FLAG, Rights Groups, Media Hit Emergency Proclamation

In Baguio City, a wide range of groups from the Free Legal Assistance Group, human rights organizations, to local media practitioners have stood up in opposition to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's  Proclamation No. 1017, which declares a state of national emergency in the Philippines. They say the proclamation opens the gates for violations of people's rights.

BY ARTHUR ALLAD-IW
NORTHERN DISPATCH
Posted by Bulatlat

BAGUIO CITY (Feb. 24) – They were supposed to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the People Power I. Instead they were surprised by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s issuance of Proclamation No. 1017, declaring a state of national emergency in the whole nation. Rights advocates believe this has no constitutional basis and it gives the go-signal for the violation of the people's rights.

Around 4:30 p.m. on February 24, human rights, militant and sectoral groups poured out to the streets in this city to condemn the proclamation and reiterate their demand for Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation, claiming she has no mandate to rule the nation.

The said protest action started with a march-rally along the city’s main roads and ended in a short program at the People's Park. Speakers during the program explained the effect of the proclamation and reiterated their call for Macapagal-Arroyo's ouster, which they claim is the only solution to the on-going economic and political crisis.

Human rights advocates and the media also aired their protest against the proclamation.

The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), in a statement, condemned Proclamation 1017 as a “license given to the military and police to use against whosoever they perceive to be enemies; it silences all forms of criticism, including media reporting.” FLAG opposed martial law and rendered legal services to the victims of human rights violations during the regime of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Lawyer Pablito Sanidad said, in a press conference, that if the proclamation aims to quell opposition, that will not happen, instead it would draw more opposition. He added that it has always worked that way as he compared it with the martial law experience.

“GMA arrogated unto her the power to promulgate decrees, orders and regulations, not different, in effect, from Amendment No. 6, which Marcos used to legislate when there exists a grave emergency or a threat or imminence,” the FLAG statement read.

Unconstitutional

GMA’s proclamation cited two constitutional provisions as its basis in declaring a state of national emergency. One of these is Art VII, Sec. 18, which stated, “The President shall be the Commander-In-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion.” The other is Art XII, Sec. 17 which states that “In times of national emergency, when the public interest so requires, the State may, during the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interests.”

FLAG stated that under Section 18, Art VII, the only grounds to call out the Armed Forces are lawless violence, invasion or rebellion; while the only grounds to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or to declare martial law are invasion or rebellion.

“Not one of these grounds exists,” the FLAG statement read. “A so called 'conspiracy to bring down' Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not – in and itself – lawless violence, invasion or rebellion.”

FLAG further pointed out “there is neither factual nor legal basis for the declaration of a national emergency” as GMA claimed when she announced the proclamation that she was in control of the situation and the threats against her government had already been neutralized and quelled.

FLAG further stated that Sec. 17, Art XII may be exercised only during the emergency and under reasonable terms. It tagged the proclamation as arbitrary as it explained that the proclamation contains no clear directives or guidelines and no period for the duration of the emergency.

Human rights violation

Human rights groups in the region further condemned the proclamation as it will further human rights violations.

Atty. Randy Kinaud of the Cordillera Human Rights Advocates (CHRA) said that the proclamation serves as preview of what martial law is all about for those who were not there during martial law.

Lawyer Manja Bayang who works with the indigenous people law center DINTEG said the proclamation is very anti-human rights. She said the factual basis for the declaration is a product of the imagination and there is no imminent danger.

Another lawyer Chyt Daytec-Yangot said that the proclamation is clearly a move to thwart the growing sentiment of the people against the present administration, despite how legal the people’s protests are.

With the proclamation’s possible effect on human rights, CHRA and DINTEG said they would strengthen their institutions to address possible rights’ violations.

Media curtailment

Joining the opposition against the proclamation are media practitioners in the city. They criticized the proclamation as it institutionalized curtailment of media reporting, even objective reporting of an event.

The Baguio-Benguet chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) pointed out that the proclamation blames some segments of the media for “recklessly magnifying” the viewpoint of conspirators who repeatedly tried to bring down the president.

Macapagal-Arroyo and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) allege that a “tactical alliance” exists between the opposition, “adventurist soldiers,” and the Left for the purpose of bringing down the present government. 

NUJP stated that the role of media is to report an event, regardless of how bad or good the event is as part of the exercise of media practitioners' constitutional right to freedom of expression and of the press.

The NUJP Baguio-Benguet chapter supports its mother organization’s call urging media practitioners “not to be cowed by threats, open or veiled, which seeks to scare us from boldly performing our jobs, as we must.”

Meanwhile, the militant Tongtongan ti Umili (TTU or People's Dialogue), the city chapter of the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA), who led the rally, urged the people to join them in their opposition against the proclamation and for the ouster of GMA in different protests to be launched in the future. With reports from Kimberlie Quitasol for Nordis / Posted by Bulatlat

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