After much ado about nothing, the dust settles at the Marine Chapel at Fort Bonifacio. It was a confusing jumble of events, with no clear cause and fuzzy resolution that leaves more questions than answers.

ABS-CBN News and INQ7.net covered the event from start to finish, and MLQ3 posted what he had observed a few hours after the incident. Philippine Commentary has a long and interesting comment thread regarding the same incident.

I hate to say this, but there will be more arrests today, as a logical consequence of what had happened last night. For not doing so would make the government inconsistent. It has no other option but to stay the course, and hope that the Supreme Court upholds its tenuous position. For giving in means it is capitulating, and exposes a weak spot in the otherwise efficient machine. It is in a damned-if-you-do situation, which I must say caused by its own doing.

Also, I think that the government and the media are both testing the waters on what they can and cannot do in the context of the Proclamation 1017 – the media always checking if how far can it present stories, and the government checking if how much restriction can it impose on the media. The incident last night was a good test; this time, consistent with what Michael Defensor had said again and again, he sought for media restraint in the coverage of the Fort Bonifacio standoff. He was saying that, if possible, the media should not cover the said event. Then, the National Telecommunications Commission called on broadcasters to cover the Standoff fairly.

Is the government trying to do what it wants in an incremental approach? Instead of doing everything immediately, it is taking its sweet time, executing plans one part at a time. The TV stations should be wary that soldiers are deployed to guard them. Just like how the PNP guards The Daily Tribune.

Some commenters are already commenting that critics of the proclamation are crying over nothing, that observations on the proclamation curtailing free press are exaggerations and paranoid. That may be a valid observation, but it is too early to be certain, especially if my observation that the government is doing things in increments is true.

In the next few days, we will see both sides pushing the limits, and one of them will blink. Democracy has been reduced to a game of brinksmanship.

Now it’s time for my comments on the issue.

Proclamation No. 1017 is constitutional, as it is just a statement of a fact. What is unconstitutional is the government actions made because of the said proclamation. The lawyers and the opposition should not file a case in the Supreme Court calling the said proclamation unconstitutional. What they have to ask is for the SC to declare (1) that this proclamation does not grant this government additional powers, such as taking over of news organizations and the suspension of writ of habeas corpus; and (2) that the actions taken by this government in the name of Proclamation 1017 from Friday up to the present be declared unconstitutional.

I told my mother that it is useless to file a case asking that this proclamation be declared unconstitutional, for I contend that the government action is just a repeat of what it did in the course of the May 1, 2001 Siege of Malacañang, which happened on a weekend. The government declared a state of rebellion in reaction. Some lawyers said that it has no constitutional basis. They filed a case in the SC Monday after May 1. Government lifted the state of rebellion. SC dismisses the case, since the lifting of the state of rebellion rendered the suit moot.

I contended that it is useless to file another suit, because this government will lift the state of emergency call tomorrow, to preempt the lawyers and the SC. I am partly validated when Michael Defensor claims that the incident at Fort Bonifacio tonight spoiled the lifting of Proclamation 1017.

The Daily Tribune incident is, for all intents and purposes, a scare tactic, sending a chilling message to news organizations – Little Sister is watching. PNP Chief Lomibao shot himself in the foot, showing the intentions of the PNP (if not of the government) – that they will take over media organizations that would disobey “standards set by the government” in the current state of affairs.

Why, you may ask? Interviewed in ANC special “Media in Focus”, Defensor said that they have no intention of closing down news organizations nor enforcing censorship; they entered the offices of The Daily Tribune and posted police guards so that “it will not be used for destabilization efforts”. If that isn’t censorship, I don’t know what would Defensor call that. Newspapers should be free to publish what they like; if the government finds the article subversive and inciting people to sedition, sue them. Again, read the story about Lomibao’s pronouncements. All because they think Proclamation 1017 gave them the license to do so.

Then, the head of National Telecommunications Commission was interviewed. It was rather circular and rambling; in effect, he said he had called the officers of Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas (KBP) for a dialogue to “draft guidelines”; he also said that those who violate “guidelines” may have their broadcast license revoked, upon orders from the Fortress. ABS-CBN’s Maria Ressa asked “what guidelines?” And the NTC restated the dialogue, which he repeats again and again and again. I think he can’t say the obvious: it all depends on what the Fortress says. Read the Lomibao article again.

As for the arrests: funny that Crispin Beltran was invited, then arrested, because of an arrest warrant issued in 1985. It took the police 20 years to serve the warrant; talk about timing. No wonder our justice system sucks; one pillar of justice is broken and needs repair. Randy David’s arrest is pure and simple harassment; he was released last Friday without any charges filed against him. Again, all in the name of Proclamation 1017.

I believe in Freudian slips: Armed Forces in the Philippines Chief of Staff General Generoso Senga, in an interview, said 1081 instead of 1017. The interviewer, who was no less than the Vice President himself, didn’t even bothered correcting Senga. Now that’s what I call “revelations”.

Comments in blogs are mixed, but majority of those don’t care, as long as there are jobs and there are food in the table. The incident in that Taguig mall is an indication that the people will again choose to be apathetic. Can’t blame them now.

Blogs can take center stage, in case media orgs are censored, if not taken over. But right now we must define blogs that are credible sources of information; like the mainstream media, the blogosphere can be polluted, and it will be easy to do so. All you have to do is to open as many blog accounts as you can, then post false information. Simple as that.

This attack vector has been done before. The Fortress had created its own blog. During the height of l’affair Garci, pro-Arroyo commenters flooded the blogosphere. Though this has wilted down, there are still vociferous commenters who are consistently posting comments.

Comments do not vary, but the most common one is a mirror-copy of the Fortress propaganda line: If not Gloria, who else? It has a variation: who would replace Gloria? Another variation: they are all the same. Bloggers have answered those questions, but hardliners still asks the same questions, posts the same comments.

My stand remains the same: GMA should resign. She was given a chance to clear her name, and she chose the easy way out: (1) her allies in Congress “noting” the objections of the opposition during the canvassing of the 2004 election results; and (2) her allies in the House of Representatives rejected the amended impeachment complaint and disposed of the Lozano complaint. Legal, yes. But the questions remained unanswered. Her spokesman tried to cover-up l’affair Garci, then accused the media that they forced him to play the tapes. She used vague tools to prevent dissent and to stop Congress from asking questions from government executives.

Also, a certain Atty. Lambino appeared in the Fortress, telling the media that as a lawyer for the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP or Coalition of United Filipinos), he saw no alterations nor any visible signs of cheating in the KNP’s copy of the election returns. Question: even if it is true or not, is his action a violation of the client-counsel privilege? Even if the relationship has ended, does this free the lawyer from the privilege?

This generation is being tested, and will be judged by history after the smoke clears. How would history view us ten years from now? Twenty years? This generation will probably not know.

A call for solidarity

For a few years now, the global media community has acknowledged the Philippines among the most dangerous places for journalists. In the past two years, our country has been second only to Iraq in the number of media killings. Philippine journalists have fought hard to roll back the tide of violence. Today, however, the Philippine press faces its strongest challenge.

In declaring a “state of national emergency,” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made media among her main targets. She and senior aides warned of government takeover of media facilities considered friendly to the political opposition.

Police have already raided the offices of the Daily Tribune, a national daily. Armed men in civilian clothes have gone around the offices of Abante, the country’s biggest tabloid. Police had earlier arrested Randy David, a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, holding the award-winning journalist and sociologist for five hours prosecutors said there was no ground to charge him with any crime.

The government deployed troops to the compounds of ABS-CBN and GMA-7, the country’s largest television networks. The government’s claim was that the soldiers were protecting these stations from a potential takeover by destabilizers.

Police have also declared that they would not hesitate to takeover media entities found “aiding” the administration’s enemies. The police also said they would soon release “standards” or guidelines that journalists must follow and that investigators and prosecutors were monitoring the news.

By the government’s definition, providing aid to Mrs. Arroyo’s enemies includes interviewing opposition parties. In simple terms, the administration wants media to present only the side of the embattled government, using force and coercion to bend journalists to its wishes.

Filipinos, journalists included, fought a long, hard battle to regain democracy after two decades of tyranny. That Mrs. Arroyo timed this crackdown on civil liberties with the anniversary of the Marcos dictatorship’s fall only highlights her break with the democratic aspirations of Filipinos. Even as she warns enemies of feeling the full force of the law, Mrs. Arroyo flaunts constitutional guarantees to free speech and expression and press freedom.

Leaders of Philippine society have spoken out against the government’s iron-hand tactics. The Philippine journalism community has also moved fast to unite against this grand assault on press freedom. Today, (Sunday, Feb. 26), the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines will lead various organizations and individual journalists in protesting the crackdown on media. The Philippine media community intends to send Mrs. Arroyo a strong message: We will not go gently into the night.

We call on all our colleagues in print, broadcast and digital journalism worldwide to support Philippine media in this dark hour. Please add your voice to our protest. Let us collectively condemn the crackdown on Philippine media and remind Mrs. Arroyo that no country can be free to prosper if its media is silenced and cowed. You can send protest letters to the government through the Office of the Press Secretary at osec@ops.gov.ph, with facsimile number (632) 735-6167 or deliver these to the nearest Philippine embassy and consulate. You can send solidarity messages to the NUJP through its email address, nujphil@gmail.com or post this on our website, www.nujp.org.

National Union of Journalists of the Philippines

(Copy-pasted from PCIJ.)

Twenty years ago, we regained our freedom of the press. Today, we stand the risk of losing it.

It is ironic that on the day we celebrate people power, a glorious and festive moment in our history, we are reminded that our freedoms are fragile. They can easily be taken away.

We view the raid on Tribune, an opposition newspaper, with alarm. It appears to signal the start of a crackdown on media organizations.

We have always believed that repression is never the answer to a critical press. We remind the authorities that a free press is a cornerstone of a democracy. Without it, we cannot claim to be a democratic country.

Marites Danguilan Vitug
Editor in Chief
Newsbreak Magazine

(copy-pasted from Ricky Carandang’s comment in this post.)

I was hoping that my shift would not be so-so. As they say, be careful for what you wish for.

As of 8:08PM Manila time, Marine Colonel Arnel Querubin is holed up in the Marines Chapel in Fort Bonifacio. ABS-CBN News and INQ7.net has full coverage. (Be sure to check out these sites from time to time for updates. Already, ABS-CBN News suffered from bandwidth and server busy problems, due to many page views.)

The events yesterday made the bloggers quite busy. In the forefront are the blawggers: Atty. Lacierda states that Proclamation 1017 is just copy-pasted from previous proclamations made by Gloria. Paul Santos and Atty. Marvin Aceron share the opinion that Proclamation 1017 is copy-pasted from Proclamation 1081. Scary.

Atty. Punzalan made two excellent blog lectures on parliamentary immunity and on freedom of expression.

The Daily Tribune incident sparked reactions from the NUJP and from Newsbreak (Ricky Carandang posted the Newsbreak comment in the Comments).

A coworker just arrived and she told me that Col. Querubin has requested the media to stop covering what’s going on in Fort Bonifacio in the mean time. I have no way of verifying this, unless ABS-CBN News and INQ7 update their sites.

Update: Much ado about nothing; standoff finished, soldiers to return to barracks. When Col. Querubin was asked by the media, the new commandant of the Marines told the reporters to direct questions to him. The colonel was gagged.

I was also curious about the former commandant asking that he be relieved from his position. He made things vague, and I think it was circuitous. Why didn’t he just resign? Was it deliberate?

Yesterday, the first victim of Proclamation No. 1017 was Prof. Randy David.

Nasampolan ulit (made an example again). Earlier today, the offices of The Daily Tribune were raided, and copies of today’s issue confiscated. ABS-CBNNews.com coverage here, and INQ7.net’s article here.

The Daily Tribune is a known anti-GMA paper.

What or who will be next?

Bloggers have been very busy today, covering the unfolding story. MLQ3 is out of the picture, since he is involved in the activities for today, though he muses if the middle faces extinction. The best analysis (though too extreme for comfort) is by Dean Jorge Bocobo, here, here, and here.

For a description of how’s things in the Malacañang Fortress, Jove Francisco has the goods.

Blawggers are not left behind. Punzi’s Corner Blog asks a very good question: if the coup has been quashed already, why declare a state of emergency? La Vida Lawyer comments on Proclamation 1017 here and here.

ANC’s Ricky Carandang made some observations here, and he describes Fort Bonifacio at 3AM today here.

Inside PCIJ posts the US Embassy’s statement on today’s news. It also has the full text for the fast-becoming infamous Proclamation No. 1017, and the follow-up General Order No. 5.

Nasampolan? (Sampled?) Noted UP professor and Inquirer columnist Randy David arrested, together with Atty. Argee Guevarra. I saw the arrest on TV, the persons arresting them are in plain clothes, and they were brought to an unmarked, obviously-not-official, car. They were released later in the day, and they were charged with inciting to sedition. This “inciting to sedition” is fast becoming a blanket charge against rallyists, I think.

Also, ABS-CBN has a continuing coverage of the events (though I am not sure if it continues to do so; when I left home at 5PM, they are still showing images from Ayala Avenue) in Channel 2 and in ANC. GMA7 stopped covering the events at around 2:30PM; I don’t know if they resumed coverage, though John Marzan noted that they did, though in Flash Reports only.

It was an interesting day. Much as I like to comment on this, I have nothing further to add. Though I believe that Proclamation No. 1017 is imposed to prevent mass actions slated today and tomorrow. Effective? Let history be the judge.

This is to echo Manolo Quezon’s call: if you have the resources, please donate a portion of them to the Philippine National Red Cross.

Let’s help the hapless victims of the Landslide of February 17, 2006.