PAMALAKAYA slams quo warranto petition vs ABS-CBN as tool for “top-level” tyranny
Manila, Philippines – The militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) on Tuesday assailed the quo warranto petition against the media giant ABS-CBN, which the group said is a tool for “top-level” tyranny of the Duterte regime, as well as a threat to the tenure of thousands of workers employed in the media company.
“We stand with the ABS-CBN on its fight against this evident state repression. It has been a modus operandi of Duterte administration to persecute those who resist to be allied with him and remain critical of his anti-people and undemocratic policies. Moreover, we are with its workers who stand to lose their jobs have the franchise of the company not renewed,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson said in a statement.
The fisherfolk leader also said that the “history has been repeating itself when the late-dictator Ferdinand Marcos also shut down the same media company during the latter’s dictatorial rule.” The late Eugenio Genny “Kapitan” Lopez Jr. was imprisoned by the dictator Marcos to take control of the media outfit. Lopez even went on hunger strike against the persecution of Marcos critics and activists.
“This quo warranto is a threat to democracy and an instrument of a tyrant who want to impose an authoritarian state. It was used against the ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who has been a vocal critic of the administration, is being used now, and will be used over and over until the people decisively and collectively oppose this tactic. This is a clear copycat of the Marcosian dictatorial rule where critics are being silenced and vital industries are being taken over by the state in the name of absolute control,” said Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson.
“We call on the media workers and press freedom loving citizens, to all ABS-CBN community, to stand united and collectively deplore this evident tyrannical rule of the Duterte administration,” ended Hicap. ###
