8 March 2006
CONCERNS REMAIN AFTER STATE OF EMERGENCY LIFTED
One week after suspending civil liberties in the Philippines to quell an alleged coup attempt, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted a state of emergency on 3 March 2006. While welcoming the move, IFEX members expressed concern that last week's events have left press freedom in a more vulnerable state.
During the state of emergency, police raided the offices of the "Daily Tribune", a pro-opposition newspaper, while troops surrounded the Manila offices of the two largest TV networks, ABS-CBN and GMA-7.
The newspaper had been publishing reports critical of the Arroyo administration, including stories that several disgruntled military officers and leftists were preparing to mount a coup against Arroyo.
Several other newspapers, current affairs television and radio programmes, and writer-columnists were put under surveillance, halted, or arrested, reported the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) threatened to close or take over television stations if they refused to obey government rules on coverage.
The restrictions prompted CMFR, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to raise protests.
Despite the lifting of martial law, there are concerns that authorities are reluctant to allow the press to report as freely as it normally does.
On 3 March, the NTC issued a statement warning broadcast stations not to air materials which "tend to propose/incite treason, rebellion, sedition, or pose a clear and present danger to the State." The Philippine National Police chief Arturo Lomibao also said guidelines for the media should also be issued.
According to CMFR, Arroyo declared martial law to quell a rebellion allegedly instigated by renegade military officers. Since July 2005, Arroyo has been under heavy pressure to resign after media revealed the existence of secret tapes linking the president to electoral fraud.
Visit these links:
- CMFR: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/72638/
- SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=456
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3742&Language=EN
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/protests/06ltrs/asia/phil27feb06pl.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16573
- Freedom House Backgrounders: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=70&release=334
- Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism: http://www.pcij.org
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