SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Zambales – President Arroyo assured her countrymen and members of the fourth estate that the martial law in Maguindanao is not to oppress innocent civilians but to arrest the suspects in the massacre of 57 people and, most important of all, to dismantle private armies.

The President gave this assurance at the opening of the 14th National Press Congress of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) at the Freeport last Thursday. Mrs. Arroyo said martial law will be in force and effect only for a short period. She added politics has nothing to do with it.

“I wish to assure everyone – not least the press – that innocent civilians need not worry about the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao. Proclamation 1959 has its area specific and is imposed for only a short time in accordance with Constitutional limitations,” the President stated.

The activities of the PAPI congress with the theme, “The Challenges of the Information-Driven Age,” coincides with the country’s yearly observance of Human Rights Week and take added significance in the gruesome killings of innocent civilians and practicing journalists in Maguindanao.