3 admin senators demand revocation of Proclamation 1017

Three administration senators on Friday demanded the revocation of Proclamation 1017 which put into black and white the state of national emergency declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Friday morning. Senate majority leader Francis Pangilinan and Senators Pia Cayetano and Mar Roxas, in a joint statement, expressed “grave doubts" about the “factual basis for the actions provided by Proclamation 1017." “We therefore demand its revocation," the three senators said, adding: “We are alarmed by Proclamation 1017. It curtails the democratic space and suppresses the freedoms that are so fundamental to our democracy." The senators said it is unclear what Malacaňang meant when it said coup threats continue to put at risk the nation’s security. “Is there in fact a rebellion threatening public safety that necessitates calling out the AFP? What public interest, as distinct from the interest of the incumbent administration, is being threatened to justify exercise of emergency powers?" they asked. Arroyo made the declaration after military authorities exposed, and effectively thwarted, a coup plot disgruntled soldiers and police officers were planning to stage Friday. They bewailed that Arroyo decreed the state of national emergency when the country was commemorating the return of democracy after years of enduring the tyrannical rule of Ferdinand Marcos. “It is a sad day for our nation that provisions of our Constitution relating to martial law and emergency powers are cited by a proclamation that curtails our freedom on the 20th anniversary of the restoration of these freedoms through the EDSA people power revolution," they said.-GMANews.TV