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By Jayson Cruz Luna Reporter
“WE are willing to go to the
higher courts or even to the United Nations to seek the reversal of
a lower court ruling on our case.”
This was the united statement of
print and broadcast journalists who were arrested while covering
last year’s stand-off at the Manila Peninsula Hotel, which they
issued during a roundtable discussion Wednesday at the Fort in
Taguig City, where they tackled the recent court decision which
junked their P10 million class suit against high-ranking government
officials and military and police officers.
“Definitely we will appeal to
the higher courts the unjust ruling of the Makati court. We will go
to the Court of Appeals or we can file a motion for certiorari at
the Supreme Court,” lawyer Harry Roque said.
He said what made the lower court
ruling more damaging to press freedom is it gave the police the
authority to bar journalists from covering similar events by
invoking the concept of “dangerous situation or crime scene.”
But he cautioned the authorities
against using the ruling to prevent the media from covering similar
events, adding that the decision is not “final and executory.”
“The ruling has no
jurisprudence since that is only reserved to decisions of the
Supreme Court,” he said.
Authorities canstill be
charged
At the same time, Roque warned
authorities that they might face criminal charges such as coercion
and illegal detention if they use the lower court ruling to bar the
media from coverage.
Roque is the counsel of the 36
journalists and four media organizations, namely, the Philippine
Center for Investigative Journalism, Center for Media Freedom and
Responsibility (CMFR), National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines and the Philippine Press Institute. They filed the case
against officials led by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for
“impinging on press freedom” and for their “continuing
threats” against media practitioners.
Of the 36 journalists, five were
actually arrested and “processed” at Camp Bagong Diwa namely
Ellen Tordesillas and Ashzel Hachero of Malaya, Charmaine Deogracias
of Japanese broadcast agency NHK, James Konstantin Galvez of The
Manila Times and Leah Flor of the Philippine Cable Television.
The National Union of Journalists
of the Philippines (NUJP), the CMFR, the College Editors Guild of
the Philippines and the South East Asian Press Alliance have also
condemned the ruling.
Aside from appealing the
decision, NUJP Secretary-General Rowena Paraan said they are
readying protest actions in various parts of the country to denounce
it.
CMFR trustee Vergel Santos said
the ruling of Makati Judge Reynaldo Laigo gives the signal to
authorities to arrest media practitioners who are just doing their
job. Laigo dismissed the class action suit citing lack of evidence.
In his ruling, Laigo said that
the order of the authorities for all those inside the Manila
Peninsula Hotel, including the plaintiffs-journalists, to vacate its
premises were “lawful” considering the “dangerous situation”
at the time.
He added handcuffing and bringing
the journalists to Camp Bagong Diwa for investigation, and released
thereafter, was justified for it is in accordance with police
procedures.
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