At a press briefing yesterday, Senator Arroyo, referring to threats by the Philippine National Police to take over critical media firms, said: "The government is trying to probe… how far they can go without the protest of the public or media."

"That’s what we should protect and guard against. They are testing the waters. And I think the Senate hearing is timely as it enables the public to see what is happening," Senator Arroyo said of yesterday’s hearing by Committee on Justice on Proclamation 1017 that briefly placed the country under a state of emergency.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice said the government could not have committed human rights violations, including its attack on the media and the curtailment of the right to peaceably assembly, without the backing of the military.

"The danger is, if for instance these recalcitrant elements of the Armed Forces should unite with the mainstream Armed Forces, then they can go against the government and then we will have a military junta," he said.

He said that at present, the one calling the shots is the military. "This is very scary," he said.

"What has happened during the last crisis is that the political opposition has been reduced to irrelevance. Their places have been taken over by the Armed Forces," he noted.

Arroyo said that a military takeover of the country is a possible scenario because of the erosion of democratic institutions started by President Arroyo’s questionable policies.

The senator particularly cited Executive Order 464 that bars public officials from submitting to congressional hearings without the consent of the President. "There is no longer accountability in this government," he said.

"There is no forum anymore where they can be made accountable. This is the idea now being foisted by the executive (department)," he said.

During yesterday’s hearing, Daily Tribune publisher and editor-inchief Niñez Cacho-Olivarez testified that the police took some company documents and compact discs without court authority.

The police denied the accusations.

Philippines Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) Executive Director Sheila Coronel testified in the same hearing that the police "have been at our backs" even though PP 1017 had been lifted almost two weeks ago.

She said that a certain police civilian agent, Jonathan Tiongco and some Quezon City policemen, have been shopping for a friendly judge that would issue a search or seizure warrant against the the PCIJ. She said Tiongco has threatened to file sedition charges against her and five other PCIJ journalists.

Coronel said that Tiongco is well connected with Malacañang and that his harassing tactics has affected them from doing their job.

Former senator Rene Saguisag said the erosion of the country’s democratic institutions was perpetuated by the administration and the suppression of press freedom and free speech has been made a launching pad for more human rights violations.

"The media has been battered, all other institutions have been corrupted except for the Senate and the legal profession," he said.

As this developed, the Free Legal Assistance Group questioned yesterday the government’s enforcing warrantless arrest against individuals facing rebellion charges as it reminded Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that such no longer has legal basis.

In a letter, the through lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno, told Gonzalez that Congress had repealed the Anti-Subversion Law, which had laid out the doctrine on the continuing offense for crimes of rebellion, 14 years ago.

Such doctrine has been cited by the government in arresting without court warrants individuals charged with rebellion.

Also yesterday, members of the "Batasan 5" yesterday scoffed at the witness presented by the Philippine National PoliceCriminal Investigation and Detection Group during the preliminary investigation conducted by the Department of Justice (DoJ) against the five party-list solons accused of rebellion.

Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casino and Joel Virador, Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano. and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Maza said the police witness was "not only lackluster, he was a big joke."

The five lawmakers were referring to Jaime Fuentes, who claimed he had once served as chief security officer of Vicente Ladlad, executive officer of Bayan Muna.

Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said the presentation by the PNP last Monday of witness Jaime Beltran Fuentes before the DoJ was reminiscent of the "hooded collaborator" during the Japanese occupation in the country.

Fuentes earlier said he had personally witnessed the meetings of certain "leftist-rightist" personalities in a plot to topple the Arroyo government.

Fuentes signed a nine-page affidavit in Filipino before the DoJ linking the five party-list lawmakers and former social welfare secretary Corazon Soliman, and Vicky Veles, both of Black and White Movement, to the coup plot.

Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. hit back at political strategists of Malacañang for painting him as an "enemy of the state" in a video documentary.

In a privilege speech in yesterday, Pimentel said the video documentary produced by Malacañang showed him as an enemy of the state when in fact it is the President who is "the cause of the unease in the AFP."

The documentary film is titled "Paglaban sa Kataksilan".

Despite his being an arch critic of President Arroyo, Pimentel said there is no basis in the accusation leveled against him by the police and the military. (with reports by Gabriel S. Mabutas, Ellaylyn de Vera and Mario Casayuran)