Live coverage of massacre trial allowed

MANILA - In a landmark ruling, the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) has granted a petition filed by relatives of the Maguindanao massacre victims for live media coverage in the trial of the gory killings of 57 people, including 32 journalists in 2009.

Voting unanimously, the SC partially granted the petition of President Aquino, relatives of the 57 massacre victims, major TV networks, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, several journalists and members of academe.

In a 15-page unanimous decision penned by retiring Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, the high court said that the Maguindanao massacre case is an exemption to the general rule that prohibits live airing of court trial because of the “impossibility of accommodating all interested parties, even the private complainants/families of the victims and other witnesses, inside the courtroom.”

“It is about time to craft a win-win situation that shall not compromise rights in the criminal administration of justice, sacrifice press freedom and allied rights, and interfere with the integrity, dignity and solemnity of judiciary proceedings,” the court said.

“Technology tends to provide the only solution to break the inherent limitations of the courtroom, to satisfy the imperative of a transparent, open and public trial.”

The high court stressed that the landmark ruling only applies to the Maguindanao massacre case, and only under specific guidelines.

Under the guidelines, only the SC public information office would set up a camera inside the court room at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 where television and radio outfits would hook-up.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez said the high court took into consideration the latest technology information in the request for live media coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial.

“The court of course had to weigh the rights of the accused together with press freedom and the right of the public to information,” he said. “So all these rights were weighed, that’s why the court has come up with this compromise.”

Marquez also said media entities are required to apply for accreditation with the RTC before they would be allowed to air live the trial.

“The proceedings shall be broadcast without any voice-overs, except brief annotations of scenes depicted therein as may be necessary to explain them at the start or at the end of the scene,” Midas said.