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First Posted on Inside Mindanao (www.insidemindanao.com) on December 6, 2009

Media groups say no to martial law in Maguindanao
By Gabrielle Icban

The November 23 Movement, a coalition of media organizations, has condemned the latest proclamation of President Gloria M. Arroyo declaring martial law in the province of Maguindanao.

In a statement, the November 23 Movement said, "We absolutely oppose the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao and, prospectively, anywhere else in the country."

The media coalition said, "History offers clear, powerful, and painful enough lessons in the deceptive promises of martial law: It has been used for repression, instead of justice."

"We believe that, with the severe restrictions on freedoms it imposes, on the one hand, and the wide latitude of police, military, and official powers it allows, on the other, martial law will only compound the troubles it has been precisely intended to deal with," the media coalition added.

Last Dec. 4, President Arroyo signed Proclamation 1959, proclaiming martial law and suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the province of Maguindanao.

In Proclamation 1959, the President reasoned that "the condition of peace and order in the province of Maguindanao has deteriorated to the extent that local judicial system and other government mechanisms in the province are not functioning; thus, endangering public safety."

Under Proclamation 1959, areas in Maguindanao "referred to in the implementing operational guidelines of the GRP–MILF agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities" are exempted from the martial law declaration.

President Arroyo's martial law declaration in Maguindanao came days after the gruesome killings of 57 innocent civilians, including 30 journalists, in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao last November 23.

The November 23 Movement said that "normal powers exercised by a decisive, strong–willed, and well–intentioned leadership are enough to bring the perpetrators of the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, to justice."

The November 23 Movement calls for accountability and swift justice to the slain journalists and other victims of the Ampatuan Massacre.

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