Senate calls for hearing on media arrests

Press Release
By Office of Senator Chiz Escudero
December 12, 2007

MANILA, Philippines  –  After the dialogue failed between the Philippine National Police and the media at Manila Pen, the Senate will now seek to address the unresolved concerns of the Philippine press and the police authorities over the unwarranted arrests of journalists during the Manila Pen siege.

The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights which is the lead committee, together with the Committee on Public Order and Safety has called back the media, the police and other government authorities together in one table tomorrow to seek to address the concerns of both sides and set parameters for the two parties to work on in relation to performing their respective duties.

Senator Chiz Esudero, chairman of the justice committee said tomorrow's hearing will try to accomplish a working framework acceptable to both parties in covering coup' d'etats and similar incidents.

"We have called for this hearing to enable the media and the police to set acceptable parameters to avoid the same thing from happening again and to avoid what the journalists feared would happen again".

Escudero said the warrantless arrests of media men during the failed rebellion last November 29 in Makati is indicative of press repression albeit police authorities claim that those were standard procedures in conflict zones.

"There was a chilling effect to the Philippine press and due to unclear guiding principles, there is really a need to work on a framework that augurs well for both the media covering events and the police securing the place of coverage".

Escudero shares the media's sentiment that until an engagement framework is established between authorities and the press, the Manila pen arrest can set precedence to a vicious cycle of impunity among authorities.

"From the start, the contention of the authorities on certain offenses made by the media during the Manila Pen incident is unfounded; they were there to give the basic constitutional guarantee on every Filipino's right to information. Maybe the police needs to be refreshed about the edict of press freedom. It must be remembered that journalism is the only profession guaranteed by the Constitution as provided by Article III, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution which states that "no law can be passed that abridges the freedom of speech or of the press".

Senate has invited media entities and organizations as well as officials of the Philippine National Police and the Department of the Interior and the Local Government and the Commission on Human Rights.

As of press time, Maria Ressa of ABS-CBN, Grace dela Peňa-Reyes of GMA-7, Butch Canoy of KBP, Sonny Fernadez of NUJP, Tony Lopez of MOPC, Ellen Tordesillas of Malaya, Dana Batnag of FOCAP and Roy Mabasa of NPC had sent confirmation from the media side.