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Monday, January 28, 2008
Chief Justice says ABS-CBN journalist's petition 'hybrid'
DAGUPAN CITY -- Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Reynato Puno has considered the petition filed in court by ABS-CBN journalists and crew a "hybrid."
Media practitioners filed a petition for writ of amparo relative to the Manila Peninsula Hotel standoff last November 29 when some journalists were rounded off, handcuffed, and brought to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan for processing.
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When Puno asked why the court did not immediately issue the writ of amparo but ordered instead the respondents to file their comments, he said, "The petition filed with the high court is a different one. It is entitled petition for a writ of amparo or writ of prohibition. It's a kind of hybrid petition. Unlike other petitions which are strictly petitions for a writ of amparo."
"The court merely ordered the filing of a comment. On the basis of the comments that will be filed, then the court would ultimately decide how to treat this high breed petition," he added.
The Manila Peninsula standoff amplified the issues of press freedom and national security.
"There are no two identical cases. You've got to examine particularly the demands of public safety vis-à-vis the demands of greater latitude for the exercise of freedom of speech and of the press," Puno said.
"We have laid down standards that the strictest scrutiny will be utilized in order to adjudge whether acts of government would violate freedom of speech and of the press. That is the reason why I stated that in the hierarchy of our constitutional rights, freedom of speech and of the press enjoys a preferred status," he added.
The chief justice said balancing press freedom and national security is not balancing a right versus an evil.
"Freedom of speech is one of our cherished virtues, national security is also a cherished norm. What you are balancing is a right versus another exercise of a right, and that is not easy to do especially when you look where the balance should be struck. You have to consider the circumstances of each case, the totality of the circumstances, and the needs of the time," he lamented.
He said the point of balance moves from one point to another depending on what is good for the country.
Puno graced the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (Philippines) Incorporated - Dagupan City chapter held last Saturday at the Stadia Jimmy Fernandez Center. He said he came here not as SC Chief Justice but as a Christian. (LCMY/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (January 28, 2008 issue)
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Journalists ready to file raps v. gov't troops