ILOILO City – The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Iloilo Chapter questioned the manner of arrest of two media personalities here.
Newspaper columnist and cable television host Peter Jimenea and 60-year-old blogger and radio block-time program host Manuel Mejorada were separately arrested on libel charges last week.
The two were treated like dangerous and armed criminals, lamented NUJP-Iloilo.
From La Paz district here, Jimenea was handcuffed and brought to San Jose, Antique where the complaint was filed.
Mejorada, on the other hand, was arrested at his house in Pavia, Iloilo handcuffed and brought to the municipal police station on June 7, a Friday, which meant he could only post bail the next day.
He would have spent a night in jail if he was not brought to a hospital after feeling ill due to elevated blood pressure.
NUJP-Iloilo clarified it does not agree with and subscribe to many acts of Mejorada in the exercise of the basic right to expression. “We defend and uphold freedom of expression and freedom of the press even as we also maintain that these rights should not be abused and should be exercised with utmost responsibility,” it stressed.
But according to NUJP-Iloilo, the guilt or innocence of Jimenea and Mejorada in the specific cases they were arrested for would still be determined by the appropriate courts.
“That is why we question why, in the implementation of arrest warrants, they were treated like dangerous armed criminals,” the group lamented.
It stressed that libel is a bailable offense and is unlike, murder, drug trafficking, robbery or rape.
“Considering their age, physical condition and stature in the community, it is ridiculous to consider that they are dangerous and pose flight risks,” NUJP-Iloilo added.
The arrests, according to the group, again highlighted the call of freedom of expression advocates and journalists to decriminalize libel.
The libel law in the Philippines as provided in the Revised Penal Code is archaic, it stressed.
While it is meant to deter abuse of the freedom of expression, this law has also been widely used to intimidate and harass journalists and suppress legitimate expression and criticism which are essential in a democracy, the group explained.
NUJP-Iloilo further cited a statement from United Nations Human Rights Committee in an October 2011 declaration that the criminal sanction for libel in the Philippines is “excessive” and violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty that the Philippines is a signatory of.
The group further noted that globally, there has been a trend for the decriminalization of libel especially on speech concerning public officials or figures.
In many countries, the group further said, libel is a civil offense and violators face civil liabilities through indemnification of the aggrieved party and not imprisonment.
“These countries have taken the position that a civil law is adequate to protect one’s reputation against defamation or libel and offer compensation for any damages done,” stated NUJP-Iloilo./PN
