This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 40, November
13-19, 2005
Journalists, Artists Denounce
GMA’s Statement vs Media
Journalists and artists have recently issued statements denouncing President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s call for media to “focus on winners, not losers.” BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Journalists denounced
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s strongly-worded speech at the Nov. 10
conference of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP, Association of
Broadcasters in the Philippines) in Baguio City. In the conference, the
president told the media to “focus on winners, not losers.” “We must take heed of the
media becoming part of the national malaise and a hindrance to development
rather than an important solution to our problems,” Macapagal-Arroyo said. “A
press that loses credibility as the watchdog of government and the society
becomes a drag to democracy rather than a force of freedom. Yes, we must admit
that some segments of the media are pushing the negative angle of stories too
far and too often.” “The President forgets that
an informed citizenry is needed for development and democracy,” said Rowena
Carranza-Paraan, a director of the National Union of Journalists in the
Philippines (NUJP), in reaction to the speech. “An informed citizenry is only
possible if media is free to report both good and bad news. What she wants is
‘praised journalism’ just like Martial Law days. Calling us a ‘drag to
democracy’ and tools for destabilization is tantamount to declaring war against
media.” For his part, columnist
Vergel Santos said that it seems that President Arroyo wants to rewrite the
terms of engagement between the media and government. “She cannot do that,
(because) it has been set by tradition and wisdom through the ages,” Santos told
reporters, adding that the “terms of agreement is a democracy deal and part of
that deal is press freedom”. . In less than an hour after
President Arroyo left the podium, ABS-CBN chairman Eugene Lopez III lashed back
as he appealed to public officials to refrain from unduly tarnishing the
reputation of broadcasters with unfounded accusations. Lopez, one of the
speakers in the KBP conference, said that the “Philippine media is being
unjustly vilified by those whose interest lies in the continued suppression of
the truth” taking as context the country’s “unsettled political and economic
situation. Dean Luis Teodoro of the
University of the Philippines said that the more
the president stonewalls the presidency, the more she loses credibility. Teodoro
said that it seems the president do not want reports that will put her in a bad
light. Bayan Muna (People First)
Rep. Satur Ocampo said Macapagal-Arroyo should not blame the media for the existence
of bad news, and had “only herself to blame” for it. “She has been caught lying
or backing out on her public statements,” said Ocampo. “She touts her title
‘economist’ but she presides over an economy marked by high prices, high taxes
and elitist control.” Enter anti-GMA artists Meanwhile, a broad artists’
alliance calling for Macapagal-Arroyo’s removal from office and the
institutionalization of reforms beyond a constitutional succession has stepped
into the debate as well. The Artists for the Removal
of Gloria (ARREST Gloria) – whose membership includes poet-musician Lourd de
Veyra, singers Bobby Balingit and Dong Abay, the multi-media group Southern
Tagalog Exposure, the worker-based musical group Tambisan sa Sining, and the
poetry group Kilometer 64 among others – assailed in a Nov. 13 statement
Macapagal-Arroyo’s call to media to highlight “winners” and not “losers” as well
as her attacks against journalists covering the proceedings of the Citizens’
Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA). “President Arroyo’s call to
media to focus on ‘winners’ and not ‘losers’ reminds us artists of how former
First Lady Imelda Marcos, during the martial law period, repeatedly pressured
our colleagues to highlight ‘The True, The Good, The Beautiful’ while the
economy was on a downward trajectory because of pro-foreign and elitist
policies, as well as corruption, and the rights of people seeking a better life
for all were being trampled upon on a grand scale,” the ARREST Gloria statement
read. The group likewise recalled how artists who chose to “depict things as
they really were” earned the ire of the Marcos dictatorship and were “punished”
in various ways. “We
artists hold sacred the freedom of expression,” the ARREST Gloria statement
further read. “Freedom of the press is the freedom of expression as exercised by
members of the media. “Without freedom of the
press, journalists cease to be journalists. Without artistic freedom, artists
cease to be artists. To tell journalists to focus on ‘winners’ and not ‘losers,’
to tell artists to highlight ‘The True, The Good, The Beautiful,’ is to order
them to kill themselves.” Journalists vs.
anti-terror bill Teodoro, Santos and Ocampo,
have also joined calls to oppose the anti-terrorism bill (ATB) pending in both
houses of Congress. “If enacted into law, the
ATB would make it easy and legal for the Arroyo government to label as
terrorists any journalist or media outfit that would interview or cover
dissidents, critics and other newsworthy sources perceived by government as
terrorists,” said Ocampo in a Nov. 11 statement. Teodoro, in his talk during
the 31st top-level management conference of the KBP Nov. 10 said that
the anti-terror bill, with its broad definition of what constitutes terrorism,
will affect the security of media persons and outfits. Referring to President
Arroyo’s disclosure of an intelligence report linking ABS-CBN reporter Julius
Babao to suspected terrorist Dawud Santos, he adds that if the bills have been
passed into law, Babao’s overzealousness at getting to the core of facts
surrounding the Dawud bail can be considered as an aid to terrorism.
“Kulong siya,” (He could
land in prison) Teodoro said. Under the ATB, terrorism as a crime is not
bailable and an alleged terrorist can be arrested without warrant and detained
for 15 days without warrant. Santos said during the same
conference that all journalists must read the anti-terrorism bill and oppose
it. Earlier, the NUJP Board of
Directors initiated a petition March, 2005 opposing the Anti-Terrorism Bill
branding the bill as an “assault to democracy”. In a primer, accompanying the
petition, the NUJP criticized the Anti-Terrorism Bill for including “legitimate
dissent” in its definition of “terrorism.” The Anti-Terrorism Bill The House Committees on
Justice and Foreign Affairs approved Oct. 4 a consolidated version of the
Anti-Terrorism Bills filed by Reps. Imee Marcos (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, 2nd
District, Ilocos Norte), Judy Syjuco (Liberal Party, 2nd District,
Iloilo), Robert Ace Barbers (Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, 2nd
District, Surigao del Norte), Amado Espino Jr. (Nationalist People’s Coalition,
2nd District, Pangasinan), Marcelino Libanan (Nationalist People’s
Coalition, Eastern Samar), Robert Vincent Jude Jaworski ( Lakas-CMD, Pasig
City), and Douglas Cagas (NPC, 1st District, Davao del Sur). Meanwhile, there are five
pending Anti-Terrorism Bills at the Senate. These are Senate Bill (SB) No. 735
by Sen. Manuel Villar (Lakas-CMD), SB 831 by Sen. Panfilo Lacson (Laban ng
Demokratikong Pilipino or LDP), SB 871 by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (Koalisyon ng
Nagkakaisang Pilipino or KNP), SB 38 Sen. Ramon Magsaysay (Lakas-CMD), and SB
1768 by Sen. Alfredo Lim KNP). They were reported out by the Committees on
Public Order and Illegal Drugs, Justice and Human Rights, and Finance. Section 7 of the version
approved by the House Committees on Justice and Foreign Affairs makes it
“unlawful” for any person or group of persons, “whether natural or juridical,”
to establish, maintain or serve as contact or link “with any person or group of
persons or organization/s who have pursued or are pursuing terrorism.” Any
person who is found to have violated any of the provisions under the draft’s
Sec. 7, which lists “Acts that Facilitate, Contribute to or Promote Terrorism”
will suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P10 million
($183,755.97 based on a $1:P54.42 exchange rate as of Nov. 14, 10:23 a.m.
Philippine time). Earlier this year, Lt. Gen.
Edilberto Adan, former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of
staff and now commanding officer of the military’s Southern Command (Southcom),
had proposed sanctions against journalists interviewing “known or suspected
terrorists.” Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
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