MALOLOS CITY—Media groups comprising the newly formed The November 23 Movement opposed the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao and anywhere else in the country.
“We absolutely oppose the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao and, prospectively, anywhere else in the country,” the one page statement of the group which was formed after the massacre of 57 civilians including 30 journalists in Maguindano last November 23.
“We believe that, with the severe restrictions on freedoms it imposes, on the one hand, and the wide latitude of police, military, and official powers it allows, on the other, martial law will only compound the troubles it has been precisely intended to deal with,” the group further said.
They also expressed belief that “normal powers exercised by a decisive, strong-willed, and well-intentioned leadership are enough to bring the perpetrators of the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, to justice.”
The statement further read, “History offers clear, powerful, and painful enough lessons in the deceptive promises of martial law: It has been used for repression, instead of justice.”
Signatories in the statement of The November 23 Movement are leading media groups in the country and national daily publications which are members of the newly formed group.
The members of The November 23 Movement are the Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project (PHRRP), Philippine Press Institute (PPI), Business World, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pinoy Weekly, Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the VERA Files, College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), and Davao Today.
The November 23 Movement was formed after a meeting on November 28 when they also issued a statement entitled, “A Challenge of Conscience” that opened with the following paragraph, “The brutal, indiscriminate mass murder on Monday in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao province, raises the ultimate challenge of conscience. It carries the culture of impunity at work in this country to such levels of horror that, if it remains unpunished for long, can send the nation into an inexorable descent into absolute dehumanization.”
In the same statement, the November 23 Movement demanded the following: 1. Creation of a commission outside the government to investigate the crime; 2. The arrest and prosecution of all the people involved in it in any way, as murderers themselves or their protectors;
3. The formation of a special court to try the case; 4. Fully guaranteed protection for the witnesses; 5. The disarming and dismantling of all private armies, such as those evidently employed in the massacre; 6. The enlistment of persons of unquestioned probity in the whole process; 7. The resignation of the government if it fails to deliver such basic satisfaction – indeed, the very same government that has encouraged by partisanship and conspiracy the culture of impunity of which the massacre has been the most abominable manifestation.
“We absolutely oppose the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao and, prospectively, anywhere else in the country,” the one page statement of the group which was formed after the massacre of 57 civilians including 30 journalists in Maguindano last November 23.
“We believe that, with the severe restrictions on freedoms it imposes, on the one hand, and the wide latitude of police, military, and official powers it allows, on the other, martial law will only compound the troubles it has been precisely intended to deal with,” the group further said.
They also expressed belief that “normal powers exercised by a decisive, strong-willed, and well-intentioned leadership are enough to bring the perpetrators of the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, to justice.”
The statement further read, “History offers clear, powerful, and painful enough lessons in the deceptive promises of martial law: It has been used for repression, instead of justice.”
Signatories in the statement of The November 23 Movement are leading media groups in the country and national daily publications which are members of the newly formed group.
The members of The November 23 Movement are the Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project (PHRRP), Philippine Press Institute (PPI), Business World, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pinoy Weekly, Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the VERA Files, College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), and Davao Today.
The November 23 Movement was formed after a meeting on November 28 when they also issued a statement entitled, “A Challenge of Conscience” that opened with the following paragraph, “The brutal, indiscriminate mass murder on Monday in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao province, raises the ultimate challenge of conscience. It carries the culture of impunity at work in this country to such levels of horror that, if it remains unpunished for long, can send the nation into an inexorable descent into absolute dehumanization.”
In the same statement, the November 23 Movement demanded the following: 1. Creation of a commission outside the government to investigate the crime; 2. The arrest and prosecution of all the people involved in it in any way, as murderers themselves or their protectors;
3. The formation of a special court to try the case; 4. Fully guaranteed protection for the witnesses; 5. The disarming and dismantling of all private armies, such as those evidently employed in the massacre; 6. The enlistment of persons of unquestioned probity in the whole process; 7. The resignation of the government if it fails to deliver such basic satisfaction – indeed, the very same government that has encouraged by partisanship and conspiracy the culture of impunity of which the massacre has been the most abominable manifestation.
