Cebu Citizens Press Council

THE Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) en banc has approved the arguments and resolutions prepared by Cebu journalists and lawyers on bills seeking to decriminalize libel and promote journalists’ welfare.

During its first quarterly meeting for the year on March 24, 2008 at the MBF Cebu Press Center, CCPC members and alternates Dr. Pureza Oñate, Sabino Dapat, Atty. Jonathan Capanas, Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas, Mario King, Mayette Tabada, Mia Embalzado, Edward Abad, Leo Lastimosa, Pachico Seares, Divine Ngujo, John Rey Saavedra, Eileen Mangubat and Anol Mongaya adopted the positions taken earlier by some media members of the CCPC and Cebu Media Legal Aid (Cemla) during a March 12 meeting at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel.

The resolutions and position papers supporting them will now be sent to members of Congress for their consideration during the deliberation on the bills.

Decriminalizing libel

Cemla’s Rosemarie Versoza made a comparison of the general features of the bills seeking to decriminalize libel to members and guests at the CCPC meeting, including Philippine Press Institute (PPI) trustee Juan Mercado, Sun.Star Cebu columnist and GMA 7 anchor Bobby Nalzaro, Cebu Daily News (CDN) editor-in-chief Connie Fernandez, Sun.Star Cebu executive editor Michelle So, Sun.Star Network Exchange head Nini Cabaero, Cebu Holdings Inc. assistant vice president Ver de la Cerna and MBF Cebu Press Center manager Jolen Lim.

The bills were Senate Bill 918 by Sen. Edgardo Angara, SB 110 (Sen. Mar Roxas), SB 223 (Sen. Loren Legarda), SB 5 (Sen. Jinggoy Estrada), SB 1403 (Sen. Francis Escudero) and House Bill 2802 (Rep. Prospero Nograles).

Representing Cemla at the meeting were Philippine News Agency bureau chief Eddie Barrita, Sun.Star Cebu columnist Elias Espinoza; dyHP legal adviser Ruphil Bañoc, Piedad “Bingo” Gonzalez and Pedro Rosito.

Supporting provisions

CCPC acting executive director and Sun.Star Cebu editor-in-chief Seares and Cemla’s Espinoza discussed the position of Cebu editors and lawyers on the bills and presented the draft resolution supporting certain provisions of the bills, specifically those on removing the jail penalty for libel; raising the fine as penalty (but at reasonable amounts affordable to community journalists); reducing the prescriptive period of libel from one year to six months; exempting from liability the editor, publisher, newspaper or station manager, or news director who did not review the alleged libelous material before printing or airing; and limiting the venue of libel to the court of the province or city where the principal office of the journalist is.

They supported keeping libel as a crime, but retaining only the penalty of fine, saying this was advantageous to journalists because it was important to give aggrieved parties a venue for their complaints as this also helps to prevent the assassination of journalists.

Espinoza also said that in criminal cases, proof of malice is required. This is hard to establish.

Seares explained that a civil case for damages is actually worse than a criminal case because it requires only a preponderance of evidence in order to succeed, while crime requires proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Warrant of arrest

Espinoza made it clear, however, that even if the penalty of imprisonment were to be removed, a warrant of arrest would still be issued “because that’s how the court attains jurisdiction of the suspect.”

Provincial Prosecutor Jane Petralba added that if the amount of the penalty is P20,000 to P50,000, “then that case will go to the Regional Trial Court, so there will be a warrant of arrest.”

Petralba said it is the Supreme Court that rules on procedural matters such as the question of the use of summons instead of warrants. But as far as jurisdiction is concerned, this can be legislated, so this is a matter for Congress.

Seares then requested Petralba, Regional State Prosecutor for Central Visayas Fernando Gubalane and Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Simaco Labata to drop libel cases outright if there is no probable cause or if some persons are clearly not involved, saying that sending these to the courts, where the charges will just be dismissed anyway, will just clog the courts.

Deterrent

CCPC member and CDN publisher Eileen Mangubat expressed concern that removing the penalty of imprisonment might reduce the deterrent effect of the law.

Indeed, Regional Prosecutor Gubalane warned that even with libel still a crime, some subjects of news stories feel that journalists go too far in their reporting or commentary.

He revealed that in the Edgar Damalerio and Marlene Esperat murder cases he handled, the accused said they were hired by persons aggrieved by exposes.

However, Seares said the prospect of going to jail had never been a deterrent because it is rare to see a journalist in jail. A greater deterrent is the cost of the litigation and the hassle of attending court hearings, he said.

Benefits

On the bills seeking to promote journalists’ welfare, CCPC member John Rey Saavedra said that while Senate Bill 1398 by Sen. Loren Legarda and Senate Bill 9 by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada sought benefits for journalists, it also proposed the creation of a national coordinating council for media and the drafting of a code of conduct for journalists by the office of the press secretary.

Presenting the editors’ position on the bills, Seares said the proposed coordinating council and code for journalists could interfere with functions of the press and impair its freedom.

He added that while the bills have good intentions, labor laws are adequate to protect journalists and benefits should be left to market forces to dictate.

Bail bond

Taking advantage of the presence of the prosecutors, CCPC and Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) member Edward Abad asked why dyXR Aksyon Radyo station manager Carlo Dugaduga had been meted a bail bond of P70,000 when normally the libel bond is only P10,000.

Dugaduga was indicted as manager of the station where broadcaster Gilbert Wagas operated a noontime block-time program. Wagas was accused of having committed libel against Cebu Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. in this program.

Provincial Prosecutor Petralba responded by saying the Department of Justice had a bail bond guide for prosecutors to follow.

“The bail set by the prosecutor is only recommendatory. It’s the court who will decide on it,” she said.

According to the DOJ guide, the bond is only P10,000, she said.

Amount

Seeking further clarification, CCPC member and KBP-Cebu chairman Leo Lastimosa revealed that Talisay City Prosecutor Marshall Rubia’s explanation for setting the bond at P70,000 was that “what is set in the bond guide is the minimum, and that there is no maximum for the bond amount.”

Petralba chose not to answer him directly. Instead she announced that the Provincial Prosecutors Office is now committed to the program of the Peace and Order Council regarding the decongestion of courts.

“It has an internal agreement not to pose vehement objection to the reduction of bail if the accused is not a recidivist and the crime is not heinous,” she said.

Seares asked whether it was right that the setting of Dugaduga’s bail was made dependent on the status of the complainant.

Petralba said that rather than the status of the complainant, the foremost consideration in setting the amount for bail is the probability of the accused to abscond, the physical condition of the accused (which could be an argument for reduction of bond), and the financial capacity of the accused.

Right to reply

During the meeting, Cherry Ann Lim, assistant to the CCPC executive director, reported that decisions made by the CCPC en banc in its earlier meeting in December 2007 had resulted in a lawmaker dropping one bill, among other things.

After the CCPC sent its position paper and resolution opposing bills seeking to legislate the right to reply to members of Congress, Rep. Juan Edgardo M. Angara, author of House Bill 162, said he would withdraw the bill, Lim reported.

Rep. Monico Puentevella, author of HB 1001, said he would first engage in a dialogue with the media groups in Bacolod City, which he represents, to get an assurance of fairness in media coverage.

On the other hand, Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., author of SB 1178, along with Sens. Pia Cayetano, Chiz Escudero and Loren Legarda, said he would take into consideration the issues raised in CCPC’s position paper during the deliberations on the measure, she told the body.

Model

Lim also informed the CCPC members that during an international conference of journalists and lawyers on impunity and press freedom attended by the PPI’s Mercado, CCPC’s Seares and Cemla’s Versoza last Feb. 25-27, 2008, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility executive director Melinda Quintos de Jesus acknowledged the work that CCPC had been doing and raised it up as a model to follow in being proactive in issues affecting the media.

Cebu Holdings Inc., through Ver de la Cerna, expressed its support for the CCPC’s work by presenting a donation of P50,000 to the group. CTL