In the shutdown of broadcast giant ABS-CBN, then president Rodrigo Duterte at least took pains to distance himself – even if unconvincingly – from the House of Representatives’ non-renewal of the network’s franchise.
This time, the House supermajority allied with President Marcos is barely pretending that threats to revoke the broadcast franchise of Sonshine Media Network Inc. (SMNI) have nothing to do with the deepening feud between BBM’s cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, and the Dutertes.
Outside the Duterte circles (it remains a considerably large one), SMNI is not much liked. On his SMNI show, Duterte commented about killing House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro. It might have been hyperbole, but considering his track record, Castro took the statement seriously, and slapped Duterte with his first criminal case after his presidency.
SMNI is the bully pulpit not only of Duterte and his equally impudent daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, but also of Lorraine Badoy, the former spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Badoy, along with her SMNI program co-host Eric Celiz, have announced a hunger strike to protest their detention at the Batasang Pambansa premises starting Dec. 5, after they were cited in contempt by the House committee on legislative franchises. This was for the refusal of Celiz to identify the source of his comments in the program, that Romualdez has a travel fund of P1.8 billion. Badoy was cited in contempt for allegedly lying about her role as producer and co-host, refusing to answer and “acting in a disrespectful manner.”
Both Romualdez and House officials have dismissed the story about the travel fund as fake news. Celiz initially apologized and admitted that his source provided wrong information. But he later said he gave the statement without the benefit of counsel, and asked that it be stricken off the record. The House rejected the request.
On Dec. 6, the House panel adopted a resolution, calling on the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to suspend the franchise of SMNI’s registered operator, Swara Sug Media Corp.
The House panel explained that the company violated Section 4 of its franchise, which provides that Swara Sug has the responsibility not to deliberately disseminate false information or engage in willful misrepresentation. The House is also looking into SMNI’s partnership with CGTN, the China Global Television Network, operated by the propaganda arm of the Communist Party of China.
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PBA party-list Rep. Margarita Nograles said the House move “is not an attack on the freedom of the press,” as lamented by Badoy.
“Rather, we are defending the right of the people to have accurate and true reporting so that they can formulate honest opinions and thus contribute positively to society,” Nograles maintained.
Journalists’ code of ethics in fact include a commitment to accuracy and fairness in reporting and commentary. No one is perfect, and errors and inaccuracies can be made, which we do our best to correct. Such mistakes, even if inadvertent, can earn us criminal and civil cases for libel (and now cyber libel).
The test for libel, however, is not factual inaccuracy but malice.
Being a member of the press, I feel uneasy with the detention of broadcast commentators for their refusal to identify their sources.
We’ve had two laws, and a current third, protecting journalists from revealing news sources.
The first was Republic Act 53, circa Oct. 5, 1946, which exempted the publisher, editor or reporter from disclosing the source of news or information obtained in confidence. In June 1956, RA 53 was amended by RA 1477, which expanded the coverage to columnists and accredited reporters of print media.
On Aug. 30, 2019, Rodrigo Duterte himself signed the third law, RA 11458, expanding the protection coverage to broadcast, wire service and online journalists. RA 11458 states that identifying the source can be sought only if a court or Congress “finds that such revelation is demanded by the security of the State.”
Surely protecting Martin Romualdez from fake news is not synonymous with the security of the State. If he feels aggrieved, he should sue Celiz and Badoy for defamation-related offenses, and seek hefty civil damages. The law provides protection, even for public officials, against malicious and licentious reporting and commentary. Considering Romualdez’s position, litigation can move much faster than usual and he can quickly get redress.
If he’s trying to project the issue as nothing personal, the statements of House members in going after Celiz and Badoy indicate otherwise. This is also happening amid Rodrigo Duterte’s harangues against the House and Romualdez, and the Speaker’s feud with Vice President Sara Duterte.
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No matter what journalists think about SMNI and the person widely believed to be its owner, Apollo Quiboloy, the way the House is using its power to issue broadcasting franchises is causing unease. There’s more than one way of skinning a cat; the Philippines can simply hand over Quiboloy to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has the pastor on its most wanted list for multiple offenses.
While the cases are different, there are also similarities that bring to mind the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise by the House, which stalled action until the franchise expired.
Commenting on this stalling, Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen declared that “... the delay in the franchise renewal deliberations for no technical reason at all effectively silenced petitioner, which amounts to a prima facie censorship... Indeed, such exercise of censorship is an assault on the right to free speech that is engraved in our fundamental law.”
Even folks I know who will take Romualdez anytime over VP Sara are now concerned that the Speaker has been exhibiting disturbing tendencies to exercise that kind of media censorship when it involves his personal interests. This can only breed resentment among media practitioners.
If he truly has his eyes on the presidency, Romualdez might want to focus on winning hearts and minds, which cannot happen through intimidation.
The shutdown of ABS-CBN triggered debates on whether Congress, notorious for navel-gazing members, should continue having the power to grant media franchises.
If the objective is to ensure the proper distribution of limited broadcast frequencies, the NTC already has this mandate.
ABS-CBN’s loss of its franchise led to observations that Republic Act 7925, the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995, does not even cover broadcast companies, but only telecommunications firms, in the requirement to secure a legislative franchise before operation.
There are people who say the Dutertes have found their match, and are rooting for Romualdez.
On the other hand, there’s the possibility that in this melee, both camps will end up bloodied and come off as villains who deserve each other.