Arrested media men in Makati standoff could face rebellion raps - Gonzalez

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Friday said that media men who were arrested during the standoff at the Manila Peninsula in Makati City Thursday could be charged as co-principal or accessories if investigations showed that they are in connivance with the leaders of the siege. In a phone interview, Gonzalez said that probers have to make a determination if media men who were held for questioning after the police and military personnel stormed the hotel were legitimately covering the incident or were actually in cahoots with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Gen. Danilo Lim and other personalities. “We have to find out if they are in confabulation with the rebel soldiers based on evidence, but we have to make a distinction between those media who were legitimately covering the incident and those who were not," he said. Gonzalez pointed out that reports reaching his office showed that some of the reporters who were taken in were not authorized by their desks, but he did not discount the possibility that mediamen wanted to get a scoop, or have been, wittingly or unwittingly, aided Trillanes by serving as his group’s human shield against the police. He said that there were also reports that some members of the media who were found inside the hotel were caught on camera inducing people to rebel against the government and calling on the public to join their action. The DOJ chief pointed out that those media men found soliciting support for Lim and Trillanes can be charged with inducing or inciting to rebellion, a serious offense under Article 138. Gonzalez also defended the handcuffing of journalists and media crew, saying it was “for security purposes" as they can already be considered liable for obstruction of justice because their presence at the hotel premises obstructed a legitimate police operation. “There must be some preventive or precautionary measures to be taken by the peace officers as their own protection," he said, adding that some members of the media are “biased against the government." Gonzalez also defended the imposition of a curfew, saying there is a world of difference with martial law. “In martial law, there is a curtailment of the rights of the people, where the martial law administration can just issue the arrest and seizure order and the detention order without court order," he said. He said curfew was imposed to enable the authorities to conduct follow-up operations in the light of several arrests at the Manila Peninsula even after the siege, a proof that it was pre-planned. Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon, who leads prosecuting lawyers against the group of Trillanes in the Oakwood coup d’etat case before the Makati regional trial court, said they have already asked the military for the list of security detail of Trillanes, Lim and the others who escaped while the hearing was ongoing. “It’s more of a fact finding. We will take their depositions. We will submit our findings to the court, baka i-submit din sa SC. We’re doing this as part of our duty as officers of the court, not as prosecutors. We cannot allow a similar incident to happen again. This is a big blow to the judiciary. People take for granted the authority of the court," he said. Fadullon said that the panel might ask for additional security and a bigger venue for the next hearing on December 11. “We might ask that proper security measures be observed, example, handcuffs sa loob ng court, because of the incident. Dati they were not handcuffed inside the court, sa labas lang. Because of that incident, even those who did not participate would suffer the consequences," he said. - GMANews.TV