Prosecutors to discuss guidelines on live Ampatuan trial coverage Friday

Prosecutors in the Maguindanao massacre trial will meet on Friday to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court ruling allowing live media coverage of the court proceedings. Private prosecutor Nena Santos, legal counsel for Maguindanao Gov. Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, said they will discuss ways to "fine tune the guidelines" set by the high court for the live coverage. Mangudadatu lost his wife and two sisters in what is considered as the worst election-related violence in the Philippines and worst single attack against journalists anywhere. Apart from Mangudadatu's wife and sisters, 54 others were killed, including 32 journalists. "More than anything else, our primary concern is our witnesses. Their identities should be protected," Santos said, stressing that witnesses would be vulnerable to threats once their faces are shown to the public. The prosecution earlier said revealing the face of a witness could compromise the confidentiality set under their membership to the government’s Witness Protection Program. Santos said among the suggestions they would be making would be for the faces of those taking the witness stand to be blurred in the footage. Another option would be to turn the camera away from the witness' face and only his or her voice would be heard in the footage. She said she agrees with guidelines set by the Supreme Court but admitted that some changes should be made. She said she agrees with the SC guideline requiring the airing of footage in its entirety without cuts or commercials. "Noon una nag-request sila na live coverage. Tapos ngayon namang pinayagan na basta buo ipapakita, umuurong sila dahil sa business concerns," Santos said, referring to broadcast stations that might refuse to air live coverage because of the advertising revenues that would be lost. "Pag iyon kasi ang concern nila, that's already commercializing the trial," Santos added. Several media groups have already voiced concerns over some parts of the SC guidelines, saying it was "restricting" and "infringes" on the freedom of the press. Private prosecutor Harry Roque, who represents families of some of the journalists killed in the massacre, said the guidelines seemed to be "substituting the discretion of media managers" in deciding what to consider news worthy or not. Implicated in the case are some members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including its patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., a former Maguindanao governor. - KBK, GMA News