The following article by Raissa Robles is in today’s issue of the Hongkong-based South China Morning Post.
Dozens of Philippines journalists are playing first gentleman Mike Arroyo at his own game, filing a class-action lawsuit against the president’s litigious husband.
University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque, who prepared the petition, said all but one of the 43 journalists being sued for libel by Mr Arroyo had agreed to sign up to the lawsuit.
The suit claims Mr Arroyo breached their rights under the civil code, and will seek cash damages.
“When he sued the 43 journalists, it was Mr Arroyo’s intention in fact to chill the freedom of the press,” Professor Roque said.
The high number of libel suits filed by Mr Arroyo showed “it is not only an act directly against specific individuals but an act directed to intimidate the entire profession”.
Mr Arroyo’s lawyer, Ruy Rondain, said “really?”, and started laughing. “I can’t imagine what course of action they might have against him because he hasn’t done anything that violates any of their civil, political or criminal rights.”
But the sued journalists said they were serious about standing up for press freedom. Mr Roque said the 42 litigants would publicly sign the petition tomorrow and it would be filed next week.
Other journalists who have no pending libel cases against them by Mr Arroyo were also expected to sign up.
ABS-CBN journalist Ricky Carandang said he was signing up as “I think Mr Arroyo’s actions have gone beyond that of an aggrieved person seeking redress [and] they are trying to redefine libel.”
Mr Carandang was business editor at Newsbreak when it printed an article alleging the first family hid assets in the United States.
Newsbreak editor-in-chief Marites Vitug confirmed she and six other staff members of the investigative news magazine who have pending libel suits would join in.
“We really want to make a statement that the first gentleman is using libel not reasonably but to … stop reporting about him,” she said.
Professor Roque called the planned suit “unprecedented”. He said they intended to make Mr Arroyo “liable for damages” for violating the Philippines Civil Code.
Its Article 32, in particular, makes “any public officer or employee, or any private individual” liable for damages if he “directly or indirectly obstructs, defeats, violates or in any manner impedes or impairs any of the following rights and liberties of another person [including the] freedom to write for the press or maintain a periodical publication”, Professor Roque said.
Mr Rondain said: “I can’t imagine” such grounds for a suit. I’m still laughing
i hope journalists will see the film from ibsen play enemy of the people which i think is about the difficulty on bringing the truth to the people, if i remember it right.
thank you norpil for that info..atlst we will try to see and get hold of one.
a little off topic, ANC is showing the Canadians team probing the militant killings who were harrassed by the military both the north and southern tagalog team…Imagine, it’s the military who were being harrassed instead of them being cordial. who will be the top ranking person to blame for this?!!! Who else!!!!…your guess is as good as mine people!!! and pandak is bragging that about $1M of investment is coming in after her very successful meeting in Singapore(?)…this is just the same as what fatso is doing to this brave journalists..Move on brothers and sisters!!! you are the only voice of the people and not this fake administration….
Rondain, laughing? i can feel it is a laugh of nervousness and laugh of the devil…Or in tagalog if he is smiling, ay ngiting asong ulol…pareho ng baboy nyang amo…
Good! I thought this was the best thing that the journalists should do. Sue the bully as a group, and then have as many human rightists lawyers as there are willing to sacrifice their time, etc. join this group for justice at last to prevail.
So, who says that the Midget is not indispensible? Ang daming papalit na hindi ganid at sakim!!! This is the change that Filipinos should clamor for, not the fallacy of a parliamentarian government aimed at insuring the permanency of the positions of the crooks in the Philippine government.
Mabuhay ka, Atty. Roque! May your tribe increase!
Soleil:
It is a racket. This bogus president asking for fundings for these commissions (kuno) that international groups demand the Philippine government to create and initiate investigations of extrajudicial killings, etc. that can merit disciplinary action against the Philippines, but the truth is she is actually probably just pocketing most of the funds and very little to these commissions, thus, the lack of enthusiasm on those who are given the tasks to investigate, etc. to do anything else but say, “Aye” to the Midget, thus, rendering these commissions as practically useless.
Kakakulo ng dugo!
GOSHHH!!! nasusuka ako sa gago na maj gen fernando mesa!!!..nakakahiya!..the young people – 2 Canadians and a Filipina who i guess grew up in Canada – showing and implying that they are acting without the knowledge of the Canadian Embassy. hahahaha!!! tarantado talaga (sori ha)..anyway, the team was released frm the military if not for the intervention of the Embassy. Sino ang paniniwalaan natin mga kapatid? kahit ako pinoy, kung si mesa din lang ay hindi ako naniniwala..imagine, $22M ang aid na ipapadala ng Canadian govt for Philippine aid…hahaha malamang malalasing na naman ang bruha at masasabon ang mesa na ito sa katangahan nila at ng 2nd infantry division ng AFP…
sinabi mo Yuko…kailangan pahiyain ang gaga na yan at dapat i-report ng mga ito ang lahat ng na-experience nila. which is the truth…ang gago general walang ginawa kundi igitgit ang grupo na “karapatan” who are leftist daw..this group daw fooled the Canadian mission. i can only imagine that the EK’s phone now is burning callling the Canadian Ambassador’s secret communication line…
hay Yuko, kawawa talaga kami dito…puro pagka-p-ta lang ang alam ni pandak – pag-p-p-t- ng mga kababayan nya, ng mga sundalong dapat ay maging sandalan ng bayan pero in the end ay ginagamit para sa pagsupil ng katotohanan…
btw, before i stir-up some ksp’s in this blog re my comment of “kawawa talaga kami dito”…i am saying this in the context that we are suppressed in every way people move…democracy or not, damn if u do and damn if u dont, liel left and right…this is the admin that surpassed the dictatorship’s actions..abuse of power, abuse of title, abuse of people’s trust and abuse of the already existing ignorance of the majority!!!
..libel left and right i mean…to add to the above, entities like fatso and their minions are example of the most stingking exmaple who think of nobody else’s advantage but for themselves…lahat pakabig, walang patulak kung hindi rin lang sila ang makikinabang…Grrr..sori guys, iam burning mad, couldnt even construct sentences that i want to convey ang nakakasukang ugali ng tabatsoy na yan!!!!
journalist should stand for that..it is a matter of unity…..stop this harrassment of arroyo regime..
I hope the journalists win this one.
Ellen:
Sometimes, I think in loops such as this, there should be no room for any voice of dissent. Can you remove the note from the Internet Brigade above Jon M’s post that is in fact outnumbered by those who agree with the journalists and their lawyers. It is called “democracy”—the majority rules!
Yessssssss! This is GREAT news!!!! Sue the Pig!!! You go, guys!!!!
“Mr Rondain said: “I can’t imagine” such grounds for a suit. I’m still laughing.” To Rondain, I say: LET’S SEE WHO HAS THE LAST LAUGH, MOTHER F***ER!!!
You go, Atty. Roque!
Yuko, dissent is healthy as long as it is kept in a civilized manner.
I have no reason to delete the above comment. We just have to learn to be tolerant of other people and their views even if we don’t agree with them. That’s democracy.
Yuko, its called ksp..kaya ignore nalang..let him/her rot and make a fool of themselves by talking to themselves..and maybe it will fade away…
Atty Roque, wag sana kayong mag-sawa sa katotohanan para sa sambayanan…hindi sa bayaran!
sino ba itong major general fernando lamesa? biglang sikat? is he worth even a curse? same as asoperon?
meanwhile, the twist is just starting. the big elephant being tried to fit in a matchbox? okey!! labas niya bandang huli, parang pulgas na lang!!
by the way, what ever happened to the guy who cried that the ballots being guarded in the congress(pwe!) are fake etc?…i hope he is still alive and that fatso hasnt liquidated him yet..or his family is safe or baka naman nabayaran na rin para tumahimik..
kakahiya talaga and if u can see the faces of the Canadians, naiiling na lang sila…young professional people but very articulate and really know what they are talking about hindi pareho ng lamesa na ito…ito ang nakaka dismaya sa aking pansariling pag-iisip, naka rating siyang major-gneral….ngek…pano ba nangyayari yan!..ang excuse nila ay hindi daw naki-pag coordinate ang mga Canadians e may operation daw ang militar sa area na patutunguhan ng mission, and they are in danger. by golly kalabaw!…kung ikaw ba naman ay matino na biglang sasabak sa lugar na wala kang alam at wala ka pang dalang kasiguruhan, susugod ka ba? the Canadians were saying that they did all the coordination but were not being taken seriously even with the local govt, they were e4ven told that if they proceeded, they are not liable for their safety..take that frm the LGUs and the military…mga walang kuwentang civil servants and to think we are paying their salaries!
“A Philippine Shame” in TIME mag: http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501061127-1561201,00.html
Recent survey by Pulse Asia: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=56957
Does it get any better than these? Indeed, an endorsement from Gloria will be a “kiss of death” for the politicians! Who would want to be associated with “A Philippine Shame”?
kakasuka pagka nakikita ko mukha ni baboy fartso sa tv..yung nagsasalita sya na “puro fabrication…lies, …ano ba naman yan?!” ay naku parang chariiing na baboy hahaha!!!..siguro nga ac-dc din ito or talagang mahilig lang..kaya siguro walang magawa kundi maghanap ng ma-libel kc may kabaklaan!!!
If they are not guilty, they should cooperate to clear up things, Soleil. I should know. I have acted as interpreter for similar fact-finding groups from overseas as when AI for example receives report of abuses in Japanese prison, etc. Since there is nothing to hide, authorities allow such surveys and investigations especially when they are duly authorized by the UN and some other such organizations.
I understand that the Canadians were composed of human rights lawyers who knew what they were doing and should not have been treated like criminals. Mas mukhang kriminal pa nga iyong mga sundalong ginagawang mga pataygutom ni Bansot at Esperon.
Ellen,
Sino iyong hindi sumama sa group na ito ng mga journalists? Just curious.
yes Yuko, two had prefix as Atty…and they know what they were talking about hindi pareho ni lamesa na pautal-utal or paikot ikot ang sinasabu..puro grupo “karapatan” ang parang sirang plaka na dinidiin nya…i thnk he said the word like more than 30x…ginigit git nya na nalansi ang mga Canadian na sumama sa “Karapatan” na hindi alm ng mga ito ay mga leftist or subversive ang adhikain or something like that…papayagan ba naman silang Canadian govt na kami-alyansa sa ganun nalang…kung maka-kaliwa ang mga kasama ng Canadians ay madali lang silang pagkakitaan, “Karapatan” can always stage a kidnapping-feat to have these professionals ransomed..di ba pera pera lang naman?…but kc ang habol nga ni pandak ay ang $22M na aid..The Canadians were saying that they wana see for themselves and talk to the people really involved as victims of political killingsand get their side and insights…kung baga ay straight frm the mouth of the babes..malamang utos ni assperon na harangan sila ng sibat para hindi maka-kanta ang mga taga-barrio ng katotohanan..gud bye $22M nga naman!
Sige Ellen, ipatikim rin ninyo (natin kasi nasa likod ninyo kami :)) ang ganti ng mga matatapang na journalists. Ano ang akala ng Pablik Pigyur na ‘yan, palagi na lang siya ang mananakot! With Atty. Roque helping the your, baka hindi lang ipinahahalata ay nanginginig na rin ang nguso at belly ng Pidal na ‘yan. Nagtatago lang naman siya sa pekeng kapangyarihan ng kanyang asawa na matatapos na rin.
Nice to see Soleil up and about. Finally, the shoe is in the other foot. This is unprecedented. Rondain who? He can’t even stand up against Ellen! The fat one will have his hands full. Cayetano slapped them with charges too. The tiyanak may have immunity but not her hubby. He insists he’s a private citizen, the courts must now prove that he is. No preferential treatment should be given this hog.
Btw, Soleil, I wrote something about the harassment of the Canadian team in my blog. This team was formed by a former MP who is a Filipina.
thank you schumey..nice to be “awake” hehehe…just have to watch my environment and try to do breathing exercises when i am watching news and will suddenly i see the dorobo gang…
I’d rather call him Bombahin..puro kapalpalan lang naman alam nya, maging bugaw ng EK at pamilyang dapat may busal!…his days are numbered also. Am sure he’s in the hitlist of the um-um-um-n-um-um…kasama na si assperon at ang mga amoy lamang lupa sa EK…and daniellaperez hehehe..mukhang pangalang bomba star ah!…i wonder how she/he concocts names??…consult the calendar for Saint’s names?(since their family claim they are of saint decent(PWEH!!!) or consult a geomancer? or name of a guard hehehe???…anyway, medyo nagmellow down ako after cooking a nice dinner for the family kaya medyo calma ang utak ko…
meanwhile, i wish this shoe will be finding its way to their big, fowl mouths smelling like the fishy scent that is by the murky river.
Just maybe Ruy Rondain will choke to death of laughing or just his way of showing of feeling nervous about the suit. I think it’ll be nice to see Rondain horizontal to shut him up. Anyway, it’s about frigging time. At least it’ll give Mickey Mouse something to think about, and that IT in Malacanang.
Ellen: By the way, is it a kept secret about the loner that didn’t sign the suit againts Mickey Mouse, and I’ assumed that you did? This should’ve happen a long time ago and I’m glad the journalists finally getting their act together. And why stop with Mickey Mouse, and what stopping the journalist to file a class suit against that IT in Malacanang for illegaly running a country of 86 million people without being elected to the office, and for cheating.
Run them IT out of the country. Ooops, better yet send the wagons, pick them up and throw them rascals in Mandaluyong for bogus Gloria and Mickey Mouse in Muntinlupa.
Who is the lone journalist who refuses to sign the lawsuit againt Fat Guy Mike? Can anyone tell me what his or name is? I hope it’s not Ellen. To Schumey, what did you mean by the Canadian team being harassed? A Canadian hockey team? Maybe you’re referring to a human rights team from Canada that came to RP and it’s led by a Filipino-Canadian lawyer. Our friend Vic from Toronto could help us enlighten on this matter ’cause I think he’s very active in the community and politics over there.
I had been suggesting all along that it always takes two to Tango and what a nice turn of event for that “First Gentleman” to taste the bitter aroma of the BS he’s dissing around. I hope he’ll get an extended diarrhea, cuz he needs it to lose that extra baggage he’s carrying around.
The harassment of the Canadian Team as mentioned by Schumey is more of the news item over there than here. But I recalled, that Ms Arroyo invited an international human rights advocates to look at the extra judicial killings in the country, and the Canadian Team, an NGO volunteer to come and take a look. And of course the Military does not want anyone peeking at all these killings. That invitation by Pres. Arroyo was more of PR than sincere desire to solve or expose the political and extra-judicial killings. So far, the incidents, has not been on the news item here in our local newspapers, where I also get the information most of the time.
Lets get thing straight, and I wish these journalists (inlcuding you Ms Ellen, if you please) will stop calling that Mickey Mouse “First Gentleman”. He don’t even come close to the label and it’s most unappropriate to the like of the of that Mickey Mouse. Mickey doesn’t deserve it since both Bonnie and Clyde are illegitimate. And what the heck this guy Mickey Mouse ever done to the country except create chaos? Perhaps, am I missing somthing here, is this guy Mickey Mouse has any wothwhile projects or programs of his own to help the needy of the Philippines beside taking a trips abroad and checking his overseas bank account? This Mickey has been a thorn on journalists sides, at least to those that not afraid of bringing the truths out to the people, matter not he consequences to their future.
Mickey Mouse is not a First Gentleman! Mickey Mouse really is just a plain ordinary corrupted crook that stole Malacanang.
Hmmm, someone didn’t sign the suit against Pidal, ha! Natakot?
Nabayaran? Mananalo kayon Ellen and when that happens, that lonely soul will be all alone by him/herself! Kawawang manunulat.
Sorry there guys, in a hurry, got to run for an appointment with my neu. Just a regular check for the contents of the head if it still ok and functioning not the same that of Mr. and Mrs. Jose Pidal.. got to go… see you.
I hope the current events in the Philippines are not contributing to your present state of health, Vic. I hope you well and take care.
Yes, I would very much like to know who this lone journalist who doesn’t sign the suit against Mike Pidal. I think we’re entitled to know who this person is so we could boycott reading his or her column.
Could this probably the first law suit ever against the first illegal occupants of Malacanang? Anybody filed any suit against the Marcoses while they were living in the House of the People? Mickey Mouse has been an embarrasment to the Pilipinos and the country. Both IT has been destroying the hopes of the country to progress even since they start stinking Malacanang with their present in the House of the People. Both IT are unwanted and has violated the sovereign rights of the people and criminally depriving the people of the Philippines the opportunity to move forward for the better. Their illegal mere present in Malacanang has created divsion among the people. It brought nothing but discontent to the populace, and all they’ve done in six years was steal, lie and cheat the people of the Philippines of their rights, and that what the suit should be about and not to counter suit to redefine libel.
“Mr Arroyos lawyer, Ruy Rondain, said really?, and started laughing. I cant imagine what course of action they might have against him because he hasnt done anything that violates any of their civil, political or criminal rights.”
a word of acceptance from a lawyer who has evidently sold his soul and principle just to satisfy his client and does not even care whether he himself deprives those sued journalists of their rights as prescribed by law. while mike arroyo wishes to have his privacy respected being as what his legal counsels say a private and not a public figure despite being the husband of the unwanted president, filing libel cases not one after the other but in numbers clearly shows he (arroyo) willfully violates the provisions of article 32 of the philippine civil code. or, maybe he and his lawyers are only playing dumb.
pero, totoo nga kayang nagtatangatangahan lang,
o, baka naman kaya utak nila’y nalugaw na nang lubusan?
kunsabagay, kapag bilyong pisong limpak na ang usapan,
at ang pinupuntirya’y kapangyarihang habangbuhay
utak man ng henyo’t santo’y tuluyang nalulusaw!
kasama na ang prinsipyo’t imbing paninindigan.
Mas kriminal itong Lamesa for the truth is a lot many supporters of Karapatan are church oriented. A lot many of them are Catholics, Aglipayans and Methodists, whose members are now the victims of these extrajudicial killings. So, who says that members of Karapatan are leftists and are subversives. I wonder what this guy will say if he is asked to take an oath over a Bible, or a book of prayer or a picture of Christ if he is a Christian or a Koran if he is a Moslem. I wonder if this AFP paid lipservice can tell all those lies on oath.
Anyway, at least the Canadians saw for themselves the brutality of these crooks who should be condemned, and can make their reports to the UNCHR and the PPT in the Hague. Tignan natin ang tigas nila when they are found guilty of such crimes against humanity.
It’s time for reckoning as a matter of fact. Frankly, I support these groups that are now demanding for justice to be done. I don’t consider myself a leftist because I am in fact a rightist. I am not a subversive or I would not be able to work for the police, court, prison, etc. in Japan. I am a very law-abiding citizen, who have memorized our Constitution by heart, and have taken an oath to abide by it. So, who says that these groups are subversives. Mas subversive pa nga itong mga ulol who call themselves soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the leadership of Esperon and other paid lipservers of the bogus president of the Philippines.
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Since this FEELING guapo lawyer of Mike Arroyo loves to say that his client is not a public official, then Mike Arroyo should be sued with just about everything that is wrong in his short wife’s administration! If Gloria is immune from suit, Mike Arroyo isn’t then! Let’s give it to him!
And I wish the Journalists filing class-action lawsuit against Mickey Mouse well and good luck. Just be cognizant of those motor cycles drive-by-shooters, the hitters that might just retaliate for the lawsuit against the first illegal occupant of Malacanang. Just don’t know what this guy Mickey Mouse most capable and won’t put a pass on this guy. This guy Mickey didn’t get to where he’s now for being a moral person. Surely not! We just have to wait and see, I suppose.
I would assumed the country is behind the lawsuit, and would be very much to be part of it? This suit might not do the job on kicking these illegal occupants out of Malacanang, but I hope it will slow them a little perhap, I imagine. If I were the 43 journalists, minus one, I will use their mega voice, I would call for the “One Million Warm Bodies” in front of Malacanang. Of course, it’s quite unprofessional to the oath they took, but what the heck this Arroyos are doing to the country, are they being professional to the oath they took, so help me god? They don’t give a hoot about the people, only Jose Pidal. Anyway, I think the lawsuit will not do the job ultimately, but the “One Million Warm Bodies will definitely should do the job on getting back with this guy Mickey Mouse that will take away his power to sue, and to stop bogus in ruining the country further.
Off topic, but may be of interest to some…..Just heard over dinner that one of the bidders of TRANSCO is the group of Ricky Razon, who is close to Mike Arroyo. And we are suppose to believe that Mike Arroyo is using Ricky Razon as a dummy?
…We should watch the ground rules of this bidding like a hawk!
Anyway, like every lawsuits in the Philippines this one is no difference. Perhaps another six years or so before we know the real outcome of this lawsuit by the 43 Journalists, minus one. On the positive note, it gives meaning to checks and balances and put everything in proper perspective and thanks to the 43 Journalists, minus one. I hope also, more than anything and the money related to the this lawsuit, that Mickey Mouse will lose sleep on this and his BP will reach high enough, just enough to do the job. I’m not asking much just little cooperation from of whoever in charge of this type of miracle. It will surely be dandy, this illegal occupants to feel the pain and heartache the country has been subjected for six years, They didn’t give the people an option, they came, took, grabbed, steal, cheated and lied. Most definitely, the people doesn’;t deserve these IT in Malacanang. Their stay has long overdue and unwelcome, time to kick their asses out. If I may borrow the phrase, “Patalsikin Na, Now Na!
Tony Cuevas:
The phrase PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA is the slogan of the group called “Black and White.” They had this slogan on their T-shirts, but they were arrested. Since it is an expression of the strong sentiments against the reign of the bogus president, I thought I may just as well echo it here for their sake. You are free to do the same.
About time, guys!
Gotta give `em a dose of their own medicine!
Now is the time for all good men to do something
for FREEDOM in Inang Bayan.
Talagang mahahalikan ko itong si Atty. Harry Roque!
Iba talaga!
Kudos and More Power and Good Health to those persecuted by the bogus regime. Likewise, to THE Atty. Roques of Inang Bayan!
TAMA NA! SOBRA NA! BASTA YA!
PATALSIKIN NA ANG MAPANG-APING REHIMEN!
I thank the Lord for sending Atty. Roque to help our 43 journalists-1 ! Thank you very much Atty. Roque!
Prayers answered. While I complained a few days ago why media was dilly-dallying with this pachyderm who, according to Jinggoy, is using libel charges as a weapon of mass destruction, Ellen attributed it to “inggitan” and that it was “nakakadismaya”. Well, Ellen, I did say instead of the swine and sow giving media a lesson or two which you overheard them saying in ANC, “bakit hindi sila ang bigyan ng leksiyon ng media?”
This is it.
Chabeli, thanks for the link to “A Philippine Shame”. In the same issue, the column by Liam Fitzpatrick “Write and Wrong” further paints a gory picture of the risks journalists are taking in exposing crime and corruption. Fitzpatrick however, also portrays the reporter as someone who himself has few choices between being part of the corrupt system and an empty wallet. Nice reading.
Ate Ellen, sabihin niyo sa mga kasamahan mong journalists na ako na ang bahala sa mga gastos pati na ang bayad sa mga abogado. Sabihin niyo lang kung magkano niyo gustong advance sa akin…
Mabuhay ang mga manunulat na tagapamahagi ng makatotohanang balita!
Mabuhay ang 43 tunay na Pinoy, na pinangungunahan ng mga tulad ni Ellen!
Ipaglaban ang makatao (hindi maka-baboy), at mapagpalayang pamamahayag!
Sang-ayon ako sa sambit ni taipan 88: “Patalsikin ang mapang-aping rehimen” !
Resist the fascist pigs!
The journalists being harrassed by “Tabang Lamig”, fighting back? Tama lang yan….ika nga “let the lumba-lumba taste his own medicine”…hehehe 😡
Last night I saw in TV Patrol the news about Rep. Allan Peter Cayetano’s “counter-strike” to the “PIDALs”. A file footage of mike, mikey, and iggy while they were charging Cayetano in the House Ethics Commitee were shown…nakahilera iyong tatlo “albino crocs”…ngumangasab pa iyong mag-ama…to think that they are infront of the media hindi man lamang nagpigil “lumapang” si miguel at miguelito…ang SISIBA talaga!
Just sharing from Preda:
The freedom to uphold the truth is at the heart of true democracy
(Fr. Shay’s columns are published in The Universe, The Voice,
Local News and other magazines in the UK & Ireland,
Sunday Examiner in HK, The Manila Times, Philnews USA
and Worldwide on Internet and Web sites,
Archives: http://www.preda.org – Copy free with permission)
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press and to be free to protect every person, respect human rights and be free from the threat and danger of death are the most fundamental sacred rights supposedly, safeguarded by a democratic nation.
In dictatorship, these rights and freedoms are immediately wiped out. In a crumbling constantly under attack, the right and duty to speak out and stand by the vulnerable and the downtrodden are the prime duties of every adult person with means to do so. In the United States those values were under threat and pressure by the Bush administration working with a compliant republican controlled congress and senate. They passed stringent laws that restricted the freedom of privacy, speech and activism for human rights.
It was the resilience of the non-compromised press that helped save what was left of the dignity of the American. The free press courageously exposed the shadowy tycoons and a corrupt military-industrial complex that grabbed the puppet strings of government and had a president dancing to their self-serving tunes.
The liberal centrist media in the United States was at first branded unpatriotic. They were shouted down by the right wing media that slavishly supported the repressive measures of the Bush administration without question, shame or thought. The corruption and sexual perversion by a few republican representatives in the US congress and the senate was eventually exposed and they and President Bush got their thumping and comeuppance from the American voters. Hurray for a decent democracy!
But for us, in the Philippines, the essential freedom of speech and freedom of the press and all to have a life of security and peace is far from us. The international business community in an unprecedented statement called on the Government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to end the killings of political activists・human rights. Even the assassinations of church pastors including the brutal killing of an outspoken Anglican Bishop have not been solved. Political murders have no place in a democracy, the business community said. The point being that the Philippines has hardly ever had a real democracy. The ruling elite families that cling to power and fight over it are in constant fear of an uprising of the masses of impoverished Filipinos.
Whether it is led by the left or the middle class in what could be a non-violent people痴 power movement, that unseated tyrants in the past, it is feared and repressed. The escalating campaign of assassinations is an indication of the insecurity of the 200 or so vastly wealthy families that control the congress and industry and lord it over 86 million poor people.
Freedom of the press is under constant pressure. 62 Journalists have been murdered by assassins since 1986. Twenty six of them were killed in last few years. A few hit men were apprehended, none of the political masterminds have even been named.
I and my staff at the Preda children痴 rights center have been sued many times for libel for exposing the sexual and physical abuse of children in prison or the trafficking of children by the sex mafia. The latest libel charges I am facing is for accompanying the ITV (CNN) reporter Chris Rogers into the prisons of Metro Manila where he filmed children, youths and adults in the same cells and the horrific conditions they endure. In another case, the prosecutor filed the complaint in court without giving my staff and I the right of a preliminary hearing, a chance to present our side. He got an arrest warrant issued right away.
The Philippines is one of the few countries where libel is still a criminal offence and is seen by some as a repressive gag on the media. 43 journalists, writers, editors have been slapped with libel charges by the husband of the president. Yet in the ongoing climate of assassinations and fear, the brave and courageous Filipino journalists are still proclaiming the truth and are willing to die for it. And too many so far have made that ultimate sacrifice. End.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
PREDA Information Office
PREDA Foundation, Inc.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
http://www.preda.org
Spartan:
Bakit nakaupo si Fatso sa tabi ng anak niya? Bakit hindi marunong ng protocol ang hinayupak na iyan? Dito iyan bawal ang kumain sa loob ng Diet hall dahil mapipintasan kasi dito televised and session ng Diet. Kaya nga may government media para masilip ng mga taxpayers ang mga kagaguhang magagawa nila para madali naming masibak! Diyan naman kasi for entertainment pa ang dating imbes na para bantayan ang mga ungas na hindi makaloko. Tignan mo tuloy ang asal noong matabang mama na akala mo siya na ang may-ari ng buong Pilipinas! Dapat alisan ng bantay ang hinayupak na iyan gaya ng pag-alis ng bantay ni Cory Aquino!
Dito nga, bilib ka, nagte-train lang ang mga Diet members namin gawa nang kung may opisyal na business sila at kailangan ang sasakyan ay provided naman sila ng sasakyan, usually taxi na naka-kontrata sa Diet. Wala iyong mga mercedes benz na gamit pa ng mga ungas sa gobyerno diyan kahit na sa sariling pagsha-shopping ng kanilang mga misis! Sobra kasi ang mga yayabang, magnanakaw naman!
meronng isang problema. ang sinumang huwes kung kaninong sala ihahain ang mga kaso laban sa kagalang galang na unang ginoo, mike “pwe” arroyo ay hindi lubusang maaaring pagkatiwalaang magbibigay ng patas at makatarungang pagpapasiya. alalahanin natin, ang reyna ng mga anay ang naglagay sa kanila sa pwesto!
magkagayunman, ipagdasal natin ang pagliliwanag ng kanilang isipan at manumbalik ang kanilang prinsipyo.
should be – merong isang problema.
walang pinaiiral na democracy sa malacanang kundi democrazy dahil baliw yung si chachanak at puro baliw rin mga cabinet member nya.
chabeli,
post ko lang dito ang essay ng Time magazine
A Philippine Shame
Manila is doing too little to stop the unchecked killings of the country’s activists
By ANDREW MARSHALL
Monday, Nov. 20, 2006
Ruby Sison is waiting for someone to kill her. I met Sison a few months ago at a cemetery in Kidapawan, a town on the lawless Philippine island of Mindanao. We were paying our respects to the activists and journalists George and Maricel Vigo, who were shot dead in June in broad daylight by motorbike-riding assassins while returning home to their five children. The killers were still at large, and local reporters were braving multiple death threats by keeping the Vigo murders in the news. A friend and left-wing activist, Sison had heard that a hit man had already received a down payment to kill her. “The rest will be paid when I’m dead,” she told me.
Sison, I’m relieved to say, is still alive. But the slaughter of reporters, leftists, lawyers, labor leaders, priests, students and human-rights workers in the Philippines continues with a fury that recalls the darkest days of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. Nearly 800 such people have been killed since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took power in 2001, reports the local human-rights group Karapatan, while Amnesty International recorded 51 cases of what it calls “political killings” in the first six months of this year, compared with 66 in all of 2005. When it comes to journalists—46 have been killed on Arroyo’s watch—the murder rate is second only to Iraq’s. Last week seven major U.S. companies with operations in the Philippines, including Wal-Mart and Gap, were moved to write a letter urging Arroyo to protect workers, especially union members, at their local subcontractors.
Most victims are left-wing activists, whom senior government and military officials have publicly labeled “enemies of the state” for their alleged links to the outlawed New People’s Army (N.P.A.), a communist rebel group that has fought the government in Manila for nearly four decades. This practice of “red-labeling,” says Amnesty, sends a tacit signal to the Philippine military and other security forces—which many Filipinos believe are behind the killings—that murdering political opponents is O.K.
Military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has angrily denied any military involvement in the killings. He blames them on “internal purges” in the N.P.A., which indeed murdered hundreds of its own people in the 1980s. Yet there is much to incriminate Esperon’s men. Last week it emerged that a suspected member of one hit squad, which killed campaigning Methodist pastor Isaias Santa Rosa in August, carried army identification and orders for a “secret mission” from army intelligence. (The papers were discovered on the hit man after he himself was killed, apparently by friendly fire.) Before his murder by two unidentified men last year, left-wing activist Edison Lapuz told friends he was under military surveillance. And journalist George Vigo, before his death, heard from an intelligence source that his name was on an “OB” or “order of battle.” OBs are widely believed by activists to be code for hit lists; the military denies such orders exist.
In August, in response to international concern, Arroyo set up the six-member Melo Commission, led by a retired Supreme Court judge, to probe the killings. Some bereaved families doubt its independence and have refused to testify. This distrust is symptomatic of a profound loss of faith in Arroyo herself. She is an unpopular President, plagued by corruption scandals and slammed for her failure to improve living standards. Arroyo has condemned the killings, but she will not implicate the military—even as it implicates itself. Col. Eduardo del Rosario, head of a military antiterrorist unit called Task Force Davao, admitted to TIME earlier this year that “individual commanders” might be responsible for the killings.
Investigations into these deaths yield hardly any results. Of 114 political murders recorded since 2001 by a special police task force, arrests have been made in just three cases, with no reported convictions. Even if the killers are ever caught and prosecuted, their bosses will almost certainly remain unknown or untouchable. Last month three men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2005 murder of a prominent antigraft journalist called Marlene Esperat, shot dead while dining with her children. Rynche Garcia Arcones, 24, Esperat’s daughter, felt shortchanged. “We want the mastermind,” she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She is unlikely to get him.
Poverty, corruption and joblessness still plague the Philippines. Now the country must endure a Marcos-style dirty war too. Is it any surprise many Filipinos feel as if their nation is hurtling backwards?
Andrew Marshall is a Bangkok-based journalist and author
Ellen, would Jake Macasaset give his reasons why he did not sign the complaint?
I know why. If he signs, he would have to change the name of his paper to “HINDI MALAYA”. But yes, everyone wants to know the reason why. Ellen should know. But, I doubt if she has at liberty to share what she knows. Ellen is a columnist in that paper. As the owner of this blog, I think it would be best for her to tell us what she knows.
Tongue, Macasaet has made his decision. I respect that. I will not speak for him.
ellen, mas mabuti pa ngang hayaan n’yo na lang at i-respeto ang desisyon ni macasaet. siguro naman alam niya ang kanyang ginagawa at kung anuman ang dahilan ng kanyang pananahimik, hindi niya ipagkakanulo kayong mga kasama niya sa media.
mabuhay ka at ang iyong mga kasama!
Maganda sana kung kasama si Macasaet sa grupo nina Ellen, pero OK ngarud kung gusto niyang tumayo sa sarili niyang paa.
Alam ko malakas ang backer niyang International Press Alliance. Walang ibubuga ang million ni Fatso. Lintik lang ang talim ng pluma ni Macasaet! Good luck, Mr. Malaya! God be with you always!
umm….mrivera,,type na type ko ang term mo…PWE aRoyo!!!!
btw, i kept 2 pcs of the 100 bills na may printing error which read macapagal arrovo…saw in megamall that they are selling it at 400pesos a piece..hehehe..tatago ko parin…atlst mayb in the near future pagka na firing squad na ang mga pwe arovo, tataas pa uli ang value kc nga kahit mga angkan ng hinayupak yan, may mga walang magawa sa pera nila ang mag-cocollect…look at hitler’s things for example hehehehe
soleil,
ang hihintayin kong bilhin ay iyon mismong na-firing squad si PWEaRoyo (pahiram ha Mrivera). ilalagay ko sa album at maya’t-maya ay aking babarilin ng toy gun! hehehe.
I doubt kung mabibili ang Arroyo Dorobo peso mo, Soleil, ng mahal. Pamunas ng puwit, puede pa. Baka iyong buto niya noong sanggol pa siya ang mas makakaloko ng turista para bilhin someday gaya noong buto daw ni Napoleon noong maliit pa siya na ibinenta sa mga turistang hapon. Tanga din ano? 😛
My two-centavos’ worth:
Jake Macasaet has his reason for not signing the libel case together with the others.
He may want to tackle Baboy on his own, part and parcel of his rights.
I read in passing that someone wants Ellen to say why Macasaet didn’t sign. Nobody should OBLIGE Ellen, but nobody, to speak for Macasaet. Ellen is not Macasaet’s keeper.
chi, anne on mr.macasaet,
you may be right..maraming empleyado si mr macasaet…maraming magugutom….lahat naman sa 43 ay ganyan ang panggigipit..being silent is not an option here..mabuti nang mamatay na lumalaban kaysa mamatay na walang laban..
Apoy,
I have no quarrel with that “being silent is not an option”.
My beef is simple as I said earlier on:
“Nobody should OBLIGE Ellen, but nobody, to speak for Macasaet. Ellen is not Macasaet’s keeper.”
Guys,
Malalaman din natin ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit hindi sumama si Mr. Jake sa pirmahan. Pero kung sinusubaybayan ninyo ang mga columns niya noon pa bago mag-eleksyon 2004, baka magkaroon kayo ng magandang hula :).
Hanggang nandiyan si Ellen, Ninez at iba pa na lumalaban sa kalabisan ng mag-asawang Pidal, naniniwala ako na tayo ay mananalo. Ang tatapang ng mga babaeng ito, hane?
Chi,
Matapang lang talaga si Macasaet. I doubt if he will allow himself to be hoodwinked by the Fatsos to turn against his fellow defendants/accused in the libel suits against them. Gusto niya sigurong isulat ang kaniyang struggle against a tyrant on his own initiative, patay kung patay! Hindi siya balimbing, I hope. I will not attempt the man since I actually do not know him personally lalo na’t hindi naman siya ang problema kundi iyong nangha-harass sa kanila. Right? 😛
Sorry, this should read: I will not attempt to JUDGE the man since I actually do not know him personally lalo na’t hindi naman siya ang problema kundi iyong nangha-harass sa kanila. Right?
At least, ako alam kong bastos si Bansot at walang pitagang sumunod sa batas ng Pilipinas o kahit na anong bansang puntahan ng ungas dahil akala niya kaya niya lahat. Siguro akala niya puede siyang maglupasay para sundin lang ang gusto niya.
Parang nakikinita ko na ang inasal sa Hanoi sa harap ni Bush! Bagay, birds of the same feather, flock together. Pareho lang naman na may tupak sa ulo!!! Yuck! 😡
whatever is between jake m. and ellen should be up to them. on the other hand i understood this as a class action of journalists against this much benamed person. whatever is the juridical meaning if there is of this class action, it seems to be natural that journalists in the spirit of solidarity among them should be together.but of course it is not ellen who should be obligated to say anything.
I will not allow assaults to my integrity here in my own blog.
No need to wait for Ellen for us to know why Jake Macasaet didn’t sign. I had to do my own research. The reason is because he does not want to look like he’s afraid of the Fat
Guy. Per Jake, the libel suit does not faze him. “It
does not have any chilling effect on me”. For the other journalists, they signed so that others not as brave would not be affected, “chilled” so to speak.