United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan was set to meet with officials of the Department of Justice last night after meeting with National Privacy Commission officials on Tuesday morning as part of her official visit purportedly to examine the state of rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the country.
Justice Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez said the DOJ has prepared for the visit of Khan, the UN special rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.
“Khan is expected to hold a dialogue with the DOJ to discuss steps that the government takes to strengthen the justice system, freedom of expression and rule of law in the country),” Gutierrez said in a television interview.
“The DOJ prepared a welcome dinner for Khan tonight to formally start her visit in the country which will end on Feb. 2,” she said.
On Tuesday morning, Khan visited the NPC and met officials led by Commissioner John Henry Naga.
Naga said Khan appeared satisfied and happy after their one-hour meeting where they explained NPC’s role in protecting the data privacy of Filipinos.
The commissioner expressed belief the NPC was the first office Khan visited because of the incident last year where a journalist in Bicol was refused access to a blotter.
According to him, the NPC released an advisory opinion that media are exempted from the Data Privacy Act as long as the information they get from the police blotter are used in the news reports.
However, journalists should also follow the procedures stated by the police.
“We stated that media are exempt from the coverage of the DPA as long as they will use what they see on the blotter in the news report. At the same time, on the other end, the police have their own procedures on how you can access the blotter and we should also follow that, and we should also respect that,” Naga said.
Khan will also meet with representatives from the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Foreign Affairs, Supreme Court, Presidential Task Force on Media Security, Anti-Terrorism Council, civil society, and private companies.
She will also be meeting with leaders of Congress.
Khan, who arrived on Monday, will also be going to Baguio City, Tacloban City, and Cebu City.
