PPP Condemns Mayor’s Security

FREEDOM OF SPEECH? Iloilo City Policemen led by retired police Dionisio Duco, chief security of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, forcibly dragging international photojournalist Joe Haresh Tanodra out of the Judging Area No. 1 in front of the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand during the staging of the Dinagyang Festival last week. They are the center of attraction.

In a press statement, the Press Photographers of the Philippines (PPP) Iloilo Chapter led by its president, A Chris Fernandez made known what are the thinking and feeling of their members regarding the dragging physically of Joe Haresh Tanodra from the Freedom Grandstand, Iloilo City at the height of the Dinagyang Festival. The PPP Iloilo Chapter press statement follows:

The PPP Iloilo Chapter condemns in the strongest term possible the callousness and insen-sitivity of retired Chief Insp. Dionisio Duco, chief security of the Iloilo City Mayor’s Office, and several policemen by physically removing internationally acclaimed photojournalist Joe Haresh Tanodra, also President of PPP Aklan-Boracay chapter, and Ricky Alejo of Pinoy Parazzi from the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand while covering the festivities (Dinagyang).

Even if Mr. Tanodra and Mr. Alejo had failed to secure accreditation from the festival organizers to cover events at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand, this does not justify the harsh treatment they suffered from the hands of Duco and his men, an act that befits only criminals and those who are threats to national security.

The physical removal of Mr. Tanodra from Iloilo Freedom Grandstand was a blatant display of contempt and disrespect to the Fourth Estate which has been an indispensable partner of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation and the Iloilo City Government in promoting Dinagyang and other tourism events in this part of the Philippines.

This sends a wrong signal that the press can be bullied by anyone with power and authority from top guns to the lowly chief security officer like the brute Mr. Duco, that they can be hogtied and thrown out like pigs, or worse, can be slaughtered like the scores of journalists killed in the Philippines since the restoration of democracy in 1986.

While keeping order at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand was a must during the holding of the Dinagyang festival, the role of security personnel is not above the role of the press in covering it. Having an orderly conduct of the Dinagyang may be a welcome sight, but such tourism spectacle can never achieve its ends without the reporters writing about it and without photo-journalists capturing its colors and grandeur.

Dinagyang may be the best tourism event in the Philippines, but if the likes of Mr. Duco are allowed to spoil the spirit of the festivities, then festival organizers – the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation and the Iloilo City Government – there is really nothing to be proud about it.

We therefore call on Mayor Jerry Treñas and Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas to mete necessary disciplinary actions on Mr. Duco and the policemen involved in this unfortunate incident, without prejudice to our right to file appropriate legal actions not only on the harm that Mr. Tanodra has suffered but also on the damages incurred on his camera.

Signed this 25th day of January 2009 in Iloilo City by A. Chris Fernandez, President, PPP Iloilo Chapter.

In another development, the Aklan Press Club, Inc. (APCI) approved on January 31, 2009 a Resolution Condemning The Police Action Done On The Person of Joe Haresh Tanodra During the staging of the Dinagyang Festival, Iloilo City. The resolution also strongly requests PNP Regional Director, Region VI, Isagani Cuevas to investigate the said incident and provide justice to persons concerned.

The members of the APCI feel and believe the police action done to Tanodra was a curtailment of press freedom and the right of movement.
In a resolution, the officers and members of the APCI also request Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas to investigate the said incident. Mr. Tanodra is now considering filing appropriate complaint against Duco and other police officer. /MP