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Pimentel to keep media out of courtoom till case promulgation

Journalists will be banned from covering the trial of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and 25 other Magdalo soldiers on mutiny charges inside the sala of Makati Judge Oscar Pimentel until the case has been promulgated.

Capt. Carlo Ferrer, public information officer of the Armed Forces’ National Capital Command, relayed Pimentel’s directive to journalists gathered at the corridor of the 14th floor of the Makati courthouse to cover the resumption of the trial this morning. He said the case may be promulgated before the end of December.

Ferrer, who has allowed journalists to move a few meters closer to Pimentel’s sala, would not say how many soldiers have been fielded to secure today’s proceedings. Two armored personnel carriers have been stationed at the Makati City Hall premises.


“We have enough to counter the threat,” he said, saying the threat may come from supporters and sympathizers of Trillanes’ group.

He said military and police personnel were carrying arnis, which he described as a “nonlethal control weapon.”

Inquirer editorial: Violent irony

Published inMilitary

24 Comments

  1. The NPC, etc. should protest against this restriction. Or they should designate a room where the media can listen directly to the proceedings if that is how much the judge there fears the press. Sobra namang primitive.

  2. Things will get worst before we see any improvements (might be a long wait) but these people are prepared for anything. Let GMA enjoy her seemingly limitless powers for now, probably feeling like a goddess surrounded by a reverse harem (men instead of women) of the likes of Esperon, Barias, Puno, and some other girlie men…

  3. Ellen,

    The non-coverage is a bit irregular, isn’t it? Journalists don’t have to bring cameras but surely, they can take down notes and write their stories.

    How sure are we that the proceedings will be held aboveboard? There are no witnesses except government men — no way you can trust them today!

  4. Yuko,

    I put up a post in my blog of the human rights demo in Tokyo.

  5. chi chi

    Ay sus, does Pimentel really entertain the thought that all the media people are Trillanes’ supporters that they have “enough soldiers to counter the threat”?

    Even the civilian supporters of the young Senator and Magdalos pose no threat to anyone. OA sa takot ang mga tao ni gluerilla, ang dami kasing kasalanan sa kapinuyan.

    Yup, Yuko was right. The media organization should demand that a room should be assigned to them where they can hear the proceedings. Sabagay ay mahirap mangyari na pagbigyan sila e papano na lang ang “pag-drawing” nila ng mga kabalbalan, di mabibisto sila ng media. Kaya nga Pimentel is keeping media out of the scene ay para magawa nila ang gusto nilang mangyari sa kaso ng Magdalo. Fabrication baga!

  6. rose rose

    Grabe! malaki talaga ang takot nila…without the news coverage they can do anything they want..sky is the limit..How long Oh God?..You are the only hope.

  7. Spartan Spartan

    Well, it’s really kind of odd…duon nga sa Camp Capinpin na Military Tribunal ang ginaganap me mga reporters ng radyo, telebisyon, at pahayagan ang pinapayagan na mag-cover, bakit itong sa Makati na isang civilian court hindi papayagan yung mga media? Only in the Philippinines? Nope, in Afghanistan during the Taliban’s regime…yup, that’t what this government under the gloria regime wants to do now. Gising na mga kababayan!!!

  8. Spartan Spartan

    Side topic…last night I’ve watched on TFC “Alay ni Da King”…which is a short (take note for me it’s still short) complilation of Fernando Poe Jr.’s life and times, which centered primarily on his achievements as an artist in the Philippine cinema. Can’t help but think the what IF factor again, and the luck gloria have in keeping her stolen throne of power. What IF Da King did not had a heart attack and subsequently died on December 14, 2004, would the current political landscape that we have today will be the same?

  9. piping dilat piping dilat

    Spartan,

    I think it would have been better than what we have right now… at least FPJ is more honest than GMA… for example, Armida Siguion Reyna once mentioned that FPJ returned to her a substantial portion ( one or two million pesos ) of the unused fund that she donated to his campaign…

    And besides, those who will do anything and fight tooth and nail to get that presidential position, ought not to be trusted in that position…

    But what tickles my mind is Panfilo Lacson… had he accepted to slide down to VP position, there is no way that GMA can cheat the 2004 election even with Garci’s magic… since it will be FPJ/Lacson that will win the day… I think…

    If it is really by fate that FPJ will die of stroke… then Lacson would have been president! Siguro, nanghinayang si Lacson, dyan…

    And the interesting thing was that yung isang pang Lacson, si Artemio Lacson in the ’50s was offered by Ramon Magsaysay to run as his VP… Lacson also refused, stating that the VP position is just a “spare” tire… had he accepted, he would have been president in 1953 when Magsaysay died in that airplane accident….

    Mukhang walang swerte ang mga Lacson, ah…

  10. balweg balweg

    Unfair court practices?

    Isang batalyong kabiskatz ni Barrias con Razon ang todo bantay sa Makati ngayon.

    Overkill talaga kasi ang takot lang ni GMA baka ang reinforcement ng Ellenville eh umatake doon at itakas uli si AT4 and co. SMILE naman, joke only!

    Pwede rin di ba!

  11. nelbar nelbar

    Worse case scenario tayo noong April 2004.

    Kung bumaba si FPJ noong nasabing buwan bilang kandidato ng pagka-VP, malamang Lacson na ang Presidente.
    May mga asungot lang kasi na nagsulsol kay FPJ na ituloy ang laban, samantalang limitado talaga ang kakayahan nito.
    Hindi ko nga binoto noon na Bise si Ping dahil sinabi nya na kapag hindi sya nakakuha ng 2M na vote, mag-re-resign sya.
    Kaya nakikinita ko na magsasama talaga ang Mataas at Mababang Kapulungan ng Kongreso.

    Sure ako na itong PIRMA noong 1997 eh maisakakatuparan ng 2005-2006. Hindi ba’t may fiesta pa ng San Juan sa loob mismo ng isang hotel dyan sa Makati? Paki tanong nyo si Vic Agustin.

    Matatandaan nyo noong nakaraang taon binagyo ang Bikol,diba?
    Imbes na asikasuhin ng mga Solon na taga Bikol ang problema ng mga sinalanta ay chacha pa ang inatupag.

    Hindi nakakapagtaka kung bakit nagkakanda-malas malas ang Pilipinas.

    At isapa, kung hindi masama ang loob noon ni FPJ malamang hindi iyon iinom ng beer bago sya nadedo.

    Malamang isa sana sya sa TOYM awardee para sa disaster management.

  12. balweg balweg

    Dapat bigyan din ng lesson ng lahat ng media outlets ang GMA gov’t kasi unfair sila sa mga Pinoy na ang adhikain lang eh ang pagbabago ng Bayan.

  13. balweg balweg

    Pag kumontra ka kay GMA, ang panakot Munti.

    Pag nagmartsa at ipahayag mo ang iyong damdamin, ipahuhuli ka sa mga kabiskawtz at pakakasuhan ka naman ng Rebellion.

    Yan si Tita Glo!

  14. Spartan Spartan

    P. Didy(piping dilat) pasensya na kung medyo hinip-hop ko ng kaunti ang tawag ko sa iyo…hehehe but I just can’t agree on you more, my cousin who was with FPJ’s group in Cebu during his campaign sorties there witnessed first hand how Da King asked his campaign coordinators there to return from an unknown contributor the money which was a checque in the amount of 200K pesos, intended as a donation for his campaign fund for that sorty. The problem was that the contributor to Da King’s war chest is a known Drug King from that Visayan City. This is fact and not hearsay, proof of FPJ’s straightforward attitude. I guess if it was Fatso the Kingpin, he would have surely gotten the money and with a contempt voice would have said..”Bakit ito lang?” 😀

  15. Spartan Spartan

    nelbar, with regards to FPJ running for the highest post of the country, even me was not completely sold out, not because he has no winning chance on a really clean, fair, and honest election, because believe me my friend the amount of votes he got could really overwhelmed even the 1 Million dagdag-bawas that the woman’s voice talking to Garci was really forcefully being mentioned, plus the votes that Ping Lacson was able to chip away, if it was not for Mr. Noted kiko pangelinan’s important role. That of letting the final canvassing be stolen right in the middle of the night. You, FPJ was cheated before the election, with this citizenship issue, he was cheated during the actual election with massive vote buying, intimidations by eggsperons men in Mindanao, and on th final canvassing when scream of protests about the cheatings from his supporters that fell to the deaf ears of and drowned by the hammering of the gavel of senator noted. But because I know he can not handle the dirt of Philippine politics.

  16. alitaptap alitaptap

    When press freedom is muzzled, other freedoms in a democracy now taken for granted will soon disappear. There is a silver lining, nevertheless. gooria will be the unwitting instrument that will galanize the people to rise and protect their freedoms.

  17. jewel jewel

    about FPJ…I’ve watched the tv special and highlight nun yung compilation na gawa ni FPJ…Spartan don’t you think may mga hidden messages dun sa mga napiling scenes ni FPJ(yung may mga dialogues) para kasing in a way panggising yung mga linya satin eh…cguro wishful thinking din on my part though I’m not really pro FPJ when he run for president but at least this man was honest compared to GMA

  18. chi chi

    alitaptap,

    heard you loud and clear…”gooria will be the unwitting instrument that will galvanize the people to rise and protect their freedoms.”

  19. J. Cruz J. Cruz

    What’s in a name? Is it gloria or GORILLA? Or a combination of both as in Glorilla?

    Somebody in the media should probably seek the US Lady Ambassador out for her thoughts…. Are they monitoring the situation?

    Should we collectively succumb to this temporary curtailment in preparation for a more permanent solution — martial law probably?

  20. mami_noodles mami_noodles

    Balita sa Inquirer: Pork barrel ni Sen. Trillanes, hindi na ibibigay ng DBM…

    So, kelangan bang maging sipsip ka kay Gloria Mandaraya para makakuha ka ng pork barrel?

  21. dandaw dandaw

    12/11/07
    J. Cruz
    Nothing can deter Gonorrhea/Gloria from all the crime she has committed from committing some more. If she is capable of making 850 people disappear, she is the most corrupt president in the Philippines. She reached the buttom line. How can the Filipinos take it anymore.

  22. Gago rin ang mga bantay ng Magdalo, ano? Arnis, at ipinagmalaki pa. Hindi lang si Trillanes ang Nagtatanggol sa katotohanan. Nandiyan pa rin ang media. Kung si Trillanes, naibalik nila sa kulungan, ang media tuloy pa ring bumabanat. Sila na nga ngayon ang kalaban ng mga demonyo at impaktitang abusado.

    The pen will always be mightier than the sword. Walang panama iyang arnis. Ang dapat nilang armas, eraser at busal!

  23. Spartan Spartan

    jewel..about the dialogues included in the compilation, well I guess for people with deep sentiments on the present state of our nation, yes it could be interpreted that way that there are hidden messages of a call for the masses’ awakening. But with the present hardship in life that majority of the Filipinos are experiencing now, I doubt that such call would be heard.

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