PNP pinagpapaliwanag ng NUJP sa pag-aresto sa ex-NPC president

“The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines strongly condemns the arrest by the Manila Police District of former National Press Club president Jerry Yap on Sunday as soon as he arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Japan,” ayon sa kalatas na ipinadala ng NUJP sa Bandera Miyerkules ng gabi.

Inaresto si Yap ng mga kagawad ng Manila Police District ala-1 ng hapon sa Terminal 3 ng NAIA dahil sa kasong libel na isinampa laban sa kanya ng opisyal ng MPD.

“Regardless of the merits or lack thereof of the charges against Yap, his arrest not only violated a long-standing agreement between the Philippine National Police and major media groups to inform the organizations first before arresting a journalist, particularly one accused of libel.”That the arrest was carried out on a weekend was clearly meant to, at least temporarily, deprive Yap of the basic rights accorded arrested suspects, particularly the right to bail.”

“And doing so just as he arrived in the country from a vacation, a fact that alone proves he is not a flight risk, indicates a strong desire to, at the very least, publicly humiliate him, which is not farfetched given that Yap appears to have offended no less than the MPD’s intelligence chief,” dagdag pa ng NUJP.

Dahil dito, hiniling ng NUJP, sa pangunguna ng chairperson nito na si Rowena Paraan, sa pamunuan ng Philippine National Police na pagpaliwanagin nito ang hepe ng MPD na si  Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana, hinggil sa aksyon ng kanyang mga tauhan.

Hiling din ng grupo sa PNP na magsagawa ng imbestigasyon hinggil sa ginawang paglabag ng mga tauhan ng MPD sa matagal na kasunduan na ipinatutupad sa pagitan ng Pambansang Pulisya at grupo ng mga media gaya ng NUJP, NPC, Philippine Press Institute at Kapisan ng mga Broadcaster sa Pilipinas.

Batay sa MOA, wala dapat pag-arestong gagawin sa hanay ng media na nahaharap sa kasong libel tuwing weekend at holiday.