Palace: Signing of expanded Sotto Law shows Duterte’s respect for press freedom

President Rodrigo Duterte's enactment of the measure expanding the coverage of the Sotto Law was an indication of his and the administration's respect for press freedom, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Signed on August 30, Republic Act 11458 expands the coverage of exemptions from revealing the source of published news or information obtained in confidence by including journalists from broadcast and online news agencies.

"The Palace therefore welcomes this as a manifestation of how the Chief Executive and his administration respect and uphold the constitutional guarantee on the freedom of the press," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, adding the enactment was "auspicious and relevant in the present time, with the advent of technology."

The law maintained that media practitioners may only be compelled to reveal their source of information when the court, the House of Representatives, the Senate, or any committee of Congress finds that such revelation is demanded by the "security of the state."

"While the law is silent on what constitutes a security of the state, we believe that we may be guided by pertinent case laws which use the clear and present danger rule to tackle the subject in relation to the constitutional concept of free press," Panelo said.

"At any rate, we submit that there is no hard and fast rule as the obligation to interpret the law as against varying sets of facts always lies with our courts."

Duterte has repeatedly lashed out at some media outfits for what he claimed was unfair coverage of his presidency.

He had vowed to block the renewal of the franchise granted to ABS-CBN which he had accused of not airing a political ad that was already paid for by his campaign team.

In February 2018, the President banned Rappler from covering all his activities, which the media outfit challenged before the Supreme Court.

Rappler and its officers led by veteran journalist Maria Ressa are also facing a number of lawsuits including cyber libel, violation of the country’s anti-dummy law and tax evasion. — RSJ, GMA News

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