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Guidelines, not ban
“With due respect to the Supreme Court, although I still have to look into the justifications and basis of the decision, I’m always against restricting media coverage because remember the Maguindanao massacre is supposed to be the trial of the century insofar as the Philippine justice system is concerned,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters Monday.
“It’s not only us that is interested, but the international community as well,” De Lima said.
Told that among the court’s explanation for the new ruling was the need to protect the rights of the accused, De Lima said that the “remedy should be clear guidelines on how reporting should be done by the media but banning media coverage I think should probably not be (the case).”
On June 14, 2011, the court allowed the live broadcast of the trial by television and radio but subject to certain guidelines of the trial court.
On Oct. 23 this year, however, it reversed itself, explaining the need to protect the rights of the accused as well as the witnesses.
The court resolution was in response to four petitions: The partial motion for reconsideration filed by two relatives of the victims on the guidelines for the coverage which they said constituted prior restraint; Andal Ampatuan Jr.’s motion for reconsideration where he said the live coverage deprived him of his right to due process and equal protection; the consolidated comment of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, which said Ampatuan did not present new and convincing arguments; and a comment by the Office of the Solicitor General for President Aquino that a live media coverage of the hearings “neither constitutes a barbarous act nor inflicts upon the accused inhuman physical harm or torture that is shocking to the conscience.”
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