MANILA, Philippines -- The government-sequestered television station RPN-9 has made public footage showing Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon talking to a female reporter, which police claim proves the journalists helped the renegade officer escape government forces sent to quell an attempted uprising on November 29.

The RPN video was aired on the Wednesday evening newscasts of other television stations and briefly shows Jiji Press reporter Dana Batnag and Faeldon talking in the lobby of the Manila Peninsula hotel as a crowd of what appear to be members of the Magdalo group, of which the officer is said to be a leader, pass by.

The group, led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, occupied the Makati City hotel and called for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after walking out of a court hearing. They surrendered after government forces stormed the hotel but Faeldon managed to escape.

Police have claimed a reporter allegedly aided Faeldon slip away by giving the fugitive officer a media card. Although the Philippine National Police has yet to officially identify the reporter, a report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted two anonymous police officers as naming Batnag as the reporter and said the RPN footage would prove their claim.

However, there is nothing in the footage, as shown on the newscasts, to back up the claim by one of the Inquirer?s sources that it shows the reporter handing a press ID to Faeldon.

In a statement, Marigold Haber-Dunca, RPN-9 news and current affairs director, said the footage was taken accidentally and had already been submitted to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

?We came across this certain video which was apparently taken by one of our cameramen by accident -- Capt. Faeldon in one corner of the Peninsula lobby, speaking with one lady reporter,? the RPN-9 statement said.

?We are not siding with anyone, we are not passing judgment on anyone, let the video speak for itself. We are making this video available to anyone who needs it, in the interest of transparency,? it added.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Dunca said they reviewed their footage of the siege two times the other day. "We did that because we had an inkling it could be our footage (that would reveal the female reporter). She added that she and other network editors reviewed the footage one more time Wednesday.

In her own statement, Batnag challenged authorities to ?file the proper charges before the courts to prove that this is a government of laws,? noting that she has ?not been informed by the police that I am a suspect in the escape? of Faeldon but that ?my conscience is clear for I have done nothing wrong.?

She also said she was ?honored to be one of the victims in the government?s witch hunt against the media, but my conscience is clear for I have done nothing wrong.?

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) also challenged the PNP to ?file a case if they have a case to file? as it accused the police of ?rumor-mongering to justify press freedom violations,? noting the way information about Faeldon?s supposed assisted escape has been released.

?First, it was floated as a rumor,? said a statement signed by NUJP chairman Jose Torres Jr. and secretary general Rowena Paraan. ?Then the names of journalists Ellen Tordesillas and Ces Drilon were floated while police and government officials announced that a case was being readied against the reporter. Now comes a report quoting anonymous senior police officers pointing to Jiji Press reporter Dana Batnag as the supposed savior of Faeldon.?

Tordesillas and Drilon, who felt alluded to by earlier police statements, have denied anything to do with Faledon?s escape.

The media organization said it saw the police claims about Faeldon?s escape as ?part of an insidious campaign to intimidate media and control the flow of information? that included the mass arrest of journalists who covered the Makati standoff that a reporter aided Faeldon escape and a subsequent warning by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that media would be held criminally liable if journalists did not obey ?lawful orders? of government officers and personnel during emergencies.

?We stand by any journalist that the PNP will falsely accuse in its shameful campaign to justify its arrest of journalists last November 29 and the subsequent threats they issued,? the NUJP said as it called on other journalists ?to stand firm against this campaign of intimidation and to remain true to our calling to serve the people's right to know.?

The police say they are also reviewing footage from the hotel's closed-circuit television and gathering more evidence against the reporter who supposedly aided Faeldon.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said they were standing by their policy not to officially disclose the reporter?s name, explaining there are still ongoing operations to recapture Faeldon.

"Unless the operations and investigation are complete, we cannot divulge the name of the reporter. We still have ongoing operations. That is the reason we are withholding the name. In the meantime, let's wait," Bartolome said, adding that the report on efforts to recapture Faeldon are close to being finished.

Bartolome was also reacting to reports that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez had called on the PNP to divulge the name of the reporter.

Initially, police said Faeldon escaped before police stormed the hotel by slipping out of his fatigues and posing as a member of media. They also said they have a witness who can help identify the reporter who aided Faeldon.

The slippery Faeldon, who now has a P1-million bounty on his head for his arrest, has escaped from government custody in the past when he gave his guards the slip in 2005 during a hearing for his coup charges in Makati City. He was later rearrested in early 2006 in Malabon.

The PNP has released a wanted poster of Faeldon and other Magdalo soldiers who escaped from the Manila Peninsula and had it posted around the country.