Two news programmes critical of Arroyo cancelled; investigative news magazine to stop print

Two television news programmes that were critical of the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo have been taken off the air by its home station network ABC 5.

According to a release by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a SEAPA founding member in the Philippines, “Dokyu” and “Frontlines” were allegedly cancelled by network owner Antonio Cojuangco.

Philippine journalists give grounds for locus standi in suing president’s husband following motion to dismiss

The journalists suing First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo for abuse of right and for violating their right to the free exercise of their profession shrugged off Mr. Arroyo’s motion to dismiss their complaint, and maintained that their suit is meant to defend press freedom and democracy against Mr. Arroyo’s efforts to undermine both, according to a press release from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a SEAPA founding member.

Speaking through their lawyer, University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque, the journalists said that the Arroyo’ motion is based on technicalities and on a wrong interpretation of the rules and is thus devoid of merit.

Lawyer for Philippine journalists in suit against president’s husband receives death threats

The lawyer handling the class action suit of Philippine journalists against Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was threatened on the phone on 3 January 2007, according to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a SEAPA founding member.

Philippine reporter arrested for libel

A reporter in Pampanga, a province 80km north of Manila, was arrested on 19 December 2006 for libel, according to a report from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a SEAPA founding member.

In Philippines, journalists and media organisations sue president’s husband for chilling effect on press freedom

More than half of the 45 reporters, columnists, editors and publishers the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, has sued for libel are filing a civil class action suit against him on 28 December 2006, according to a release from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a SEAPA founding member.

Because the suit is being filed on behalf of the press, the journalists have been joined by other journalists and media and journalists’ organizations, among them the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and The Daily Tribune.

Philippine journalist dies from stabbing; former police personnel tried over death of another

Assailants stabbed to death a community journalist on 20 December 2006 in Batac, Ilocos Norte, a province north of Manila, according to a report from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a founding member of SEAPA.

Five Philippine journalists charged with libel of president’s husband, post bail

CMFR/Philippines - Five journalists posted bail at the Regional Trial Court of the Manila City Hall on 14 December 2006 following the court’s approval of the filing of libel charges against them by Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Two radio broadcasters shot in Philippines

Two radio journalists were injured when two unidentified men fired their guns at them on 1 December 2006 in Estancia, Iloilo province, about 400km south of Manila, reports the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

Philippine radio broadcaster-activist killed

CMFR/Philippines - A broadcaster was gunned down by an unidentified assassin on 27 November in Cagayan, a province more than 320km north of Manila.

CMFR calls on all media to join class action civil suit against Philippine president’s husband

The following is a 27 November 2006 statement from CMFR, a SEAPA member based in the Philippines:

Libel suits are among the perils journalists must face in this and many other countries, including those where press freedom has long flourished. Most journalists are aware that violations of the libel law have corresponding consequences under the Philippine justice system.

A libel suit is properly decided in the courts. The libel suits filed by Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, against 43 reporters, columnists, editors and other journalists, are now sub judice. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), in any case, does not comment on the merits of any libel case until it has been resolved one way or the other.

CMFR does not dispute the right of Mr. Arroyo to file a libel suit against anyone he believes has wronged him through a libelous imputation. But CMFR believes that the sheer number of suits he has filed indicates that the suits are primarily intended to intimidate the press and to silence criticism against himself as well as his wife’s administration.