"We will not be cowed," a Negros media alliance said yesterday as the government again issued a warning that journalists will not be given special treatment in its crackdown against political instability.

The Article 3 Alliance, in a statement issued yesterday, again condemned the reported attempts by the police to search offices of media groups and threats of sedition charges against journalists.

The statement added that whenever beleaguered governments turn to tyranny to cling to power, the first target is always the press, as it believes that control of the free flow of information means control of the truth.

Armed with the lessons of recent history, the Philippine media will no longer be cowed, the alliance said.

It also said it harbors no doubts about the resolve of their colleagues in the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, Kodao, Daily Tribune, Tribune, Inquirer and all other threatened and targeted media outfits and organizations to stand firm against this administration's attempts to clamp down on a free press.

The Article 3 Alliance said it extends its support to these threatened media outlets and calls on colleagues nationwide to remain steadfast in the defense of their rights and liberties against all efforts to force them into silence.

The alliance is composed of the Negros Press Club, Congress of Active Media Practitioners, Correspondents, Broadcasters and Reporters Association-Active News Service and the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines-Negros.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye in statement issued by Malacañang yesterday said "This government has never acted out of whim or caprice, but only under the principle of public necessity and the national welfare. Be that as it may, the courts are fully open to receive challenges to official actions, and to rule on them. The Bill of Rights is in force."

"The press is not a target of censorship but some members of the press have been charged with violations of law and shall be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen," Bunye also said.

He also said that they believe in the freedom of the press but do not believe in special treatment of media practitioners who run afoul of the law.

He said they are urging media to police their ranks and be watchful over interest groups out to abuse the freedom of the press for their own personal gain. The alliance, however, said that "It is all too clear that the Arroyo administration's main target are the media and the people's right to Know, as much as, maybe even more so, than the sundry 'destabilizers' from the Left, Right and all corners of the political spectrum."

"It is no coincidence that applications for a search warrant have been filed and sedition charges are being poised against the PCIJ, even as the NUJP reported receiving a tip Monday evening from colleagues that the Armed Forces of the Philippines was planning to raid its national office in Quezon City," it said.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday said he was also investigating the PCIJ for possible "inciting to sedition" charges.

The alliance also cited the raid on the Daily Tribune and the subsequent filing of sedition charges against publisher Ninez Cacho Olivares and two of the papers' columnists, the deployment of troops to major broadcast networks during the state of emergency, the continued monitoring of media output for "seditious" content, and the threats by the Armed Forces to file charges against the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"The administration's worst threats, far from creating the chilling effect it no doubt intended, have only united the media and strengthened our resolve to resist any and all attempts to prevent us from the free exercise of our profession," the alliance said.

"In Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Philippines, such threats and attempts have become, not brands of shame, but badges of honor", it also said.*CPG

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