Crisis: National

After surviving ambush, 2 journalists sued for libel
Two journalists who survived an ambush-slay attempt now face a lawsuit filed by the man they suspect to be behind the ambush.
Delfin Mallari Jr., a Southern Luzon correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Johnny Glorioso, publisher of the community newspaper Ang Diyaryo Natin and a radio correspondent, were named respondents in a libel complaint filed by Rafael Nantes, the governor-elect of Quezon province.
The complaint, which said that Mallari and Glorioso had maliciously tagged Nantes as an alleged drug lord in Quezon as well as the mastermind in the attempt to kill them, was filed on June 22, GMAnews.tv reported.
In his complaint, Nantes claimed that the two journalists “purposely issued the special edition of the said newspaper (Ang Diyaryo Natin) solely to malign, defame, discredit, and dishonor my name and reputation and also to maliciously impute a crime, vice, or defect on my person that tarnished my name and that of my family.”
GMAnews.tv quoted a portion of Mallari’s column in the community newspaper which said, “Congressman Nantes is my principal suspect as the mastermind behind the plot to kill us… Why do I suspect him of such? Drugs not politics.”
Mallari and Glorioso were ambushed on April 19 while they were on their way to dwKI, a local radio station, for their 8 a.m. radio program, JS Files. The gunman, who was riding on a motorcycle driven by another man, fired at them through the driver’s side of their car, where Mallari was. Glorioso was not hit but a bullet hit Mallari’s back only a few inches from his spine.
Inquirer publisher Isagani Yambot called the attack a “blatant display of harassment and violence against journalists.”
Mallari recounted that he saw the assailant continuing to pull the trigger after he was hit, but that the gun apparently jammed.
After the attack, Mallari left his post as editor in chief of Ang Diyaryo Natin and as a radio commentator. Heeding his family’s request, he is now focusing on his job as correspondent for the Inquirer.
Mallari told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility that before the May 14 election, Nantes had met with him and Glorioso, and asked them to stop their critical commentaries and instead help him in the campaign.
Mallari said that at one point during the meeting, Nantes asked him to leave while he talked with Glorioso. “Name the price,” Nantes allegedly told Glorioso for them to stop their criticisms.
Nantes, however, denied that he had attempted to buy off the two journalists and said that he was only expressing his willingness to finance their radio program. Nantes also denied Mallari’s accusation that he had ordered the ambush.
Mallari said he and Glorioso had always invited Nantes to air his side regarding the issues raised against the latter but he refused to do so.

Alleged killer of journalist couple killed
The suspected gunman in the June 19, 2006 killing of journalist/activist couple Maricel Alave Vigo and George Vigo in Kidapawan, Cotabato has been killed, online publication MindaNews reported.
The Vigo couple was shot in Sandawa district in Kidapawan while onboard their motorcycle.
George was a contributor to the Union of Catholic Asian News and hosted a youth-oriented program over dxND radio station, while Maricel Alave Vigo hosted a program called Congress Affairs over dxND. She was also executive director of the non-government organization Peoples’ Kauyahan Foundation, Inc., which dealt with peace-building projects.
MindaNews reported that  Jhonever Madangguit, the alleged gunman in the killing of the Vigo couple, died in a vehicular accident on June 3 this year in Agusan del Sur.
Police officials in Agusan, however, said that Madangguit appeared to have been shot.
“There were no traces… no wounds that would prove that he died in an accident. Instead, some marks on his body suggest that he had been shot,” Makilala police chief Ramil Hojilla said.
MindaNews reported that a policeman who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Madangguit was reportedly with two hired killers on a gun-for-hire mission. The would-be victim, however got wind of Madangguit’s intent and killed him instead.
Madangguit was widely believed to be just a “fall guy” in the Vigo killings.
The case filed against Madangguit was dismissed by Kidapawan city prosecutor Al Calica for insufficient evidence late last year.

Journalists seek to quash subpoenas filed by Arroyo
One of the lawyers of the journalists who filed a P12.5-million class suit against Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has asked Makati City Branch 134 Judge Zenaida Laguilles to quash the defense subpoenas on eight of the journalist-plaintiffs.
The subpoenas were received on June 18 by the Roque and Butuyan Law Offices, which handles the case of the journalists. The subpoenas required journalists Ricky Carandang, Mia Gonzalez, Mon Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, Marites Vitug, Conrado de Quiros, and William Esposo to testify in a  June 22 hearing on Arroyo’s affirmative defense in connection with his motion to dismiss the suit against him. Arroyo’s lawyer Ruy Rondain subpoenaed the eight journalists to appear as “hostile witnesses.”
The subpoena also ordered the journalists to bring “all the articles they have published or caused to be published, concerning Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo from January 2001 until the present.”
“By presenting the journalists, papalabasin ko na walang chilling effect (I will show that there is no chilling effect),” Rondain said to reporters after the hearing.
In his motion to quash the subpoenas, the lawyer of the journalists argued that the sub-poenas were not in compliance “with the relevant rules on the service of the subpoenas” as they were only served to the office of the journalists’s lawyers and not to the journalists themselves.
Laguilles gave Arroyo’s camp five days to file a formal comment on the motion.
Lawyer Roger Rayel argued during the hearing that the testimonies of the eight subpoenaed journalists are irrelevant because Arroyo’s motion to dismiss could be decided solely on the basis of the complaint filed by the journalists. Arroyo’s motion to dismiss argues that Laguilles does not have jurisdiction over the case because plaintiffs had failed to state a cause of action.
Rondain said the eight journalists, none of whom appeared for the hearing, should be cited for contempt and arrested for not abiding by the subpoena.
The plaintiffs’ lead lawyer, Harry Roque, said that “Their (Arroyo and his lawyers’) threat to cite for contempt journalists is nothing new. If they cannot threaten media through filing of libel suits, they will do this through contempt charges. This just proves that they are truly an enemy of the press.”
The class action suit was filed on Dec. 28, 2006 by journalists, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and The Daily Tribune against Arroyo. It argued that the numerous libel suits Arroyo had lodged against journalists constituted an abuse of his right to litigate and an attack on press freedom.

Suit vs Gloria order continues
Thirty-seven journalists, the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC), and eight media organizations will appeal a court decision dismissing their petition seeking to prohibit executive branch officials from censoring the media.
The petition was filed on March 8, 2006 following President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Presidential Procla-mation (PP) 1017 on Feb. 24, 2006 which resulted in a police raid on a newspaper office and threats against critical media.
In a 17-page decision by Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, the Court of Appeal’s (CA) 12th Division dismissed the petition for “procedural deficiencies,” stating that the CA is not the proper venue for the petition which, he said, should have been filed before the Regional Trial Court.
But the court said that the actions of the government toward the media following PP 1017 “can be construed as a censure to the exercise of the universal rights of free speech.”
“It bears to stress that the clear intention of the law is that no prior restraint can be imposed on the exercise of free speech and of expression, and that the freedom to communicate one’s views and discuss any matter of public concern should remain to be so without fear or punishment or liability unless there be a clear and present danger of a substantive evil that the State has a right to prevent,” said Reyes.
Following the dismissal, the petitioners will file a Motion for Review before the CA. If the motion is denied, the petitioners will raise the case to the Supreme Court.
“We are alarmed and disturbed that the court did not face the issue squarely and (did not) judge it on its merits,” lawyer Jose Diokno, member of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), said. FLAG’s Diokno and Theodore Te are the lawyers of the journalists in the case.
The media organizations in the petition are ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs, the Center for Community Journalism and Development, the Center for Media Freedom and Res-ponsibility, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Newsbreak, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Philippine Press Institute, and Probe Productions. The UP CMC is also among the petitioners.
Diokno also wondered what took the court so long to just decide that it has no jurisdiction on the case. He added, however, that the petition remains relevant.
“They can say that this is already moot and academic, but these things can happen again,” he said.
The petitioners named Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Justice, and the National Telecom-munications Commission (NTC) as respondents in the case.
Arroyo declared a state of national emergency through PP 1017, claiming that there was a conspiracy to topple her government.
Philippine security forces then launched a series of attacks on the media, which included a police raid on the opposition paper The Daily Tribune, and the issuances by the NTC of media guidelines that sought to prohibit broadcast media from airing news and commentaries that allegedly tend to incite the public to treason, rebellion, or sedition, or which “constitute rebellious/terrorist propaganda, comments, information, interviews, and other similar or related materials.”
Troops were also posted outside the compounds of ABS-CBN and GMA-7. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez also announced that the government was monitoring the media for rebellious reportage or commentaries.
Arroyo lifted PP 1017 on March 3, 2006, but police and military threats against the media continued.

Broadcaster shot dead
A broadcaster for the government-run radio station Radyo ng Bayan was shot dead in Nalil village, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi last June 25.
Vincent “Enteng” Sumal-pong, broadcaster and operations supervisor, was on a motorcycle with his colleague Vema Antham and nephew Ruelan Hope Borja, who was driving the vehicle, when two persons fired at them as they were leaving a housing project.
Sumalpong, 36, sustained multiple gunshots wounds in the chest and stomach. He had been with dxDC since 1995.
Antham was surprised by the attack. “We are not hard-hitting journalists… we have no known enemies,” Antham said.
Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said in an Inquirer.net report that Sumalpong indeed appeared to be the target of the assailants.
Eight hours after the incident, police identified one of the suspects after Antham recognized a certain Nur Suang through a photograph.
Police theorized that Sumalpong was killed because he helped bring home the body of a guest relations officer (GRO) who was allegedly shot by Suang last June 20.
“This got the ire of Suang so he shot Sumalpong. We have identified him through photos,” Goltiao said.
Charges have already been filed for the killing of the GRO and the police are now looking for Suang.
The Sumalpong murder came almost two weeks after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed to end the killing of journalists. She then ordered the creation of a special prosecution team that will handle cases of media killings.
One week later, Arroyo also hosted a luncheon meeting with media executives in an effort to “strengthen our collaboration to achieve full freedom and a better tomorrow for our people.”  She then asked the media to help her leave a legacy before she leaves her post on 2010.
“The media can help the government and the country reach a new plane of develop-ment, stability, and reform by balanced reporting based on verified facts, constructive commentary on public issues, and editorial focus on news that matters to the lives and livelihood of ordinary Filipinos,” she said.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno meanwhile issued Administra-tive Order No. 25-2007, creating 99 special courts across the Philippines.
The extra-judicial killing of political activists and members of the media would be given speedy resolution as postpone-ments are not allowed and a case is supposed to end 60 days after marathon hearings, and a decision issued 30 days after.
Puno, who called the spate of killings “an affront to the rule of law,” said that he will use the expanded rule-making power of the Supreme Court in the Constitution to help stop the killings.

Journalist jailed despite posting bail
A journalist was arrested and detained for almost 10 hours in jail despite having posted bail amounting to P20,000 in a libel complaint filed by a former congressman. Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines.
Jofelle Tesorio of Asia News Network was detained at the women’s detention hall of the Philippine National Police’s Camp Karingal in Quezon City despite posting bail at around 9 a.m. at the Quezon City Hall of Justice.
The libel charge against Tesorio was filed by former Palawan congressman Vicente Sandoval in 2003 for a column she wrote for Bandillo ng Palawan in its Jan. 20-26, 2003 issue. Bandillo is a weekly community newspaper based in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
In her column, “Pera at Pulitika (Money and Politics),” Tesorio had criticized Sandoval for allegedly bragging that Palawan had already claimed its P774-million share of revenues from the Camago-Malampaya natural gas deposit.
The issue of Palawan’s claim in the revenues of the Camago-Malampaya gas project is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Tesorio, a member of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and a former correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, was released from detention at around 7 p.m. After posting bail at 9 a.m., Tesorio had to wait for the release order of Quezon City Branch 81 Judge Ma. Teresa dela Torre Yadao, who is reportedly known to sign release orders only at 3 p.m. Yadao signed the release order at 5 p.m. and Tesorio was released from detention at around 7 p.m.
The two parties in the case arrived at a settlement on Jan. 27 this year. Sandoval and his lawyer were about to withdraw the case in the Feb. 7 hearing and file an affidavit of desistance but they were not able to because Yadao was on leave.
In exchange for Sandoval’s withdrawal, Bandillo ng Palawan published an apology in its Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2007 issue and gave free space to Sandoval’s political advertisements.

Reporters receive death threat
A television and a radio reporter for the ABS-CBN network received death threats in Lanao del Norte after reporting election irregularities in the province.
ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol World reported on May 28 the threats received by reporters Ricky Carandang and Noel Alamar, which came after they reported election anomalies in Lanao. Carandang is a television reporter/anchor while Alamar reports for dzMM, the flagship AM station of ABS-CBN.
In a statement released on May 29, ABS-CBN news and current affairs head Maria Ressa condemned the incident, saying the station was “prepared to take legal action should these threats continue or should any harm come to Mr. Carandang, Mr. Alamar, or any member of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs.” She said the persons behind the threats “are known to us.”
The threats came after Carandang reported in TV Patrol that officials of the provincial treasurer’s office in the provincial capitol of Lanao del Sur had complained that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had carted away blank election returns (ER).
Carandang’s ABS-CBN crew caught footage of the blank ERs being carted away by Comelec employees led by Renault “Boy” Macarambon. In the “Hello, Garci” recordings, Macarambon, vice chair of the Lanao del Sur board of canvassers in the 2004 elections, was mentioned as the pointman of then elections commissioner Virgilio Garci-llano in the region.

Comments are closed.