It's not a law yet. But the right-to-reply bill now being cooked up in Congress clearly contravenes the Constitution.
According to this bill, whose main proponent in the Senate is, of all people, Sen. Nene Pimentel, "any person written or spoken about in the print or broadcast media in connection with any allegation of wrongdoing has the right to reply in the same space, time and prominence as the original imputation."
In other words, a media entity will be bound to print or broadcast an aggrieved party's reply to any allegation of wrongdoing -- in the same space, time and prominence as the original imputation!
Read what the Constitution states about freedom of the press: "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press." Freedom of speech also means freedom not to speak. Freedom of expression also means freedom not to express, write or publish. Freedom of the press means editorial freedom to determine both content and style.
The bill is now in its final stages of being passed. President Arroyo has vowed she would veto it. Media groups threaten to question the constitutionality of the measure before the Supreme Court if it ever ripens into law.
As one community newspaper has stated in its editorial: Why did it ever come to this point? It's obvious that the bill is fraught with dangers that threaten freedom of the press in an effort to appease "onion-skinned" politicians who accuse media of unfair treatment.
This again betrays our lawmakers' propensity to propose simpleton and knee-jerk solutions to problems they have not fully understood. Of course news media in the Philippines is far from perfect! But this will never justify the passage of a law that dictates how responsible journalism should be exercised.
The media is accountable to its readers -- the public -- and so are the politicians. If a journalist is perceived to be unfair, then let him be held accountable to his readers, not to any politician. This is how a mature democracy works.
Well the thing is, we have immature politicians. Exhibit A: the right-to-reply bill.
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