1017 Puts the Philippines Back on the World News Map

The dust has scarcely cleared after the “Wowowee” stampede and the recent Leyte landslide calamity, when the Philippines is once back on the world news map after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s declaration of a State of Emergency.
International protest on media crackdown
General Order No. 5, implementing Proclamation 1017, which Arroyo signed last February 24, invokes Section 17, [...]

Where is Ateneo?

The University of the Philippines has again sprung to life as the center of protest for Proclamation 1017. The UP Diliman Council and the UP law faculty have clearly made their strong stand on the issue.
The De La Salle brothers have also been very visible. During the Camp Aguinaldo stand-off, I remember reading about the [...]

Dear EDSA Baby by Rina Jimenez-David

I meant to write a comment on the article written by PDI columnist Rina Jimenez-David, “Dear Edsa Baby.”
I WONDER sometimes what sort of life “we have won for you.” How would you, and people of your generation, judge us and our efforts at making the promise come true? Especially given the events of the [...]

Arroyo Versus Arroyo

(Insert theme song from Rocky)
In the blue corner, standing barely five feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, let us give a round of applause for Arroyo! Gloria Arroyo!
In the red corner, standing X feet tall and weighing X pounds, let us give a round of applause for, wait a minute, another Arroyo! Joker [...]

Global Condemnation of 1017

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has received letters of support for press freedom.
Here in the US, the State of Emergency has had its fair share of news coverage.
Use yahoo? Notice that tool bar on the right side that says In the News? The Philippines has barely left that tool bar for the [...]

Where was the Philippine Star?

I was reading through the transcript of the meeting of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and I didn’t find any sentiment from the Philippine Star.
I understand Manila Bulletin not having any say in the matter (when did Bulletin ever have any say in any issue?) but the Star has been hollowingly absent. [...]

Gloria Arroyo Praying

This photo was on the splash page of PDI last February 26, Pacific Standard Time.
Don’t you just love this photo?
My first reaction on seeing this was WTF? The gall!
If we had late night talk shows like Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, the jokes would have been flying out the window in succession, night [...]

NYTimes Says People Power an Oxymoron

From the NYTimes:
The Philippines is at it again, and for foreign and local experts it is a discouraging spectacle of national futility.
Now, a new catchphrase has entered the Philippine lexicon: people power fatigue. This nation of political romantics has sunk into a mood of weariness and disillusionment.
As it continues to chase the old elation [...]

Gloria Slept Well

From the Los Angeles Times
With the declaration of a state of emergency a day earlier, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo granted her government sweeping powers to ban public protests and control the media. Arroyo said she needed greater authority to defeat a plot to remove her from office.
“President Gloria slept well,” said her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, [...]

Curtailing Press Freedom in the Philippines

Journalists in the Philippines are calling for solidarity.
No to curtailment of press freedom. No to censorship. No to “government guidelines” on what can and cannot be published. Full text of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) here.
Leaders of Philippine society have spoken out against the government’s iron-hand tactics. The Philippine journalism community [...]