http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=67797
Militants show how to beat proclamation
First posted 04:51am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Blanche S. Rivera
Inquirer
MILITANT leaders yesterday offered “creative ways” of openly defying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Proclamation No. 1017 placing the country under a state of emergency.
“We survived 1081, there is no reason to think we will not survive 1017. Arroyo is a poor copy of the dictator Marcos,” activist priest Fr. Joe Dizon said. The late President Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081 when he declared martial law in 1972.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said people could openly defy Ms Arroyo’s proclamation without being arrested.
They could do this by wearing red shirts, red ribbons or armbands, pins and shirts with anti-Arroyo markings to signify their protest, Reyes said.
Since assembly in private places is not banned, people could gather in freedom parks, private homes, offices and schools and discuss issues related to the proclamation, he said.
No fear
“Be proud of your convictions. Wear them,” Reyes said.
He said people wearing shirts with anti-Arroyo slogans particularly should have no reason to fear.
“I don’t think even the military will dare to ask anyone to undress himself in public,” Reyes said.
Bayan chair Carol Araullo said her group was working to secure the release of Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran and others who had been arrested by the police.
Marcos and Gloria
“We are here, we are not hiding. We are not cowed. We will see this regime ousted from power,” Araullo said in a press conference.
Dizon, a convenor of the Catholic lay group Kairos, called on religious leaders to support the people in protesting the state of emergency.
A “very significant” difference between Marcos and Ms Arroyo was that the late strongman had the full backing of the military when he declared martial law, he said. Ms Arroyo did not have that kind of military support when she issued her emergency edict, he said.
Appeal to soldiers
Dizon said Sunday’s standoff among Marines at Fort Bonifacio showed a crack in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“We call on them (soldiers) to withdraw their support and join protests for the peaceful removal of Arroyo … not to launch a coup d’état but to support the protests,” the priest said.
Nationwide protests
He said the mobilization of people clinched success for the first “people power” revolt that ended the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.
“If it can happen during the dictatorship, it can happen now,” Dizon said.
Sanlakas president Wilson Fortaleza said that starting today, daily protests would be held in key cities nationwide in defiance of Malacañang’s ban on rallies.
“We firmly believe that the people, especially the workers and the poor, will break the illegal state of emergency through open protests … (Ms Arroyo) does not have a united military to suppress the people,” Fortaleza said in a statement.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Senators urge media to defy gov’t control
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Senators urge media to defy gov’t control
First posted 03:10am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Philip C. Tubeza, TJ Burgonio, Luige A. del Puerto, Leila B. Salaverria
Inquirer
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came under fire in the Senate yesterday for allegedly attempting to muzzle the media as a prelude to an assault on basic civil liberties.
Senator Joker Arroyo urged the media to oppose administration efforts to control the press. “Defy the government … continue publishing,” he told reporters.
“If you want to control the civil liberties of the people, you start with media. That’s what government is trying to do. They are now trying to curtail media as a start,” Arroyo said.
Following the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on Friday, the Philippine National Police raided the office of the Daily Tribune.
PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao has also warned that police will take over media facilities if they do not comply with government standards.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and Senators Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, Rodolfo Biazon and Pia Cayetano yesterday filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into government acts in connection with Proclamation No. 1017.
Other senators have signified their intention to sponsor the measure.
Senators denounce raid
In the resolution, they condemned the police raid on the Tribune’s editorial office and the arrest of private citizens, as well as lawmakers critical of the Arroyo administration.
The senators also maintained that a state of emergency neither suspended the Constitution nor limited civil liberties, basic human rights, freedom of the press and other basic rights enshrined in the fundamental law.
“How can we expect our people to adhere to the rule of law if the highest office in the land can so easily twist and circumvent the fundamental law to meet its desired ends?” Pangilinan said.
Earlier in the day, Liberal Party members in the Senate and the House of Representatives held a caucus and agreed to question on the floor the legality of government acts carried out in connection with the proclamation.
“This is an intimidating act. They first targeted Tribune. Who’s next?” Biazon said.
News stories toned down?
“Do you know what I notice now? The stories have been toned down,” he said, holding a daily. “Even the commentaries have been toned down. Which means the objective of the proclamation is now slowly being achieved.”
Arroyo said any law, executive order or government action that ran counter to the constitutionally protected rights of the press, expression and speech “is unenforceable.”
“Even if the people exercise free speech and expression, or assemble to redress their grievances, nothing will come out of it unless media reports it freely,” he said.
“Thus, the President cannot, under the guise of national emergency or public interest, arbitrarily order the takeover or direct the news content of television or radio stations and thereby deprive the public of free and balanced information.”
“Such an assertion of the government cannot prevail over the superior right of freedom of the press, expression and speech,” he added.
NTC can’t close radio, TV
Arroyo said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) or any government body was not empowered to draw up guidelines on what electronic media could or could not air “because that amounts to prior restraint which is constitutionally impermissible.”
“They can only regulate the airwaves but they cannot say that they will close (down radio or TV stations),” he said.
“I’m chair of the committee on public services and legislative franchises so I know it by heart. They do not have any power to oversee media,” he added.
The maverick administration senator slammed Lomibao’s threat to take over recalcitrant media.
“How can a policeman understand freedom of the press? He’s a policeman,” Arroyo said.
Total press ban not allowed
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that even during a national emergency, “government may not impose a total ban on mass media” because free speech “occupies the highest priority in the hierarchy of constitutional values.”
She said the constitutional provision that authorized the government to “temporarily direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest” was not found under the constitutional article on the executive department, but “under the article on national economy and patrimony.”
“This provision is applicable, not to a national emergency affecting political stability, but to a national emergency affecting the economy,” said Santiago, also an administration senator.
“Since 1017 applies mainly to political emergency, the invocation of this economic provision has marginal relevance,” she said.
“It cannot be used as a basis for restricting mass media, unless the media report is directly related to the promotion of a coup d’état or rebellion,” she added.
President urged to cease, desist
Saying that “those who wield the gun and not those who wield the pen” were its enemies, Senator Ralph Recto advised Malacañang to “cease and desist” from taking actions which “abridge the freedom of the press.”
He warned the Palace that it will lose “the battle for public opinion if it alienates through underhanded tactics the very sector that shapes it.”
“Malacañang should not pick up a fight with those who buy ink by the barrel,” Recto said.
“If democracy is under attack, then you tap the most potent weapon in its arsenal, which is a free press. You don’t launch a counterattack on the media, but you use it in winning people over to your side,” he said.
Recto said “democracy can never be invoked” in curtailing the freedom of the press.
Recklessly conceived
He described as “recklessly conceived” the assertion that some members of the media had “recklessly magnified” the “claims” of alleged conspirators.
“As far as I know, there were no screaming headlines calling on people to rise against the government,” Recto said.
“On the contrary, it was media’s untrammeled coverage of the demonstrations which probably saved the day for the government. If there was a news blackout, people would have believed the propaganda that a million people are massing up on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue),” he said.
“But because the rallies were covered live by TV, they knew the real score.”
Recto said the people “know how to process information; they know chaff from the grain, substance from spin.”
During the swearing-in of a new set of officers of the PNP Press Corps in his office, Lomibao insisted that freedom of the press was “not absolute.”
“These are not normal times, we are in a state of national emergency,” he said.
Media attacks on government were “not good for the economy,” the police chief said.
In a statement signed by 124 students, faculty members and administrative staff, the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication demanded that the President rescind her emergency proclamation, saying “it clearly undermines the role of the free press in the country.”
Senators urge media to defy gov’t control
First posted 03:10am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Philip C. Tubeza, TJ Burgonio, Luige A. del Puerto, Leila B. Salaverria
Inquirer
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came under fire in the Senate yesterday for allegedly attempting to muzzle the media as a prelude to an assault on basic civil liberties.
Senator Joker Arroyo urged the media to oppose administration efforts to control the press. “Defy the government … continue publishing,” he told reporters.
“If you want to control the civil liberties of the people, you start with media. That’s what government is trying to do. They are now trying to curtail media as a start,” Arroyo said.
Following the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on Friday, the Philippine National Police raided the office of the Daily Tribune.
PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao has also warned that police will take over media facilities if they do not comply with government standards.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and Senators Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, Rodolfo Biazon and Pia Cayetano yesterday filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into government acts in connection with Proclamation No. 1017.
Other senators have signified their intention to sponsor the measure.
Senators denounce raid
In the resolution, they condemned the police raid on the Tribune’s editorial office and the arrest of private citizens, as well as lawmakers critical of the Arroyo administration.
The senators also maintained that a state of emergency neither suspended the Constitution nor limited civil liberties, basic human rights, freedom of the press and other basic rights enshrined in the fundamental law.
“How can we expect our people to adhere to the rule of law if the highest office in the land can so easily twist and circumvent the fundamental law to meet its desired ends?” Pangilinan said.
Earlier in the day, Liberal Party members in the Senate and the House of Representatives held a caucus and agreed to question on the floor the legality of government acts carried out in connection with the proclamation.
“This is an intimidating act. They first targeted Tribune. Who’s next?” Biazon said.
News stories toned down?
“Do you know what I notice now? The stories have been toned down,” he said, holding a daily. “Even the commentaries have been toned down. Which means the objective of the proclamation is now slowly being achieved.”
Arroyo said any law, executive order or government action that ran counter to the constitutionally protected rights of the press, expression and speech “is unenforceable.”
“Even if the people exercise free speech and expression, or assemble to redress their grievances, nothing will come out of it unless media reports it freely,” he said.
“Thus, the President cannot, under the guise of national emergency or public interest, arbitrarily order the takeover or direct the news content of television or radio stations and thereby deprive the public of free and balanced information.”
“Such an assertion of the government cannot prevail over the superior right of freedom of the press, expression and speech,” he added.
NTC can’t close radio, TV
Arroyo said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) or any government body was not empowered to draw up guidelines on what electronic media could or could not air “because that amounts to prior restraint which is constitutionally impermissible.”
“They can only regulate the airwaves but they cannot say that they will close (down radio or TV stations),” he said.
“I’m chair of the committee on public services and legislative franchises so I know it by heart. They do not have any power to oversee media,” he added.
The maverick administration senator slammed Lomibao’s threat to take over recalcitrant media.
“How can a policeman understand freedom of the press? He’s a policeman,” Arroyo said.
Total press ban not allowed
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that even during a national emergency, “government may not impose a total ban on mass media” because free speech “occupies the highest priority in the hierarchy of constitutional values.”
She said the constitutional provision that authorized the government to “temporarily direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest” was not found under the constitutional article on the executive department, but “under the article on national economy and patrimony.”
“This provision is applicable, not to a national emergency affecting political stability, but to a national emergency affecting the economy,” said Santiago, also an administration senator.
“Since 1017 applies mainly to political emergency, the invocation of this economic provision has marginal relevance,” she said.
“It cannot be used as a basis for restricting mass media, unless the media report is directly related to the promotion of a coup d’état or rebellion,” she added.
President urged to cease, desist
Saying that “those who wield the gun and not those who wield the pen” were its enemies, Senator Ralph Recto advised Malacañang to “cease and desist” from taking actions which “abridge the freedom of the press.”
He warned the Palace that it will lose “the battle for public opinion if it alienates through underhanded tactics the very sector that shapes it.”
“Malacañang should not pick up a fight with those who buy ink by the barrel,” Recto said.
“If democracy is under attack, then you tap the most potent weapon in its arsenal, which is a free press. You don’t launch a counterattack on the media, but you use it in winning people over to your side,” he said.
Recto said “democracy can never be invoked” in curtailing the freedom of the press.
Recklessly conceived
He described as “recklessly conceived” the assertion that some members of the media had “recklessly magnified” the “claims” of alleged conspirators.
“As far as I know, there were no screaming headlines calling on people to rise against the government,” Recto said.
“On the contrary, it was media’s untrammeled coverage of the demonstrations which probably saved the day for the government. If there was a news blackout, people would have believed the propaganda that a million people are massing up on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue),” he said.
“But because the rallies were covered live by TV, they knew the real score.”
Recto said the people “know how to process information; they know chaff from the grain, substance from spin.”
During the swearing-in of a new set of officers of the PNP Press Corps in his office, Lomibao insisted that freedom of the press was “not absolute.”
“These are not normal times, we are in a state of national emergency,” he said.
Media attacks on government were “not good for the economy,” the police chief said.
In a statement signed by 124 students, faculty members and administrative staff, the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication demanded that the President rescind her emergency proclamation, saying “it clearly undermines the role of the free press in the country.”
Cabinet split on ending state of emergency
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Cabinet split on ending state of emergency
First posted 01:09am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer
CABINET officials are split on the lifting of Proclamation No. 1017, with the security cluster remaining cool to a proposal by economic managers to rescind as soon as possible the state of national emergency that President Macapagal-Arroyo declared on Friday because of an alleged coup plot.
The announcement by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in a statement yesterday that “the state of emergency will remain until such time that we are sure that the threats are contained” indicated that Ms Arroyo was heeding the advice of military and defense officials.
“I believe the public will understand that the lifting of PP 1017 will be slightly delayed,” Bunye said on radio, referring to the emergency declaration.
Issuing her emergency declaration on Friday, Ms Arroyo spoke of a “tactical alliance” between right-wing and communist forces to oust her and “create an unconstitutional regime.”
Two officers from elite security units in the country’s influential military were detained. On Saturday, police arrested an opposition congressman and a retired general, and raided a newspaper office. More persons were arrested yesterday.
Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the economic managers had requested a one-on-one briefing with the Cabinet security cluster last night to enlighten the group on the extent of the threat against the administration.
“We told them (security cluster) to give us the real situation because we want to lift it since the markets have normalized,” Favila said at a briefing in Malacañang.
“We’re asking, ‘What else is there?’ But based on (Defense) Secretary (Avelino) Nonong Cruz’s briefing, we might have to wait for a couple more hours or days and that they’ll just give the signal when everything is clear,” the trade secretary said.
Standoff
As early as Saturday, Favila said the economic managers had been telling the President of the need to lift PP 1017 considering that the markets had remained sober.
“She was just nodding her head. She was just listening,” he said.
Were it not for the Fort Bonifacio standoff with the Marines on Sunday, Favila said the President would have lifted the proclamation “between now (Monday) and Wednesday.”
“Until noontime Sunday, we were discussing the lifting. Then the Marines started calling for media coverage. We had to drop the issue entirely,” the trade secretary said.
But with the standoff resolved before midnight Sunday and the peso and stock markets behaving normally yesterday, Favila and the economic managers revived their push for the lifting of the proclamation.
Within normal range
Favila noted that the peso’s and stock market’s decline on Friday were well within the normal range of trading activity and was way different from the reaction in the 1989 attempted coup d’état.
He said the bloody coup attempt in 1989 cost the country a 2.2 percentage loss in economic growth, P120 billion in business activity and P12 billion in tax revenues.
“The markets gave a good, encouraging sign that everything was back to normal,” Favila said.
He said, however, that the economic team had “no debate” with the security cluster on the law and order situation because the latter might have more information than it had disclosed to the public.
He said a majority of businessmen reacted positively to the declaration of a state of emergency although there were some who complained that it was rushed and the public had been kept in the dark about its justification.
“If there was no concrete action taken, the market could have taken a tailspin and that would have been worse,” Favila said.
Overreaction
But one of the country’s biggest business groups blasted Ms Arroyo’s declaration of a state of national emergency as contrary to the national interest and an “overreaction to events.”
The Makati Business Club (MBC) said PP 1017 was issued amid Malacañang’s insistence that the situation was under control.
“Just as we urge the government to immediately revoke PP 1017, we also urge the Armed Forces to continue upholding the Constitution,” the MBC said in a statement. “Instead of preserving democracy, the proclamation threatens people’s rights and freedoms reminiscent of martial law.”
“The warrantless arrests, warnings and threats against media appear to be early indicators of a crackdown against voices of dissent,” it said.
“The core problem lies in the lack of transparency and accountability of our political leaders (and) our sad state of affairs is the cumulative effect of controversy and cover-up, which include the 2004 elections, ‘Hello Garci’ tapes and the still unreleased Mayuga Report on military involvement in the elections,” the group said.
The MBC, along with the Financial Executives of the Philippines and various civil society groups, called for Ms Arroyo’s resignation in July last year when 10 Cabinet secretaries and high-ranking Malacañang officials demanded the same.
Guillermo Luz, the group’s executive director, maintained that the MBC had not changed its position and believed that the social unrest was the result of the unresolved controversies. With a report from Ronnel W. Domingo
Cabinet split on ending state of emergency
First posted 01:09am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer
CABINET officials are split on the lifting of Proclamation No. 1017, with the security cluster remaining cool to a proposal by economic managers to rescind as soon as possible the state of national emergency that President Macapagal-Arroyo declared on Friday because of an alleged coup plot.
The announcement by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in a statement yesterday that “the state of emergency will remain until such time that we are sure that the threats are contained” indicated that Ms Arroyo was heeding the advice of military and defense officials.
“I believe the public will understand that the lifting of PP 1017 will be slightly delayed,” Bunye said on radio, referring to the emergency declaration.
Issuing her emergency declaration on Friday, Ms Arroyo spoke of a “tactical alliance” between right-wing and communist forces to oust her and “create an unconstitutional regime.”
Two officers from elite security units in the country’s influential military were detained. On Saturday, police arrested an opposition congressman and a retired general, and raided a newspaper office. More persons were arrested yesterday.
Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the economic managers had requested a one-on-one briefing with the Cabinet security cluster last night to enlighten the group on the extent of the threat against the administration.
“We told them (security cluster) to give us the real situation because we want to lift it since the markets have normalized,” Favila said at a briefing in Malacañang.
“We’re asking, ‘What else is there?’ But based on (Defense) Secretary (Avelino) Nonong Cruz’s briefing, we might have to wait for a couple more hours or days and that they’ll just give the signal when everything is clear,” the trade secretary said.
Standoff
As early as Saturday, Favila said the economic managers had been telling the President of the need to lift PP 1017 considering that the markets had remained sober.
“She was just nodding her head. She was just listening,” he said.
Were it not for the Fort Bonifacio standoff with the Marines on Sunday, Favila said the President would have lifted the proclamation “between now (Monday) and Wednesday.”
“Until noontime Sunday, we were discussing the lifting. Then the Marines started calling for media coverage. We had to drop the issue entirely,” the trade secretary said.
But with the standoff resolved before midnight Sunday and the peso and stock markets behaving normally yesterday, Favila and the economic managers revived their push for the lifting of the proclamation.
Within normal range
Favila noted that the peso’s and stock market’s decline on Friday were well within the normal range of trading activity and was way different from the reaction in the 1989 attempted coup d’état.
He said the bloody coup attempt in 1989 cost the country a 2.2 percentage loss in economic growth, P120 billion in business activity and P12 billion in tax revenues.
“The markets gave a good, encouraging sign that everything was back to normal,” Favila said.
He said, however, that the economic team had “no debate” with the security cluster on the law and order situation because the latter might have more information than it had disclosed to the public.
He said a majority of businessmen reacted positively to the declaration of a state of emergency although there were some who complained that it was rushed and the public had been kept in the dark about its justification.
“If there was no concrete action taken, the market could have taken a tailspin and that would have been worse,” Favila said.
Overreaction
But one of the country’s biggest business groups blasted Ms Arroyo’s declaration of a state of national emergency as contrary to the national interest and an “overreaction to events.”
The Makati Business Club (MBC) said PP 1017 was issued amid Malacañang’s insistence that the situation was under control.
“Just as we urge the government to immediately revoke PP 1017, we also urge the Armed Forces to continue upholding the Constitution,” the MBC said in a statement. “Instead of preserving democracy, the proclamation threatens people’s rights and freedoms reminiscent of martial law.”
“The warrantless arrests, warnings and threats against media appear to be early indicators of a crackdown against voices of dissent,” it said.
“The core problem lies in the lack of transparency and accountability of our political leaders (and) our sad state of affairs is the cumulative effect of controversy and cover-up, which include the 2004 elections, ‘Hello Garci’ tapes and the still unreleased Mayuga Report on military involvement in the elections,” the group said.
The MBC, along with the Financial Executives of the Philippines and various civil society groups, called for Ms Arroyo’s resignation in July last year when 10 Cabinet secretaries and high-ranking Malacañang officials demanded the same.
Guillermo Luz, the group’s executive director, maintained that the MBC had not changed its position and believed that the social unrest was the result of the unresolved controversies. With a report from Ronnel W. Domingo
Party-list solon nabbed; 4 more in House custody
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Arroyo cracks down on Left, Right foes
First posted 00:32am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Michael Lim Ubac, Luige del Puerto
Inquirer
SHRUGGING OFF threats of arrest, four leftist lawmakers strode into the halls of Congress yesterday and declared that it was an honor to be on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “enemies list.”
Spurred by Ms Arroyo’s proclamation of a state of national emergency on Friday, police also placed under house arrest Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco, the sacked chief of the Special Action Force, and put three other police officers under “restrictive custody.”
The lawmakers were among 16 people against whom police had filed charges of rebellion in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow Ms Arroyo.
Police did not arrest the militant legislators, but after negotiating with Speaker Jose de Venecia, they agreed that the top House leader would have custody of them within the confines of the Batasang Pambansa.
The arrangement would last pending the outcome of a formal investigation of the charges of rebellion and coup d’état filed against them.
Half a dozen policemen were around when party-list Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis and Lisa Maza of Gabriela showed up to attend the session.
Another party-list congressman, Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, was not as lucky. He was at the Philippine Airlines ticketing office in Davao City when police agents grabbed and handcuffed him after he resisted arrest.
De Venecia said the lawmakers would be “under detention and custody of the House sergeant at arms and PNP security force here in the House. So they will be under detention. No one is above the law.”
A sixth congressman, Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis, was arrested over the weekend.
Stepping up their campaign to purge alleged coup plotters, police also filed with Department of Justice prosecutors a complaint of rebellion and insurrection against about 50 leftist leaders, including Communist Party founder Jose Maria Sison and National Democratic Front leader Luis Jalandoni. Both Sison and Jalandoni live in self-exile in the Netherlands.
Cojuangco, Saycon
At the same time, Malacañang ordered authorities to investigate former Tarlac Representative Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and political strategist Pastor “Boy” Saycon also for supposed involvement in the plot to oust Ms Arroyo.
Cojuangco and Saycon denied the allegations.
De Venecia told reporters the accused lawmakers would be under his “detention and custody” for the time being.
Except for cases penalized by more than six years’ imprisonment, the Constitution bars the arrest of members of Congress while the legislature is in session.
A defiant Ocampo said he and his five House colleagues did not violate any laws.
He said he and his colleagues were attending the session to maintain the “integrity of our position as House members doing our sacred duty.”
“We don’t accept the legitimacy of the proclamation, and the ensuing crackdown on critics of the government,” Ocampo told reporters before entering the session hall.
Casiño said it was a “badge of honor to be considered an enemy” of the Arroyo administration.
Arroyo tool
Mariano said the arrest orders were issued upon the behest of an “illegitimate President.” He said Proclamation No. 1017 imposing a state of national emergency was the “tool of Ms Arroyo to stay in power.”
Mariano warned the proclamation would “hasten her downfall.”
It was Maza who arrived first at 3:20 p.m., followed by Casiño, then Mariano, as about 80 supporters in the Congress lobby chanted, “No to martial law!” and “Never again to martial law!”
Ocampo arrived last, accompanied by House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, Majority Leader Prospero Nograles and Assistant Majority Leader Art Defensor.
Demonstration in Congress
The three congressional leaders fetched Ocampo from the University of the Philippines in nearby Diliman.
Supporters and staff of the militant lawmakers sang “Bayan Ko” while waving posters reading: “No to Marcosian 1017,” “Marcos Noon, Gloria Ngayon” and “Uphold Civil Liberties.”
A commotion occurred when House security personnel tried to disperse them after the militant lawmakers entered the session hall. Soon, the demonstrators dispersed voluntarily.
Franco and three other police officers were placed under restriction following reports that they had tried to recruit police colleagues to join protesters during Friday’s rally to commemorate the 1986 People Power Revolution, according to PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao.
Breach in chain of command
Lomibao’s admission was the first clear indication of the seriousness of reports about a breach in the chain of command in the PNP.
The SAF is the most seasoned and most heavily armed police unit.
Lomibao said the three other officers -- Senior Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, Chief Inspector Ericson Dilag and Inspector Ryan Paloma -- “are now under my restrictive custody in Camp Crame.”
He said the officers were “not entirely under detention” but they would be restricted to camp and would have escorts.
Only Representative Beltran and 1st Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan, a key official of the Magdalo group, were presented by the police to a panel of public prosecutors at yesterday’s inquest at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group office in Camp Crame.
‘This is farcical’
Beltran was defiant, raising his fists and crying out that the government was making a “fool of us all.”
“I am questioning the legitimacy of this proceeding,” declared human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong. “This is farcical. This is scripted.”
Besides San Juan and Beltran, among those charged by police for the crimes of rebellion and coup d’état on Friday were Ocampo, Virador, Casiño, Mariano, Maza, lawyer Christopher Belmonte, ex-Senator Gregorio Honasan, retired Colonel Jake Malajacan, retired Captain Felix Turingan, First Lieutenants Angelbert Gay and Patricio Bumidang of the Magdalo, Sison and a person with an alias.
Their cases were entirely different from those filed against some 50 leftist personalities in the DoJ.
At one point during the inquest, Beltran said: “Kalokohan ito (This is foolishness).” He demanded to be returned to his detention quarters.
“We will not allow you to leave,” State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco shot back and ordered the police to hold Beltran, who was visibly getting angrier by the minute.
Velasco reasoned that the charges had yet to be proven and his team had yet to study the evidence against them.
Meeting in Cojuangco home
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government had been ordered to invite Cojuangco and Saycon for questioning.
The order was spurred by an article in the international weekly newsmagazine Time which said that one of its reporters had witnessed a meeting at Cojuangco’s home on the night before a supposed coup attempt against Ms Arroyo was supposed to have been launched.
At the meeting, the Time reporter said that Saycon spoke with someone identified as “Lim” on the phone about an alleged plot by a faction of the military.
The military later sacked Scout Rangers commander Brigadier General Danilo Lim for alleged involvement in the plan of some military units to declare their withdrawal of support from Ms Arroyo.
Cojuangco and Saycon denied that they helped Lim plot the ouster of Ms Arroyo last week.
What it was about
Cojuangco confirmed that there was a meeting at his house on Thursday night, but it was about finalizing the plans for the EDSA 1 anniversary celebration. Saycon attended the meeting as a member of the EDSA Commission.
According to Cojuangco, rumors of a coup circulated that night, and soon people were calling them to ask if this was true.
He said “people” also started arriving. At the meeting, Saycon gave a briefing on the current situation, he said.
Cojuangco maintained that the conversation with Lim was about the military plan to join a people’s march on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) on Friday morning.
“Would you invite the press if you were plotting something?” Cojuangco said.
Saycon and Cojuangco were among the founders of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), the political party founded in 1996 as a vehicle for Ms Arroyo’s presidential bid in 1998. But Saycon and Conjuangco were eased out of Ms Arroyo’s inner circle due to disagreements arising from campaign funds and other issues.
Cojuangco is the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee. With reports from Armand N. Nocum and Jerome Aning; and Rolando Pinsoy, PDI Mindanao Bureau
Arroyo cracks down on Left, Right foes
First posted 00:32am (Mla time) Feb 28, 2006
By Michael Lim Ubac, Luige del Puerto
Inquirer
SHRUGGING OFF threats of arrest, four leftist lawmakers strode into the halls of Congress yesterday and declared that it was an honor to be on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “enemies list.”
Spurred by Ms Arroyo’s proclamation of a state of national emergency on Friday, police also placed under house arrest Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco, the sacked chief of the Special Action Force, and put three other police officers under “restrictive custody.”The lawmakers were among 16 people against whom police had filed charges of rebellion in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow Ms Arroyo.
Police did not arrest the militant legislators, but after negotiating with Speaker Jose de Venecia, they agreed that the top House leader would have custody of them within the confines of the Batasang Pambansa.
The arrangement would last pending the outcome of a formal investigation of the charges of rebellion and coup d’état filed against them.
Half a dozen policemen were around when party-list Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis and Lisa Maza of Gabriela showed up to attend the session.
Another party-list congressman, Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, was not as lucky. He was at the Philippine Airlines ticketing office in Davao City when police agents grabbed and handcuffed him after he resisted arrest.
De Venecia said the lawmakers would be “under detention and custody of the House sergeant at arms and PNP security force here in the House. So they will be under detention. No one is above the law.”
A sixth congressman, Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis, was arrested over the weekend.
Stepping up their campaign to purge alleged coup plotters, police also filed with Department of Justice prosecutors a complaint of rebellion and insurrection against about 50 leftist leaders, including Communist Party founder Jose Maria Sison and National Democratic Front leader Luis Jalandoni. Both Sison and Jalandoni live in self-exile in the Netherlands.
Cojuangco, Saycon
At the same time, Malacañang ordered authorities to investigate former Tarlac Representative Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and political strategist Pastor “Boy” Saycon also for supposed involvement in the plot to oust Ms Arroyo.
Cojuangco and Saycon denied the allegations.
De Venecia told reporters the accused lawmakers would be under his “detention and custody” for the time being.
Except for cases penalized by more than six years’ imprisonment, the Constitution bars the arrest of members of Congress while the legislature is in session.
A defiant Ocampo said he and his five House colleagues did not violate any laws.
He said he and his colleagues were attending the session to maintain the “integrity of our position as House members doing our sacred duty.”
“We don’t accept the legitimacy of the proclamation, and the ensuing crackdown on critics of the government,” Ocampo told reporters before entering the session hall.
Casiño said it was a “badge of honor to be considered an enemy” of the Arroyo administration.
Arroyo tool
Mariano said the arrest orders were issued upon the behest of an “illegitimate President.” He said Proclamation No. 1017 imposing a state of national emergency was the “tool of Ms Arroyo to stay in power.”
Mariano warned the proclamation would “hasten her downfall.”
It was Maza who arrived first at 3:20 p.m., followed by Casiño, then Mariano, as about 80 supporters in the Congress lobby chanted, “No to martial law!” and “Never again to martial law!”
Ocampo arrived last, accompanied by House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, Majority Leader Prospero Nograles and Assistant Majority Leader Art Defensor.
Demonstration in Congress
The three congressional leaders fetched Ocampo from the University of the Philippines in nearby Diliman.
Supporters and staff of the militant lawmakers sang “Bayan Ko” while waving posters reading: “No to Marcosian 1017,” “Marcos Noon, Gloria Ngayon” and “Uphold Civil Liberties.”
A commotion occurred when House security personnel tried to disperse them after the militant lawmakers entered the session hall. Soon, the demonstrators dispersed voluntarily.
Franco and three other police officers were placed under restriction following reports that they had tried to recruit police colleagues to join protesters during Friday’s rally to commemorate the 1986 People Power Revolution, according to PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao.
Breach in chain of command
Lomibao’s admission was the first clear indication of the seriousness of reports about a breach in the chain of command in the PNP.
The SAF is the most seasoned and most heavily armed police unit.
Lomibao said the three other officers -- Senior Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, Chief Inspector Ericson Dilag and Inspector Ryan Paloma -- “are now under my restrictive custody in Camp Crame.”
He said the officers were “not entirely under detention” but they would be restricted to camp and would have escorts.
Only Representative Beltran and 1st Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan, a key official of the Magdalo group, were presented by the police to a panel of public prosecutors at yesterday’s inquest at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group office in Camp Crame.
‘This is farcical’
Beltran was defiant, raising his fists and crying out that the government was making a “fool of us all.”
“I am questioning the legitimacy of this proceeding,” declared human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong. “This is farcical. This is scripted.”
Besides San Juan and Beltran, among those charged by police for the crimes of rebellion and coup d’état on Friday were Ocampo, Virador, Casiño, Mariano, Maza, lawyer Christopher Belmonte, ex-Senator Gregorio Honasan, retired Colonel Jake Malajacan, retired Captain Felix Turingan, First Lieutenants Angelbert Gay and Patricio Bumidang of the Magdalo, Sison and a person with an alias.
Their cases were entirely different from those filed against some 50 leftist personalities in the DoJ.
At one point during the inquest, Beltran said: “Kalokohan ito (This is foolishness).” He demanded to be returned to his detention quarters.
“We will not allow you to leave,” State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco shot back and ordered the police to hold Beltran, who was visibly getting angrier by the minute.
Velasco reasoned that the charges had yet to be proven and his team had yet to study the evidence against them.
Meeting in Cojuangco home
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government had been ordered to invite Cojuangco and Saycon for questioning.
The order was spurred by an article in the international weekly newsmagazine Time which said that one of its reporters had witnessed a meeting at Cojuangco’s home on the night before a supposed coup attempt against Ms Arroyo was supposed to have been launched.
At the meeting, the Time reporter said that Saycon spoke with someone identified as “Lim” on the phone about an alleged plot by a faction of the military.
The military later sacked Scout Rangers commander Brigadier General Danilo Lim for alleged involvement in the plan of some military units to declare their withdrawal of support from Ms Arroyo.
Cojuangco and Saycon denied that they helped Lim plot the ouster of Ms Arroyo last week.
What it was about
Cojuangco confirmed that there was a meeting at his house on Thursday night, but it was about finalizing the plans for the EDSA 1 anniversary celebration. Saycon attended the meeting as a member of the EDSA Commission.
According to Cojuangco, rumors of a coup circulated that night, and soon people were calling them to ask if this was true.
He said “people” also started arriving. At the meeting, Saycon gave a briefing on the current situation, he said.
Cojuangco maintained that the conversation with Lim was about the military plan to join a people’s march on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) on Friday morning.
“Would you invite the press if you were plotting something?” Cojuangco said.
Saycon and Cojuangco were among the founders of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), the political party founded in 1996 as a vehicle for Ms Arroyo’s presidential bid in 1998. But Saycon and Conjuangco were eased out of Ms Arroyo’s inner circle due to disagreements arising from campaign funds and other issues.
Cojuangco is the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee. With reports from Armand N. Nocum and Jerome Aning; and Rolando Pinsoy, PDI Mindanao Bureau
Talaan
Talaan ng mga inirerekomenda ng Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management ng Philippine National Police na arestuhin ng Department of Justice sa bisa ng Proklamasyon 1017:
1. Jose Maria Sison
2. Luis Jalandoni
3. mag-asawang Benito at Wilma Tiamzon
4. Rafael Mariano
5. Satur Ocampo
6. Crispin Beltran
7. Teodoro Casino
8. Liza Maza
9. Joel Virador
10. Gregorio Rosal, AKA "Ka Roger"
11. Tirso Alcantara
12. Benjamin Mendoza
13. Vic Ladlad
14. Nathaniel Santiago
15. Sotero Llamas
16. Julio Atienza
17. Edilberto Escudero
18. Rosemarie Domanais
19. Rogelio Villanueva
20. Leo Velasco
21. Rafael Baylosis
22. Prudencio Calubid
23. Philip Limjoco
24. Julius Giron
25. Allan Jasminez
26. Antonio Cabanatan
27. Fidel Agcaoili
28. Edilberto Silva
29. Maria Concepcion Araneta Bocala
30. Jorge Madlos
31. Eugenia Topacio
32. Francisco Fernandez
33. Carlos Borjal
34. Elizabeth Principe
35. Juliet Sison
36. Randal Echaniz
37. Rey Claro Casambre
38. Edwin Recto
39. Tita Lubi
40. Andias Guadania
41. Mike Gamara
42. @ Ka Selvio
43. @ Kim
44. @ Tasio
45. @ Randy
46. @ Rosa/Lisa/Isid
47. @ Novo
48. @ Elva
49. @ Rose
50. Iba pa na kabilang sa talaan ng JASIG na binigay ng Joint Monitoring Committee
51. Iba pang John at Jane Does na pawang mga miyembro diumano ng CPP/NPA/NDF
1. Jose Maria Sison
2. Luis Jalandoni
3. mag-asawang Benito at Wilma Tiamzon
4. Rafael Mariano
5. Satur Ocampo
6. Crispin Beltran
7. Teodoro Casino
8. Liza Maza
9. Joel Virador
10. Gregorio Rosal, AKA "Ka Roger"
11. Tirso Alcantara
12. Benjamin Mendoza
13. Vic Ladlad
14. Nathaniel Santiago
15. Sotero Llamas
16. Julio Atienza
17. Edilberto Escudero
18. Rosemarie Domanais
19. Rogelio Villanueva
20. Leo Velasco
21. Rafael Baylosis
22. Prudencio Calubid
23. Philip Limjoco
24. Julius Giron
25. Allan Jasminez
26. Antonio Cabanatan
27. Fidel Agcaoili
28. Edilberto Silva
29. Maria Concepcion Araneta Bocala
30. Jorge Madlos
31. Eugenia Topacio
32. Francisco Fernandez
33. Carlos Borjal
34. Elizabeth Principe
35. Juliet Sison
36. Randal Echaniz
37. Rey Claro Casambre
38. Edwin Recto
39. Tita Lubi
40. Andias Guadania
41. Mike Gamara
42. @ Ka Selvio
43. @ Kim
44. @ Tasio
45. @ Randy
46. @ Rosa/Lisa/Isid
47. @ Novo
48. @ Elva
49. @ Rose
50. Iba pa na kabilang sa talaan ng JASIG na binigay ng Joint Monitoring Committee
51. Iba pang John at Jane Does na pawang mga miyembro diumano ng CPP/NPA/NDF
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