Media Group Protests Inclusion In Military's Order Of Battle

Article 3 slams continued inclusion of Negros journalist in government "order of battle"

Article 3, the alliance of Negros journalists asserting press freedom and the people's right to know, views with utmost alarm the inclusion of Julius Mariveles, Article 3 convenor and news director of Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod, in a list of "top (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army) leaders drawn up by the Armed Force of the Philippines' Central Command.

Mr. Mariveles is also secretary general of the Correspondents, Broadcaster and Reporters Association and an officer of the Congress of Active Media Practitioners and the Negros Media Council for Press Freedom.

Article 3 demands that the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Central Command and Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga publicly strike Mariveles' name from this order of battle and assure his safety and the unhampered practice of his profession.

We also demand that the intelligence services of both the military and police rigorously review their "orders of battle" to prevent such a recurrence and consult the media about the veracity of their accusations against journalists.

The list, first reported by Manila dailies and a copy of which Article 3 has obtained, is dated the first semester of 2005 and identifies Mariveles as secretary general of the party-list group Bayan Muna on Negros and among purported leaders of the revolutionary movement on Negros. It is therefore a relatively recent list.

However, Mr. Mariveles has been with media since 2002, or more than three years now.
And he used to be secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan on Negros, not Bayan Muna.

Article 3 has reason to believe the continued inclusion of Mr. Mariveles' name on the list is more than a case of mere oversight.

The military's claims about the efficiency of its intelligence network, it should surely have known that Mr. Mariveles has been employed by Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod and has, in fact, earned a sterling reputation as one of the province's foremost broadcast journalists.

We see no way the military could have overlooked this simple fact since, in the practice of his profession, Mr. Mariveles regularly interviewed ranking military and police officers on Negros.

The only conclusion we can draw, therefore, is that Mr. Mariveles' continued inclusion in the list is either a case of, at best, incompetence or negligence, which simply confirms the derisive description of military intelligence as an oxymoron, or a deliberate targeting of a journalist the military considers a nuisance or, worse, an "enemy of the state."

Given the continued threats against Press Freedom from this administration since even before Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared her short-lived state of national emergency and the growing list of activists murdered in the country, we worry that, unless rectified immediately, the inclusion of Mr. Mariveles in the list constitutes a continuing clear and present danger to his life and to his unhampered practice of our profession.

We also wish to point out that, aside from Mr. Mariveles, there are also other legal personalities included in the list. While they may not be part of the media community, we do worry about the implication of their continued inclusion in the list for civil liberties and the rule of law. (NUJP)