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SENATE
probers grill authorities Thursday on the “warrantless
arrests” of journalists who covered the November 29
Peninsula Hotel standoff amid fears of media repression,
despite officials’ claims the handcuffing and herding of
reporters into a prison bus for processing were standard
procedures in conflict zones.
“There
was a chilling effect on 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,” said Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the
justice committee conducting the public hearing.
He said
the committee aims to work out a working framework
acceptable to both parties in the coverage of coup
d’etats and similar incidents.
Escudero
echoed the media’s sentiment that until an engagement
framework is established between authorities and the
press, the Manila Pen arrest can set virtual precedents
to make police authorities immune from penalties in
violating press freedom.
“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’.”
Escudero
confirmed the committee has invited both 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.
“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,” he said. |
