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The people’s right to know is paramount

Here they go again.

The Arroyo administration, through the National Telecommunications Commission, has forbidden all radio and television stations from airing the alleged wiretapped conversations between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on the alleged plan to manipulate the May 2004 elections.

The NTC warning was succinct, direct and brazenly aimed to terrorize.

“…the continuous airing or broadcast of the said taped conversations by radio and television stations is a continuing violation of the anti-wiretapping law and the conditions of the provisional authority and/or certificate of authority issued to these radio and television stations.”

If later it is proven that the tapes were false or fraudulent, the violators’ licenses or authorization would be revoked or suspended, the NTC warned.

Not to be outdone, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales threatened with arrest journalists who will continue to air or distribute copies of the audio recordings. It can even be done without a warrant, he said.

Let’s get things straight. It was Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye who advised the world of the audio recordings’ existence and even played them before the media. Why are media organizations being stopped from airing, and the public from listening to, something that Malacañang itself presented for public scrutiny?

For the anti-wiretapping law to be invoked, someone must first admit that he or she was the one who has been wiretapped and that he or she gave no consent to play the recorded conversation. Neither President Arroyo nor Commissioner Garcillano has admitted to being the voices on the recordings, although Bunye, Gonzales and the NTC seem to make it appear that it was the President who was supposedly tapped.

The President and her go-go boys have again made an awful mess of the situation. The have become like worms squirming out of a hole they dug themselves into.

We strongly remind President Arroyo, Secretary Gonzales and the NTC that bullying and threatening media to keep them from publishing or airing matters of extreme importance to the public are violations of basic rights enshrined in the Philippine Constitution, foremost of which are the public’s right to know, the right to free expression and the freedom of the press.

We remind the Arroyo administration that national security, the mantra that is again being invoked to justify media censorship, is not equivalent to the tenure of the incumbent. It must not be used as a pretext to protect anyone, even the President, from exposure and prosecution for any wrongdoing.

We are, however, alarmed over these developments. Early this year, AFP deputy chief of staff Lt. General Edilberto Adan proposed to penalize journalists who interview so-called terrorists. Then the military intelligence service released the “Know Your Enemy” presentation, tagging media organizations as “enemies of the state.” As if these were not enough, the MTRCB came out with a memo imposing prior restraint on all public affairs programs, news documentaries and socio-political editorials.

History has shown how us that a government in crisis almost always resorts to media control and censorship as a desperate attempt to survive. If we, journalists, and the public do not stay vigilant, we might wake up one day with our rights and freedoms taken away.

Let us keep our eyes open and our ears close to the ground for the gospel proclaims: “...what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.” (Luke 12:3b) #

This is the statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines dated June 15, 2005.

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