Journalists and media groups file civil suit vs. Mike Arroyo

URGENT PRESS ADVISORY

FOR: News and public affairs head/editor

FROM: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

SUBJECT: Filing of class action suit in behalf of the Philippine press against presidential spouse Jose Miguel Arroyo

DATE: 28 December 2006 (10:30 a.m.)

PLACE: Makati Regional Trial Court, clerk of court office, old Gusali ng Katarungan

BACKGROUND:

Since 2003, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo has been filing numerous libel cases against members of the press. The libel suits, now numbering 10, have implicated 45 journalists, a number unprecedented in any administration.

“(Arroyo) is not out to defend his honor; he is out to chill the media in their exercise of the freedom of the press,” said Harry Roque, international law professor of the University of the Philippines, who drafted the complaint in behalf of the press.

Arroyo is claiming at least P141 million in damages for articles that supposedly maligned him. But the journalists say the articles constitute fair comment on matters on public interest.

Even the international media community has expressed alarm over the huge number of libel suits filed against the press by the spouse of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“It is deeply concerning that the husband of the president, a man of considerable influence and power, can try and hinder free speech by suing journalists into submission,” said Christopher Warren, president of the International Federation of Journalists.

In their class action suit against Arroyo, the journalists and media organizations have invoked Articles 19, 20, 21 and 32 of the Constitution and asserted that Arroyo has abused his right and violated freedom of the press.

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