This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 4, March 14, 2006
Media Group Cries Foul Over Red-Tag BY BULATLAT Kodao Productions, producers of the
multi-awarded radio show “Ngayon Na, Bayan!” cried foul over accusations of
Philippine National Police (PNP) witness Jaime B. Fuentes that it is a
“propaganda arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).” Fuentes was presented by the PNP as witness
at the Preliminary Investigation of the Batasan 5. In his sworn affidavit, he
said he was a former member of the CPP who was privy to certain meetings between
leaders of legal organizations and underground personalities who planned a
campaign to overthrow the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Fuentes said he became a member of Kodao
Productions in 1987. However, Ron Papag of Kodao said their group
was formed only in 2001. “We challenge Fuentes and his handlers to prove that he
was ever part of Kodao’s team. He only deserves to be in the company of liars
and thieves,” he said at a press conference in Newsdesk, Quezon City. Fuentes’ accusation came after “Ngayon Na,
Bayan!” was cut off the air on Feb. 24, the same day the Presidential
Proclamation 1017 placing the country under a state of national emergency was
issued. Papag said their radio show was the first casualty of media repression
since the said declaration. Jose Torres of the National Union of
Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned the closing down of Ngayon Na,
Bayan! and the red tagging of Kodao Productions as another attack on media
saying these were intended to drive a “chilling effect” on the media industry as
a whole. Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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Posted 7:10 p.m. Mar 14, 2006