Ka Roger hits media harassment
January 11, 2004

Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal today lambasted the Philippine National Police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for harassing reporters and their crew last January 7, 2003 at Sabangan, Mountain Province.

Rosal decried the high-handed repression of media people�s rights when it stopped a media convoy at a checkpoint along the Halsema Mountain Trail and detained the reporters and other media personnel for several hours at the Sabangan municipal hall.

Rosal said the media personnel were made to wait until CIDG Superintendent Pat Hernandez arrived direct from Manila with a troop of SAF forces to personally investigate the reporters.

"What they did was pure media harassment," said Rosal. �They were pretending to be looking for a �criminal element� but actually they were looking for the CPP spokesperson.�

"Superintendent Hernandez must think that I would be so foolish as to hitch a ride with the media convoy," Rosal said.

Last January 6, a joint media conference of the CPP and the Cordillera People's Democratic Front (CPDF) was held at an NPA camp inside a guerrilla zone in the Cordillera region. Invited to the media conference were Manila-based reporters.

At the media conference, both Rosal and CPDF spokesperson Simeon "Ka Filiw" Naogsan spoke about the views of the revolutionary movement on the elections and other pressing national and local issues.

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553

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Ka Roger hits media harassment January 11, 2004

Ka Roger hits media harassment
January 11, 2004