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Right of Reply bill a threat to press freedom - Roxas


MANILA, Philippines – Amid the snowballing opposition to the bill granting a right for redress to persons negatively portrayed by media, a senator on Wednesday said that the Right of Reply bill (RORB) might encroach on the freedom of the press and could suppress the public’s right to information. Sen. Manuel Roxas II, one of the senators who did not sign the bill, said the legislation should be reviewed thoroughly before being passed in Congress. “Dapat marahan po tayo. Dapat dahan-dahan po ‘yan at [hindi] basta-bastang ipasa ‘yan. Dapat balansehin natin. Habang gusto natin na may balanseng laban, hindi dapat sagasaan yung freedom of information at freedom ng ating media," Roxas said in an interview on dzBB radio. [We should be careful in passing that bill and we should also balanced it. Although we want to be fair to the possible aggrieved parties, we should not tread upon the freedom of information and the freedom of the media.] RORB, which was principally authored by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., and Senators Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and Francis Escudero, seeks to punish media firms through imposition of fines, closure and imprisonment if they fail to immediately give the complainant an equal airtime for broadcast reports or equal space in newspapers. But Roxas said that the proposed measure could “weaken [media’s] role as the watchdog of society" and as “a pillar of democracy." Various media organizations on Tuesday denounced the RORB and vowed to block its passage in Congress. The journalists also said that the bill might be “an act of terrorism" against the media. Meanwhile, Malacañang washed its hands off the controversial bill, even as it admitted it is not quite ready to join media groups’ opposition to it. Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez Jr. said in a separate interview on Wednesday that it was "impossible" for the Palace to have pushed the bill, saying proposed laws originate only in Congress. The Senate (SB 2150) and the House’s (HB 3306) versions of the “access to media" proposals were born out of an attempt to ease the tension triggered by the “clash" between the freedom of speech and the right to protect one’s reputation. The Senate passed the bill in July 2008, while its version at the House of Representative remains pending. - GMANews.TV
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