Senator Leila de Lima (left) and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER FILES
Senator Leila De Lima criticized Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday for saying President Rodrigo Duterte could have sent the military to padlock Rappler if he really wanted to.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, Roque was asked if the closure of Rappler by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was linked to Duterte 聽聽聽聽 complaining of certain media agencies and threatening them.
Roque responded: 鈥淚f the President wanted to do that, he could have just sent the Armed Forces to their offices and padlocked them, which has been done by other regimes.鈥�
He stressed that 鈥淭he President has never done that.鈥�
In a statement, De Lima said, 鈥�(Roque) should not 鈥� be too overly boastful about his boss鈥檚 ability to use the AFP for dirty jobs, because when the time comes, the military is also not bound to be so kind to soft-bellied opportunists who treat the AFP as if it was their very own personal attack dog, especially when his only experience in battle is out screaming opposing counsels.鈥�
She said Roque鈥檚 鈥渢ongue-in-cheek鈥� statement was 鈥渁 veiled threat鈥� that Malaca帽ang would have 鈥渘o second thoughts on its draconian methods against dissent and free press.鈥�
鈥淩oque has no qualms comparing his government to that of the Marcos dictatorship, the only regime that used the military to shut down newspapers,鈥� she added.
鈥淩oque should be grateful that when the mob that storms Malaca帽ang comes, the people won鈥檛 grind him for dog food, although they are capable of it, like they were capable of it when they drove the last demagogues out of Malaca帽ang,鈥� she said.
In a 29-page decision dated Jan. 11 and released last Monday, the SEC revoked Rappler鈥檚 license to operate, after it 鈥�(violated) the constitutional and statutory Foreign Equity Restrictions in Mass Media enforceable through rules and laws within the mandate of the Commission.鈥�
During his State of the Nation Address last year, Duterte threatened to have Rappler鈥檚 ownership investigated apparently after reports that it was controlled by foreigners in violation of the Constitutional requirement that local media outfits should be 100 percent Filipino owned. /cbb
搁贰础顿:听Rappler vows to continue bringing news: 鈥榃e will hold the line鈥�