Puno, Razon snub CHR hearing on media arrests

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Philippine National Police chief Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon Jr were no-shows at the Commission on Human Rights' (CHR) hearing on the arrest of journalists following the November 29 Makati City standoff. Radio dzBB reported that Puno and Razon’s deputies, Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Dir. Geary Barias, were instead present during the hearing. The report did not say if Razon or Puno gave the CHR an explanation for their absences. Corpus had earlier said Puno would attend Friday's hearing. In an earlier radio interview, Corpus said the arrest of media practitioners was made to prove a point that there are laws that cannot be violated. The CHR began its investigation into the arrests after the National Press Club lodged on Monday a complaint before the commission against the Department of Interior and Local Government and PNP. Police were accused of violating the rights of journalists covering the standoff as they were handcuffed and brought to Camp Bagong Diwa for processing aboard a prison bus. Representatives of government and the media industry met in Makati City Wednesday to thresh out differences over last week's incident, but failed to come out with ground rules for the coverage of similar incidents. - GMANews.TV