- Title: PHILIPPINES: PRESIDENT ESTRADA PLEDGES NOT TO STIFLE PRESS FREEDOM.
- Date: 26th July 1999
- Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (JULY 26, 1999) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV: WIDE INTERIOR CONGRESS 0.06 2. GV/SV: PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA WALKING TO PODIUM/ CONGRESS (2 SHOTS) 0.20 3. MV: (SOUNDBITE)(English) ESTRADA: "As President, I will always uphold freedom in all its various forms, including freedom of speech, of the press, of worship, assembly and of choice" 0.40 4. MV: (SOUNDBITE)(English) ESTRADA: "Let all doubt be erased. Democracy, freedom and the constitution are alive and well in this country". 0.53 5. MV: (SOUNDBITE)(English) ESTRADA: "Although I am blessed with many friends I have no cronies. There are no secret deals with the Marcos'". 1.15 6. MCU: PROTESTERS WEARING ESTRADA AND IMELDA MARCOS MASKS 1.25 7. MCU: POSTER OF IMELDA HUGGING ESTRADA 1.29 8. GV: WIDE OF PROTESTERS OUTSIDE CONGRESS 1.34 9. CU: PROTESTERS WITH THEIR BACKS TO CAMERA, WEARING UNDERWEAR WITH WRITING SAYING "ERAP (ESTRADA'S NICKNAME) ALL GIMMICK"/ PROTESTERS CHANTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT SLOGANS 1.40 10. GV/MV/SV: POLICE CLASHING WITH PROTESTERS (7 SHOTS) 2.36 11. SV: MORE OF PROTESTERS OUTSIDE CONGRESS 2.42 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th August 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- Country: Philippines
- Reuters ID: LVA3H4AORH8WXELI5VU4Y53DHN58
- Story Text: Philippine President Joseph Estrada, seeking to calm
fears of crackdown on media, has pledged not to stifle press
freedom in his state of the nation address before a joint
session of Congress.
As he spoke, thousands of demonstrators protesting to
denounce his rule clashed with riot police.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada pledged to the
nation on Monday (July 26) he would not stifle press freedom
despite media attacks on his administration, as thousands of
demonstrators held protests to denounce his rule.
"I will always uphold freedom in all its various forms,
including freedom of speech, of the press, of worship,
assembly and of choice", Estrada said in his state of the
nation address before a joint session of Congress.
As he spoke, troops and several fire trucks blocked the
main body of protesters, numbering in the thousands, about a
kilometre (half a mile) away as they tried to march on the
legislature.
The demonstrators were protesting Estrada's alleged
clampdown on media, rising prices and an agreement between
Manila and Washington clearing the way for the resumption of
joint military exercises.
Estrada has come under attack for alleged attempts to
curtail press freedom after the Manila Times, a newspaper he
had sued for libel, closed last week.
Some of his critics have compared him to late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, who abolished press freedom after declaring
martial law in 1972.Marcos was ousted in a popular revolt in
1986.
"Let all doubt be erased.Democracy, freedom and the
constitution are alive and well in this country", he told the
Congress, triggering an ovation.
Outside, police used clubs to break up a protest by about
100 slum dwellers demanding land from the government.Some of
the protesters were wounded in the scuffle but the injuries
appeared to be minor, witnesses said.
Estrada earlier this year sued the Manila Times for libel
over a story alleging anomalies in government but withdrew the
charges after the owners apologised.
The newspaper's closure came after several state firms
cancelled advertisements in another hard-hitting daily, the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, which has also been sharply
critical of Estrada, a former film actor.
Estrada, in a televised statement on Monday, denied he was
cracking down on the media but slammed the Inquirer, which
frequently publishes stories about alleged official misdeeds.
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