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Monday, February 25, 2008
Another 'expert witness' to testify on media arrest case (11:30 a.m.)
MANILA -- A former dean of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law will take the witness stand on the resumption of the hearing at the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on the multi-million peso class suit and the petition for injunction by journalists arrested during last year's Manila Peninsula standoff.
"Dean Raul Pangalangan will testify as an 'expert witness' before the sala of Makati RTC Branch 56 Judge Reynaldo Laigo," said Rommel Bagares, one of the lawyers of the complainants.
"He will testify on the constitutional issues surrounding the case and the arbitrary arrest of journalists who covered the standoff at the Manila Peninsula Hotel last year," Bagares said.
Under Pangalangan's tenure, the state-run university's College of Law issued legal opinion that the controversial "Hello Garci" tapes, the wiretapped phone conversation between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and an election official in 2005 that allegedly detailed the cheating in the 2004 presidential election, can be played in Congress and are admissible as evidence in court.
Likewise, under his leadership, the College of Law was among the first to call for President Arroyo's resignation in the aftermath of the "Hello Garci" scandal.
Members of its faculty were also the ones who studied and pointed out the alleged irregularities in the multi-million Northrail contract entered into by the government with China which was the subject of a Senate investigation.
Aside from Pangalangan, the president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) will also testify.
Bagares said NUJP president Jose Torres will testify on the scope of the journalist's works and "threats" encountered by media practitioners in the country.
Earlier, former UP College of Mass Communication's dean Luis Teodoro told the court in his testimony last week that there is a "continuing threat to press freedom" in the country brought about by the spate of warnings and advisory issued by high-ranking government officials following the November 29 incident.
Teodoro who likewise appeared as an "expert witness" singled out the advisory issued by Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. as the "most threatening" since he said it is specifically directed to the media.
"That advisory seems to single out the media as a single sector not the entire Philippine society. There is an implied threat that said "Hey watch out you may suffer the consequences if you do certain things," Teodoro said during his hour-long testimony.
He said Gonzales's advisory threatening with arrest any media practitioners who obstruct military or police operations constitute "prior restraint" on the journalist's conduct of their duties and responsibilities.
The complainants said they might also present Inday Espena Varona of the NUJP and one of the arrested journalists as witness before wrapping up the presentation of their case. (AH/Sunnex) |
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