One, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has withdrawn the proclamation only nominally; the suppressive spirit behind it remains. The trick is not unlike the paper lifting of martial law (1081 in this case) in 1981: Ferdinand Marcos went on ruling as a dictator for another five years and would have gone on doing so if he had not been deposed by People Power.

Two, 1017 has been meant not really as a warning to the nation of some great danger from rebellious forces (if there was any serious rebellion, especially involving soldiers, such as made to appear, surely it would be in the interest of the government to downplay the idea, lest the general opposition be emboldened or otherwise inspired); 1017 has been meant, rather, as a strategic assertion of presidential power, which has its own dangers.

Three, while its immediate target may have really been certain disaffected and restive, if not yet rebellious, soldiers, 1017 also has been intended to set the stage for a campaign of intimidation against the news media — a campaign that will put, in the catch phrase of the times, a “chilling effect” in journalists’ spines. If the news media have been in fact the chief target, that is no surprise; it falls into a pattern.

At every chance, Arroyo has expressed her contempt for certain newspapers and broadcast networks, even stonewalling them off sometimes. And for what offense? Reporting bad news — bad news, that is, to her. But how can it be helped during a presidency plagued by scandals?

And ever alert to her cue, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, her most aggressive enforcer, has been quick to seize the first suitable occasion to follow up. At the height of an international alarm on terrorism last year, for instance, he warned the media against giving news time or space to rebel sources.

In turn, the National Telecommunications Commission has not failed to remind the networks of its power to revoke broadcast franchises. A quasi-judicial agency, the commission is supposed to answer only to the superior courts but, having been put under the administrative supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communications, it now comes under the President’s shadow.

At any rate, 1017 would seem the perfect final coup: it comes down so hard it will retain its intimidating power even after it has been lifted.

(Vergel O. Santos)