MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 11, 2012) – Philippine police detained a journalist and harassed other members of the media while covering Wednesday a violent demolition that left dozens of people wounded in San Juan City.
The media watchdog National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reported that journalist Shane David was arrested at around noontime along with 12 residents of an urban poor community in the village of Corazon de Jesus.
The NUJP said Lady Ann Salem, executive director of production outfit Tudla, claimed police also harassed David and other members of their outfit.
“A police officer surnamed Abella tried to block my away. When I insisted on shooting, he tried to grab my camera even after I showed my ID,” she said.
Policemen mobbed David when she stopped awhile to cover her face after authorities released tear gas, Salem added.
David tried to assert her right as a journalist covering the demolition, telling the policemen: “Bakit hinuhuli niyo ako, nagko-cover lang ako? Wala akong ginagawang masama (Why are you arresting me when I’m only covering? I’m not doing anything wrong).”
But policemen pulled her to a patrol car and took her to a precinct, to which David’s colleagues from alternative media outfits like Pinoy Weekly and Bulatlat went to negotiate for her release. Even though police insisted, “Hindi, hindi ito illegal detention (No, this is not illegal detention),” they refused to release her immediately.
David was only freed at around 1 p.m. It was not the first time San Juan police have harassed members of the alternative press. On January 25, 2011, Godson Escopete, also of Tudla, was arrested along with a broadcaster for community radio station Radyo Pinaglabanan while taking a video of a demolition in the same village, according to NUJP.
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