A group of petitioners led by retired Supreme Court (SC) Justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales has asked the high tribunal to take notice of the threats made by Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. against a lady journalist.
In a manifestation, the group informed the social media post of Parlade against iInquirer.net reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas over the article she wrote titled “Tortured Aetas seek SC help against anti-terror law.”
It told the SC that Parlade attacked Tupas over the article that was based on the petition filed before the SC by the lawyers of detained Aetas Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos who have been charged with violating the Anti-Terror Act (ATA), among others.
The group, which also filed a petition seeking to declare the ATA as unconstitutional, said Parlade called the article “fake” and said “she should be charged with a violation of Section 12, of the ATA for ‘[a]iding the terrorists by spreading lies’.”
“These Posts are clear threats against Ms. Tupas and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, both members of the Free Press protected by Section 4 of the Bill of Rights. They threaten criminal prosecution for a crime punishable of up to life imprisonment against Ms. Tupas or any journalist who publishes any news article that may be perceived as ‘fake’ or ‘false’ by the military. Such direct threats engender fear that chills journalists or even citizens from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press. As held in one case, ‘[t]he threat of sanctions may deter…as potently as the actual application of sanction’,” it stated.
“Moreover, the threats’ obvious invasion of protected expressive rights is possible only because the language of the ATA is vague overbroad, casting a wide net of possibilities,” it added.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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