‘1991 jurisprudence bars live media coverage of Ampatuan trial’

Amid calls from journalist and lawyer groups for live coverage of massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.’s multiple murder trial, Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez on Tuesday cited a 19-year-old court resolution that restricts media coverage to protect the rights of the defendant. "The prevailing jurisprudence is that live TV and radio coverage is not allowed. A judge who allows such live coverage is not following jurisprudence," Marquez told dzXL radio in Filipino. Still, Marquez said live media coverage may be allowed if the petitioners can show that live coverage would not violate the respondent’s right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. He added that press freedom and the public’s right to information could also give weight to calls to allow the trial’s live coverage. "Kung maipapakita mo na the right to information at freedom of the press, pag yan ang pinanindigan mo pero di makakasama o mababalewala ang right of the accused pwede payagan yan (If you can show the right to information and freedom of the press can be balanced with respecting the right of the accused, there is a chance it will be allowed)," he added. 1991 jurisprudence The Supreme Court issued an en banc resolution on Oct. 22, 1991 pertaining to the libel case that then President Corazon Aquino filed against then newspaper columnist Luis Beltran. It said representatives of the press have "no special standing" in a trial, and massive intrusion of media representatives can "alter or destroy" the judicial atmosphere. "Representatives of the press have no special standing to apply for a writ of mandate to compel a court to permit them to attend a trial, since, within the court room, a reporter’s constitutional rights are no greater than those of any other member of the public," a portion of the resolution read. "Considering the prejudice it poses to the defendant’s right to due process as well as to the fair and orderly administration of justice and considering further that the freedom of the press and the right of the people to information may be served and satisfied by less distracting, degrading and prejudicial means, live radio and television coverage of court proceedings shall not be allowed," it added. "Video footage of court hearings for news purposes shall be restricted and limited to shots of the courtroom, the judicial officers, the parties and their counsel taken prior to the commencement of official proceedings. No video shots or photographs shall be permitted during the trial proper," the court further said. More access to media Last Monday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) bared plans to ask Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes to allow live media coverage of Andal Jr.’s murder trial. [See: NUJP to seek increased media access in Maguindanao massacre trial] The mayor allegedly masterminded the mass slaughter of 57 people, including 31 journalists, last November 23 in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. [See: The Ampatuan massacre: a map and timeline] Live media coverage was barred in the first trial hearing held last January 5. The next hearing is scheduled Wednesday. [See: Back to basics for journalists covering Ampatuan trial] - with Sophia Dedace/RSJ, GMANews.TV