By MIKHA FLORES
DESPITE opposition from media groups for being unconstitutional, the right to reply provision in the fair election rules will likely stay, Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Friday.
“Hindi namin tatanggalin ang right to reply. In fact, ine-expand nga namin to protect the media people (We will not remove the right to reply. In fact, we are expanding it to protect the media people),” Brillantes said.
He added the Comelec will reword the provision after hearing the side of the media in a public hearing on Thursday.
The Comelec chief said the current rule is in fact “more protective” because it follows a procedure before anybody can insist on his or her right to reply.
Brillantes added that putting a procedure in the rule limits the power of Comelec. “If we remove the procedure, we will have more powers. We don’t like that,” he said.
Comelec has included a procedure through Resolution 9615 on how candidates can invoke their right to reply.
Under the resolution, candidates need to submit a verified claim against the media outlet to the Comelec. The Education and Information Department or field officers will endorse the complaint to the media entity for comment.
“Dapat may complaint. So wala kaming motu proprio authority (There must be a complaint. We cannot act on our own)”, Brillantes said.
The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas and GMA Network have opposed the right to reply. Rudolph Steve Jularbal, legal counsel of KBP, said the association of radio and TV networks has consistently taken the position that the right to reply is unconstitutional.
“In fact, even when this matter was included in RA 9006 (Fair Elections Act), it was the position of the KBP that the legislation of the right to reply is unconstitutional,” he said.
Brillantes replied the right to reply may be unconstitutional in other government agencies but the Constitution itself grants the right to reply to Comelec. “It has been expressly granted by the Constitution to the Commission,” he said.
The 1987 Constitution mandates Comelec “to ensure equal opportunity, time and space, and the right to reply” among candidates to achieve a “free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible elections.”
Brillantes said the poll body is considering putting a time limit to invoke the right to reply after Jularbal’s warning that “(the invocation) can be timed in such a way that it is towards the last part of the election period so as to gain media mileage.”
Brillantes said the right to reply provision is directed more to candidates rather than the media.
“We are addressing this more to the candidates rather than to the networks. We’re not supposed to be going after the networks. We’re going after the candidates who will violate the law,” he said.