... OCTOBER 13. A rebel returnee and several soldiers chase Visayas Daily Courier reporter Carl Vanzales in Bacolod City.

... OCTOBER 23. A rebel returnee and several military officers waylay the same newspaper's Negros Oriental bureau chief and commentator of radio station dySR, Edmund Sestoso, in Dumaguete City, and force him to stay overnight in Canlaon City, where they pressure him to retract stories against a local politician.

... NOVEMBER 1. Military Intelligence Group (MIG) agents of the Central Command abduct College Editors Guild of the Philippines vice president for Visayas, Lloyd Wilson Sato, in Cebu City, subject him to a four-hour interrogation on the whereabouts of a suspected rebel, take the organization's funds, and slash his arm four times.

... LAST WEEK. Goons in the employ of a Negros Occidental landowner injured ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) crew Edmund Lasala and seized his camera during coverage last week of an agrarian protest action in Hacienda Malaga-Velez, La Castellana town.

... YESTERDAY (NOVEMBER 12). A Presidential Security Group officer manhandles an RPN-9 camera crew in an altercation over new Malacañang security procedures.

Five cases of harassment of journalists in as many weeks. Are these acts a display of what the Macapagal-Arroyo administration means by a "strong republic?"

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, the Correspondents-Broadcasters-Reporters Association-Actions News Service, and the Negros Media Council for Press Freedom condemn these direct attacks against members of media. We also demand a halt to oppressive state policies that encourage and abet similar assaults against the Fourth Estate.

In the guise of the war against terrorism, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has run roughshod on press freedom, the people's right to know, and to free expression and organization.

Media and other organizations with a stake on uncovering the process of governance in this country are threatened by draconian anti-terrorist measures that Malacañang has certified "urgent." The proposed law opens privileged information—including telephone conversations, email and cellular text messages—to state scrutiny. The same proposed law also aims to block media's right to ferret out the truth by imposing harsh sanctions on civil servants who disclose unauthorized information, which could be anything and everything that put national officials and agencies in a bad light.

Student groups, including the CEGP, find themselves under fire for organizing in so-called potential terrorist hotbeds. The academe, a training ground for critical thought needed in any democracy, increasingly finds itself pressured to tow the line of orthodoxy—a mindset that defines anybody with a gripe as an enemy of the government.

It is with concern that we view the timidity of some media professionals in this country in the face of clear threats on press freedom. While we concede the state's right to defend national security, we insist that crackdowns on freedoms and civil liberties can only strengthen the cause of those who wish to pursue their goals through violent means. Certainly, the muzzling of the press and citizens' right to expression is the first step towards building an atmosphere conducive to armed dissent.

Gagging the Press The journalists victimized by the above-cited acts of harassment were hardly dangers to society though they may have been potent voices against the abuses of politicians, landowners, and security forces.

In the cases of Sestoso and Vanzales, rebel returnee Ronilo Cadrigal and his military friends merely wanted the journalists to stop exposing local government anomalies in Canlaon City. The reporters were also being pressured to attack politicians and businessmen accused of having a hand in the ambush of Canlaon Vice Mayor Jose Cardenas.

Sestoso's experience showed premeditated malice. He was invited to a press conference at the outskirts of Dumaguete, only to be taken to Canlaon, nearly 100 km. away, where he was forced to stay in a lodging house reportedly owned by the city government.

"All night they kept on telling me that I should accommodate their press releases or that I allow them to air their side on controversial issues hounding them," Sestoso said.

Colleagues managed to come to Vanzales' rescue but despite the promised aid, police officials have yet to fire charges against the gun-totting men who chased the reporter. Police even refuse to release the names of the soldiers involved.

Menace Sato's abduction highlights how security forces can abuse their powers when allowed to operate with impunity. The CEGP officer was waiting for a ride home along Osmena Ave., Cebu city, when a Toyota Corolla XL (1997 model) with no plate number drew near.

Sato, responding to an appeal for directions, found a 9mm pistol shoved into his face. He was soon sandwiched between men who threatened to shoot at the slightest sound or movement. They berated Sato for ignoring orders to stop attending rallies. They interrogated him on the whereabouts of several active and former Anakbayan leaders, as well as CEGP colleagues. He was also, strangely, blamed for the recent release of suspected rebel leader Nestor Lumbab, who was cleared by the court of criminal charges.

To cap the outrage, an agent slashed Sato's arm with a Swiss knife, taunting him, saying the wounds should be viewed as "a signal." Sato's experience also indicates security forces are out to target legal organizations, for among the alleged terrorist safe houses they pointed out, was the office of the Cebu Relief and Rehabilitation Center.

Helpless The ANC crew led by Joel Saracho was documenting agrarian reform issues when attacked by the goons allegedly employed by landowner Bob Cuenca. Aside from the journalists, farmer interviewees were also attacked.

Lasala positioned himself at the back of the farmers' group. He was focusing his camera when he was struck in the back. When he turned around, he saw about 15 men armed with sticks.

Lasala remonstrated; he showed his press card. He failed to appease the mob; the men took turns hitting his back and head. The ANC crew tried to protect his camera but slipped and fell to the ground. He suffered a wound on his hand, contusions on the head and bruises on his arms.

Although he managed to escape, Lasala lost his camera. Two policemen responded but were helpless against the mob. It took a police mobile force group, sent by PNP Provincial chief Sr. Supt. Vic Ponteras, to retrieve ANC's equipment.

Hardly isolated These four cases were not isolated incidents.

... On May 13, Edgar Damalero was gunned down in Pagadian City. On August
22, an alleged witness in Damalerio's murder was ambushed in Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur.

... On August 22, Sonny Alcantara of San Pablo, Laguna was murdered.

... Early this year, broadcaster Arlyn de la Cruz was abducted in Mindanao and kept for 98 days before being freed.

... More recently, GMA-7 reporter Carlo Lorenzo and cameraman Gilbert Ordiales were kidnapped in Sulu.

... Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter Julie Alipala received death threats after exposing the GMA crew's kidnappers to be military agents.

... Last July, Journal Group reporter and defense reporter, Bernadette Tamayo, found herself on wanted posters, as an Abu Sayyaf member—months after she had protested to authorities her inclusion in a so-called Order of Battle.

... Before that, Marbel, Cotabato broadcaster Elmer Ubaldo was threatened with criminal charges as an accessory to multiple murders, when he refused to disclose the telephone number of suspected General Santos Abu Muslim.

... The latest report of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility notes that three journalists have been killed in the last year. Two others were murdered in 2002. Since the 1986 downfall of the Marcos dictatorship,
36 Filipino journalists have died in the line of duty.

Enough!

We call on all media persons and organizations to unite in the face of oppression and repression.

While journalists should continue to police their ranks and ponder ethical challenges of their profession, we caution against any divisive moves that can only strengthen those who wish to cow the Fourth Estate.

Once we start explaining away these assaults on media, we shall lose ground to the enemies of press freedom. Those who now look the other way may find one day, that no one remains to heed their pleas for help.

Please text the above numbers to join the signatories. Name and affiliation, please.

Edgar Cadagat, NUJP chairman
Inday Espina-Varona, NUJP vice chairman/Philippine Graphic
Leo Santiago, NUJP secretary-general

(Please support this statement. Indicate by emailing back scarred_cat[at]hotmail[dot]com at or texting 0917785-55-10 with name and affiliation. Thank you — Inday Espina-Varona, National Union of Journalists in the Philippines)

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