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Media Groups
Fight Philippine Government Harassment with Lawsuits
The power in unity was displayed in the Philippines when more than 100
journalists filed two lawsuits to halt government threats against the
media and prevent future arrests of journalists covering emergency
situations, according to a report from two groups: the Center for Media
Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance
(SEAPA).
Thirty six (36) journalists and four media organisations, including CMFR,
filed a class action suit seeking damages for threats to press freedom.
On the same day, 81 journalists filed a case before the Supreme Court
asking for a writ of prohibition and injunction to stop the government
of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from threatening to file criminal
complaints against journalists.
Consequent upon the lawsuits, a regional court in Makati, Manila, issued
a 72-hour temporary restraining order barring government officials and
security forces from threatening or arresting journalists. The judge
issued the restraining order "considering the extreme urgency, and that
great and irreparable injury would result to the plaintiffs" if the
government's threats of arrests are carried out before the case can be
heard in court.
The two lawsuits are part of a coordinated response of journalists in
the Philippines to the arrest of more than 30 journalists who were
reporting on an attempted coup last November, and subsequent threats to
carry out similar arrests if the media refused to obey government
orders. A number of journalists arrested during the November incident
joined either of the two cases as plaintiffs.
The class suit in Makati seeks 10 million Pesos (US$245,600) in damages
that, if awarded, would be put into a trust fund for the defence and
protection of press freedom.
The plaintiffs said they filed the cases as part of the journalism
community's continuing response to official intimidation and harassment,
and as a "warning" to the authorities that the Philippine press will
begin to use legal means to draw attention to their plight.
CMFR said: "Unless we do something about it, the next crisis situation
will see journalists again arrested or, worse, charged with abetting
rebellion or some other such offence reminiscent of the martial law
catch-all of subversion".
Full details of the lawsuits available at following organisasions’
websites CMFR:
http://www.cmfr.com.ph/_alerts/2008/jan_05.html; SEAPA:
http://www.seapabkk.org/; Inquirer.net, "Media file suit against
government":
http://tinyurl.com/2287vp
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