Broadcaster jailed for libel to seek government compensation

MANILA, Philippines - A Davao-based journalist, who managed to get a favorable ruling from a United Nations panel after he protested his imprisonment for libel, will be asking P2 million from the government in compensation. 

During a forum at the UP College of Law on Friday, broadcaster Alexander Adonis said he would ask P1 million for each of the two years he was behind bars.

The UN Human Rights Committee told the Philippine government to provide Adonis with compensation for his imprisonment. 

His lawyer, Harry Roque, said they would soon be meeting with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to discuss the compensation and the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee to review the country’s libel law. 

“We will be asking Secretary De Lima to recommend to President Aquino to certify the decriminalization of libel as an urgent measure,” Roque said. 

Adonis elevated his case before the UN Human Rights Committee in July 2008. 

The UN panel said the Philippine government was “under obligation” to “review the relevant libel legislation.”

It believes Adonis’ imprisonment was “incompatible” with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

Following this, the UN panel ordered the Philippine government to provide Adonis “with an effective remedy, including adequate compensation for time served in prison.”

The panel said the complaint filed by Adonis presented a “violation” by the Philippines as a state party to the covenant.

In his radio program on Bombo Radyo in 2001, Adonis read a newspaper report alleging that former Speaker Prospero Nograles was seen running naked in a hotel when caught in bed by the husband of the woman with whom he was allegedly spending the night. 

A Davao court convicted Adonis of defamation under the Revised Penal Code in January 2007.

After spending two years in jail, Adonis questioned the compatibility of libel with freedom of expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

According to UN panel, the Philippine government was “under obligation” to take steps to ensure that similar violations would not occur in the future.

The panel’s view was adopted on Oct. 26, 2011 during the 103rd session of the UN body, but it was received only recently through a letter dated Jan. 10 sent to Roque.