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SC allows live coverage of Maguindanao massacre trial


(Updated 3:49 p.m.) One of the most sensational trials in Philippine history can now be aired live. The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted petitions seeking the live media coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial, said court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez at a press briefing. The court's decision stressed that it only applies to the massacre trial alone. In a unanimous vote, the SC justices gave weight to the consolidated petition of different media networks and organizations and the letter of President Benigno Aquino III, who requested the court to allow the live media coverage of the trial. The proceedings are being presided over by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.
SC's guidelines for live coverage of Maguindanao massacre trial
  • A single camera provided by the SC's Public Information Office will be stationed inside the court room and other cameras will take live feed from that camera.
  • Media entitles must write to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 a letter of application that they intend to broadcast and that they have the necessary technical equipment and plan to carry out the same with an undertaking they will fully cmply with the regulations and cover the entire proceedings until promulgation of judgment.
  • No select or partial coverage shall be allowed.
  • The audio-visual recording may be made both for documentary purposes and for transmittal to live television and radio broadcasting.
  • The broadcasting of proceedings for a particular day must be continuous in its entirety, except in such portions where Rules of Court excludes broadcast.
  • To provide faithful broadcast, no commercial break or any other gap shall be allowed until proceedings are adjourned, except during periods of recess called by the trial court.
  • The proceedings shall be broadcast without any voice-overs except brief annotations of scenes depicted therein and may be necessary to explain them from start to end.
  • No repeat airing of the audio-visual recording shall be allowed until after the finality of judgment, except brief footage and still images derived from cartographic sketches of scenes based on recordings only, or for news purposes.
  • "In this day and age, it is about time to craft a win-win situation that shall not compromise rights in the criminal administration of justice, sacrifice press freedom, and allied rights, and interfere with the integrity, dignity and solemnity of judicial proceedings," said the 15-page resolution written by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales. "Indeed, the Court cannot gloss over what advances technology has to offer in distilling the abstract discussion of key constitutional precepts into the workable context. Technology per se has always been neutral. It is the use and regulation thereof that need fine-tuning. Law and technology can work to the advantage and furtherance of the various rights herein involved, within the contours of defined guidelines," it added. The court's decision is pro hac vice (for this occasion), which means that it only applies to the Maguindanao massacre trial alone. The court also outlined guidelines for the live coverage of the trial. (See sidebar) The SC said those who violate the guidelines may be cited in contempt by the Quezon City court or may lose their permission to get live feed from the SC's camera. A copy of the resolution has yet to be furnished to the media. At a press briefing, Marquez announced that the SC weighed the following factors in arriving at the decision: advancement in information technology, the rights of the accused, press freedom, and the right of the public to information. "All these rights were weighed, that's why the court has came up with this compromise," said Marquez. Bid for live coverage In their petition, media group National Union of Journalist of the Philippines, ABS-CBN, and GMA Network challenged two earlier rulings of the SC denying the request to air the court proceedings, saying these violate the right to information and freedom of the press. Included among the petitioners were representatives of television networks GMA and ABS-CBN and 50 other media practitioners and representatives from the academe. (Disclosure: Howie Severino, editor-in-chief of GMA News Online, was among the signatories.) The petition was consolidated with President Aquino’s letter-request to Chief Justice Renato Corona where the President also asked for the live broadcast of the trial. President Aquino said in his letter-request that the trial must be conducted "in full public view" to show that "justice can and will be dispensed without fear or favor and in the full light of day." A total of 198 individuals have been accused of involvement in the killing of 57 people in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009, a crime that sent shock waves around the world. Among those accused are members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including its patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., a former Maguindanao governor; his sons Andal Jr., former Datu Unsay town mayor; Sajid, former officer-in-charge of the province; and Zaldy, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Among those killed in what is considered the worst case of political violence in the country were 32 journalists and relatives and supporters of current Maguindanao Governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu. The entourage had been on their way to the provincial capitol to file Mangudadatu's certificate of candidacy. The massacre was also the greatest number of slain journalists ever recorded in a single day. SC decision hailed Lawyer Romel Bagares of the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), which represents families of 15 of the 57 massacre victims, welcomed the ruling. "This is a great step towards an enlightened citizenry," Bagares told GMA News Online. "It is a vote for press freedom as much as it is a vote for the right to information of the public." The lawyer said it would have been a "great irony" if what is now considered the worst election-related violence and worst single attack on journalists would be "held behind closed doors." For her part, Rowena Paraan of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), which was among the petitioners, said she had mixed feelings about the decision because of its timing. "Today is both a sad and happy day. Sad because ex-Gov. [Joel] Reyes was excluded from among those charged for the murder of Gerry Ortega. Happy because of the SC decision on live coverage," she told GMA News Online in a separate interview. Reyes was the former governor of Palawan who along with five others were implicated in the killing of Gerry Ortega, a Palawan-based radio broadcaster, last January. On Tuesday, criminal charges against the six were dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Paraan, however, said she has yet to read a copy of the SC decision. "I would like to know what conditions were made by the court," she said. As of posting time, Sigfrid Fortun, legal counsel for Andal Sr. and Andal Jr., had yet to respond to GMA News Online's request for comment on the decision. Fortun was among the counsels who objected to the idea of live coverage, arguing that it would be tantamount to a "trial by publicity." - with Mark Merueñas/KBK/HS, GMA News
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