By Alan Davis
Commentary

CREDIT is due to everybody who has been coming out against the so-called ‘right of reply’ bill.

As of today, Friday February 27, the tide has clearly turned. Support for a bad bill that very nearly became law is collapsing and it shows that good things do happen: It shows that peaceful and well argued and targeted protest and argument is fully respected and can win the day. It shows the system -- and democracy -- works.

Valentine's 2009 blog

So congratulations to all those in the media community who ran a concerted campaign who spotted such an assault on freedoms –and congratulations also to the politicians, the police and others who either opposed it from the beginning or have since withdrawn their support. Changing positions is never easy for those in the public eye since a change in opinion is all too easy to attack and many chose simply to bunker down. So kudos to all those honorable people including all those in Malacañang Palace who saw the damage this Bill would have wreaked on a free society.

There may still be some wrangling, but this is the endgame for a very silly bill and it is a clear victory for right-minded thinking. It is also a victory which everybody can share in. People of different views came together and did ‘the right thing.’ Perhaps it shows that politics doesn’t have to run through and color everything and that reasoned argument and good campaigns often stand a good chance of success and of changing things for the better.

A small and simple victory –or is it a stepping stone towards something else? Is this the start of something – some new thinking perhaps? At the very least, it might give people cause for thought: The fact is power of reason and gentle persuasion beats conflict (almost) every time.

Today is Feel Good Day that everybody –including the President– should take justifiable credit for.

*****

Alan Davis is Director of Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project and Director of Institute for War and Peace Reporting special projects. alan@iwpr.net