BY GARY MARIANO
‘When newspapers avoid libel cases because reporters and editors employ the highest available professional standards, it is the public that ultimately benefits.
THE ink is still wet on the good news that 35 representatives from media-citizen councils from all over the country have passed government training that would pave the way for their formal accreditation as practitioners of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
The ADR refers to options parties can take without going to court. It is recognized, encouraged and legitimized in many countries and international organizations. ADR can take the form of arbitration, mediation, conciliation and negotiation. In the Philippines, it is mandated by Republic Act No. 9285, the “ADR Act” of 2004 which also created the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution under the Department of Justice.
On the other hand, the media-citizen councils are a form of ADR mechanism for disputes between individuals and members of the press. Currently, most grievances are brought to regional trial courts as libel or cyber libel cases. In our country, defamation carries a prison term. While final convictions are rare, the legal process is time-consuming, costly, stressful, among others. A correspondent in Pampanga endured his case for 17 years before he was acquitted in 2021. He told this writer last year that he “shelled out thousands of pesos for my defense… Sarili kong gastos.”
Libel is a dubious badge of honor. But, following some twisted logic, a libel case may be preferred to physical violence.
The Philippine Press Council, created by Republic Act No. 4363 in 1965, is “a private agency of newspapermen, whose function shall be to promulgate a Code of Ethics for them and the Philippine press, investigate violations thereof, and censure any newspaperman or newspaper guilty of any violation of the said Code.”
To make the long story short, the press council wasn’t very effective. But the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), national organization of newspapers of which Malaya Business Insight is a member, picked up some valuable lessons. And some inspiration from the Cebu Citizens-Press Council, founded in 2005, and which so far can be credited to the southern city’s zero-libel record. In 2021, the Kordilyera Media-Citizen Council was set up.
Since 2021 and with the help of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the Dutch embassy and International Media Support, the PPI and friends began expanding its coverage and decided to pursue local instead of national, media-citizen instead of just the press, councils. The idea was warmly received. In 2022, the PPI helped set up such councils in Batangas province, Iloilo province and Davao city. Additions followed in Central Luzon, Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), Aklan, Agusan del Sur, the Surigao provinces, and most recently in Cotabato city. In the pipeline are three more councils in northern Luzon, western Visayas and south-central Mindanao. That’s right, communities decide whether they will be regional, provincial or urban in scope.
Their members consist of media — not just PPI member newspapers — and a mix of academics, business persons, faith-based organizations, and whatever sector the community deems important.
Last July, representatives from these councils went one step further than good intentions and underwent a five-day, 60-hour comprehensive course conducted by the DOJ-OADR.
We view this is a very promising, concrete step toward the voluntary and authentic off-court resolution of potential libel cases against the media. Congratulations to the media-citizen councils!
Protecting more than just the press
The MCCs have a great potential for protecting journalists from libel cases that could otherwise make them less effective in performing their role in society. But these councils also work for the benefit of the public.
Journalists are protected when they and their news organizations subscribe to the code of ethics of a press council, or in our case today the media-citizen councils. These councils are presenting those with grievances against a particular journalist with an alternative to going to court for libel. The councils are now in a better position to do this after representatives from media-citizen councils from the Cordillera region to Cotabato city successfully completed a 60-hour course on mediation and conciliation under the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Department of Justice.
MCCs are different from the press councils or media councils in place in many countries around the world. Locally, the PPI gave the press council a try and was hardly successful. Instead of being a media-dominated mechanism vulnerable to accusations of being an old-boys club, the MCCs are now a partnership between the media and the community. Instead of following the original self-regulatory model, the MCCs are an example of what the South African media call “independent co-regulation.”
When journalists are free to report relevant and reliable information on a wide variety of subjects, the public is informed to make wise decisions. They can do that better when they are not burdened by lengthy, costly and stressful libel cases that arise when persons like public officials, entrepreneurs or celebrities exercise their legal right to sue.
Organized mostly post-pandemic, the MCCs take inspiration from the successful Cebu Citizens-Press Council. Since its establishment nearly 20 years ago, member newspapers are said to have leveled up their performance lest they are made to account before their competitors, journalism professors and representatives from the city’s “general public.” As a result, there are no libel cases against the press in Cebu. There was one, in fact, but the Supreme Court last year acquitted the journalist-respondent.
When newspapers avoid libel cases because reporters and editors employ the highest available professional standards, it is the public that ultimately benefits. When journalists make lapses because they are human, and on their own correct themselves, or publish corrections, rebuttals, clarifications or simply other versions — editors refer to this as a news subject’s right of reply — they not only avoid court cases. They also earn the trust of the people they have sworn to serve.
This is what the MCCs in the Cordilleras, Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas regions; Batangas, Aklan, Iloilo, Agusan del Sur and the Surigao provinces; and the cities of Cebu, Davao and Cotabato, hope to accomplish.
Gary Mariano has been teaching for 40 years at De La Salle University. A former chair of the Philippine Press Council, he is a member of the CHED Technical Committee for Journalism. In retirement, he helps promote local media-citizen councils and serves in his parish.
