From Crispin Beltran to Dinky Soliman, the government is making a mockery of the justice system. It wants to silence legitimate dissent by arresting selected personalities on trumped-up charges, even to the point where these have become patently outrageous and ridiculous.

Even if the writ of habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights are not suspended and courts are in session, the police are conducting warrantless arrests. They are also filing charges using manufactured evidences, producing witnesses with incredible claims. The Department of Justice is also planning to produce a “rogue” gallery where those who are not yet found guilty of charges against them will be listed as wanted by the government.

The PNP is acting with impunity making a mockery of the justice system. At the same time, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is on a killing spree trying to eliminate progressives in the provinces outside of the National Capital Region. And the prosecutors of the DOJ are going along with it even if they surely know that the processes are fundamentally wrong.

Worse, Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez is making a parody of the justice system by legitimizing the authoritarian acts of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In doing so, the DOJ is turning itself into a kangaroo court. Since a kangaroo is foreign to the Philippines, unggoy-unggoyan (monkeying around) may be a more appropriate term.

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Two days before it was supposed to celebrate its fifth anniversary, a radio program was suspended “until further notice.”

At first glance, it would appear to be no big deal since radio programs tend to come and go. What makes this particular case interesting is that the suspension happened last Feb. 24, the day that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Proclamation No. 1017, which declared the country as being in a state of national emergency.

Was it just a coincidence? Is it valid to conclude that Ngayon Na, Bayan! which used to air from Monday to Friday, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on DZRJ (810 khz AM station) was the first “media casualty” of Arroyo’s state of national emergency?

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Thousands of civilians have started to march to Fort Bonifacio where a protest by members of the Philippine Marines erupted over the questionable replacement of a ranking Marines official.

The Marine protest is the latest development in the volatile national situation following President Arroyo’s imposition of Proclamation 1017 placing the entire Philippines in a state of national emergency.

Michael Defensor, chief of staff of President Arroyo, immediately asked the media to stop coverage of the Marine protests. The media have ignored Defensor’s “request”.

Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona and Bro. Armin Luistro of De La Salle University were seen at the gates of Fort Bonifacio to express their support to the protesting Marines.

Corazon Aquino, former Philippine president who was swept to power by the first People Power uprising in 1986, and her son Representative Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III are reportedly being prevented from reaching Fort Bonifacio.

Meanwhile, members of Bayan, Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party and the Gloria Step Down Movement (GSM) have started to peacefully march from the Makati Fire Station at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Buendia, towards Fort Bonifacio.

Strong reactions welcomed Proclamation 1017 which was issued on Friday, at the height of the nation’s commemoration of the first People Power uprising.

The edict included a ban of protest rallies and was used to legitimize the dispersal of several demonstrations, including those by Bayan and GSM at the Edsa Shrine, the aborted praying of the rosary by Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez at the People Power Monument, and the march of Laban ng Masa near Cubao.

Exiled Philippine leader Jose Maria Sison, an arch-enemy of the dictator Marcos who imprisoned him for years and a staunch critic of Arroyo, swiftly issued a statement calling Proclamation 1017 as “a tyrannical act of desperation” and “incites the people to intensify the oust-Arroyo movement”. The Communist Party of the Philippines’ central committee has likewise called on Filipinos to “overthrow the Arroyo dictatorship”.

Police have also taken over the offices of the opposition newspaper Daily Tribune and police teams deployed at the two major television networks ABS-CBN and GMA. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has assailed Proclamation 1017 as an assault on press freedom.

On Saturday (Feb. 25), the 20th year since the downfall of the dictator Marcos, soldiers and police loyal to Arroyo arrested Anakpawis Partylist Representative Crispin Beltran and retired Gen. Ramon Montaño on charges that they were involved in a conspiracy to topple the government.

Also on Saturday, soldiers in civilian clothes and with firearms drawn attempted but failed to abduct House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Representative Satur C. Ocampo as he emerged from a press conference at Sulo Hotel in Quezon City. Ocampo, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza and Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano also eluded arrest.

More stories:

Counsels for the Defense of Liberties: Proclamation 1017 a Marcosian tool

NUJP Position on the State of National Emergency

Arkibong Arkibong Bayan Photos of Feb. 24 protests and march