Lawyers mull appeal over live Ampatuan trial

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A LEGAL counsel of the Maguindanao massacre victims said they may file a motion for reconsideration on the Supreme Court’s (SC) order regarding the live media coverage of the massacre trial.
Harry Roque, who is serving as counsel for 15 of the victims’ relatives including 13 print and broadcast journalists, said their initial relief at the High Court’s decision on their petition for live coverage turned to apprehension as the restriction imposed by the court may violate the freedom of the press.
“While we respect the court’s decision, it is too restrictive especially to the media. When you compel the media, when you decide for the media, that’s already an infringement on press freedom,” Roque said a day after the court issued its ruling on the issue.

“The Supreme Court could not dictate what the media should cover,” Roque added.
He said they may file a motion for the court to reconsider the restrictions imposed.
Roque’s position was echoed by his collaborating counsel and Center for International Law (CenterLaw) Executive Director Rommel Bagares, who also expressed his “grave reservations” over some of the provisions of the ruling.
“We appreciate the decision of the Supreme Court to open the Ampatuan trial to televised coverage but upon reading the full text of the guidelines, we are constrained to express grave reservations over some of its provisions. The court cannot substitute its discretion for that of the editors in choosing what to report on. That prerogative has been reserved by the Constitution to the press,” Bagares said.
Bagares also noted the “impracticality and ultimately repressive” aspect of the guidelines, such as the SC’s insistence that there will be no edited re-broadcast of any portion of the footage taken by the court-provided video until after the judgment is finally handed down by the trial court.
“This suspends a fundamental right for an indefinite period of time and defeats the purpose of expanding the right of media to gather news, which is to honor the right of the public to information needed for a robust discussion of matters of public interest,” the lawyer said of the ruling.
Other rules prescribed by the court state that television and radio networks must cover all hearings from start to finish without commercial breaks, no anchors or reporters can speak while the hearing is ongoing, and repeat airings are not allowed until the case is not finished.
As to the sub-judice rule, he said it finds no place in a judge-directed trial that is a key feature of the Philippine criminal justice system.
“If it at all should be applied, it should be set against the clear and present danger test, which above all privileges public discussion of issues critical to a functioning deliberative and participatory democracy. Other jurisdictions have seen the ultimate value of this proposition, giving media greater leeway,” Bagares added.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) also aired concerns on the rules imposed by the High Court, saying the strict guidelines imposed might discourage television networks from covering the trial, which observers say may take years before Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes issued its verdict.
Of the 196 massacre suspects, only 92 are in custody and only half of them have been arraigned.
Last week, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. entered a not guilty plea to 57 counts of murder just like his son and principal suspect, Andal Ampatuan Jr.
The rest of the Ampatuans charged in the controversial case such as former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Governor Rizaldy Ampatuan, former acting Maguindanao governor Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Akmad Ampatuan have yet to be arraigned by the court 18 months after the grisly killings.
NUJP Secretary General Rowena Paraan said the restrictions may result in fewer networks covering the trial, which is held twice weekly either at the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig or at the Quezon City Hall of Justice.
“There are no ads so stations that cannot afford not to have ads would most likely opt out of the coverage. If most networks decide against live coverage then that beats the purpose of keeping the public informed as they are denied access,” Paraan said.
But SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the court wanted a win-win solution when it issued the decision by covering the right of the accused, as well as address the request for live media coverage.
A Catholic prelate was elated over the SC’s decision allowing the airing of the trial of the Maguindanao massacre case.
Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said the ruling would show that the government is committed in promoting transparency, thus erasing suspicions on the outcome of trial.
“Yung suspicions natin na baka Lutong-Macao ang mangyayari sa proseso sa korte ay mawala dahil hayagang malalaman ng lahat at makita kung paano ginagawa yung paglilitis sa kaso ng mga Ampatuan,” he said in an interview over Radyo Veritas 846.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Public Affairs Committee head Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez echoed his fellow prelate’s statement adding the public is interested on the case.
“That will be good dahil alam naman natin na ito ay makakalinaw ng public curiosity, public concern kaya dapat lang na malaman ito ng publiko,” he said in a separate radio interview. (AH/FP/Sunnex)

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/06/15/lawyers-mull-appeal-over-live-ampatuan-trial-161353

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