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YOU ARE HERE: Home » All Entries, Opinion and Analysis, Press Releases & Statements » Maria Ressa » The Public’s Right to Know Is a Right, With or Without Government’s Consent

Maria Ressa » The Public’s Right to Know Is a Right, With or Without Government’s Consent

PUBLISHED ON January 23, 2008 AT 4:04 AM

“THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW IS A RIGHT, WITH OR WITHOUT GOVERNMENT’S CONSENT”

Statement of Ms. Maria A. Ressa in support of the filing of the Petition for Writ of Amparo
before the Supreme Court

21 January 2008

We can’t stand by and watch a kind of creeping censorship test and weaken our democracy.

Our basic rights to freedom, expression, and free press are guaranteed by our Constitution. These are fundamental RIGHTS which a government cannot withdraw nor suspend to serve political interests.

ABS-CBN had the most number of journalists arrested at the Peninsula siege. I am here to support the action our journalists have taken because NO ACTION will mean we accept that these rights are just concessions – and therefore, these can be withdrawn by authorities at any time and restored when it’s politically convenient.

Our Head of Newsgathering, Charie Villa, went immediately to the Peninsula Hotel to identify our journalists; yet she was told that they would still have to be arrested and brought to Bicutan.

This unjust treatment violated everything that we at ABS CBN stand for, but this issue goes beyond any network or any individual journalist. It is about the people.

While the State has the right to protect itself, the public has the right to know. It is in this light that journalists should be considered partners in promoting democracy rather than being treated as its enemies. Journalists are protected under the Constitution because we serve the people in a special way. Without information, a democracy crumbles.

It’s alarming that the very people who are assigned to protect the Constitution are the ones who cavalierly violate some of its most basic tenets.

In the final analysis, we are good journalists only if we have the courage to tell the ‘Emperor’ that he really has no clothes on. Only then can we be worth our name as members of the press, and despite our flaws, embody the best of the power we hold in trust for the people.

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One Response to “Maria Ressa » The Public’s Right to Know Is a Right, With or Without Government’s Consent”

  1. jay Says:
    June 11th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Ms. Maria Ressa can you say the same thing now that a colleague is being held captive by a terrorist group? What made you think that defying the government’s request during the seige is different now that you are asking for a news black-out for the safety of Ces? May you reflect on this and may this humble you.

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