalists since years back have not been prosecuted. Among
the well-known cases is that of hard-hitting journalist, Edgar Damalerio of
Pagadian City. But
physical harm the journalists face is part of the risks they have to face in the
profession, Carolina said, adding it is this sector which is the most protected
here and worldwide. He discouraged media practitioners from venturing so close in the line of fire especially in the strife-torn areas of Mindanao. Bulatlat.com / Cobra-Ans We want to know what you think of this article.
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