(CMFR/IFEX) – An editor-publisher and two of her newspaper’s columnists were charged with allegedly inciting sedition, just moments after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted the state of national emergency or Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP1017) on the morning of 3 March 2006. According to the Department of Justice, operatives from the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – An editor-publisher and two of her newspaper’s columnists were charged with allegedly inciting sedition, just moments after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted the state of national emergency or Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP1017) on the morning of 3 March 2006.
According to the Department of Justice, operatives from the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed the said criminal charge against “The Daily Tribune” editor-publisher Niñez Cacho-Olivarez and columnists Ike Señeres and Herman Tiu-Laurel for publishing articles and writing columns that allegedly contained seditious remarks.
Based on Philippine laws, incitement to sedition is a serious criminal offense next to rebellion, and could merit as stiff as life to death sentences if the accused are convicted of the charge.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. (local time) on 25 February, just hours after Arroyo declared PP1017, police raided the premises of “The Daily Tribune” to get mock-up copies and photographs from the publication’s editorial offices.
Since then, law enforcers from the PNP-CIDG and the Manila police have stalked in and out of “The Daily Tribune”‘s offices to allegedly “secure” the oppositionist publication. They left the newspaper’s premises more than an hour after Arroyo officially lifted PP1017 on 3 March.
Inspector Jonathan Pablito, the officer in charge of “securing” the newspaper, told national daily “Philippine Daily Inquirer” that before he and his group left, they tried to ask for a certification that would show that “we did not take anything and did not harass anybody.” Olivarez “declined”, according to Pablito.
Olivarez said, however, that she did not hold a personal grudge against the police officers because she understood that they were merely following orders.
“She was very civil with us during our stay, even greeting us whenever she came and left the office,” Pablito added.
Olivarez said that as far as she was concerned, the police pullout was just a formality and did not indicate that the government would stop going after “The Daily Tribune”. She said she would have the newspaper office swept for listening devices in case bugs were installed during the raid.
Olivarez said she was expecting the charges to come, but has not received formal copies of the said accusation. She thanked both the national and local media for supporting her bout against the government’s effort to suppress press freedom.
