PNP, BJMP execs face raps for barring 'Maguindanao' trial coverage

MANILA, Philippines - A group of journalists will file a complaint  against key officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) for barring members of the media from covering the Maguindanao massacre trial.

 

The members of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists Inc. (FFFJ) will troop to the Office of the Ombudsman around 2 p.m. today to sue Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac and Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor of the PNP Public Information Office, and Quezon City Jail Annex warden Jail Senior Inspector  Lloyd Gonzaga.

 

The FFFJ said that the PNP and BMPJ officials violated press freedom and the people’s right to access information for disallowing media coverage of the hearings which are being held at a special courtroom in the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

 

Members of the press have been barred from entering the premises of Camp Bagong Diwa August 14 to cover the multiple murder trial,  the FFFJ said. 

 

The complaint against the government officials came days before the 5th year of the massacre which was allegedly masterminded and perpetrated by members of the powerful Ampatuan clan of Maguindanao, including former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and his father, ex-Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.  

 

A total of 58 persons,  including 32  media workers and journalists, were killed on Nov. 23, 2009 while on their convoy was on their way to the Commission on Elections office in Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy of then Buluan vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who was eyeing the Maguindanao gubernatorial post.

 

FFFJ is a coalition of five media organizations—the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, the Center for Community Journalism and Development, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Philippine Press Institute—formed in 2003 to address the numerous attacks and threats against the press.