Senators insist on probe of media arrests, curfew after hotel siege

Senators called again yesterday for an inquiry into the arrest of journalists and the placing of Metro Manila and nearby provinces under a dusk-to-dawn curfew after the government broke up the takeover of a hotel in Makati by soldiers and civilians led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Meanwhile, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said yesterday the Senate is too busy with budget deliberations to act on the resolution of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago seeking to reprimand, suspend or expel Trillanes from the Senate.

“Baka hindi maaksyonan dahil maraming trabaho rito sa Senado,” he said. “It might take two to three months or after the budget (hearings).”

Villar, along with Senators Manuel Roxas II, Benigno Aquino III, Loren Legarda and Ramon Revilla Jr. filed separate resolutions calling for an inquiry in aid of legislation on the circumstances that led to the arrest of journalists after the Nov. 29 standoff at the Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati.

“The entirety of what happened at Manila Peninsula should be reviewed and assessed to serve as lamppost in what jurisprudence may call as teaching function, to provide lessons in governance,  to ferret out the truth, and advance reforms in accordance with constitutional and peaceful methods,” according to Villar’s resolution.

Villar said the grievances were legitimate and must be addressed by the government, although he disagrees with the takeover of the Peninsula.

“Likewise, I condemn the illegal arrest of media people and the imposition of curfew which infringe on the basic human rights of our citizens,” he said.

Villar, Legarda and Sen. Francis Escudero all agreed that the standoff should serve as a wake-up call for the Arroyo government.

Legarda said: “Legislation may be needed to guide actions of law enforcers in crisis situations to ensure that the rights of media practitioners to reasonably inform the public on events of national significance are not abridged.”

Escudero said there is a need to balance the police’s duty to protect the people and the media’s duty to inform the public.  

However, Villar, Nacionalista Party president, said the unreasonable and rough treatment accorded to the media violates their rights with impunity and makes a mockery of democracy.

“The Senate will always put a premium on human rights and will always oppose the administration’s attempts at curtailing civil liberties, he said.

In a joint resolution, Senators Aquino and Roxas of the Liberal Party said the apparent confusion that led to the arrest of  journalists constitutes a clear and present danger to the country’s economic foundations as well as civil liberties.

Revilla said the Senate committee on public information and mass media which he heads will dig deeper into the matter to come up with guidelines to avoid a repetition of the incident where some members of media were arrested.

“We will urgently act on this because it is imperative that we ascertain the whole story,” he said. “Right now, we are just basing our opinions from little pieces of information that we are in process of gathering.”  – Christina Mendez