Palace: Gov’t not a threat to press freedom

Malacañang insisted yesterday that the Arroyo administration is not a threat to press freedom and that it had been recognizing media’s help to the government.

"No one in a free society should ever have to live in fear of expressing his or her point of view," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in an e-mail message to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, which will hold its fifth national congress in Tagaytay City today and tomorrow.

Bunye said it is essential for both the government and journalists to resist any threat to press freedom and stressed that no private citizen or working journalist should ever have to give his or her life as the "price for open expression."

"As the government’s liaison to the media and as a fellow journalist, I stand with you in your fight as you work everyday to strengthen Philippine democracy," Bunye said.

He added the government had always stood foursquare against those out to suppress freedom of the press.

Bunye said President Arroyo, determined to get to the bottom of the recent spate of killings of journalists and militant leaders, created a powerful commission to investigate these incidents.

The commission, headed by former Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, was granted the broad powers of an investigative body to summon witnesses, administer oaths and take relevant testimony or evidence.

Mrs. Arroyo has lashed out at critics of the Melo commission, saying the communists, "not just the military and the police," should be blamed for these incidents.

She said while the commission’s task is investigative in nature, it would also recommend administrative policies and legislation.

Mrs. Arroyo added that the Melo commission would be given a sweeping mandate in carrying out its task, including enlisting the assistance of the various government agencies in the investigation of the killings.

But critics of Mrs. Arroyo said the new commission was only meant to cover up the government’s failure to stop the bloodshed.

Mrs. Arroyo has declared an all-out war against communist rebels. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the allegations being hurled against the military and the police could be part of the communists’ propaganda against the government.