Manila - A Filipino correspondent for Time magazine was barred from leaving the Philippines on Thursday to compel her to shed light on the alleged plot to oust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in late February, a justice official said.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Nelly Sindayen was placed under the immigration bureau watch list until she responded to the summons of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
'She (Sindayen) won't be arrested but she must cooperate,' he said. 'We're not asking for anything except the truth. We just want to talk to her.'
Sindayen wrote an article in Time magazine identifying personalities allegedly involved in a plot to overthrow Arroyo during the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the People Power uprising that ousted the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.
She was summoned by the NBI in March to give more details on her story, but the journalist, instead, sent a letter to the agency saying she stood by her story and has nothing more to add to it.
Arroyo declared a week-long state of emergency during the protest period allegedly to thwart a leftist-rightist plot to overthrow her.
The government filed rebellion charges against dozens of people in connection with the alleged plot and were still conducting investigations on several others.
Arroyo has been facing relentless calls for her resignation over allegations she connived with a senior elections office to rig the May 2004 elections.
