DAGUPAN CITY—Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said he doesn’t mind being tagged as “Editor Art” or a villain by media practitioners when the police did an aggressive role when Proclamation 1017 was declared by President Arroyo on Feb 24.

Lomibao was barraged with media criticisms when The Daily Tribune was raided by the police for its frequent jabs at the Arroyo administration.

He said they were constrained to temporarily take over The Tribune although they didn’t censor the publication. He said they zeroed in on The Tribune as it was “the one propagating disinformation which may contribute or exacerbate the atmosphere of instability”.

Asked by this reporter he felt being tagged as the kontrabida (villain) in the performance of newsmen’s job, Lomibao said,” That’s what you call hazards of the trade”.

Also, Lomibao was named “Editor Art” by some media publications, but he said,
“ Well of course, that was just a joke to make the emergency atmosphere more lighter”.

He said in the performance of one’s duty, he might be disliked by others. But he said that for as long as in his conscience he is doing what is right, it’s okay with him.

“You can’t win them all. You win some, you lose some,” he said.

He said what was important is “the worst is over” for the country.

He added that he is hoping mediamen would understand him.

He said he has a professional police force that dealt with the crisis properly, although he added he is not trying to justify their action especially in dealing with the rallyists.

He said the people should also consider the police’s side and what precipitated their action towards the rallyists was the raining of stones on them. Those who want to
seek redress can file charges against the police, he said.

He said the state of emergency was necessary because the Left forged an alliance with the Armed Forces and part of the plan was also to recruit the PNP.

“The general public came to realize how insidious or how serious the threat was to our security and instability brought by the forging of alliance between the extreme Left and extreme Right aided by the so-called political opposition,” Lomibao said.

He added that the people are now more aware of how things are going especially in the over all security of the republic.

Lomibao said ‘We do not like this thing (Proclamation 1017) to prolong because in the long run, investors might look at it negatively”.