This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 5, March 5-11, 2006
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 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.” 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. 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 © 2006 Bulatlat
■
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Despite lifting of
Proclamation No. 1017:
Curtailment of Press Freedom Still Possible
BulatlatPrelude to Chacha
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