Abuse of rights and violation of free expression

Just came back from Bangkok for the Organizational Development Workshop hosted by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance. So many things had happened on the local media front since last week.

The biggest, in case you do not know, is the filing of a civil suit by Filipino journalists and media organizations against the Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for "abuse of rights and violating freedom of expression."

Philippine media to file class suit vs. president’s husband
Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)

FILIPINO JOURNALISTS and media organizations will file a civil suit against the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for abuse of rights and violating freedom of expression.

This was announced during a press briefing by lawyer Harry Roque at the University of the Philippines Law Center on 22 November 2006. Roque described the legal action to be taken by journalists as “an unprecedented social experiment.” It is, however, based on Articles 19, 20, 21 and 32 of the Philippine Civil Code.

Over the past months, Arroyo’s spouse, Jose Miguel, has sued 43 media practitioners for libel. The libel cases were widely believed to be aimed at creating a “chilling effect” on the press which has been critical of Mr. Arroyo.

The press has been reporting on Arroyo’s alleged unexplained wealth, his involvement in alleged cheating to help his wife win the presidential elections, and his alleged profiting from government projects.

All but one of the 43 members of media who were charged by Arroyo joined other journalists and media organizations in filing the class suit. The complaint is expected to be submitted to the Makati Regional Trial Court on the last week of November.

“It is now time to do something apart from protesting Arroyo’s libel suits,” said Luis Teodoro, board member of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a non-government group that is supporting the class suit along with the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

“He is not out to defend his honor,” Roque said of Arroyo. “Despite his knowledge that as a public figure he is open to fair comment and reporting on his public life, Jose Miguel Arroyo continues to harass member of the press with a barrage of malicious libel suits,” he added.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has pledged P100,000 to support the journalists’ case, according to Roby Alampay, the regional media organization’s executive director.

This was announced during a press briefing by lawyer Harry Roque at the University of the Philippines Law Center on 22 November 2006. Roque described the legal action to be taken by journalists as “an unprecedented social experiment.” It is, however, based on Articles 19, 20, 21 and 32 of the Philippine Civil Code.

Read more here.

CMFR posts its statement on the issue on Freedom Watch today. It said: "The damage Mr. Arroyo’s suits against journalists has caused and may further cause is not limited to the erosion of press freedom. It is also a threat to Philippine democracy itself, given the crucial role that the press performs in behalf of the sovereign citizenry. He must be stopped, and others prevented from copying him."

Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility statement on the civil suit against Mr. Jose Miguel Arroyo
Source: CMFR

Libel suits are among the perils journalists must face in this and many other countries including those where press freedom has long flourished. Most journalists are aware that violations of the libel law have corresponding consequences under the Philippine justice system.

A libel suit is properly decided in the courts. The libel suits filed by Mrs, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, against 43 reporters, columnists, editors and other journalists are now sub judice. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), in any case, does not comment on the merits of any libel case until it has been resolved one way or the other.

CMFR does not dispute the right of Mr. Arroyo to file a libel suit against anyone he believes has wronged him through a libelous imputation. But CMFR believes that the sheer number of suits he has filed indicates that the suits are primarily intended to intimidate the press and to silence criticism against himself as well as his wife’s administration.

Read more here.

SEAPA made an official statement in support of the class civil suit vs. Presidential spouse Jose Miguel Arroyo. Media and human rights organizations around Southeast Asia, including CMFR, signed the statement. These were the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia), the Institute for the Study on Free Flow of Information (Indonesia), the Centre for Independent Journalism (Malaysia), Mizzima News (Burma), Timor Leste Journalists Association, Aliran (Malaysia), the Alliance for Freedom of Expression, Cambodia , and Malaysiakini (Malaysia)

Statement of support for Philippine journalists from free expression groups around Southeast Asia
Source: CMFR

We, representatives of journalist, media, and free expression organizations from around Southeast Asia, and collaborating under the network of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), applaud the initiative of our colleagues in the Philippines to defend their rights in the face of blatant abuse and harassment from the husband of Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

We strongly support the filing of a class civil suit against Mr. Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo for his abuse of power and his clear attempt to undermine press freedom in an important member of the Southeast Asian community.

The Philippines is in the clear minority of countries in Southeast Asia with a functioning—if perennially vulnerable—free press. In this light, the deterioration of the conditions for press freedom under the regime of President Arroyo is a troubling trend that causes anxiety in the rest of the region.

We note with alarm that over the past months, Mr. Arroyo has sued 43 reporters, columnists, editors and publishers of various publications for libel. Many of the journalists he sued had linked Mr. Arroyo to unexplained wealth, vote-buying for his wife's 2004 electoral win, and money laundering.

Although all these issues comprise serious public interest matters that merit scrutiny by the people through the press, the President’s husband is seeking damages totaling P141 million (about US$2.8 million), thereby sending a chilling message to journalists and the Philippine media in general. Backdropped by the alarming rate of murder of journalists in the Philippines, particularly under the Arroyo administration, the antics of the President’s husband underscore the overall decline of official respect for press freedom in the country.

It is in this light that we encourage our Philippine colleagues in their efforts and initiative to fight back against this clear attempt to harass their ranks. If the presidential spouse intends to send a message that journalists who dare to cross him will face a libel suit, then the victims – both the press and the people – must push back with a stronger message that contempt of press freedom is contempt of the people.