SC expects thousands to watch 'test' livestreaming of Ampatuan trial

The Supreme Court (SC) Public Information Office is expecting “thousands" of viewers to watch the test livestreaming of the Ampatuan trial on the high court website next week. SC spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez said his office is preparing the technical aspects of providing a live video webcast of the trial on the SC website by next week. “I have already spoken with the technical people and mukhang kaya naman. Next week, we will try to have a test webcast," he said in an interview with GMA News TV’s “News To Go" anchor Howie Severino on Thursday morning. MArquez added that people behind the SC website are making sure that the site will be able hold up to the heavy traffic. “We are taking all these into account. Baka magkaroon tayo ng alternate site. We will make sure all our cables are sufficient to carry out this broadcast," he said. Chief Justice Renato Corona instructed earlier this week the SC’s Public Information Office to provide a live video webcast of the Ampatuan massacre trial. Corona issued the order after the high court, in 12-0 vote, allowed the live media coverage of the trial, provided that it will be aired in its entirety. The court’s decision applies to the Maguindanao massacre trial alone. ‘Compromise’ The guidelines for the live coverage set by the SC, however, were seen as too strict by media organizations such as the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). Marquez, however, maintained that the high court provided strict guidelines to ensure that both the right of the people to information and the rights of the accused are safeguarded. “Kaya natin pinayagan ang live coverage para sa transparency, right of the people to information and press freedom, but at the same time, we have to protect the rights of the accused. That’s why we arrived at this compromise," he said. He likewise appealed to media organizations to understand why the high court provided stringent guidelines for the live coverage of the trial. A total of 198 individuals have been accused of involvement in the killing of 57 people in Ampatuantown 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 AndalAmpatuan 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). NBN4 asked to cover trial Presidential Communications Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. meanwhile instructed the government television station NBN4 to air the live broadcast of the Ampatuan trial. Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that Coloma has asked the government-owned network to cover the court proceedings. “In keeping with the President’s longstanding position that the cause of justice and sustained reforms in ARMM require live coverage of the Maguindanao Massacre trial, Secretary Herminio Coloma of the PCOO has instructed NBN4 to undertake a gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial," he said in a statement posted on the government website. President Benigno Aquino III personally asked the SC in a letter last year to allow the live coverage of the Ampatuan trial. - VVP, GMA News