Cebu Citizens Press Council

The Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) on June 28, 2006 expressed support for two House-approved bills affecting the media and strongly urged the Senate to pass the bills.

The bills, already transmitted to the Senate after they were approved in the House on third and final reading are:

(1) HB 2960, which seeks to include broadcast, wire, and internet journalists under the protection of the Sotto Law; and (2) HB77, which limits the venue of civil and criminal libel against community print and broadcast journalists and newspapers and broadcast stations to the principal office of business of the publication or station.

Both bills were introduced by Rep. Raul V. del Mar of the north district of Cebu City.

Sotto Law

The 15-member CCPC, meeting en banc at the MBF Cebu Press Center, said the Sotto Law, which grants journalists the right not to divulge his news sources except when the security of the state requires, applies only to print journalists. The amendment will correct a long-standing anomaly.

As to the change of venue in libel, the CCPC noted that the present venue, which includes the office or residence of the complainant, has been used to oppress community journalists, publications and broadcast stations. For a cause of action that arose in Cebu, one can be sued for libel in, say, Quezon City or Parañaque if the complainant lives there or has his office there.

In the same en banc meeting, the CCPC adopted the committee report on principles on identifying crime suspects that the Press Council may issue as advisory to Cebu journalists.

More dialogues will be held by the committee with reporters and their news sources. The committee is headed by Mayette Q. Tabada of the UP in the Visayas Cebu College.

The CCPC’s third quarterly en banc meeting was presided by vice president Sabino Dapat. President Pureza Oñate was out of the country.

Website

Other matters taken up included:

- Incorporation of the Press Council, handled by Atty. Jonathan Capanas;

- Setting up of the CCPC website, reported by Sun.Star’s Cherry Ann T. Lim (separate story);

- Handling of complaints and the pending bills affecting media, reported by Sun.Star’s Pachico A. Seares.

Present

Those who attended the meeting were Sabino Dapat, Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas, Eileen G. Mangubat and Lino Gilbert Parone of Cebu Daily News, Mayette Tabada and Mia Embalzado (St. Theresa’s College), representing the academe; Ed Abad and Leo Lastimosa of KBP, John Rey Saavedra of Freeman Banat News, Anol Mongaya of Sun.Star Superbalita [Cebu]; Juan L. Mercado of the Philippine Press Institute (guest), and Cherry Ann T. Lim and Pachico A. Seares of Sun.Star Cebu.

THE TWO AMENDMENTS

What they seek to do

- The Sotto Law will also cover journalists of broadcast stations, wire agencies, and the Internet who are not mentioned in the existing law

- The venue of libel will be limited to the principal office of business or opreration of the journalist or his organization

The chances of passage

- The Senate can act on the bills, which have been sent up from the House, when it resumes in July until the end of the year; the few months next year before the elections might no longer be spent on legislation

- If they are not passed within this Congress, they go back to square one in the next Congress