crackdown

In a list forwarded to the Department of Justice yesterday, about 59 leftists and renegade soldiers have been tagged by the PNP for arrest on charges of rebellion and insurrection. Since these crimes are defined as "continuing crimes", these people can be arrested at any time without warrants.
(More here.)

Four leftist lawmakers have already been placed under house arrest at the House of Representatives, as charges and warrants for their arrest and detention are being prepared.
(More here.)

Three words:

It's. About. Time.

***

What's the big deal about Proclamation 1017? Everyone is talking about it, everyone has an opinion of it. "It's martial law", one would say. "A clampdown on our rights", says another. Still another person says that "it's Arroyo's last attempt to hold on to power".

I beg to differ. Proclamation 1017, or the declaration of a national state of emergency, is simply that: a declaration of a state of emergency. Despite the Marcosian overtones (remember PD1081?), it is not a declaration of martial law; it does not give the president any additional powers nor does it place the country under authoritarian rule. It simply states that the president believes that there is a national emergency, in this case an attempted coup d'etat, and that she is calling out the AFP to deal with the threat, which is well within her powers as commander-in-chief.

Three words:
That's. About. It.