Journalists to file class suit vs FG

Journalists are preparing a class action lawsuit against President Arroyo’s husband for allegedly stifling press freedom, their lawyer said yesterday.

At least 42 of the 43 journalists that Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo has accused of libel will serve as the main plaintiffs in the lawsuit that may be filed next week, said lawyer Harry Roque.

A separate case may be filed next week against the First Gentleman with the UN Commission on Human Rights after Filipino journalists "exhaust local remedies."

Local and international media groups have denounced a string of libel cases filed against the journalists and publishers as an effort to muzzle critics. The libel cases, filed over the last two years, were in connection with reports of alleged election fraud and corruption involving Mike Arroyo.

The lawyer for the President’s husband, Ruy Rondain, said he has not violated any criminal or civil laws.

"We will not stop them from filing any case. We welcome it. Unlike them, we don’t fault people for exercising their civil rights," Rondain said.

Mr. Arroyo’s spokeswoman, Juris Soliman, earlier denied the libel suits were intended to stifle the media and said the article in question were written with malice.

Meanwhile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has joined several media practitioners in condemning the libel suits filed by the First Gentlemen against media men.

"This is an abuse of right and an affront to the constitutional guarantee on press freedom," he said in a privilege speech.

Instead of suing the journalists, Estrada urged Mr. Arroyo to face the allegations in a free and democratic discourse. — AP, Marvin Sy