vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 3 months, 4 weeks ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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One for press freedom

Posted by: Isa Lorenzo | January 29, 2008 at 8:45 am
Filed under: Free Expression - Asia, In the News, Media

JOURNALISTS scored an initial victory when the Makati Regional Trial Court granted their petition for a temporary restraining order preventing government officials from issuing and implementing threats against members of the media covering situations similar to the Manila Peninsula standoff.

Members of the Philippine media filed two suits to uphold press freedom

The 72-hour TRO is part of a class suit for damages filed by 32 journalists and four media organizations, including Malaya columnist Ellen Tordesillas, columnist and media critic Vergel Santos, ABC-5 news director Ed Lingao, GMA-7 vice president for news and public affairs Jessica Soho, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP), and Philippine Press Institute.

Read the three-page TRO issued by the Makati RTC Judge Winlove Dumayas.

The petition named government officials who were responsible for the threats and arrests as respondents. These include local government secretary Ronaldo Puno, justice secretary Raul Gonzalez, defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro, police chief Avelino Razon, Jr., National Capital Region director Geary Barias, Chief Superintendent Asher Dolina, an officer of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Major General Hermogenes Esperon, the military’s chief of staff.

Aside from the TRO, the petitioners asked that the respondents be held liable for violations of their constitutional rights under Article 32 of the New Civil Code, be ordered to pay P10 million in actual, moral and exemplary damages, and for a permanent writ of injunction enjoining the respondents and their agents to desist from issuing and implementing threats of arrest against members of the media covering events similar to the Manila Peninsula standoff.

Should the petitioners win, whatever damages awarded will form part of a fund for the defense and protection of press freedom and journalists under threat.

Read the 17-page petition.

The 36 petitioners held a joint press conference with over 80 other journalists who filed for a writ of prohibition before the Supreme Court. These include Probe Productions head Cecilia Lazaro; Maria Ressa, head of ABS-CBN’s news and current affairs; Newsbreak editor-in-chief Marites Vitug; Inquirer columnists Conrado De Quiros, Manuel Quezon III, and Rina Jimenez-David; and international correspondents Manuel Mogato and Carlos Conde. The combined petitioners number over a hundred and belong to more than 20 media organizations. More petitioners are expected to be added. The NUJP alone has 50 chapters nationwide and community journalists have also expressed their interest in joining the petitions.

Read the 45-page petition for a writ of prohibition.

Aside from Puno, Gonzalez, Esperon, Razon, Barias, and Dolina, executive secretary Eduardo Ermita is named as a respondent in this petition.

“(T)hese suits are part of the journalism community’s continuing response to official intimidation, threats and harassment. They should serve as a warning that the Philippine press…have passed the stage of issuing statements and manifestos alone, and will supplement such campaigns for public awareness with the use of the legal means at their disposal,” the petitioners said in a statement.

“We take this action now because we cannot allow press freedom to be confined to narrow physical bounds and narrowly interpreted principles, conveniently defined by those in authority to serve the political interests of the moment,” said ABS-CBN’s Ressa.

She and the other petitioners are asking for a writ of prohibition to prevent the respondents from imposing any form of prior restraint on the press, including enforcing an advisory issued by Gonzalez “reminding” the press of its criminal liability, issuing and carrying out further threats, and publicly denouncing journalists as conspirators of rebels. The petition also asked the respondents not to treat media as combatants during military or police operations.

Razon told ANC that the police had no plans of filing counter-charges, and continued to recognize journalists as allies. Barias, meanwhile, was surprised to learn that he was a respondent in both petitions. He denied involvement in the media arrests. For his part, Gonzalez said that media was merely seeking publicity.

Senator Mar Roxas said in a statement that the cases filed today by media personnel against officials of the executive should spur the government to conduct a dialogue with the press.

It was during one such dialogue that Puno warned that the police would not hesitate to arrest the media again in case of a similar event in the future.

Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez said that it was up to the SC to consider the cases’ merits. The SC is still waiting to hear from the respondents of a petition for a writ of amparo filed by ABS-CBN last week.

“It is the awareness of what is at stake that the CMFR, the NUJP, the PPI, the PCIJ and other media advocacy and journalists organizations have been involved in a number of efforts to dismantle the culture of impunity, oppose the use of the libel law to silence the press, and resist the escalating threats to the Constitutionally-guaranteed right of journalists to report and comment on public issues without fear of being handcuffed, manhandled and hauled off to a police camp for crossing imaginary police lines,” Teodoro said, speaking on behalf of the petitioners in the class suit.

These initiatives include the following:

filing of a class suit in 2006 in response to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo’s flurry of libel suits
ABS-CBN employees’ petition for a writ of amparo
safety training for journalists
seminars on ethics and professional standards
creation of regional press councils to hear citizen complaints against the media

The petitioners in the class suit added that the Philippine press’ response to the threats against them were likely to be a model for other journalists in countries where press freedom is similarly being curtailed. CMFR Executive Director Melinda de Jesus said that the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and other media watchdogs would be vigorously monitoring the case. She added that media alliances have built a global support system as there has been a “paradigm shift in many governments trying to suppress or curtail press freedom.”

The plaintiffs of the civil suit stressed that while two suits have been filed, the press community is one in condemning the campaign to silence the press.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 and is filed under Free Expression - Asia, In the News, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 people have left comments

A vigilant press is one thing but an “arrogant” press has nothing to do w/ Press freedom at all!!!!!
Our problem is not about Press Freedom or Freedom per se.
The problem is that Freedom is in the hands of arrogant irresponsible self-serving egos!!!!
Why could’nt those press people pretending to be above the law wait for their petition to the SC on the Writ of Amparo.
This country has a lot of problems already & here comes a bunch of self-proclamed I can’t imagine what who use their power & influence for their self-serving needs.
It won’t be a surprise if the courts & the SC rule against a bunch of characters na bilib sa sarili.
But when that days comes will those press clowns finaly shut up & realize that they do have the obligation to show some cooperation.
It’s really a frightening though to think that the power of the press is being used by irrespinsible egoistic characters.
You are not any different from corrupt charaters who use their position so their selfish ends
Pls don’t insult the peoples intelegence by using the Constitution for your childish games.
The manila Pen sige has come & gone & I don’t see a critical mass critizising the goverment for what they did.
I don’t even think there will ever be a critical mass to support a bunch of slef-proclamed press characters.
Only in the Philippines does the press “help” rebels & those breaking the law!