NUJP calls on media to remain vigilant

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Friday called on media practitioners in the country to remain vigilant even after the lifting by President Arroyo of Proclamation 1017. “It is not the time to lower our guards," NUJP said in a statement. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said monitoring of the media would continue. He admitted that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had forwarded to him video and audio copies of news programs from various television and radio stations for evaluation. "I have here tapes and disks, which are being transcribed. I want to know what have been said actually," Gonzalez said, noting that the DoJ wanted to see if there was anything seditious in the commentaries or if the coverage favored the destabilizers. The NUJP welcomed President Arroyo's decision to rescind Proclamation 1017. “Indeed, having met a massive outpouring of protest from all sectors of Philippine society and from abroad, many from media groups and individuals, questioning and denouncing the proclamation's curtailment of civil liberties, we think she cannot have done otherwise," the media union said. The group, however, called on Director General Arturo Lomibao, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, “to withdraw all the threats he has earlier made on media institutions." The NUJP also called on the National Telecommunications Commission to “withdraw all orders controlling the broadcast of news and media affairs." “We demand that Mrs. Arroyo categorically announce that government will respect the people's constitutional right to a free press," the NUJP said in a statement. – GMANews.TV with a report from INQ7.net