Local court orders PCIJ to remove blog post

In an unprecedented move, a local court barred the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) from ‘publishing’ in its blog site a post discussing a government audio expert’s background, last 04 November in Quezon City.

In compliance with the order of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC), the PCIJ removed from its blog a post dated 12 August 2005 that describes the background and credentials of Jonathan Tiongco.

Tiongco was the audio expert presented by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary and staunch administration supporter Michael Defensor in questioning the authenticity of the “Hello, Garci” recordings.

The “Hello, Garci” recordings allegedly contain conversations between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano during the time of the 2004 elections. The recordings allegedly prove that Arroyo cheated in order to win in last year’s elections.

In issuing the temporary restraining order (TRO), Judge Ralph S. Lee said that it had not yet ruled on the merits of the complaint filed by Tiongco’s wife, Rona, but that an order removing the blog post was “the safer and more prudent recourse in order to safeguard and balance conflicting rights and interests of the parties/litigants.”

This is the first legal action, and the first TRO issued against a blog in the Philippines.

Blogging has become prominent in the country’s mainstream media at the wake of successive events leading to the current political crisis last June, with PCIJ posting the controversial three-hour “Hello, Garci” audio recordings and transcripts.

Just last 22 October, the PCIJ held a seminar titled, “Journalists are Bloggers,” in which it tackled blogging as a new form of journalism, and discussed its ethical issues.

For full and related stories and background, click on these various links: http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=464
http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=447
http://pcij.org/blog/wp-files/tapes.php

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