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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Court stops media threats, arrests
MANILA -- A Makati court judge issued Monday a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) against two Cabinet officials and police and military officials in response to a multi-million-peso class suit filed by print and broadcast journalists.
The journalists were arrested while covering last year's Manila Peninsula Hotel standoff.
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"Pursuant to Supreme Court (SC) Administrative Circular (AC) 20-95 and in order to maintain the status quo pending the raffle and assignment of the case to one of the branches of this court, a 72-hour TRO is hereby issued," said Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 59 Judge Winlove Dumayas.
The court's order directed defendants Ronaldo Puno, Raul Gonzalez Sr., Gilberto Teodoro, Avelino Razon Jr., Geary Barias, Luizo Ticman, Leocadio Santiago Jr., Asher Dolina, and Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to refrain and desist from issuing threats of arrests or from implementing such threats against plaintiffs and journalists covering events similar to the Manila Peninsula standoff.
It also maintained the status quo between journalists and government authorities until such time that the court can resolve the issues presented in the suit.
Ticman is the chief of the Southern Police District (SPD) while Santiago heads the PNP-Special Action Force (SAF) that led the assault on the hotel.
Dolina is the chief of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the National Capital Region.
Dumayas also ordered the complaint and the TRO served on the respondents immediately to allow the case to be raffled among the Makati RTC branches on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier, 36 print and broadcast journalists and four media organizations, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), and Philippine Press Institute (PPI), filed a P10 million class suit against government officials for "impinging on press freedom" and for their "continuing threats" against media practitioners.
Five of the journalists, namely, Ellen Tordesillas, columnist and chief of reporters of Malaya; Ashzel Hachero, reporter (Malaya); James Konstantin Galvez (Manila Times); Leah Flor (Philippine Cable Television 3); and Charmaine Deogracias (Manila correspondent of Japanese broadcast agency NHK) were arrested and underwent "processing" at the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig after the standoff between the Magdalo group led by detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and government troops.
The suit also sought a preliminary mandatory injunction and TRO against further threats and future arrests of journalists.
It seeks P10 million in damages, including P500,000 as actual damages, P5 million as moral damages, and P4.5 million as exemplary damages that the plaintiffs said was intended to drive home the point that it would be "costly for those who would abuse the power momentarily entrusted to them by the sovereign citizens of this land."
The suit is anchored on Article 32 of the Philippine Civil Code, which states that: "Any public officer or employee, or any private individual, who directly or indirectly obstructs, defeats, violates or in any manner impedes or impairs any of the following rights and liberties of another person shall be liable to the latter for damages."
Among the rights enumerated are the freedoms of speech and of the press, freedom from arbitrary or illegal detention, and the right against deprivation of property without due process.
The complainants said they were arbitrarily arrested; their arrests being carried out without probable cause showing they were committing or had committed an offense.
They also said they were not formally charged nor informed of their rights by authorities.
The respondents, as shown by their public conduct and pronouncements, were "all complicit in the issuance of the arrest and detention orders" without any formal charges, they added.
They likewise complained that after the incident, respondents Puno, Esperon, Gonzalez, Razon, and Teodoro continued to make "threats" or warnings" to arrest or charge journalists who "ignore or interfere" in the conduct of police or military operations.
They said such threats have a "chilling effect" on the exercise of their rights accorded under the Bill of Rights of the Constitutions.
The class suit is similar to the one filed by 36 print and broadcast journalists and three media entities against First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo before the Makati RTC last year.
The suit, which journalists called a "social experiment", accused Arroyo of abusing his right to file libel suits and of curtailing press freedom in the country when he filed a flurry of cases against journalists before various courts in Metro Manila.
NUJP chairman Jose Torres said if they win in their latest case, the amount would go to a trust fund for the defense of journalists facing legal actions in the conduct of their job.
"The complainant is not after the money. What we are fighting here is the battle for press freedom in the country," Torres added.
He said the issuance of the TRO represents a victory for Filipino journalists who continued to face harassment and threats from the government.
"The TRO is to prevent the respondents from harassing any member of the media before our petition is raffled off," he said.
Lawyer Harry Roque, who represented the plaintiffs, said the TRO was necessary to "prevent these officials from harassing" journalists in the course of their work.
"This should serve as a warning to all that the Philippine press, the individuals and groups that composed it, has passed the stage of issuing statements and will supplement such campaigns for public awareness with the use of legal means," Roque said.
"The filing of the class suit is important because it sends the message to those who want to trample on our constitutional rights that members of the media are determined to fight for their rights and for the Constitution," he added.
Reached for comment, Tordesillas said the TRO constitutes a victory for press freedom in the country but cautioned the public that the campaign is just starting.
"We must press on with our determination to fight the continuing oppression against press freedom in the country," she said. (AH/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (January 29, 2008 issue)
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