http://www.gmanews.tv/story/61387/AFP-task...asilan-coverage

Inquirer reporter banned from Basilan coverage

ISABELA CITY, Basilan – Philippine Marines commandant Major General Ben Dolorfino has confirmed that Zamboanga Inquirer correspondent Julie S. Alipala has been banned by the military from covering its operations in the strife torn island province of Basilan.

The report was received by the Media Safety Office of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and International Federation of Journalists.

The two organizations quoted Dolorfino as saying: "When we were in Basilan, I was informed by (Task Force Thunder) officials there that they were under instruction from [AFP chief] General Hermogenes Esperon Jr that the Inquirer correspondent (Alipala) is banned [from] covering military activities, but I don't believe them."

According to Alipala, another informant confirmed Esperon's order, which was reportedly relayed by Task Force Thunder chief Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban.

Alipala sought to verify it with AFP spokesman Lt. Colonel Bartolome Bacarro but he denied receiving such instruction from Esperon.

Alipala earlier drew the ire of military officials because of her reports on military abuses and lapses in its operations.

Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lieutenant General Eugenio Cedo in fact walked out of a press conference last August 21 after castigating Alipala for reporting on lapses in the August 18 clash in Unkaya Pukan town in Basilan. Fifteen Marines were killed by the bandit group Abu Sayyaf in the incident.

Alipala also received threats after the incident and warned by contacts in the military that she should be careful. - GMANews.TV

When you don't like the message, shoot the messenger! :snipemo:

very disturbing.

why would gen. dolorfino do this?

why hide the truth? :armyeek:

This is a very disturbing idea of selectively banning a reporter. Instead of tackling the lapses which were exposed by the PDI's reporting, high command wants to sweep the problems under the proverbial rug.

What will they do next? Ban GMA for showing on TV the PMC being caught with their pants down in Tipo-tipo? And for showing the dud mortars issued to our poor Marines?

Gen. Dolorfino is not the one who ordered the banning of journalist Alipala but Gen. Sabban. Alipala revealed Gen. Sabban's bumblings that led to the deaths of 5 marines officers and 9 enlisted men in Basilan:

Even assuming that Gen. Dolorfino did not order the banning of the Inquirer reporter, by confirming the fact, he also ratified it. In other words, he did not countermand the order, and therefore is deemed to have upheld it. He is just as responsible for the banning as Gen. Sabban.

gen. sabban outranks gen. dolorfino, how could he countermand it?

My mistake and my apologies. At any rate, here is Julie's side of it:

Its found on this link, as an answer to Joel Guinto (GMA 7 reporter)'s report.
http://joelguinto.wordpress.com/2007/09/05...er/#comment-560

Its Gen. Sabban who should have been relieved.

ang dami kapalpakan ayaw pang ipalabas sa media :headbang:

its very disturbing, i don't like this, the marines should be the last to harass women, an officer is supposed to be a gentleman - if gen. sabban cannot take criticisms then he should resign, especially that the fiasco of the marines in basilan is attributed to him.

http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/alertsdetail.php?No=760

A freelance journalist told CMFR that she has been threatened and banned from military camps by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, apparently for writing stories on the armed conflict in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. The military has denied her allegations.

Julie Alipala, who files stories for the "Philippine Daily Inquirer", online magazine

"Newsbreak" and TV network IBC-13, said that junior officers of the military in Mindanao have advised her to be careful in her stories because they overheard their superiors as saying "How could we silence her (Alipala)? She is such a pain. . ."

Alipala has written stories about the conflict between the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Mindanao and the Abu Sayyaf group and Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The conflict in Min

I don't understand you people ! this is supposed to be a military forum - you should praise the AFP instead of criticizing!

Or you are just masquerading as promilitary but actually are leftists and terrorist sympathizers! :headbang:

Ascend,


We criticize the AFP because we are not blind to its many faults. We are not leftists or terrorits sympathizers. The AFP should be subservient to the ideals of this Republic not the other way around.

Unless the PDI has been reporting lies, falsehoods, enemy propaganda or classified information that can be used by the enemies of the state, its reporters have the right to report what is happening inside the country especially if they are not so flattering to our government particularly to our AFP.

What if the AFP were to ban GMA-TV because their TV footage was embarrasing to the AFP for showing how our marines were issued dud mortars? Will you back it up too?

What an idiotic post!

We are not military groupies here. If you care to browse through the other threads, you will find that many PDFFers praise the deserving but equally criticize what needs to be criticized.

STFU you m---n!

Ascendancy,
While we respect your right to say that, please be informed that we in turn accord the AFP the respect it deserves. As an Air Force brat myself, I would hate to have the institution wallow in the mire of corruption and human rights violations. So here, we make full use of the Constitutional guarantee of the freedoms of speech, expression, of the press and the right to petition for redress of grievances to address the AFP's flaws so that it can better serve the people.

Ignore the troll, he is just probably the spoiled son of a corrupt and incompetent general.

----
from the rest of the article posted by didu:

are we back to the bad old days of martial law eh, Gen. Esperon and Gen. Sabban?

Marines won't reveal results of investigation on ambush, bakit? are they ashamed or hiding something incriminatory?

AFP URGED TO REVEAL PROBE RESULTS ON MARINES' AMBUSH IN BASILAN

MANILA, OCTOBER 11, 2007 (STAR) By Jess Diaz - The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was urged yesterday to reveal the result of its investigation into the July 10 ambush of a convoy of Marines by Muslim separatists in Albarka town in Basilan.

Rep. Mujiv Hataman of the party-list group Anak Mindanao made the appeal in reaction to the statement of Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino that the military would keep the results of its investigation secret.

According to Dolorfino, their inquiry is covered by Administrative Order 197, which President Arroyo issued two weeks ago to keep certain military matters from the public.

Dolorfino added that there were some lapses on the part of the military that was discovered during the initial investigation. He did not elaborate.

Hataman, who comes from Basilan, said his constituents in the province and in other parts of Mindanao have the right to know what happened on July 10 and subsequent incidents related to the ambush.

“This incident was the basis of the all-out war the military launched in Mindanao, which caused the death of more than 100 people, including our gallant and young soldiers, the displacement of thousands of innocent civilians, the closure of schools in affected communities, and the loss of livelihood,” he said.

“Because of the sufferings the war has brought upon the people, the military owes it to them to tell them the truth, especially in the wake of speculations that some officials were responsible either by direct acts or omissions,” he added.

“If there is one thing causing unrest and instability in our country, it is this administration’s lack of transparency and accountability on issues such as the July 10 carnage,” he stressed.

Fourteen Marines were killed in that ambush, which the separatist Moro Islamic Liberal Front staged. The bodies of 10 of the soldiers were mutilated.

Several more Marines, including three young officers, died in a subsequent incident.

According to reports, armed loyalists of Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar joined the July 10 ambush of Marines who were searching for kidnapped Italian priest Fr. Giancarlo Bossi, who was later released.

Akbar, however, denied that his men participated in the ambush. He named four members of the Abu Sayyaf as among those involved.

Hataman said the President should consider scrapping AO 197 since “it is being abused like executive privilege to hide the truth from the people.”

ascendancy...ang PDFF ay hindi FANS' CLUB ng militar...hindi rin ito istasyon ng CPPNDF-NPA...tignan mo...natawag ka pang TROLL...question lang...WHY was juancho sabban RELIEVED as CO of 3rd MBDE and given WESMINCOM as deputy cdr?...boing ecarma -- after serving as CS of PMC -- became 3rd MBDE CO...then 1st MBDE gets rusty guerrero...may konek ba?...and some people -- whose only link to the AFP is having been related to some official -- have been saying boing ecarma WAS NOT A GOOD CHIEF OF STAFF?...hehehehe...so why was he given 3rd MBDE aber?...hehehehehe...magaling si boing at si rusty...DIMALUPIG ang mga 'yan eh hehehehehe... :banana:

quoting my great late Physics professor:

"we should praise what is praiseable and criticize what is criticizeable"

he said this when the class deviated from a thoroughly difficult lesson on linear physics and debated on the merits of the then Cory Aquino administration.

Somebody with more information, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is one of those instances that would fall under military secrets. An open investigation may inadvertently reveal operations, strategy or the identity of key personnel with security implications.

With due respect, Ma'm maldita. I think Sir Ascendancy falls under a gray area. But remember what he said? Something like 'posts imperil national security'. I've been privy to PNP intel operations. It took me 3 harrowing nights to browse through every post and thread. And he was right! There were some. One came from me but the others came from three other people. The one that came from me was the 'extra-marital fling of George Bush with Condoleeza Rice which strained his relations with Laura Bush'.

Kong puro na lang YES tayo dito so ano na ang maging tawag sa Forum? Yes, Forum? I think the exchanges of ideas, healthy or otherwise make this discussions more interesting. For me I don't want to hear lway the positive side of the coin, I still want to hear what other's want to say whethet I like it or not. Para naman tayong mag bata nyan if we ganged up on someone who disagree. peace... :specool:

hey gagamba, that morön called us leftist and terrorist sympathizers so its only right to gang him up. :nono: