Court voids gov’t order blocking Bulatlat news site

SUPPORTING TRUTH-TELLERS In February 2021, media workers and human rights advocates staged a biking event in Quezon City to call attention to the plight of journalists in the country. Their message is still relevant as the world marks World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2021 when journalists, including those in community papers and the campus press, continue to face threats and risks as they perform their task as truth-tellers. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Bulatlat hailed as a “big win” for press freedom a court resolution voiding a government order to block its website and those of 26 other alternative news outlets at the tail-end of the Duterte administration.

In June 2022, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered internet service providers to block the websites of the 27 independent media and progressive organizations after then National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. alleged that these were supporting terrorist organizations.

On Nov. 18, Judge Catherine Manodon of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court voided the NTC order, citing that it not only lacked legal authority, but also violated press freedom and constituted censorship.

She also noted that the defendants—NTC and Esperon—failed to prove that Bulatlat posed “clear and present danger.”

“The local court’s decision unblocks all the 27 websites, making this a victory against state censorship, and against the use of ‘anti-terrorism’ rhetoric to justify the violation of free speech and expression,” Bulatlat said in a statement.

The NTC order was issued on June 8, 2022, on the request of Esperon, who alleged that the outlets were affiliated with or supporting terrorist organizations.