Manila police try to arrest reporter in Palace

MANILA, Nov 13 (Reuters) Manila police sought to arrest a newspaper reporter in the media room of the presidential palace today over a libel complaint filed by the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Romina ''Mia'' Gonzales, a reporter for Business Mirror, was not in the press centre at the time.

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said it was ''extremely alarmed'' at the attempt by five officers to serve the arrest warrant on Gonzales.

''The NUJP finds the attempt to arrest and detain journalists who have written unfavourably about the Arroyo administration as a brazen violation of the freedom of the press,'' NUJP head Jose Torres Jr said.

Arroyo's relations with the Philippines' free-wheeling media have been brittle since she sent police to raid an opposition newspaper and troops were deployed to monitor two television stations during a week-long state of emergency in February.

Arroyo, who declared emergency rule after uncovering an alleged coup plot, has faced severe criticism from the media amid allegations she cheated in the 2004 election and allegations her husband and son received kickbacks from gambling lords.

Journalists said uniformed officers came looking for Gonzales today morning. Ignacio Bunye, the president's spokesman and press secretary, said he was unaware of any attempt to serve an arrest warrant inside the palace grounds.

The warrant against Gonzales comes weeks after a local court ordered the arrests of several editors, columnists and reporters from another newspaper, Malaya, over libel complaints filed by Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Arroyo, a lawyer by profession, has filed more than 40 libel complaints against local editors, columnists and reporters who have criticised his alleged meddling in government affairs, accusing him of links to gambling and smuggling operators.

Ellen Tordesillas, a columnist of Malaya newspaper, facing libel complaints for criticising Arroyo's husband, said she had received emailed death deaths last week.

The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists with at least 10 reporters killed this year, according to the NUJP. Most of the murders were related to probes of graft, drugs and other illegal activities.

Despite cash rewards and government promises to stop the murders, only three of more than 80 media killings have been solved by the police in the past 20 years.

''We are surprised that an arrest warrant was about to be served on Mia Gonzales, our contributor,'' said Marites Vitug, editor-in-chief of Newsbreak magazine. ''We deplore the short cut in the legal process, a clear abuse of power.'' REUTERS PDM HT1615