Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 5) — The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition filed by one of Maguindanao massacre’s masterminds, Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr., against ABS-CBN Corporation and a reporter of the media network.
In an April 2023 decision made public only on Friday, the court ruled in favor of ABS-CBN and its reporter Jorge Cariño, who challenged the refusal of both the Court of Appeals and a regional trial court to junk Andal’s petition.
The case stemmed from a 2010 episode of the news program \”TV Patrol World,\” where Cariño interviewed Lakmodin Saliao, who served as house help to the Ampatuans.
During the interview, Saliao narrated that he was present when members of the powerful family planned what would later become the world’s single deadliest attack on media workers.
On Nov. 23, 2009, 58 people — including 32 journalists and family members of then political candidate Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu — were shot dead in broad daylight in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.
In accusing ABS-CBN and Cariño of indirect contempt, Andal claimed that Saliao’s interview was “calculated to interfere with court proceedings to serve Saliao’s own interest without passing through the scrutiny of the police of the National Prosecution Service.”
The SC did take note of the sub judice rule, which generally bars comments and disclosures pertaining to judicial proceedings in order to avoid directly influencing a judge, or indirectly through public opinion.
However, the high court said that given its “drastic and extraordinary” nature, the judiciary’s power to punish for contempt must be restrained and judicious and “used only in flagrant cases and with utmost forbearance.”
Its primary explanation for dismissing the petition was that Andal failed to comply with two out of four requirements — particularly, to state “the mental element of the speaker […] showing that the purpose of the speech is to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice,” and “the clear and present danger of the utterance to the court’s administration of justice.”
“Those accused of indirect contempt should not be compelled to proceed to trial when the charges are grossly insufficient,” read the ruling.
The SC, however, also said that while ABS-CBN is correct that Saliao’ s statements are matters of grave public concern, the network should not have presented him as a witness on national television.
It stressed that the sub judice rule should not have been disregarded, especially in criminal cases pending before the courts.
