Court denies progressive media groups’ TRO plea
THE Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QCRTC) has denied the plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) sought by alternative media Bulatlat, which questioned the legality of a memorandum order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) blocking access to websites of groups and individuals allegedly linked to communist organizations.
Following the denial, hearings on the complaint filed by Bulatlat through counsel National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) can now proceed.
The next hearing is scheduled for August 2.
In the complaint, the NUPL said the challenged NTC memorandum was “capricious and discriminatory”, and has no legal basis in law.
The group noted that nowhere in the hugely-controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 “the National Security Adviser, the National Security Council or the Anti-Terrorism Council been given the power to block cyber traffic nor content data more so if based on reckless suspicions of terrorist activities nor due to conclusory claims of alleged affiliations with designated individuals or groups.”
Even the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 does not permit such state action, it continued.
Then National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon asked the NTC to “block” public access to several websites with alleged links to the communist movement.
He cited the resolutions of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) designating the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), New People’s Army (NPA), and National Democratic Front (NDF) as “terrorist groups”.
Esperon’s list of at least 25 websites included alternative media groups Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly.
NTC has acted immediately and ordered Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to these websites.
The order was contained in a memorandum dated June 8, 2022, and was signed by NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba.
