Media Legislation in the Philippines

INTRODUCTION

M

edia in the Philippines is considered the most free-wheeling in Asia, except for a lull in 1972 when then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, closed down most of the media establishments, and jailed almost all journalists critical of government.

The ouster of Marcos in 1986 also resulted in the mushrooming of newspapers and other publications, and the return of pre-martial law broadcasting networks alongside new ones. The new vigor with which publishers and network owners entered the crowded media market raised doubts as to the economic viability of the new entrants. A few publications indeed folded up, but the market remains vibrant, crowded, sometimes sensationalistic, but generally critical of government.

CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES

The country's negative experience with press censorship during martial law led framers of the 1987 Constitution to enact Constitutional guarantees to the basic right to information and the people's right to access public documents, as well as a reaffirmation of safeguards against abridgement of press freedom.

BALANCING ACTS

While the law generally is lenient towards journalists critical of government policies, programs, and personalities, the Penal Code has provisions on libel to protect public figures against unwarranted attacks on their private capacities. Indeed, many government officials who feel aggrieved by unreasonable attacks from media often resort to the law on libel. In actual practice, however, seldom has any media person been convicted of libel in the Philippines.

Movies and television are seen as another area deserving some form of government regulation. A law creating the Motion Picture Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) empowers an agency to censor or restrict the showing of films and TV shows deemed pornographic or injurious to public morals. But the debate on what constitutes pornography seems unending, and there are moves to amend the censorship law and to limit government regulation only to rating and classification, never censorhip. A bill has been filed in Congress seeking to replace the MTRCB with a Film Ratings and Classification Board.