Chief Justice says RP
democracy 'under siege'

DEMOCRACY in this country is "under siege," and the increasing number of journalists killed in the line of duty is proof of a "growing culture of impunity," Chief Justice Reynato Puno told foreign and local media practitioners yesterday.

In a speech during the International Conference on Impunity and Press Freedom at the Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati, Puno said society is "bedeviled by the enforced disappearances of some votaries of democracy, especially media practitioners," but the people must persist in protecting it against threats to press freedom and in search for truth.

"Democracy in this country is under siege because bullets fired at the direction of journalists pierce not only human flesh but also our republican ideals," Puno said, adding that government's silence on the issue of enforced disappearances of journalists and human rights advocates only tend to make abuses thrive.

"An enforced silence on these enforced disappearances cannot but give impetus to its growing culture of impunity. It is this enforced silence that we ought to break for if there is anything that democracy can ill afford, it is the sovereignty of the deaf and the dumb," he said.

Puno said two threats have been hounding mediamen - censorship by killing and the abuse of restrictive defamation and libel laws. He noted that Philippines has the 5th highest number of incidents where journalists have been murdered. Citing the statistics provided by the international Committee for the Protection of Journalists, he said that since the start of President Arroyo's term in 2001, 70 journalists have already been killed.

Of the cases filed involving these killings, only one has been resolved, six are on trial, 18 are still under investigation, four have been dismissed and four are still pending prosecution.

But he said that despite threats to press freedom, history would show that no amount of harassment and murders would prevent journalists from its search of the truth. "In fine, history tells us that no amount of mutilation, no amount of murders of truth-tellers will kill freedom of the press," he said.

Puno said SC has instituted legal remedies to enhance human rights and protect freedom of the press, including the promulgation of the writs of amparo and habeas data. Regarding the abuse of libel laws, he said the high court has stressed its preference for fines instead of jail time, and the possibility of putting a cap on civil liability for libel.