JOURNALISM IS A hazardous profession. We, journalists, get harassed,
threatened or sued for libel. Some have lost limbs or lives for daring
to expose wrongdoings by government officials or the activities of
criminal syndicates. Yet, we continue to serve as harbinger of truth,
going through the proverbial needle’s eye just to get data from our
sources. We weather the scorching heat, punishing storm, even long
treacherous walks in malaria-infested forests to deliver news to the
people.
We do these because it is a journalist’s job to get all sides of
the story. Occupational hazards, we shrugged the problems and dangers
that we encounter.
IT IS HOWEVER MUCH DIFFERENT AND INFINITELY MORE SERIOUS if the threat
comes from the highest official of the land. The way President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo confronted and berated GMA-7 news reporter Tina Panganiban-Perez
because she interviewed Senator Gregorio Honasan vividly showed the
president’s characteristic “taray.”
The MEDIA for PEACE stands behind Ms. Panganiban-Perez and our many
other peers who in the line of duty have caught the ire of the powers-that-be.
We find nothing wrong with the Honasan interview, whether done before
or after the lifting of the state of rebellion. As a reporter, it
is her job to gather and present all sides of a story. At the time,
interviewing one of the major players in the coup controversy was
the most natural, even challenging, thing to do for media practitioners.
What we find wrong was the manner by which the president and her
media handlers wanted the coup issue treated by the press, as shown
by the imposing way Malacañang was instructing reporters to interview
Army Commander Alfonso Dagudag because the latter had something bad
to say about Honasan.
What we find wrong was the president berating a legitimate member
of the press and the indirect threat to reporters who interview “the
other side.” Apparently, this is enough to be charged with “abetting
rebellion.”
Most of all, what we find wrong—and extremely disturbing—was
the fact that movements of journalists are being monitored, as admitted
by Police Director Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., bringing us all back to
the dark days of martial law.
The public has the right to be informed. The media is one of the
most important sources of information and, as it is said, democracy’s
last frontier. President Arroyo’s action imperils the people’s right
to know, slurs press freedom and is an insult to democracy itself.
President Arroyo must be reminded that the downfall of her predecessor,
former President Joseph Estrada, was hastened because he sought to
curtail press freedom when he attacked newspapers publishing critical
stories about him.
The same was true with former President Ferdinand Marcos. After controlling
almost all media institutions during his rule, the alternative press
flourished which played a big role in the advance of the anti-dictatorship
fight and Marcos’ eventual downfall.
We urge all our colleagues in the media industry to unite and protest
against this assault on our rights as journalists and the people’s
right to information. And let the tips of our pens draw the sharpest
line in the pursuit of truth.
Signed:
CHARLIE MANALO
Managing Editor, Balikbayan Magazine
SONNY FERNANDEZ
Producer, Balitang-Balita, ABC-5
Convenors, MEDIA FOR PEACE
August 19, 2003
