Despite lifting of Proclamation No. 1017:
Curtailment of Press Freedom Still Possible
Media groups welcomed
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s lifting of Proclamation No. 1017 which
declared a state of national emergency. However, they warned that the
crackdown on critical media agencies may still continue based on recent
pronouncements of the President and other government officials.
BY JHONG DELA CRUZ
Bulatlat
AGAINST THE GAG:
Journalists discuss and protest
Proclamation No. 1017 and
attacks on press freedom in a
press conference, Feb. 26
PHOTO BY
AUBREY MAKILAN |
 |
Commissioner Ronald
Solis of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that the
government will always be on the lookout for media entities perceived to
be conniving with parties aiming to overthrow the administration. “The
power to close down media entities is vested in the President.”
He said that program
standards maintained by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP
or Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines) remain in force.
“Certain standards like false facts and misrepresentation are still being
implemented by KBP, that’s why there is constant dialogue.”
Prelude to Chacha
Liwayway
Vinzons-Chato who used to be commissioner of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR) said that Proclamation No. 1017 which was originally crafted
to target the media is also a prelude to charter change. She stressed that
the Arroyo administration is hell-bent on revising the 1987 Constitution
to give way to a parliamentary form of government in which Arroyo will
remain in power beyond 2010.
Chato said that
the Arroyo administration plans to hold a plebiscite by May 2006, to give
way to the creation of the revised charter.
Remember 2004 election cheating
Carlos Conde,
secretary general of the National Union of Journalist of the Philippines,
urged the media to trace the recent events back to the massive cheating in
the 2004 presidential election. He said that the government has kept mum
on the results of investigation of the Mayuga Commission which was tasked
to investigate election irregularities.
“More than ever, the
people…should stay vigilant, we have to strengthen our force
because…threats will continue,” he said, adding that the Arroyo
administration has demonized the media, as seen in the raid on The
Daily Tribune. Other media entities such television program Diyos
at Bayan (God and People) aired on QTV, radio program Ngayon Na,
Bayan! (Now, People!) aired on DZRJ (810 khz AM station) were
suspended while broadsheet
Malaya (Free)
experienced harassment.
Jose Cadiz, chair of
the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) they would look into the
manner of implementation of Proclamation No. 1017 and file charges against
the perpetrators.
In a statement, NUJP
said, “Never has the Philippine media shown such acute insight and such
broad unity…we have said that silence is the best ally of tyranny. Now we
also know its corollary: that tyranny cannot last with a vigilant
citizenry.” Bulatlat
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