Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)

(CMFR/IFEX) – On 3 August 2006, former president Joseph Estrada filed a Php30-million (approx. US$582,000) libel action against the staff of a Manila-based newspaper and two individuals for allegedly accusing him of malicious charges. In his 19-page complaint, Estrada filed the case against reporter Christine Herrera and the editors of the “Manila Standard Today”, as […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – A local journalist was recently sued for libel by a congressman in Pampanga, 80 kilometers north of Manila. Dante Fabian, a “Sun.Star” Pampanga reporter, was sued by Pampanga Rep. Francis Nepomuceno over three stories on an alleged Php19-million (approx. US$368,900) water pipes scam in Pampanga’s first district, which the official represents. In his […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the conviction of a journalist on 14 counts of libel arising from several articles he had written nearly a decade ago about a customs officer. “Abante Tonite” newspaper columnist and part-time television broadcaster Raffy Tulfo had been convicted by Judge Priscilla Mijares of the Pasay City […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – A tabloid reporter managed to escape death after being shot seven times on 14 August 2006 in Valenzuela City, just north of Manila. Roger Panizal, a reporter with the tabloid “Bagong Tiktik”, underwent surgery to remove a bullet from his right arm. He suffered seven gunshot wounds, including wounds to the palms of […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The police recently arrested one of two primary suspects in the 16 May 2006 killing of tabloid reporter Albert Orsolino. Ramon Rivera, a Navotas jail guard who was absent from his post without official leave, was arrested by the police intelligence under a warrant of arrest issued by a Malabon City regional trial […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – A government official recently warned against possible communist infiltration of the country’s newsrooms. During a state-sponsored forum on 21 August 2006, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said that there “are big possibilities in the media that there are some practitioners being courted by enemies of the state and probably successfully.” “We are profiling […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – For airing an episode showing individuals using drugs, a popular television network’s documentary programme was recently suspended by the country’s movie and television review board. In its memorandum dated 15 August 2006, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) suspended ABS-CBN Network’s documentary programme “The Correspondents” for three consecutive weeks or […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – A Manila-based photojournalist was slain on 31 July 2006 in Malabon City, just north of Manila. According to police reports, Prudencio “Dick” Melendres, a photojournalist working for the Manila-based tabloid “Tanod” (“Guardian”), had just left his home when he was murdered shortly before 9 a.m. (local time). Melendres was reportedly on his way […]