The immediate test for the ruling junta’s commitment to democracy is not its promise to deliver power to handpicked civilians or to conduct elections soon. These promises are meaningless unless press freedom is respected. We can eternally calibrate the fine balance between democracy versus accountability, but there are no two ways about respecting civil liberties.
I found it amusing that the immediate reaction of Malacañang and of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was to disavow publicly any possibility of “copycat coups.” These denials do not amount to anything much -- if a coup will happen, it will happen -- but they have to be made, lest we all try to divine various meanings from their “sounds of silence.”
The Thai media regulations and the loud Philippine denials of “copycat coups” both show the power of a free press, and why, whether in Bangkok after the coup or in Manila after Proclamation 1017, muzzling the press was first on the agenda.
- An open letter from Rina Jimenez David to "Nicole."
IF Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier had thought that by depicting the Filipina complainant in the Subic rape case as a “professional” rather than an innocent victim he had succeeded in destroying her credibility, then he has another think coming.
In the first place, it is immaterial whether Nicole is, in street lingo, a “working girl” or just a tourist caught in a risky situation. If she did not consent to sex, or was too inebriated to have given her consent, then it was rape pure and simple. It matters not whether she had previous sexual experience, or even a genital infection, as a defense lawyer sneakily insinuated in his line of questioning.
Exactly. Read the whole thing.
- Neal Cruz: More Opposition mayors being targetted for suspension by Malacanang?
- Ellen Tordesillas has lots of interesting stuff today. go check her out.
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