WHEREAS, over these past months, elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists – the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine State — who are now in a tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly-constituted Government elected in May 2004;

WHEREAS, these conspirators have repeatedly tried to bring down the President;

WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;

WHEREAS, this series of actions is hurting the Philippine State – by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country;

WHEREAS, these actions are adversely affecting the economy;

WHEREAS, these activities give totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to intensify their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;

WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions and the State the primary duty of Government;

WHEREAS, the activities above-described, their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of the Filipino people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “The President…whenever it becomes necessary,… may call out (the) armed forces to prevent or suppress … rebellion…,” and in my capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well as any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.

IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and six.

SIGNED:

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines

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5 Comments

  1. I do not find anything in the wordings of the proclamation that orders the curtailment of press freedom of individual rights. I find it intriguing therefore why the media and other personalities have been hyping and complaining that the proc1017 infringes on our rights as citizens. I tend to believe as I believe that the President did the right thing in order to preempt further escalation of chaos and bloodshed should the opposition were given the opportunity to implement their plan to force her ouster and grab power. Let me end with saying that every right has a coresonding responsibility. We usually put a period after right and forget about the responsibility.

  2. I do not find anything in the wordings of the proclamation that orders the curtailment of press freedom or individual rights. I find it intriguing therefore why the media and other personalities have been hyping and complaining that the proc1017 infringes on our rights as citizens. I tend to believe as I believe that the President did the right thing in order to preempt further escalation of chaos and bloodshed should the opposition were given the opportunity to implement their plan to force her ouster and grab power. Let me end with saying that every right has a corresponding responsibility. We usually put a period after right and forget about the responsibility.

  3. declaration of Estate of Natinal Emergency ay para sa mga taong kumakalaban sa kanya, at magpatalsik sa kanya….kaya sa takot niya nagdeklara siya kahit ala namang matinding gulo.kaya dapat tutulan ito

  4. THE state of Mr. Gil P. Bangalan is quite unimpressive.

    Maybe, you should read, Mr. Bangalan, the general orders that accompany Proclamation 1017. Those serve as the IRR (implementing rules and regulation) of the said proclamation and it was Sec. Raul Gonzalez of the Department of Justice and Gen. Arturo Lomibao who said the media practice must be regulated by the state in accordance to Proclamation 1017.

    Let me quote one of the paragraph of the aforementioned Proclamation:

    … WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media…

    The term recklessly magnified by certain segment of the national media is not actually mean just a certain portion of the Philippine media but the trimedia as a whole.

    If you would see it, after the said proclamation, critical newspaper The Daily Tribune was temporariliy shut down and its publishers and editors were sued – inciting to rebellion. A pretty tough case.

    If you would re-study the Presidential Decree 1081 of Marcos, PP1017 is just an edited version.

    And as for media responsibility, our media friends especially those who were sued are not irresponsible media practioners but the one who practice their craft in the highest standards. Niñez Cacho Olivarez is not a giddy-giddyap editor-in-chief. She does investigative reports with superb craftsmanship.

    She is sued not because of what she writes; she was sued because she is linked to Erap – the number one enemy of the Macapagal-Arroyo government. Better restudy your case.

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