(CMFR/IFEX) – After mistaking him for a rebel, a photojournalist working for a national daily was held by local police and military on 4 October 2005 in Tarlac City, around 130 kilometers north of Manila. Rene Dilan, a photographer of “The Manila Times”, was responding to an earlier tip from an unnamed source on a […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – After mistaking him for a rebel, a photojournalist working for a national daily was held by local police and military on 4 October 2005 in Tarlac City, around 130 kilometers north of Manila.
Rene Dilan, a photographer of “The Manila Times”, was responding to an earlier tip from an unnamed source on a reported attack at a provincial telecommunication office, when Tarlac-based members of the Philippine Army (PA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) accosted him.
Reports said that the soldiers and the police questioned Dilan for his possible involvement with local communist rebels who had just attacked the Globe Telecom Building in the city.
Army intelligence agents said they could not believe Dilan got to the site so fast without knowing about the planned attack.
In his defense, Dilan argued that he was only tipped off about the attack, but said the information he received was neither specific nor clear. “I was just doing my job of covering an attack,” Dilan added.
Still doubtful, the military and the police detained the photographer for more than two hours before finally releasing him.
However, when the police returned his equipment and other personal belongings, Dilan noticed that the memory card he used with his digital camera in photographing the location of the incident was missing. He tried to retrieve the card, but the military agents refused to return it. “The Times” reported the incident to PNP Deputy Director General Avelino Razon.
