Articles by Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Journalist seeks court protection from would-be assassins
(CMFR/IFEX) – An Oriental Mindoro-based journalist filed a petition for a writ of amparo before the Supreme Court on 4 February 2008 after discovering a plan to kill him, allegedly by people involved in anomalies he had exposed. Oriental Mindoro is about 140 km south of Manila. Nilo Baculo Sr., publisher and writer for the […]
Journalists file suits to stop threats of arrest; court issues order against harassment
(CMFR/IFEX) – Over a hundred journalists filed two separate suits on 28 January 2008 in a unified effort to halt government threats against the press as well as further arrests. Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Winlove Dumayas granted a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the police, military, and other government offices […]
Broadcaster jailed in libel case
(CMFR/IFEX) – A provincial radio commentator has been in jail for over a week after being arrested on 22 January 2008 for failing to attend court hearings. The broadcaster was denied bail. Julito “Lito” Ucab, a freelance radio commentator in Cagayan de Oro, is now behind bars in the Butuan City Jail for failure to […]
Newspaper publisher threatened with death over report about alleged police extortion
(CMFR/IFEX) – The associate publisher of a provincial weekly has been threatened with death after her paper published a news story on three policemen who allegedly tried to extort money from an illegal drugs dealer. Associate publisher Grace Santos was threatened after her paper, “Sipol” (Whistle), printed a story on the arrest of three local […]
Journalists arrested at Peninsula Hotel incident ask Supreme Court to declare arrests illegal, protect them from harassment
(CMFR/IFEX) – Eleven journalists and media technicians from the Philippines’ biggest television network who were arrested for covering an incident involving about 20 soldiers in the Manila Peninsula Hotel in November 2007 have asked the Supreme Court to declare their arrest illegal and to protect them and other journalists from future government harassment. Led by […]
Court allows continuation of class action suit by journalists against president’s husband
(CMFR/IFEX) – A motion, the second filed by Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to dismiss the class action suit filed against him by 40 journalists and three media organizations in response to his numerous libel suits, has been denied by a Philippine court. The journalists filed a P12.5 million (approx. […]
Critical radio broadcaster killed
(CMFR/IFEX) – A radio broadcaster who was a vocal critic of local government corruption was killed by two men on motorcycle on 24 December 2007 around 10:00 am (local time) in Davao, a province south of Manila. Fernando “Batman” Lintuan, who had just completed his morning programme “Ligas Paka” (“If You’re Wicked, You’re Dead”) on […]
Authorities pressure media outlets to hand over footage, are unrepentant about journalists’ arrests
(CMFR/IFEX) – Following the arrest of over 30 journalists and media technicians who were covering the takeover of a hotel by a group led by a former military officer who is now a senator, a high-ranking government official told journalists on 5 December 2007 that they could be arrested again if they defied police orders […]