JOURNALISTS who were arrested, “processed” and detained during the Nov. 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula standoff filed Tuesday their brief before the Court of Appeals as they pursued their appeal on the dismissal by a Makati City regional trial court of their P10 million class action suit against government officials.
The journalists said Judge Reynaldo Laigo committed “reversible error” in dismissing on June 20 their complaint on the ground that they had no cause of action against Philippine National Police and other government officials responsible for their arrest and detention and who subsequently threatened journalists with arrest and detention.
They also questioned Laigao’s decision denying their application for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary prohibitory injunction, and denying the admissibility of the testimony of expert witness, Raul C. Pangalangan, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law. (Download the journalists’ brief.)
The journalists said the public pronouncements issued by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, then Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro that journalists who “ignore or interfere” in police operations deserve to be arrested or charged.
The journalists added that these pronouncements and DOJ advisory are constitutionally infirm for being content-restrictive acts that have a “chilling effect” on protected speech.
They also said the unceremonious hauling off to prison camp of journalists who chose to remain at the Manila Peninsula Hotel despite a police notice to vacate was plain censorship, and that they have clearly and sufficiently shown injury as a result of the action.
The journalists said they were seeking a preliminary injunction “if only to prevent any violation, or further violation, of (their) right of free expression and a free press in a democratic society.”
They also argued that Pangalangan testified as an expert in American constitutional law and international law, and was presented merely to assist the court in ascertaining the law as it applies to the facts in the case.
Harry L. Roque Jr., also of the UP College of Law and counsel for the journalists, said the appeal is necessary to avoid a repeat of the incident.
“Unless the police are told by the courts that they cannot substitute their judgment for events that should be covered by the media, there will always be the risk that the arrest of journalists for doing their job would always be repeated. The journalists are filing their appeal to safeguad the right of the public to know,” he said.
Note: VERA Files trustees Ellen Tordesillas, Chit Estella and Yvonne Chua are among the appellants.