Cebu Citizens-Press Council

Cebu Citizens-Press Council
Minutes of the 9th Quarterly Meeting
December 14, 2007, MBF Cebu Press Center

CCPC Members Present
Sabino Dapat (presiding officer), Atty. Jonathan Capanas, Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas, Mario King, Jose Rafael Ferreros, Mayette Q. Tabada, Mia Embalzado, Edward Abad, Leo Lastimosa, Pachico Seares, Divine Ngujo (alternate of Jerry Tundag), Eileen Mangubat and Anol Mongaya.

Guests
1. Juan Mercado, Trustee, Philippine Press Institute
2. Bobby Nalzaro, Sun.Star Cebu columnist and anchor of GMA 7′s Balitang Bisdak
3. Michelle So, executive editor, Sun.Star Cebu
4. Connie Fernandez, executive editor, CDN
5. Marit Remonde, station manager, dyLA
6. Atty. Eddie Barrita, Bureau chief, Philippine News Agency and member, Cemla
7. Atty. Frank Malilong Jr., member, Cebu Media Legal Aid
8. Atty. Elias L. Espinoza, Cemla
9. Atty. Maria Dee S. Del Rosario, Cemla
10. Atty. Rosemarie O. Versoza, Cemla
11. Atty. Ruphil Bañoc, legal adviser of dyHP
12. Jolen Lim, manager, MBF Cebu Press Center
13. Cherry Ann T. Lim, assistant to the acting executive director, CCPC
14. Alex Badayos, photographer, Sun.Star Cebu

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by the presiding Officer, Mr. Sabino R. Dapat at 11:45 A.M.

As a matter of adopted procedure, the reading and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting was again dispensed with and every member of the council has been requested to just read the minutes as published in the CCPC website.

Presentation of CCPC Accomplishment report

A report on the accomplishments of the CCPC since its revival in September 2005 was made by Cherry Ann T. Lim, assistant to the acting executive director.

Presentation of and Discussion on bills legislating the right to reply
a) Background

Rose O. Versoza of the Cebu Media Legal Aid says the bills pending in the 14th Congress–Senate Bill 1178 by Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., House Bill 162 by Rep. Juan Edgardo M. Angara and House Bill 1001 by Monico Puentevella–compel newspapers or broadcast stations to publish or broadcast the reply of an aggrieved party in the same space in the newspaper or same program free of charge, with the length of the reply not exceeding the length of the accusation, not later than one day after the reply has been delivered to the office of the newspaper or station, under pain of penalty, like a fine or imprisonment. Editors may not edit the reply, except for libelous allegations.

b) Comments from lawyers

- Atty. Frank Malilong of the Cebu Media Legal Aid (Cemla) called the bills “idiotic and stupid” because they do not specify the period within which a person who claims to have been injured by a news item or opinion can avail himself of the right to reply. This opens the door for someone to complain about an item that came out five years ago and insist on his right to reply.

- Atty. Elias Espinoza said the Cemla strongly opposes the bills because they are like a Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of columnists, editors and commentators, making columnists and radio commentators hesitant to do their jobs of commenting against government officials. The bills are a “gag order on media disguised as right to reply bills,” and thus are “an affront to freedom of the press and expression,” he said.

He cited Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), of which the Philippines is a signatory, which provides for everyone’s right to freedom of expression.

- Atty. Eddie Barrita said that in his view, the bill is not constitutional because it runs counter to the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Passing the bills would be tantamount to telling journalists what to publish. It is against the Constitution to tell journalists what to publish and what not to publish.

c) Comments from editors

- Pachico Seares of Sun.Star Cebu said the bills are unnecessary and impractical because there are already many avenues and media through which aggrieved parties could exercise their right to reply.  “What we don’t like is compulsory access,” or legislating the right to reply, he said. But he agreed that there is a need for media to examine its own performance since it should have a sense of accountability also.

- Connie Fernandez of CDN said the bills are impractical because if an accusation comes out in the front page, then the reply would have to come out in the front page also. And then what if a big story comes up? Will the newspaper have to come up with two front pages just to accommodate the right to reply? And what if two subjects feel alluded to and insist on their right to reply and the publication of their replies on the same day?

- Eileen Mangubat of CDN said it will be difficult to operationalize a legislated reply to reply due to the limited print space and airtime available. Although the bills stem from legitimate complaints, this is not the proper response to the problem. Instead media should push for media literacy and educate the public on the current mechanisms available to them should they feel aggrieved.

d) Action

- Seares said the Cebu Citizens-Press Council had drafted a proposed resolution that could be sent to lawmakers. Attached to the resolution would be the position paper drawn up after a meeting of editors, broadcast journalists and Cemla representatives last Dec. 5, 2007 at Cebu City Marriott Hotel.

- Mangubat suggested including examples of how media now allows aggrieved subjects their right to reply in newspapers.

- Michelle P. So, trustee of the Philippine Press Institute, said the PPI had also adopted its own resolution opposing these bills, and that it would send the resolution of the CCPC to the PPI and the Philippine Press Council as part of the series of opposition to the bills.

- The proposed CCPC resolution was approved by the CCPC en banc.

Other business

a) Suggestions on possible issues to tackle:

- Sabino Dapat raised the issue of President Arroyo wanting to revive the anti-subversion law, saying it runs counter to Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s pronouncements that the communist insurgents have dwindled in number. He expressed concern that the move may be aimed at the media instead.

- Leo Lastimosa asked whether there is a need for the CCPC to take a stand on the protocol recently released that would have selected journalists imbedded during assault situations and operating on a pooled coverage basis, with them sharing their stories with those journalists who were not imbedded. Seares said the CCPC would need to look at the rules first.

b) Funding the CCPC meetings

- Some CCPC members said they could take turns hosting, for instance, the business group, the KBP and the news organizations.

- Mangubat said the newspapers should just pay for everything so they will not be beholden to anyone. The amount of P2,000 per newspaper is not too burdensome and can be placed in the annual budget to show the newspapers’ commitment to the CCPC.

- Edward Abad said the KBP could also probably help.

- Sabino Dapat suggested that the people responsible to fund the quarterly meetings for 2008 be designated already so they can prepare for it.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at about 2:00 in the afternoon.