Several media organizations have asked the Supreme Court to allow them to cover live the Dec. 19 promulgation of verdict on the Maguindanao Massacre case involving the mass murder of 58 people, including 32 journalists, 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Operations Office Undersecretary Jose Joel Sy Egco on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow government communication agencies to cover the promulgation of the decision on the case.
Egco, who also serves as the executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, wrote to Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez asking permission to cover the case.
In a letter to Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Dec. 3, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said the families of the victims, the media and the public waited for 10 years for the promulgation of the result of the case.
“Due to its undeniable public importance, the NUJP, the CMFR and the PCIJ respectfully request the Supreme Court to allow journalists and media organizations to conduct a live coverage and streaming of the Dec. 19, 2019 promulgation of the decision on the Ampatuan Massacre,” the groups appealed in their letter.
“The undersigned organizations also ask the Honorable Court to designate a specific area within the courtroom for the reporters and cameramen to stay during the promulgation.”
The media organizations said the live coverage would allow the families and relatives of the victims to watch the proceedings if they not able to attend the promulgation in Metro Manila.
Most family members of the victims are from Mindanao such as General Santos City, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Maguindanao.
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“The trial of the Ampatuan Massacre has been followed by the families mostly through after-hearing reports and off-court broadcasts in the past years,” groups said in their letter.
“It is now their hope that they be allowed to hear the decision simultaneously as it is read in court. The promulgation is the culmination of their fight for justice at the lower court.”
Aside from the families of the victims, the general public would also benefit from the live coverage/streaming of the promulgation that would be held in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, at 9 a.m. of Dec. 19.
The media groups also said that the coverage/streaming would not be prejudicial to the rights of the accused since during promulgation the decision of the judge would be read. The live coverage/streaming would not affect the substantive matters during the promulgation.
The Quezon City court would render judgment after 10 years since the brutal killing happened on Nov. 23, 2009.
There are 197 suspects who were initially charged for the massacre, which claimed the lives of 58 people including 32 media practitioners.
A total of 117 people have been arrested, including prominent members of the Ampatuan clan. Seven of them died while in detention, including former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.
The charges against nine others have been dropped, including the three who were allowed to become state witnesses. Eleven of them are out on bail, while 80, including Datu Saudi Ampatuan Jr., remain at large.
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