TRO on PCIJ Blog
November 4th, 2005 at 1:59 pm (General, Media)
Yesterday, November 4, 2005, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) handed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). The said TRO ordered PCIJ to remove a post (dated August 14, 2005) on their blog regarding Jonathan Tiongco (Sec. Mike Defensor’s “audio expert”). The TRO was served upon the request of Tiongco’s wife, Rona, who alleged that the said post was intruding on her family’s privacy. Prior to the serving of the TRO by the QC RTC, the Supreme Court already denied a similar request from Jonathan Tiongco himself. The TRO is effective for 20 days, during which PCIJ is banned from posting or commenting or doing such actions regarding the blog entry in question.
I do believe that the TRO is a violation of one’s right to freedom of speech. The last time I checked, the Philippines is a democratic country and every citizen could say, write whatever they want to as long as it’s true. Yes, there are limitations to that right but I don’t think that the PCIJ entry crossed the line.
Moreover, as PCIJ mentioned, most, if not all, of the information contained in the banned blog entry is also contained in reports by other bloggers and journalists (in newspapers, newscasts, etc). So I don’t really see the point of banning that specific article. Some pundits contend that the PCIJ article was singled out since it was and can be read by people from all over the world. And I do believe that Tiongco brought it upon himself. If one claims to be an “expert” of any sort, especially since his expertise was used for an important and crucial national issue, one brings it upon himself to be under public scrutiny. Did he really expect people to simply take his and Defensor’s word??? And it’s not as if the information posted was classified or confidential.
If Tiongco’s wife’s case succeeds in fully banning PCIJ from forever re-posting that entry, then that would serve as a very scary precedent. If, indeed, a permanent restraining order is served, I doubt if it would take a long time for other public figures (politicians, public servants and such) from filing for restraining orders on blogs and bloggers. And eventually, the heat might not just be on bloggers anymore.
The more disconcerting fact is that the said TRO was served during a holiday which make me think if there was another political figure or office that pushed for the TRO to be served.
This issue will take a very long time to die down. Pundits and bloggers everywhere (around the world) will surely be talking about this one for weeks, or even months, depending on how fast the judicial system handles the case.
Unfortunately for Mr. Tiongco and his wife, they apparently know nothing about the blogging world. The more you suppress an issue, entry or topic, the more controversial it will get and the more attention and clamor people will give it. Thus, by asking for that TRO they might have inadvertedly cast more attention upon themselves. Trust me, people will find a way to find a copy of that blog entry. And they will be talking, writing and blogging about it for a long time.
Related Posts:- Julius Babao, Pres. Arroyo, Dawud Santos and Jonathan Tiongco
- Another TRO on the Aerial Spray Ban
- Does Being an Unknown Make You a Bad Person?
- TRO on Aerial Spray Ban Expires Today
- TRO on RA 9337 Lifted
Major Tom said,
November 6, 2005 at 11:30 pm
Mr. Tiongco seems to be too onion-skinned for comfort. In fact, I am so surprised that some court has issued this TRO, more so when it is against a not-so-popular medium like a blog. In law, the right to privacy becomes not absolutely demandable when one becomes a public entity, especially by one’s own doing. Mr. Tiongco somehow had waived some of this privileged when he decided one day to come out as an expert witness to the famous Garci Tapes scandal. He exposes his head and now he is complaining. This TRO is clearly an aberration of law.