LOREN WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FROM RIGHT TO REPLY BILL

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday announced that she was withdrawing her support for the right-to-reply bill.

"I am withdrawing my support from the right to reply bill because an untrammeled press is better than a press that is dictated to by authority. Our constitution says that 'No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press'," Loren declared.

Ever since the interpellation stage of the proposed measure, the Senator has expressed her reservations to approve the same.

"It is my strong conviction that any law dictating to the media what to write, what to publish, or what to broadcast is a violation of this provision against one of the important pillars democratic freedom. The practice is abhorred as a prior restraint in a democratic society such as ours. It is true that there is no absolute right. The freedom of the press or expression is not absolute because it is still subject to the laws of libel or slander," she explained.

Loren observed that "the media have their own codes of ethics that require them to exercise objectivity and fairness in their reportage and commentaries. They have professional organizations that oblige them to observe these principles with sanctions. The check to the power of media is the public which can withhold its patronage if the media organization is unfair, biased or malicious."

According to Loren, the "right to reply bill" which dictates to editors the space where the reply is to be printed, as well as its length, and to broadcasters how long and at what time it should be broadcast is an "infringement on editorial prerogative and therefore on the freedom of expression.

She quoted Thomas Jefferson, the author of the US Declaration of Independence, who said, "The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by a despotic government."