Noong Huwebes, binaril at napatay si Martin Roxas, brodkaster ng estasyong DYVR ng radio Mindanao Network sa Roxas City, Capiz.
Si Roxas ay pang-apat na journalist na napatay dito sa Pilipinas sa taong ito at pag-59 sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Gloria Arroyo mula 2001.
by Ashzel Hachero
Journalists who were arrested last year for refusing to leave the Manila Peninsula Hotel during the Magdalo soldiers’ stand-off yesterday said they are prepared to appeal all the way to the United Nations the junking of their P10 million class suit against government officials.
“Definitely we will appeal to the higher courts the unjust ruling of the Makati court. We will go to the Court of Appeals or we can file a motion for certiorari at the Supreme Court,” lawyer Harry Roque said.
A coup against press freedom,Business World and A crime to cover,Inquirer
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On Friday evening, as we in the media prepared the news-record of the nation’s last workday and looked forward to easing ourselves into the weekend, a coup was sprung on us: a court ruling going against us and kept secret since its promulgation seven days earlier was released that evening — released not by the court itself but by the chief of the metropolitan police, Gen. Geary Barias, himself a beneficiary of the ruling, being one of the defendants.
Patay ang demokrasya sa desisyon ni Judge Reynaldo Laigo ng Makati Regional Trial Court branch 56 sa class suit na isinampa ng mga mamahayag tungkol sa nangyari sa Manila Peninsula noong Nov. 29, 2007.
Kinampihan ni Laigo ang ginawa ng Philippine National Police sa pangunguna ni Police Director Geary Barias ng National Capital region na pag-aresto at pagposas sa mga reporter pagkatapos ng insidente kung saan sina Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim at mga Magdalo officers ay nag-walkout sa hearing sa Makati RTC at nagpunta sa Manila Pen kung saan hinikayat nila ang taumbayan na talikuran si Gloria Arroyo.
This is another sad day for democracy.
The Supreme Court junked the petition of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to be allowed to perform his duties as senator.
A Makati Regional Trial Court, meanwhile, dismissed the class suit filed by members of media and concerned citizens against government offficials responsible for the former’s arbitrary arrest and handcuffing duringthe Nov. 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula incident.
Following are the news reports:
Update: ABS-CBN suspends Ces Drilon
By Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Television network ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. will investigate the conduct of kidnapped journalist Ces Drilon to determine whether she breached protocols on news coverage that led to her kidnapping last June 8.
“There is a process of investigation and I don’t want to preempt that process. At the end of that, we have to find out if the proper process was followed by Ces,” network chair and chief executive Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III said at the sidelines of the ABS-CBN stockholders’ meeting Thursday.
Update: Mayor Isnaji’s new lawyer confirms additional P15 million ransom. Also, P3 million of the first P5 million came from ABS-CBN.
Mabuti lang karamihan sa publiko hindi naniniwala sa pinagsasabi ng Malacañang kaya sa mga lumalabas na balita tungkol sa P20 milyon na ransom kina Ces Drilon, wala masyadong nagulat.
Ang narinig kong sinasabi ng marami: “Sabi ko na nga ba e.”
Naintindihan ko kung bakit kailangan magkaroon ng “No ransom policy” ang pamahalaan. Kapag normal kasi ang pagbigay ng ransom, lalo magiging malala ang kidnapping. Negosyo na nga yun hindi lamang ng Abu Sayyaf kungdi dito rin sa kalakhang Maynila.
by Raymond Africa
Malaya
The police yesterday confirmed that the family of ABS-CBN news anchor Ces Drilon paid P5 million ransom to a bandit group that held her, two cameramen, and a professor for 10 days in Sulu.
Despite mosquito bites and a damaged toenail, Ces Drilon was her usual perky self upon coming out of a nine-day ordeal in a bandits’ lair in the jungle of Sulu. It was good to see her smiling.
It was touching seeing her crying and sharing her reflections of her harrowing experience. I was touched with that part when Ces said something like”You don’t realize how important something is until you are on the verse of losing it.” She said many times during their captivity, they were on the verge of being killed.
DILG puts up P500,000 each for the kidnappers of Ces and her team.
The kidnappers of ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Ces Drilon, her cameraman and a university professor have asked for a P15-million ransom, which they want delivered by Tuesday noon, according to an emissary.
The emissary, Alvarez Isnaji, mayor of the town of Indanan, Sulu, told reporters in Sulu the kidnappers set Tuesday as the deadline for the P15 million ransom for Drilon, ABS-CBN cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Prof. Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao State Univerisity.